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This is the second of our series of interviews of European VCs investing in SaaS! 🎉
This is the second of our series of interviews of European VCs investing in SaaS! 🎉
We chose Christoph Janz, Managing Partner at Point Nine Capital.
Christoph Janz is a serial entrepreneur and angel investor. He co-founded Point Nine in 2011 and is today one of the most well-known SaaS influencer and investor worldwide. On his blog, he regularly gives tips and great advice about metrics, fundraising or any other subject of interest for SaaS entrepreneurs. Before his exclusive interview to eFounders, a little bit more about Point Nine:
Point Nine Capital
Created in 2011
Offices: Berlin
Investment focus: $100K-$1M in SaaS and online marketplaces (but over the lifetime of a company we sometimes invest significantly more).
Investment thesis: Usually the company’s first institutional investor, we think software is eating the world (and moving it to the cloud) — the smartphone is pretty hungry too. Also, large network of engaged users are changing the world.
Assets Under Management: $120M
SaaS portfolio:
- US: 15Five, Contactually, Honey, Humanity, Kisi, PersistIQ, Spinnakr.
- Europe: Algolia, Contentful, Chartmogul, Critizr, FreeAgent, Front, Geckoboard, Mention, Zendesk, Typeform and many others that you’ll find on their portfolio page.
Insights from Christoph Janz:
Why do you invest in SaaS?
I believe that the move of software to the Cloud is inevitable. The advantages of SaaS over on-premise software are just too strong and too obvious. However, huge amounts of money are still spent on on-premise software so, in the next years, billions of dollars will move from on-premise to the Cloud and that’s a great opportunity for SaaS startups.
What makes a good VC for a SaaS startup?
It depends on the startup’s needs. Generally, I would look for a VC who has deep SaaS expertise and who can be a great sparring partner for all the challenges and questions that a SaaS founder will face.
What investment trend do you foresee for 2020 in the SaaS industry?
I think “big data“ will likely be one of the most important drivers of innovation. It’s a frequently misused buzzword, but SaaS applications can use data like no others and enable customers to be more efficient and to make better decisions.
Do you consider yourself to be in competition with US VCs for SaaS startups?
No. Although we have made some investments in the US, our focus is on early-stage investments in European SaaS startups. US VCs generally don’t do early-stage investments in Europe and we view them as great partners for Series As or Bs for our portfolio companies.
What’s the n°1 startup that you’d like to have in your portfolio?
Talkdesk. We saw them when it was a little too early for us, and when we followed up with them, it was already too late.
Follow Christoph on Twitter and meet him in person at B2B Rocks, the leading European conference for B2B and SaaS startups happening on June 1st in Paris 😎
Check Point Nine’s collection on Medium: Point Nine Land in which Clément Vouillon, Research Analyst for the fund, and Christoph share their knowledge and inspiring thoughts on the SaaS industry. 2 must read:
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