Andrena Ventures Research Document
Investment Thesis
Andrena Ventures is a solo GP early-stage venture capital fund founded by Gideon Valkin, a former commercial leader at Monzo and ClearScore. The fund combines institutional investor access with personalized operational support and mentorship, keeping founder ownership low while providing exceptional value-add. They explicitly back "Europe's biggest outliers from day one."
Sector Focus
Andrena Ventures invests across technology startups with particular emphasis on:
- Fintech - Financial services, payments, wealth management, banking infrastructure
- AI/ML Applications - AI agents for financial services, code understanding, automation
- B2B SaaS - Sales enablement, startup automation, enterprise tools
- Infrastructure - Developer tools, workflow automation, data platforms
The fund has a clear fintech bias given Gideon's background, but maintains sector flexibility for exceptional founders.
Stage Focus
Andrena is definitively a pre-seed focused fund with secondary Series A follow-on capacity:
- Pre-seed: Primary focus (majority of portfolio)
- Seed: Secondary focus (Goodfit, Clove)
- Series A: Selective follow-ons for existing portfolio companies
Check Size
Based on portfolio evidence:
- Pre-seed: $250K-$500K (typical for European pre-seed)
- Seed: $500K-$1M (follow-on rounds)
- Fund Size: €11.1M ($12M) debut fund, solo GP structure
Lead Tendency
As a solo GP pre-seed fund, Gideon leads or co-leads most rounds. The operational support model suggests meaningful board/advisor involvement even at pre-seed stage.
Recent Activity
Gideon's recent investments and activities:
- October 2025: Angel investor in Clove (pre-seed fintech for wealth management, €14M)
- 2025: Portfolio includes Goodfit (Series A, GTM data platform)
- Active deploying: Fund raised at April 2024 close, now in deployment phase
- Fund Status: Actively deploying from €11.1M debut fund
Portfolio Highlights
Pre-Seed Portfolio:
- Gradient Labs - AI agent for financial services
- iterate - Automation platform for founders
- Nia (Nozomio Labs) - AI agent for code understanding
- Seapoint - Finance stack for high-growth companies
- Twin - Workflow automation agents
- Fruitful - Competitive intelligence and tracking
- Stealth Foundation Model (foundation model for tabular data)
Seed/Series A:
- Goodfit.io - Data platform for GTM teams (Seed/Series A, €13M raised)
- Clove - Next-gen wealth manager (Seed, €14M raised Oct 2025)
Team
Solo GP Structure:
- Gideon Valkin, Founder & GP - Former Commercial Director at Monzo, Commercial Lead at ClearScore, co-founder of Planky, early-stage investor at Entrée Capital, founding advisor to Yonder
Key advantage: Deep fintech operational experience combined with founder mentality.
Decision Process
Solo GP structure means:
- Individual decision-making with input from advisor network
- Fast decision cycles typical of angel/solo GP funds
- Personalized diligence with founder interviews and reference calls
- Emphasis on founder-investor fit and operational support capacity
Geographic Focus
- Primary: UK and Europe (London-based)
- Secondary: Continental Europe, particularly Central/Eastern Europe fintech hubs
- Exclude: US-only companies
Founder Preferences
Andrena seeks:
- "Europe's biggest outliers" - founders building ambitious visions
- Former fintech operators (Paddle founder, Monzo alumni)
- Technical founders solving real financial/operational pain points
- Teams with founder-operator experience valued highly
- Founders who can benefit from deep operational mentorship
Co-Investors
Fund is backed by mixture of:
- Venture capital firms
- Established entrepreneurs
- Strategic corporate backers
Decision Timeline
Typical pre-seed fund timeline:
- Diligence: 3-4 weeks
- Decision: 1-2 weeks
- Closing: 2-3 weeks
Warm Introductions
Likely prefers warm introductions given:
- Solo GP structure with limited capacity
- Deep founder network from Monzo/fintech ecosystem
- Personalized investment approach
Notable Exits from Founder Background
Gideon's track record at Monzo (valued at $2.5B+) and ClearScore (acquired by Equifax) demonstrates ability to scale fintech from inception to exit.
Fund Details
- Fund I Size: €11.1M ($12M)
- First Close: April 2024
- Jurisdiction: FCA-regulated (Appointed Representative)
- Structure: Solo GP fund
- Strategy: Pre-seed with operational support focus