Oliver Finch is an Englishman in Denmark apparently the happiest country on Earth, where he works for Maersk Growth in Copenhagen.
Oliver called in to tell us more about the world of Corporate VC, through his detailed work with Maersk Growth, the ventures arm of the leading, global conglomerate, Maersk.
Oliver deep dives into his views on several interesting areas in the 50-minute Vod/Pod; naturally touching on the focus of the investment arm of this industrial giant being around supply chain and supply chain logistics.
They invest at Seed to Series A, both in Europe and the US. As a fund, they do lead or follow and do have expertise in certain areas and KPI’s like Digital Container shipping, which Oliver amusingly admits he can send people to sleep talking about this.
He also talks about how they are trying to find businesses in the UK that “do not have founders who just want a vicarage and a super-car”, but those with ambitions to go far beyond this.
The process at Maersk sounds fascinating, for the Founders that decide to work with them. The Growth vehicle and company wrap a value creation team around the chosen business to help them navigate around the giant, essentially enhancing success for all.
He also notes that they are seeing a lot more interest and engagement from US investors, rather than just curiosity, as it had been in the past, many want to actively invest or co-invest.
Like other VC’s. Oliver shares the refreshing perspective that 2021 is off to the races where rounds are being structured successfully remotely and last but not least, he also gives a lovely update on the Danish Tech scene, which is clearly on fire at the moment – with the successes of Vivino.