Investing as a multi-stage fund into Europe's top startups with Deepka Rana, Principal @ Northzone

Happy Wednesday from James Pringle, Hector Mason and the Riding Unicorns team!

In this episode, we’re joined by Deepka Rana, Principal at leading venture fund Northzone, early backers of Klarna, Truelayer, Spotify, iZettle, Kahoot, and Personio. Deepka shares her journey from physics at Imperial and investment banking to investing in some of Europe’s most exciting startups.

We unpack:

💸 What it’s like to operate a billion-dollar multi-stage VC fund
🧠 How founders should assess the right type of capital for their journey
🤖 Why AI is fundamentally changing the way software, search, and commerce work
💡 The rise of agent commerce and tooling for AI-native discovery and transactions
📈 Why resilience and adaptability are now non-negotiable founder traits
🎯 What great board members actually do (and why most don’t measure up)
🌍 The UK’s deep technical talent and what’s needed to unlock more entrepreneurship

This episode is packed with hard-won wisdom for founders navigating today’s funding landscape, plus a fascinating look at what’s next in tech.

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Have a great Wednesday,

The Riding Unicorns team