Adding a partner — or worded differently, a co-founder for the next iteration of the firm — requires that shared obsession about what we’re building together. Someone who is just as ambitious as we are, who challenges us and makes us stronger for our founders, LPs, our internal team, and the broader ecosystem.
Therefore, today I’m insanely proud to say that we have found that person in Magda Lukaszewicz, who has joined Inventure as a partner.
A relationship years in the making
Our story with Magda didn’t begin with a recruitment process. It evolved organically by comparing notes on companies throughout the years, and then later a couple of mutual investments between Inventure and Balderton.
Magda came on our radar in 2019, as Balderton was leaning in and evaluating an investment in Detectify. Later, when Balderton led Lassie’s Series B in 2023, I got the chance to work very closely with Magda on the board. What stood out was her working style and advice on how to support high-growth companies. I can say positively that we didn’t always have identical views, but our different vantage points often complemented each other, hopefully to the benefit for the founder.
But another great thing with Magda is that you don’t have to know her for five plus years to get to know her. Her special ability is to authentically jump in right away and cut through to you — and to what matters. She’s one week into the job and it’s uncanny, it’s like she’s always been part of this team. That’s exactly who Magda is as a person, and it’s exactly what she brings to the table at every founder meeting.
My colleague Lauri Kokkila put it nicely, “I remember when I first met Magda, what struck me was how quickly we moved beyond surface-level conversation. Within minutes, it felt like we’d known each other for years. She brings an immediate authenticity and openness that’s rare to find.”
Where we’re headed together.
Magda has seen firsthand what it takes to lead and work with some of the strongest scale-ups out there, and her international network increases the likelihood of success for all our companies.
With Magda joining our core team, we are better equipped than ever to execute on our ambitious strategy that few have in the current market. In a time when the general sentiment is to either raise a specialist sub-100m fund or go fully-fledged platform, we fully disagree. The biggest opportunity in the Nordics & Baltics is to aggressively lead, as opposed to syndicate, Nordic & Baltic inception rounds (€1–7m rounds) with high conviction, often based predominately on the founders and the alignment we have built with them. When choosing to work with us, founders will get an ally who needs them to win with every single check we write.
VC is all about making bold bets where others aren’t looking. And with Magda on the team, our trajectory became even steeper.
— Linus Dahg, Managing Partner at Inventure
.jpg)
A quick conversation with Magda
WHAT LED YOU TO INVENTURE?
As an investor, my job is to take risk! The prospect of building the best seed fund in the Nordics and Baltics, together with a group of exceptional individuals was too exciting for me to say no to.
The big driver here is that I want to build and create businesses that leave a legacy — companies and firms that are bigger than our individual selves. Inventure has set a great foundation over 20 years investing in some of the most interesting companies in the region. It has also proactively worked on a generational shift, with Linus becoming the CEO in 2023. Not many venture funds do it successfully, and I have been very impressed with how the original founders of our team have taken important actions well in advance.
Since my first days in VC, I’ve had close relationships with Inventure, and multiple co-investments with Balderton. It gave me the chance to get to know the team well, but also see the evolution over the last years.
WHY DOUBLE DOWN ON SEED IN THE NORDICS AND BALTICS?
I think pre-seed and seed is the only space for regional funds where close proximity, regional networks and cultural understanding still truly matter. For example, some outside investors say Nordics founders are not ambitious. While there may be some truth to that, I know the way we express ambition is more subtle, or different. In the earliest stages, we are in the business of evaluating and backing exceptional individuals, where those nuances matter. This is a very talent-dense region. We have always punched above our weight in the global context, creating the highest numbers of unicorns per capita after Silicon Valley. With an exciting late stage growth and exit pipeline of companies with strong connections to the region across consumer (with Klarna, Vinted, Oura) as well as B2B (with Trustly, Neo4j). I can only see this accelerating.
HOW DO YOU SEE YOUR LATER-STAGE EXPERIENCE AT BALDERTON INFORMING YOUR WORK WITH EARLY-STAGE FOUNDERS?
At Balderton, I worked with some of the most exciting companies in Europe such as; Voi, Tibber, Wayve, Lassie, at their earlier stages, and was surrounded by some of the best investors in Europe. I learnt what good looks like, and what level an early stage company needs to reach to attract investors that are choosing from the whole world, not just a region. My bar is high, and I tend to push for slightly fewer investments than my peers, but when I do, I have high conviction.
WHAT GETS YOU REALLY EXCITED ABOUT A FOUNDER THEN?
Courage, and a track record of winning against the odds, personally or professionally. My first office job was at Klarna, as a 17-year-old. The founders were young with little experience, but they worked very hard and were going against established ‘truths’ in the market. Seeing that so early in life impacted my perspective.
WHEN DID YOU WIN AGAINST THE ODDS?
Probably when joining investment banking at Goldman Sachs in London as a 22-year old, with sub-par grades from a so called ‘non-target’ university, too scared to say anything in English, as I had barely spent any time abroad growing up. Within months I was originating own transactions.
WHAT TYPES OF INVESTMETS WILL CATCH MOST OF YOUR ATTENTION?
Speaking generally, I like businesses that are aiming to solve hard problems, be it technical or operational. A lot of investors are spread thin across stages and geographies. As as result, they sometimes direct attention to very ‘obvious’ areas, building momentum of each other. I’m excited to see that Inventure has backed founders looking to build in areas that push us to the edge of what’s possible in quantum, space tech, AI and biology. I want to continue building on that.
Health is an interest of mine, and I see a rising number of opportunities there especially as consumer attention and wallets shift to extend length and increase quality of life. Despite recent market slowdown, I believe we will continue to see large consumer outcomes.
While the size of the Northern European market is modest, it’s often a good test market due to value-oriented early adopters. International expansion however is the life or death skill for successful companies from the region. Many consumer companies have gone wrong here. Either expanding with relatively ‘easy’ products, but not building enough value. Or solving big challenges, but struggling with expansion… founders that are thinking about both will get my attention!
WHAT CAN FOUNDERS EXPECT FROM YOU AS A PARTNER?
I bring experience from later stage companies, and what’s needed to get to the next stage. My work is personal to me. Therefore I work hard, build genuine and personal relationships, and I’m generous with my network.
WHERE DO WE FIND YOU WHEN NOT IN A BOARD MEETING OR SLACK?
A safe bet is on horseback somewhere in the world! In the recent years I’ve had the chance to ride in central and southern Asia; follow the Silk Road, see villages in Pakistan and cross Tian Shan — all from horseback. Horses are very sensing animals, as such very receptive to peoples energy and feelings, which is where my fascination for them stems from. They take me to places I wouldn’t be able to go to myself.
