Sophie joins us in our Stockholm office previously from New York where she executed cross-border M&A at Fredericks Michael & Co., bridging the Nordic and US markets with a focus on industrials and manufacturing. Prior to that, she got her start in early-stage investing in São Paulo with Caravela Capital, an early-stage VC backing Latin American founders from Pre-Seed to Series A.
Here’s what she thinks about risk, misfits, and going all in.
You’re in your mid-twenties, you’ve already lived abroad for ten years. What’s the story there?
I moved out at 16. I chose a boarding school in the US specifically because I could play tennis every day, fourteen hours a week, and compete in tournaments across the States. I'd been playing tennis since I was four. I lived and breathed it.
But looking back, I also wanted to get out of Finland because everything felt lagom. In Swedish that means not too much, not too little. A little bit nicer than OK, but still just OK. I always wanted to push myself more than that.
What’s the biggest difference you saw between the US and Europe?
The relationship with failure. In the US, no one notices when you fail, you just get up and do it again.
That really resonated with me, because not taking risks leaves me with a "what if I tried?" feeling and honestly, that's much scarier than failing.
Like when I moved to New York - wanted to get into investment banking because there were technical skills I was missing, and I wanted to understand the fundamentals of later-stage companies. I told myself, if I just move there and can make it in the hardest place on earth with zero contacts, I can survive anywhere. I was extremely stubborn about it. I had to make it work. No Plan B until Plan A is fully executed.
Working on Nordic-US M&A in industrials and manufacturing, one thing that struck me was how undigitized the sector still is. You have $13 billion market cap companies still relying on methods created a hundred years ago, and every single one of them is looking for ways to modernize. That's a massive opportunity for the right founders.
What type of people are you drawn to?
I’m drawn to people who are technically astute but still very human, with empathy and real humility. People I can sit with for 7 hours and talk through philosophical topics, who are able to see a situation from many different points of view and think through the different outcomes that could come from it. They’re open to reflection and debate, and not afraid to be challenged. These types of people really inspire me, especially those who are willing to actually execute on their dreams.
Was that what clicked with you in venture capital?
Exactly. Founders are misfits. They're looking for something more, they think differently from everyone else, and that's the whole point.
VC is tech mixed with a human element — you're not just looking at numbers, you're betting on people. I've always felt like a bit of a misfit myself, so I pushed hard to end up in this industry.
And now you're back in the Nordics, based in our Stockholm office. What brought you here?
I was originally planning on London, but Sweden's startup ecosystem has doubled in value over the past five years. It’s the place to be right now. I speak Swedish. I understand how the region works, how the people think, but now I bring a global perspective to it. That was the combination I was going after.
I’ve lived in a lot of different countries, but somehow never in a neighboring one, so I’m new to Stockholm and really excited to meet people. Always happy to connect, whether that’s grabbing a coffee in a cute coffee shop or meeting someone on the tennis court.
What stood out about Inventure specifically?
From the moment I met the team, I felt like these are people I'd want to be married to for the foreseeable future (professionally speaking). They have strong opinions, they're not afraid to say what they think even if it might be wrong, and they're genuinely passionate about what they do.
For instance, they made time during Slush to interview me. I got the impression they know how to drop everything and focus if they feel something is important. It’s incredibly motivating when you're working alongside people who match that intensity.
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Building the next big thing? Contact Sophie through our Team Page or LinkedIn.
