SEED Summer Sail — Heading for ’distant’ shores
At SEED Capital we devote most of our energy to be the strongest, most professional seed stage tech VC investor in Denmark. We are fortunate that some of the best and most ambitious entrepreneurs have chosen to work with us and try to repay that confidence through money, hard work and network.
Especially at the early stage, we think it is essential to develop close relations with the entrepreneurs, angels and other VC funds we work with. This creates a trusting environment — the SEED family — where we can have frank discussions while still having each other’s backs. And it certainly helps when things get rocky.
There is no place that you get closer together than on a sailing boat at sea. The air is fresher, the wind blows free and the water can become quite bumpy.
Among the participants was General Partner from Sunstone Capital, Christian Lindegård Jepsen:
‘’It was a really good group of people and an excellent format if you would like to get people to know each other better. This was indeed facilitated by a sailing trip in the fresh air, a small amount of sunshine and some cold beers. I will gladly join the event next year!’’
Zenia Francker, Chief Relations Officer from The Creators Community, was also one of the participants:
‘’Niels is all about sailing, hence announcing him as General Partner on not just any ship but his own ship was the perfect setting of celebration, honest conversation and great people’’.
Our General Partner, and avid sailor, Niels Vejrup Carlsen, has kick started this new tradition: SEED Summer Sail. The idea was to gather a group of people consisting of Danish VC’s, Key Business Angels and founders of companies in our portfolio on his boat. No sailing skills were required, as Niels is an experienced skipper, and handled the boat together with two other Danish VCs who are also good sailors.
In 2005 Niels sailed around the world for 2 years together with his wife and two kids in a small sailing yacht. You can read more about his fascinating adventure in our previous blog post here.
The participants of the SEED Summer Sail event indeed got the opportunity to experience the fresh air — and the feeling of becoming soaked as well. The Weather Gods weren’t very friendly unfortunately. Basically, we had the only 4 hours of rain that summer — on that day 😊. However, as the boat moored in Copenhagen Harbor, the sun broke through the clouds, and drinks at the dock further lifted the atmosphere.
The sailing trip continued at the Danish Street Food market, ‘Reffen’, where it turned into a great Copenhagen Beach Party. Business Angel, Nicolaj Højer Nielsen was also among the participants:
‘’The setting and atmosphere was perfect, and I think that Reffen as a location for the event fits very well in terms of networking and just having a good time. I’ll see you next year’’.
We will indeed continue this success next year. The date is being set. So stay tuned !
