We are looking for new management teams of investment funds in Sweden

We are looking for management teams that are skilled business developers, can deliver high market returns, and contribute to the development of the venture capital market.

Sweden needs more competent and capital-strong investors who have the will and ability to develop young companies. Saminvest invests in funds that invest in companies with high innovation capacity and growth potential within sectors that lack sufficient capital. We are a long-term investor in the funds we work with.

Our investments are based on commercial viability. This is how we become a credible partner for private investors. By identifying investment funds with teams that have an understanding of innovation, broad networks, ownership experience, and the ability to deliver returns, we can help attract private investors to those funds.

In our selection process, we analyse four important areas, which must have a good balance among themselves: the fund’s management team, parameters, market opportunities, and strategy.

Management team

The management team of an investment fund is a crucial factor and forms the core of a fund’s operations. Team members need to have relevant experience with similar investments and entrepreneurship. Saminvest attaches great importance to investment credentials and experience of all or parts of the team. A team also needs a positive work environment to stick together, preferably throughout the life cycles of several funds. Furthermore, the team’s network of contacts is central to being able to handle the many issues and challenges associated with investing in innovative and fast-growing companies. A team’s members also need strong support to cope with the requirements and workload of managing a fund.

Saminvest pays great attention to the degree of gender equality of a fund’s management team. One of Saminvest’s strategic goals is for women to make up 40-60% of the teams managing the investment funds it works with by the end of 2026. Teams are defined as partners, investment managers, and senior investment analysts. Investment funds that have too few or no women are recommended to develop a clear plan for how the proportion of women will increase as the team is formed and the fund grows.

Strategy

The strategy for a fund must be feasible. The fund’s investment focus should be on innovative and growing companies. The strategy should also include what phases of development the fund will target for the companies it intends to invest in, as well as the geographical concentration of the investments. The capital allocation plan, i.e., how you intend to distribute the investment amounts in size and over time, must be in line with the team’s strategy for value creation. The business flow must be relevant, large enough, and of sufficiently high quality to build a diversified portfolio. Value creation is what the team intends to add to a company as an investor, i.e., everything from technical know-how to sales and marketing or recruitment skills.

Saminvest attaches great importance to whether the team intends to provide the companies with sustainability expertise. As active investors, the management team is expected to have a running dialogue with their respective portfolio companies regarding the management of risks and opportunities in terms of sustainability, with a significant impact on the company’s conditions for success.

Market opportunity

The market opportunities must be realistic and harmonize with the fund’s size and strategy. The fund’s focus must therefore be neither too broad nor too narrow.

Saminvest carefully analyses an investment to ensure that it supplements the market from a capital needs perspective, i.e., that there is a real need for financing by the companies in which the fund intends to invest. In addition, too many funds with a similar focus often lead to high valuations and a low or negative return on invested capital in the long run.

Fund parameters

In order for Saminvest to invest in a fund, the fund’s size, budget, fees, and terms must be well-defined and balanced. Above all, they must be market-based for the fund to be able to attract private capital. In addition, the fund must have its legal base of operation in Sweden.

Saminvest only has the opportunity to account for a small part of the fund’s total size. Therefore, a thorough plan for raising capital is required to assess the probability of the fund receiving sufficient financing. Unrealistic plans for raising capital are one of the most common reasons why Saminvest chooses to refrain from investing in a fund.