Freek Wessels - Fundraising Founder of Johnny Cashew

Freek Wessels - Fundraising Founder of Johnny Cashew

EPISODE 23 - FREEK WESSELS - JOHNNY CASHEW In this episode, Laurie Lancee speaks with Freek Wessels, CEO of Johnny Cashew. Johnny Cashew is flipping the cashew supply chain. 60% of the world's cashews come from Africa, yet 90% get shipped to Asia to be processed. Johnny Cashew processes the nuts where they grow, in Tanzania, paying living wages to 600 to 800 women, buying the whole harvest including broken nuts, and selling a fully traceable certified product into European retail. We talk about how a broken global supply chain became a business opportunity, what it takes to grow 40 to 50% per year with minimal marketing budget, and why Lidl came knocking rather than the other way around. Key Metrics: * Sector: Sustainable FMCG * Country: Netherlands * Business model: B2B2C brand + private label + upcycled byproducts * Traction: €4m run rate, 40- 50% growth, listings in NL, UK & DE * Value proposition: The first fully traceable cashew brand, processed at origin: "Peel it where you plant it" Listen to the full episode on AtVenture DealFlow. More: www.atventureplatform.com [http://www.atventureplatform.com] See you at the next great deal!

Julia Bialetska - Fundraising Founder of S.Lab

EPISODE 22 - FUNDRAISING FOUNDER: JULIA BIALETSKA - S.LAB In this episode, Laurie Lancee speaks with Julia Bialetska, co-founder of S.Lab. S.Lab is replacing polystyrene packaging with a material grown from plant waste and mushroom roots. It is 100% compostable, home biodegradable within 30 days, and produced at price parity with conventional polystyrene. With 15 billion kilograms of polystyrene produced every year, and 90% ending up in landfills, the need for a scalable alternative is urgent. S.Lab has developed a proprietary, mold-free production process using robotics and bioprocessing, and is already running pilots with L'Oreal, Nespresso and JTI. They are raising a €2.5M seed round to deploy 50 mini factories across Europe and scale their direct packaging sales. Key Metrics: * Sector: DeepTech / Sustainable Materials * Country: Spain * Business model: B2B direct sales + technology licensing (mini factory subscription) * Market: Protective packaging, €300B globally, €80B in Europe * Value proposition: Sustainable packaging at the speed, scale and price the market needs Listen to the full episode on AtVenture DealFlow. More: www.atventureplatform.com [http://www.atventureplatform.com] See you at the next great deal!

Emily Firth - Fundraising Founder of TruthWorks

EPISODE 21 - FUNDRAISING FOUNDER: EMILY FIRTH - TRUTHWORKS In this episode, Laurie Lancee speaks with Emily Firth, co-founder of TruthWorks. TruthWorks is doing for HR consulting what Booking.com did for travel. A digital talent marketplace where organisations can find, compare and book trusted People and Culture experts on demand. No six-month procurement cycles, no opaque agency fees. Just the right expert, ready to go. HR consulting is a €50B market growing 7% year on year. But it still runs on legacy models that serve neither buyers nor experts well. TruthWorks is changing that. In just 2.5 months since launch, they have 50+ clients, 120+ experts and over €350K in GMV. We discuss the problem with legacy HR consulting, how TruthWorks verifies and scales quality, what their 70% repeat booking rate says about product-market fit, and why AI makes this model stronger, not weaker. Key Metrics: * Sector: HR Tech / Marketplace * Country: Netherlands * Business model: Two-sided marketplace * Market: €50B global HR consulting market (SHRM) * Traction: 50+ clients, 120+ experts, €350K+ GMV in 2.5 months * Raising: €450,000 seed round Listen to the full episode on AtVenture DealFlow. More: www.atventureplatform.com [http://www.atventureplatform.com] See you at the next great deal!

Catharina Savelkoul- Fundraising Founder of legml.ai

Episode 20 - Fundraising Founder: Catharina Savelkoul - legml.ai In this episode, Laurie Lancee speaks with Catharina Savelkoul, co-founder and CEO of legml.ai. legml.ai is building the platform that brings sovereign, customised AI to every organisation. Not a chatbot. The actual infrastructure to deploy private, fine-tuned AI models inside a company's own systems, in hours rather than months. 95% of enterprise AI pilots fail. The reason is structural: regulated companies cannot send confidential data to public APIs, generic models don't understand internal workflows, and traditional implementation takes six to twelve months. legml.ai solves all three by automating data curation, fine-tuning, and deployment inside the client's own infrastructure. Data never leaves. We discuss how Catharina found her co-founder Mo on LinkedIn, why their sector-specific models outperform much larger frontier models, and why she believes the biggest barrier to AI adoption is not the technology but trust. Key Metrics: * Sector: Deeptech / AI * Country: Netherlands / France * Business model: B2B, deployment fee + monthly subscription * Market: €12 trillion enterprise AI opportunity * Value proposition: Private, fine-tuned AI deployed inside your own infrastructure, in hours not months Listen to the full episode on AtVenture DealFlow. More: www.atventureplatform.com [http://www.atventureplatform.com] See you at the next great deal!

Mahmoud el Wakil- Fundraising founder of Homemade

Episode 19 - Fundraising Founder: Mahmoud el Wakil - Homemade In this episode, Laurie Lancee speaks with Mahmoud el Wakil, fundraising founder of Homemade. Homemade is building the Airbnb of food delivery. A platform that connects people who love to cook from home with customers looking for affordable, authentic, high-quality meals. Chefs start their restaurant from home with zero upfront cost and personally deliver to neighbours within a few kilometres. With 2,000+ chef sign-ups, 10K+ app users, €10K+ MRR and 7 cities live across the Netherlands, Homemade is proving that real food, real connection and a sustainable business model can beat the giants. We discuss the idea behind Homemade, the business model, how they tackle logistics without a delivery fleet, and why Mahmoud believes distribution is the most important skill right now. Key Metrics: 1. Sector: Marketplaces / FoodTech 2. Country: The Netherlands 3. Business model: Commission-based marketplace (10-14%) 4. Market: Dutch food delivery (€10B TAM) / Global ($460B TAM) 5. Traction: 10K+ app sign-ups, €10K+ MRR, 7 cities live, 2,000+ chef sign-ups 6. Value proposition: Home-cooked food, chef-delivered, 35-40% cheaper than mainstream apps Listen to the full episode on AtVenture DealFlow. More: www.atventureplatform.com [http://www.atventureplatform.com] See you at the next great deal!