I have some exciting news to share

I want to share some exciting news. Beginning Sept 1, I am joining Cherry Ventures as Partner, focusing on seed investments with the brilliant team at Cherry. But it’s not a goodbye to Atomico, as I will stay on as an advisor.

I have been at Atomico almost 5 years and it’s been one of the most exciting and rewarding work experiences of my life. I had the privilege of working with and learning from some of the smartest and most talented people in the world, both on the investor side and the entrepreneur side.

I first met Niklas Zennström through our mutual friend Naren Shaam at Omio (Thanks for the intro Naren!). We met for coffee and we immediately found ourselves in a deep conversation about the exciting times we’re living in with technology as an enabler for real change in how we as humans behave, climate change, the opportunities in new technologies solving big problems, war stories from Skype and Spotify and the thrilling kick you get from a meeting with a founder who’s on a mission to build something the world has never seen before.

I was 8 months pregnant with my second child when we met. I had just moved back to Stockholm from New York and was coming out of 8 years as the Global Marketing Director at Spotify. I wasn’t sure I was going to find a new job as exciting as my previous one, but the meeting with Niklas proved me wrong. I joined Atomico and was given access to a group of founders on a mission to change the world and a team of world class operators and investors. I was asked to support our founders with their brand and marketing strategy as an XIR first and scout new investment opportunities in the Nordic region and set up an angel program.

I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity, the trust, the comradery and the platform Atomico has given me. It’s been a fantastic ride that has taken me to so many amazing places and situations and most importantly it gave me my first opportunity to learn about the venture business first hand. A few highlights include: launching the angel program and being able to work with the brilliant group of individuals in the greater European tech community; interviewing Niklas, David and Brent on stage at Slush right after Al Gore’s very presidential opening speech; hosting our founders, industry colleagues and LPs in the Swedish archipelago during the summer; receiving the Tech Profile of the Year award in Sweden; launching the Diversity and Inclusion Report with Diversity VC; kickstarting the conversation about tech’s lack of diversity; diving deep into femtech; and, of course, helping win deals with Atomico’s amazing team of investors. But the greatest rewards from my Atomico years are all the incredible people I have gotten to know, the friends I’ve made along the journey and having someone like Niklas as my mentor.

As a former operator and active angel investor I feel the most alive when working closely with the entrepreneurs I’m backing. It’s a very special feeling to share the same passion for the mission and work closely to achieve it. I can relate to an entrepreneur’s journey from my years at Spotify when we started out in a tiny flat in Stockholm at a time when people were still buying MP3s or pirating music illegally. It’s pretty mind blowing seeing something go from whiteboard to hundreds of millions of users worldwide.

As an investor, what matters most to me is how much value I can bring to the table. I believe my sweet-spot to do so is to work with founders at seed stage and support them on their journey.

I’m a passionate angel investor and my last 9 years with 40+ deals have truly shaped me. And I have to admit, I love the hunt for the best and brightest founders. I love the excitement that comes with being the first check in. I love the optimism of what is to follow. And I love to support founders from Day One.

That’s why I have decided now is the best time to make the move to focusing on early-stage investing with the team at Cherry.

Whereas A and B investments tend to hinge on analyzing traction, seed investing is all about assessing potential. It’s about reading external trends, building momentum, evaluating the team, and all the other often unseen, but core components deeply rooted in any and all successful businesses. At Cherry, I’ll be devoting my time to finding those yet-to-be-spotted, but ready-to-make-an-impact teams and companies that make me so excited.

During the last few years I have gotten to know the team at Cherry through both the close relationship they have with Atomico and as an angel since they have seed invested in four of my angel investments (LifeX, Manual, Eastnine and Hedvig). Their backgrounds as former operators, thought leadership, ability to build meaningful relationships with founders over time, proven track record and shared value ground resonates with me. And the fact that we share the same enthusiasm for early stage investing in Europe makes me beyond excited about this new chapter.

As a Partner based in Stockholm, I will continue scouting Europe’s boldest founders but just a bit earlier than before. Cherry’s investments total over 50 companies across various industries — including heavy hitters FlixBus, Forto, and Infarm to name a few — and I look forward to working closely with companies already in the portfolio and continuing to bring attention to female founders and Nordic entrepreneurship.

As I said earlier, I’m not saying goodbye to Atomico since I’ll still be part of the family as an advisor but I want to say a heartfelt thank you to all my friends there for all the support and for making my last five years so meaningful and exciting.