Index backs exceptional founders with 'table-pounding conviction', investing in partnerships with people rather than in deals, from idea to IPO and beyond. They describe themselves as 'scaled artisans' — combining intimate founder collaboration with institutional scale across Europe, the US and Israel. They look for passionate, visionary founders with a unique insight, a large market, and the ambition to build a business that can ultimately exit for hundreds of millions or billions — and they care most about what founders achieve before any funding arrives.
A founder with a genuinely unique insight about a market or problem — a new way of seeing the world, not a marginal improvement.
“a unique insight about a market or problem” — What Index looks for in an investment
“Great entrepreneurs have a vision...They have a new way in which they see the world.” — Mike Volpi
“Chris & Sam have the remarkable ability to make a nuanced insight sound like common sense” — Georgia Stevenson
A creative, innovative product that leverages the founder's insight to disrupt how a market operates; in a pitch, it should be conveyed visually and stand on its own.
“a creative and innovative product or service that leverages this insight” — What Index looks for in an investment
“disrupt the way a market operates or provides a creative and new solution” — Index Ventures
“If you haven't conveyed your key information in 12 slides, it's probably too long.” — Martin Mignot
“Supercell offers a radically new model for agile content development that has made it the highest grossing iOS game developer with only 2 game titles” — Neil Rimer
A large market opportunity where returns aren't capped — Index needs conviction the business can ultimately exit for hundreds of millions or ideally billions. Show the macro scale visually.
“conviction that a business can ultimately exit for many hundreds of million or ideally billions” — What Index looks for in an investment
“unlikely to pursue investment opportunities where the absolute return for investors is capped by market size” — Index Ventures
“There are two important sets of numbers when it comes to visual storytelling: There's the macro and the micro.” — Martin Mignot
“The vast majority of S&P 500 assets are intangible: it's the intellectual property, the ideas, the patents that drive the value” — Bastian Hasslinger
What you achieve before funding — prototypes, alpha products, road-tested campaigns, durable engagement and rapid customer growth. How much you do with no money is a strong signal; palpable product love counts.
“How much you are able to achieve without funding is a strong indicator” — What Index looks for in an investment
“extensive market research, built prototypes or alpha products and road-tested marketing campaigns” — Index Ventures
“The startup has grown its client base more than 20-fold, expanding from a few passionate early adopters to serving more than 150 small and medium-sized software and tech companies.” — Julia Andre
“showing no telltale signs of declining engagement, with such limited resources” — Neil Rimer
“the product love Granola has generated in a short period of time is palpable” — Georgia Stevenson
Passionate, visionary founders — ideally a founding team blending commercial, operational and technical talent — with the drive to build whether or not they get funded. People come first; 'it's all about the people.'
“we prefer to back a founding team rather than a lone founder” — What Index looks for in an investment
“Some people think venture is all about the money. For us, it's all about the people.” — Index Ventures
“Those who have been put on this Earth to build their business and would be doing it whether they got funded or not.” — Index Ventures
“We're looking for authentic entrepreneurs building mission-driven businesses.” — Jan Hammer
“It demands a razor-sharp evaluation of raw talent and an alignment between founder and investor on what the world looks like in the future.” — Nina Achadjian
Clear unit economics shown at the micro level — if you sell one unit, what is the real revenue, margin and profit; flexible models that scale efficiently are a plus.
“what's very important is unit economics...waterfall-type graphs, which are great for breaking down each component.” — A top VC's recipe for an eye-catching pitch
“Supercell offers a radically new model for agile content development that has made it the highest grossing iOS game developer with only 2 game titles” — Neil Rimer
“Hyperline is built for flexibility...it supports hybrid solutions and can run countless pricing models simultaneously.” — Julia Andre
Defensibility through founder insight and a moat that compounds — owning a strategic position (e.g. a foundational platform across a workflow) rather than a feature competitors can copy.
“Ankar is set to become a foundational tool for companies across the entire lifecycle of any invention” — Ankar Raises $20M Series A to Accelerate and Protect Innovation
“The ability to accurately map the patent landscape to understand what exists and where opportunities lie is a key strategic tool” — Bastian Hasslinger
“As AI shortens development times and makes ideas easier to replicate than ever, Ankar is set to become a critical enabler” — Bastian Hasslinger
Alignment with where the world is heading — especially AI-driven shifts that create urgency and new behaviors. Founder and investor must share a view of the future.
“an alignment between founder and investor on what the world looks like in the future” — Introducing Index Origin, a $200 Million Seed Fund Investing in Entrepreneurs from Day One
“As AI shortens development times and makes ideas easier to replicate than ever, Ankar is set to become a critical enabler” — Bastian Hasslinger
“With at least 20 states banning Chinese-made drones for official use, or with legislation in process this cycle, demand for BRINC's solutions will only grow.” — Vlad Loktev
“AI offers us the ability to scale while keeping teams small, agile, and highly talented.” — Antoine Le Nel (Revolut), via Index essay
A pitch that stands on its own and reads as a conversation; focus the ask on the size of the opportunity and impact, not on exits or how much you could sell for.
“The best pitches typically tend to be conversations.” — A top VC's recipe for an eye-catching pitch
“If you are raising Seed or Series A round and come in talking about how much you can sell for or IPO for, it gives the signal that all you're really interested in is exiting.” — Martin Mignot
“Capital is a commodity, but the relationships it comes with can't be commoditized.” — Mike Volpi
“If you haven't conveyed your key information in 12 slides, it's probably too long.”
“There's no such thing as 'too early' at Index.”
“Capital is a commodity, but the relationships it comes with can't be commoditized.”
“what we found uniquely compelling was the way in which Ilkka Paananen and his team had managed to deliver two incredibly popular games which were showing no telltale signs of declining engagement, with such limited resources.”