Taavet+Sten

Skaala operates as an investment company dedicated to generating meaningful, long-term value across various asset classes. Its comprehensive portfolio spans private equity, real assets, and impact-driven projects within global markets. The firm’s approach emphasizes building sustainable and resilient solutions, aiming to deliver both financial growth and positive societal outcomes through its investments.

The company's roots trace back to 2005 with Taavet Hinrikus, Skype's inaugural employee, as he managed his burgeoning startup investments. After co-founding Wise (formerly TransferWise) in 2010, Hinrikus later partnered in 2021 with Sten Tamkivi, a former Skype colleague and founder of Teleport, to establish Taavet+Sten, an investment platform. This venture officially rebranded to Skaala in late 2024, evolving from the founders’ shared mission and extensive entrepreneurial backgrounds.

Skaala primarily supports founders and projects, delivering capital and fostering strategic collaboration across diverse industries. The company envisions driving systemic change through enduring solutions, underpinned by its core principles of scale, curiosity, courage, and connection. It strives to achieve significant impact by actively connecting individuals and innovative ideas within its investment ecosystem.

High-Level Overview

Taavet+Sten is an investment partnership, not a traditional VC fund, founded by serial entrepreneurs Taavet Hinrikus and Sten Tamkivi. It backs early-stage startups primarily in Europe (with some in Southeast Asia and the US) using the founders' own capital, emphasizing analytical diligence, long-term patience, and skills beyond mere funding—such as networks and investment models that others can replicate.[1][2][3] Their mission involves iterating on non-standard investment formats, writing first checks of €500k to €2m in several dozen deals annually, often in climate tech, deeptech, synthetic biology, and crypto innovations, while supporting early-stage funds like Tiny VC for pre-seed exposure.[1]

The philosophy prioritizes "scar tissue" from operator experience over board seats, helping founders through hands-on networks rather than institutional control. Key sectors span fintech (though they're moving beyond neobanks), climate solutions, and emerging tech, influencing Europe's startup ecosystem by democratizing access to proven angel-like support and frameworks.[1][3]

Origin Story

Taavet+Sten emerged from the partnership of Taavet Hinrikus (co-founder of TransferWise/Wise) and Sten Tamkivi (early Skype executive and Seedcamp advisory board member for a decade), both battle-tested founders turned investors.[1][3] While exact founding year isn't specified, it operates as a personal capital vehicle, evolving from direct seed investments to backing funds like Tiny VC for broader pre-seed reach.[1]

The duo's backstory humanizes their approach: leveraging operator "scar tissue" to mimic impactful angels, seeing "a few hundred deals per quarter" via strong dealflow. They shifted from comfort-zone fintech to challenging areas like climate tech, embracing pitches where "you don’t understand half of it" for fun and impact. Notably, the partnership rebranded to Skaala in late 2024, expanding into diverse asset classes.[1][4]

Core Differentiators

• Unique investment model: Not a traditional fund or VC; iterates on formats like direct €500k-€2m first checks and LP positions in funds (e.g., Tiny VC), prioritizing replicable frameworks for other founders over board control.[1]
• Network strength: Draws from founders' scars—Hinrikus's Wise success, Tamkivi's Skype/Seedcamp ties—for "angel-like" help that founders value most, processing hundreds of deals quarterly.[1]
• Track record: Proven financial performance via fund backing; focuses on Europe with selective global bets, avoiding most pre-seed for scalable early-stage plays.[1][2]
• Operating support: Builds "skills beyond capital" with analytical diligence and long-term patience, targeting climate/deeptech for high-impact, out-of-comfort-zone innovation.[1][3]

Role in the Broader Tech Landscape

Taavet+Sten rides the wave of operator-led investing in Europe, where traditional VCs dominate board seats but angels provide outsized value—amplifying a trend toward founder-centric capital amid maturing ecosystems like Tiny VC's "indexing Europe."[1] Timing aligns with post-2022 funding winters, favoring patient, non-institutional models that thrive on personal networks over spray-and-pray syndicates.

Market forces like Europe's deeptech/climate boom (e.g., synthetic biology, carbon credit tokens) favor their pivot from fintech saturation, influencing the ecosystem by open-sourcing investment playbooks and funding funds—scaling impact without diluting founder autonomy. Their rebrand to Skaala signals adaptation to multi-asset private equity, potentially bridging angel efficiency with institutional scale.[1][4]

Quick Take & Future Outlook

Skaala (ex-Taavet+Sten) is poised to redefine operator investing by productizing frameworks for wider adoption, likely ramping deal volume in climate/deeptech as AI-adjacent trends like synthetic bio accelerate. Expect deeper fund-of-funds plays and Southeast Asia/US expansion, shaped by Europe's regulatory thaw and global decarbonization mandates.

Their influence could evolve from niche partnership to ecosystem blueprint-maker, empowering founders amid VC consolidation—proving that scar tissue and iteration beat capital alone, much like their origins in Skype/Wise disrupted payments.