The founder–VC relationship sits at the heart of the startup ecosystem. Yet in practice, expectations between both sides often diverge. Founders look for long-term partners who understand their vision and challenges. Investors seek high-growth opportunities and structured governance. Somewhere in between, communication gaps, misaligned incentives, and unclear expectations can emerge.
This session will bring together voices from across the ecosystem to discuss the practical gaps, and opportunities, in current founder–VC collaboration models.
Key discussion points
- Where do founder–VC relationships most commonly become misaligned?
- What do founders expect from investors beyond capital?
- What do VCs need from founders to build strong partnerships?
- How can new collaboration models create healthier and more effective startup–investor relationships?
- Together, they will share practical insights from working across fundraising, venture investment, and founder support.
Event details
⏰ Date and time: 15 April 2026 10:00-11:30 CEST
🎙️ Format: Online panel discussion
👥 Who should attend: Founders, investors, ecosystem builders, and anyone interested in how founder–investor relationships are evolving in today’s startup ecosystem.
Speakers
- Sarah Anto, Founder of FundHER – Ecosystem Builder
FundHER is an accelerator supporting women founders in accessing capital and scaling globally. Through her work with early-stage startups, she has direct insight into the challenges founders face when engaging with investors and navigating funding ecosystems. - Caritta Seppä, Senior Investment Manager at Spintop Ventures – Venture Capital
Spintop Ventures is an early-stage VC investing in technology startups. Caritta brings the investor perspective on how VCs evaluate founders, structure collaboration, and support companies beyond capital. - Barbara Bachus, Co-Founder of Exomatter – Startup
Supernovas Rocket Up and Investment Forums participant. Exomatter is an AI-driven materials discovery startup. Barbara leads fundraising and investor relations, with hands-on experience securing venture and public funding in complex deep-tech environments. Working closely with VCs and strategic partners, Barbara has firsthand insight into where current VC–founder collaboration models fall short—from misaligned expectations to gaps in technical understanding—and how to turn these into more effective, trust-based partnerships. - Celia Alija, Entrepreneurship Project Manager at EIT Food – Moderator
Celia works on entrepreneurship and innovation programmes that support startups, investors and ecosystem builders across Europe. With previous experience in strategy, operations and investment, she brings a broad perspective on how innovation can be turned into real market impact. She is particularly passionate about building stronger connections between founders, investors and institutions, and about advancing more inclusive entrepreneurship and investment ecosystems. At Supernovas, Celia leads flagship programmes for women investors, including the VC Academy and Women2Invest.
