New angel network founded by former Spotify employees

Three former Spotify employees found the business angel syndicate "Spoti Angels" with the aim of supporting European start-ups. There is a particular focus on the creator economy.

Countless employees from Facebook, Paypal and Rocket Internet have led the way and are now successful business angels. Now three Spotify alumni are joining them: Katia Yakovleva, John Bonten and Axel Bard Bringéus have founded "Spoti Angels" in Berlin. Their aim is to support start-ups in Europe with up to 150,000 euros that are active in the fields of consumer tech, the creator economy and the future of work. In addition to the money, the main aim is to make the experience and knowledge of the three available to the start-ups. It is always decided whether to invest individually or jointly. Initially, the Financial Times spin-offSifted reported on the foundation.

"We are interested in the trends that will shape the future. Questions like: How will we live? What services will we use? How will technology make our lives easier and more enjoyable?" says Jakovleva. The advantage for her is: "The big difference between an institutional investor and an angel is that you can be much more irrational," explains Bard Bringéus.

The creator economy, a trend that is currently spilling over from the USA to Europe, is of particular interest to "Spoti Angels". The sector covers everything to do with creators in social networks. According to estimates by the Signalfire fund, there are 50 million creators worldwide, two million of whom do it full-time. "Usually when you think of creators, you just think of Instagram stars or Youtubers, but there are also musicians, podcasters, meditation teachers, NFT creators, business influencers, designers and architects of the metaverse. There is so much potential for this space to transform and take many unexpected paths," says Yakovleva.

The three founders of "Spoti Angels" worked at Spotify between 2011 and 2015: Yakovleva was one of Spotify's first sales employees, Bonten and Bard Bringéus built up Spotify's expansion team. Together they managed the division, Bonten and Bard Bringéus launched Spotify in 60 other markets in addition to the DACH region. Yakovleva and Bonten then continued to invest individually in start-ups. Bard Bringéus founded EQT Ventures in Germany in 2017 and is now a board member of various start-ups.