In a world where Silicon Valley still hogs the spotlight, Reshma Sohoni quietly built one of Europe’s most powerful venture capital engines—and did it as a brown woman in a white, male-dominated club.
As co-founder and Managing Partner of Seedcamp, Europe’s original early-stage VC fund, Sohoni has backed over 400 startups, including some that are now household names—like TransferWise (now Wise), Revolut, and UiPath. In a game where timing is everything, Reshma had the guts to go all-in before Europe’s startup ecosystem even existed.
She wasn’t chasing trends. She was shaping them.
Born in the U.S. to Indian immigrant parents, Sohoni studied at UPenn and earned her MBA at INSEAD. After stints in banking at Goldman Sachs and General Electric, she realized that the innovation she craved wasn’t happening in spreadsheets—it was bubbling in basement code studios and co-working corners across Europe.
In 2007, she co-founded Seedcamp, a pre-seed fund with a simple idea: invest in European talent before Silicon Valley gets the chance to. Her timing was impeccable. The global financial crisis shattered the old rules—and Sohoni’s team was right there, funding the rebels who would build the new digital economy.
At the time, VCs didn’t believe European founders had the hunger or scale to compete globally. Sohoni proved them dead wrong. Today, Seedcamp’s portfolio is worth over $10 billion, and she’s earned a reputation as the woman with the sharpest gut in the game.
But this isn’t just about numbers. Reshma is radically reshaping who gets funded and why.
She’s vocal about the lack of women, people of color, and first-time founders in the investment pipeline. She doesn’t just complain—she cuts checks. Seedcamp’s portfolio includes a growing number of women-led startups, founders from immigrant backgrounds, and companies headquartered outside of the “cool kid” cities.
In 2024, she was featured in multiple lists of the world’s top VCs—not just for her returns, but for her fierce focus on inclusion. And she’s using that power to demand systemic change: more female partners at funds, more equitable deal terms, and more founder-friendly startup ecosystems.
Sohoni isn’t flashy. She doesn’t chase hype cycles. She listens, backs early, and builds trust. Her philosophy? “Invest in missionaries, not mercenaries.” Founders who want to solve real problems—not just make a quick exit.
And it’s working. Seedcamp’s alumni are raising follow-on rounds from giants like Sequoia, Index, and Accel. And founders often cite Reshma as the only investor who truly listened when no one else returned their pitch decks.
She’s proving that venture capital can be visionary, human, and wildly successful—all at once.
.jfif)
