LEVA: The Venture Leader Fintech creating the investment syndication platform of the future

Our expert jury recently chose ten startups to participate in the Venture Leaders Fintech 2022 program whose founders will join the Swiss National Startup Team. In anticipation of the London roadshow at the end of November, we would like to introduce our community to each of the Venture Leaders. Meet Cosimo Donati, CEO of LEVA.

Name: Cosimo Donati
Location: Bern & Zürich
Nationality: Swiss
Graduated from: University of St. Gallen (HSG) with a double Master’s degree in Banking & Finance and CEMS in 2015
Job title: CEO
Number of employees: 8
Money raised: CHF 1 million
First touchpoint with Venturelab: In 2021, when Venturelab became a customer of LEVA

What does your startup do and why?
Our platform allows dealmakers in private markets to set up and structure investment syndicates and raise funds from their network of co-investors.

How and where did you come up with the idea for your startup?
I was looking to syndicate an investment opportunity with some friends. However, the available syndication (or pooling) solutions did not satisfy our needs, as they all needed to be managed manually, which means they are too expensive. Talking to peers, we realized that many players in the industry faced the same challenges. That's why we decided to build the perfect tool for syndication.  

What do you expect from the Venture Leaders roadshow, and how do you think it help you achieve your vision?
The UK is the largest market for our product in Europe. I expect to meet potential clients and leave LEVA's footprint in the UK. I'm also looking forward to learning about the experiences of my peers who are joining the roadshow. I'm can’t wait to exchange ideas with bright minds and learn how to become a more effective entrepreneur.

Whom does your product or solution help, and how?
Our customers are business angels, venture capitalists, wealth managers, family offices, and funds. They use LEVA because we offer the most effective solution to syndicate deals. With LEVA, they can set up an investment syndicate digitally in just a few minutes. Our online dashboard allows them to manage their deals online. This allows our users to save precious time and money when syndicating deals.
 

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"Our product is at the intersection of the legal, financial, and technological worlds, so it was key to have people on board who can cover these three topics."

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What are you most excited about at work right now?
We are getting lots of traction from institutional customers. This is great proof that our solution is becoming more established in the market. Furthermore, we are redesigning our architecture to fit our customers’ needs even better. 

How did you build your team?
Our product is at the intersection of the legal, financial, and technological worlds, so it was key to have people on board who can cover these three topics. I met my co-founder and COO, Philippe Teissonnière, 14 years ago when we started studying in St. Gallen. We always wanted to build something together, and LEVA offered this opportunity. I was introduced to Alexander di Chiara, our CTO, by my peers as someone with substantial experience in our field.

Which market are you addressing and what is the potential of your startup?
We are addressing the global syndication industry across the private market universe. There are over USD 20,000 billion in assets under management in private markets. We aim to become the operating system for dealmakers in private markets, an industry worth USD 200 billion per year.

What are your key achievements to date?
Since our beta launch in July 2020, over 250 syndicates were set up on our platform and over 2,000 investors have been invited on the platform by over 80 general partners. 
 

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"Every improvement we achieve together will impact the lives of our customers in a positive way." 

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Is there something not many people know about you?
I'm fluent in 5 languages and love learning the basics of a new language.

What is your favorite podcast and why?
Techmeme Ride Home. In fifteen to twenty minutes, they summarize the last 24 hours' key events in the tech world.

How did you come up with the name of your startup?
LEVA in Italian means lever, so the tool you need to achieve more using fewer resources. LEVA is the lever deal makers need to close better deals faster. I want to see LEVA become the lever used by everyone doing deals in the private market universe. 

What is the most rewarding aspect of being a founder?
You get to work with very ambitious and smart people on a problem that has not yet been solved. Every improvement we achieve together will impact the lives of our customers in a positive way. 

How do you stay on top of industry trends?
Our customers fund the technologies of tomorrow, so many of them are always on the lookout for the newest trends, trying to anticipate behavioral changes. I'm in close exchange with our customers as well as the business development team to understand how the market is evolving and what alternatives our customers and potential customers could be considering next to LEVA. I also listen to various industry podcasts, follow the deal flow of some of the leading VC firms, and read all I can about our industry as well as adjacent industries.

The Venture Leaders Fintech roadshow in London is organized by Venturelab in partnership with Swissnex and supported by EPFL, ETH Zürich, and Walder Wyss.