At Auxxo, Carla Schell is responsible for the ‘Platform’ area. As an early employee, she drives topics such as branding, networking, and “value-add” for the fund’s portfolio companies alongside building the fund. She likes to launch initiatives herself, is committed to digital education and personal development, and founded a coding school to enable the unemployed and socially disadvantaged to participate in digitalization. With “Amelia”, she also founded her own startup, which as a development program and network aims to enable female professionals to build a self-determined professional and personal career.
Auxxo has already invested in several Munich startups, such as Anybill, Einwert, Fides, Filu, and Ubimaster.
Founding with purpose
Munich Startup: What motivated you to work with startups in the investment sector?
Carla Schell, Auxxo: From the beginning of my career, the “why” of my work and the impact I can have on others and society have been at the forefront. For years, I’ve been concerned about the low proportion of female founders in Germany and the fact that only a fraction of venture capital goes to them. The ‘Auxxo Female Catalyst Fund’ is Germany’s first venture capital fund that specifically addresses this by investing exclusively in teams with at least one woman in the founding team. By now, we’ve made 30 investments in amazing women with our first fund.
In our work with the portfolio, we have a strong focus on leadership and founder wellbeing, and can thus act as an “impact multiplier” to influence what kind of companies are built with our capital. Several studies have also shown that women found with purpose and build more sustainable and diverse companies – a win-win situation.
Munich Startup: Which technology or industry do you personally find particularly interesting right now?
Carla Schell: The future of work, especially combined with the potential of current AI developments, fascinates me. The way we have worked over the last decades is no longer contemporary and won’t move Germany forward in the future. AI offers the opportunity to increase productivity, reduce working hours, and deploy everyone where they bring the most value. The key to this is taking everyone on this technological journey and rethinking education. Questions like “How do we successfully reskill and upskill employees? How do we place a greater focus in education on unique human skills like creativity, emotional intelligence, or storytelling?” occupy my mind. Additionally, the “how” we work will increasingly come to the fore.
Diverse teams lead to higher returns
Munich Startup: In your view, what advantages do diverse founding or VC teams bring?
Carla Schell: Several studies have shown that diverse teams lead to higher returns. Different opinions and experiences help make more informed and balanced decisions, and different perspectives lead to more innovation. Gender is only one part of diversity.
In the VC context, diverse teams are essential to finding the best deals and making investment decisions. The scene is unfortunately historically very male-dominated with one-sided backgrounds and the same networks. Most deals come through personal networks. And similarity bias means that teams that are similar to you (gender, professional background, etc.) are preferred.
That’s why the diversity of startups needs to be reflected in the investor landscape. Fortunately, a lot is happening in this direction right now. Particularly noteworthy are the 300-member female angel network “Evangelistas” and the newly founded angel arm of “2Hearts”.
Pitch tip: Show your vision and deliver facts
Munich Startup: What are your three favorite work tools?
Carla Schell: I organize my personal and work life largely in the note-taking tool Notion. I also couldn’t do without my Google Calendar. For creative “balance”, I love to experiment with the design tool Figma.
Munich Startup: Your top tip on “pitching”?
Carla Schell: Develop a story in which you show the big vision and at the same time provide facts for why you are the right person to realize this vision. And: the first pitch usually doesn’t land. Practice with friends, your network, or investors who aren’t too high on your priority list.
Munich Startup: Does it seem like a good time to found a company right now? Why?
Carla Schell: Historically, the best companies have emerged during times of crisis. Also, thanks to new technologies, it has never been easier to validate ideas so quickly and cheaply. So yes, it’s definitely a good time to take the plunge into entrepreneurship!
Munich Startup: What do you think could be improved at Munich as a startup location?
Carla Schell: “It has never been so easy, fast, and cheap to validate ideas”
Carla Schell: I moved from Berlin to Munich about a year ago. What struck me was that Munich has great networks, but they tend to be exclusive and rarely come together. Except for the Munich Startup Festival. I missed the “welcome culture” of Berlin. That’s why I founded the regular “Women in Tech” breakfast “Croissants & Connect”. Here we bring together women from different generations and professional backgrounds. I realized that Munich is actually very open to this kind of thing!
Munich Startup: Which investor would you like to meet in person someday? And what would you ask them?
Carla Schell: I don’t have specific role models among investors or founders. Working in venture capital, you meet countless fascinating personalities every week. And I quickly realized that you can take a lot of learnings and inspiration from every encounter. I’m mainly interested in what drives the person in front of me – both professionally and personally.
