Why Creandum: Interviews, Careers, & Portfolio

Gain insights into Creandum’s portfolio, investing approach, interview process, and compensation

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Creandum Overview

Creandum is one of the leading early-stage venture capital firms in Europe which supports some of the most successful tech companies such as Spotify, Klarna, KRY, Bold, iZettle, Epidemic Sound and many more.

The firm typically backs early-stage businesses in creating category-defining companies around the world.

Creandum primarily invests in disruptive technology, telecommunication, internet, consumer, wireless access, enterprise products and services, hardware and software companies, digital media, and electronic equipment – all from seed stage and beyond.

The firm is based in Stockholm, Sweden and has three additional offices in London, Berlin, and San Francisco.

Staffan Helgesson is the founder of Creandum. He established the firm in 2003 and is also one of their General Partners who is based in Stockholm.

Creandum AUM

According to The European VC, Creandum has around $2 billion in assets under management as of December 2023.

Creandum Interview Process & Questions

The interview process may change with each candidate. Despite these changes, the general nature of the process at Creandum (or a firm like it) stays the same for the most part. You can expect the following:

4 to 6 rounds of interview
The HR team or junior investment professionals conduct the first rounds, while the more senior professionals supervise the later rounds.
The whole process lasts for several weeks – unless it’s “on-campus” or “on-cycle” recruitment initiative

Interviews at Creandum will be a mixture of behavioral questions, fit questions, and technical or investing questions.

The Growth Equity Interview Guide is an excellent resource for anyone who needs help in preparing for growth/VC interviews.

Why Creandum

Interviewers want to know if the candidate has specific reasons for choosing their firm, and not simply sending job applications to any firm with open positions. So make sure to get ready for the “Why this firm” question as it will most likely show up during your interview.

If you’ve made connections with employees at the firm, this is the perfect time to mention them and their positive influence on your decision through the experience and insights they shared with you about the firm.

To know more about the firm and tailor your answer to “Why this firm” question, it’s highly recommended to listen to interviews with its investors, founders, and management team.

To get you started, here’s Peter Specht, General Partner at Creandum, on spotting unicorn investments:

More Interviews

Creandum Case Study

Candidates almost always have to perform a case study during interviews. Case studies are used in interviews to evaluate the technical and communication skills of their candidates.

Most of the time, case studies at firms like Creandum focus on financial modeling and investment recommendations. But for junior roles, they may also require a cold calling case study.

I’ve discussed case studies in great detail inside my Growth Equity Interview Guide. Check it out if you want help preparing for it.

Creandum Salary & Compensation

According to Salary.com, the average annual salary for employees at Creandum is approximately around $110K. For investment analysts, Creandum offers an average base salary of $100K per year, while there’s no data for recent associate hires.

Figures may still vary depending on several factors such as location, department, position, and the individual’s level of experience, education, and skill set.

Analyst

Creandum Careers, Jobs, & Internships

To view open roles at Creandum, head over to our job board where we also feature opportunities from other similar firms.

Creandum Portfolio & Investments

According to Crunchbase, Creandum has made 245 investments across six funds. Some of their notable deals include Spotify, Kry, and Klarna.

Notable Transaction: Atla

Recent text-generating models tend to make up facts and provide unfiltered or biased responses. For example, GPT-4 shared advice on self-harm, creating dangerous chemicals, and mentioning inappropriate terms.

Atla aims to make AI systems safer, more reliable, and use trusted sources when generating responses.

In December 2023, Creandum led a $5 million Seed round for Atla, with participation from Rebel Fund and Y Combinator.

According to Hanel Baveja, partner at Creandum, one of the reasons behind the investment is Atla’s impressive work ethic, ambition, and AI expertise.

Atla uses the fund to grow their team, level up their tech, and recruit more tech roles in London.

Next Steps

If you decide to send your application and build your investing career at Creandum, I would highly recommend that you check out my Growth Equity Interview Guide first before attending interviews.

Growth Equity Interview Guide helps professionals get a good grasp of topics that are typically covered during interviews such as financial modeling, case studies, and more. Check it out and start learning today!