Samaipata, a pan-European venture capital firm based in Madrid, has launched an Operating Partner network to support its startups beyond capital. The network, made up of 15 senior executives from technology companies such as Airbnb, Microsoft, Google, Dropbox, BlaBlaCar, Spotify, and N26, provides specialized advisory support to the fund’s portfolio companies in critical areas including technology, growth, internationalization, talent, and the mental health of founders.
The initiative follows the model that funds such as Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Sequoia have been building in the United States for more than a decade: proprietary operating platforms dedicated exclusively to their portfolios. In Europe, however, most early-stage funds have not yet developed this level of structured support.
“When I founded La Nevera Roja, I realized there are moments that define the trajectory of a company for which capital alone does not prepare you. We would have liked to have someone close who had already gone through that journey. That is why we decided to build this network, to make that kind of experience available to the entrepreneurs we work with.”
José del Barrio, founding partner of Samaipata
Fifteen top-tier profiles
Operating Partners are activated depending on the timing and specific challenge of each startup. Among the fifteen professionals in the network are:
Operational support has become a key selection criterion for founders when choosing an investor. Beyond valuation, entrepreneurs increasingly assess access to expert networks, the practical experience behind the fund, and the ability to support them during critical growth moments. A startup redesigning its data architecture does not need the same profile as one structuring its international expansion or preparing its first institutional round. This specificity is precisely what makes the model work: founders do not receive generic advice, but rather the judgment of someone who has successfully walked the same path.
The Operating Partners are part of a broader support system Samaipata calls its Founder Success platform. Beyond operational advisory, the platform addresses four core challenges faced by early-stage founders: accelerating growth, accessing top-tier investors for future rounds, attracting senior talent, and supporting their personal development as founders. The result is a level of support that, until now, was typically only available from funds managing more than €1 billion in assets.
Samaipata is a pan-European venture capital firm investing in early-stage technology companies. The firm manages €150 million in assets. Since its founding in 2016 by José del Barrio and Eduardo Díez-Hochleitner, it has invested in 44 European companies, including Matera, Deporvillage, Embat, Imperia, Legl, VIVLA, Bigblue, Nory, and Foodchéri. Several of these companies have also been backed by leading international later-stage funds such as Accel, Bessemer, Creandum, Hedosophia, and Index Ventures.
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