Our General Partner Marie Lepske, was recently a guest on Charles Cormier’s VC Wisdom Podcast, and she has shared about her journey from applied mathematics to early-stage investing, how Constructor Capital evaluates deep tech, and what is currently ahead as the Constructor Capital approaches the three-year milestone.
The conversation covered Marie’s experience on both sides of the table, as an investor and also as an operator, as well as the role Constructor’s broader ecosystem plays in evaluating technically complex startups.
From Applied Mathematics to Startup Realities
Marie started her career in applied mathematics, with a focus on control systems and physics. She moved into venture capital shortly after university and has spent the past 14 years working across family offices, investment firms, and her own startup.
Over the last eight years, much of her work has focused on quantum technologies. During that time, she has invested in two companies in the sector that went on to become unicorns.
Before coming back to venture funds, Marie has experienced the realities of startup life as co-founder, early investor, and also as Chief Operating Officer of a location-based proximity SDK and IT platform founded out of a family office in 2016.
"We did below-the-line solutions so when, for example, you are entering a theater, cinema, supermarket, the particular place could contact with you when you are near it or inside it... We raised approximately $1 million, and at that time it was a good seed round."
While the company got early traction, an attempt to expand and fundraise in the US was proved unsuccessful, which is an experience Marie credits with shaping her perspective as an investor:
"We went to the US market and we failed. So it was a fail story, but it was very helpful to understand how a startup works, which processes are happening inside, and how you’re paying salaries to your employees and not paying to yourself. It was a very useful process when now investing in startups, to actually understand how startups work."
The Constructor Group
During the conversation, Marie detailed how Constructor Capital fits into the broader Constructor Group ecosystem, which combines academic research, software development, and venture capital:
- Constructor Knowledge: Anchored by Constructor University in Bremen, Germany’s largest private university campus, housing over 2,000 students, a 500-person headcount, 100 professors, and an extensive scientific advisory board operating at the intersection of science, technology, and business.
- Constructor Technology: An educational technology software provider developing learning management systems (LMS), proctoring tools, and adaptive learning software for universities, schools, and enterprise clients.
- Constructor Capital: A dedicated early-stage venture fund nearing three years since inception, founded alongside serial entrepreneur Serg Bell (founder of Acronis and Parallels), with whom Marie has worked for eight years back to their collaboration at Runa Capital.
Technical Diligence: "6 Physicists Out of 10 Team Members"
Traditional financial analysis has its limits when evaluating an early-stage company in areas such as quantum computing, advanced hardware, or frontier technologies.
That is one reason Constructor Capital has built a team with a strong scientific background. Of the fund’s 10 team members, six have academic backgrounds in physics.
The team also brings on experts outside the fund. Professors, scientific advisers, researchers, and specialists from Constructor University and other institutions can be consulted into the diligence process to challenge technical assumptions and assess whether a company’s claims hold up.
Constructor also makes use of its wider network when relevant. Founders from previous quantum and computing investments can provide perspective based on their own experience, while teams from Acronis, Parallels, Constructor Technology, and other companies in the network can help assess software and technical architecture.
The full conversation can be seen on the Founder Wisdom Podcast on YouTube.
