1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Roman Kikta, Managing Partner at Mobility Ventures (Part 1)

Responding to a popular request, we are now sharing transcripts of our investor podcast interviews in this new series. The following interview with Roman Kikta was recorded in September 2020.

Roman Kikta is Managing Partner and Founder at Mobility Ventures. Roman discusses his firms’ investment thesis.

Sramana Mitra: Tell us a bit about your background and about Mobility Ventures. What are you trying to do? What is the investment thesis? 

Roman Kikta: I’ve been in this for quite a long time. I’ve gone through various cycles. I’ve been in wireless since the ’90s.

I consider myself to be an anthropologist before I am a technology person. Everything that I do is always grounded in understanding how people live their lives in their environment and the tools that they need for increased productivity or overall enjoyment. That’s the thesis in mind.

At Mobility Ventures, we focus on emerging companies across the wireless and global internet ecosystem. We invest in AI, data sciences, digital media, e-commerce, and software solutions such as local-based service applications.

Our typical investment in a seed-stage is anywhere from $100,000 up to $4 million over the life of the company. We are a hands-on value-added investor. We are looking to work with entrepreneurs to help build enduring significant companies that are going to dominate their space. 

Sramana Mitra: What is the size of the fund?

Roman Kikta: We have a working capital of about $200 million. We are a little different from other VC funds. In our latest fund, we have pulled together all of our own money to fund the working capital for our investments. That is a little bit different. We had institutional capital in the past, but we found that to be limiting. We look at opportunities globally. 

Sramana Mitra: I’m trying to understand what the differentiation is. We look at different cases, ideas, and how people are innovating even on the venture capital side. The $200 million is you and your partner’s personal capital. 

Roman Kikta: Yes, it is our personal capital. A lot of the fund documents limit you to where you can invest by geography. They limit you in the types of investments that you make because you pretty much brought in limited partners who have agreed to participate based on certain criteria.

If you can deviate from that plan, then you are breaching some of the covenants. For example, in the past, we were not able to make investments outside of North America. To us, that was quite limiting.

As we all know, there are great innovations and great entrepreneurs that are creating companies all over the world. Innovation in entrepreneurship is not limited to Silicon Valley. We are open to seeking out these opportunities whether they are in Israel or Europe.

I have a couple of great companies – Indoor Atlas out of Helsinki, Finland. They do indoor, mapping, and navigation using the Earth’s magnetic fields. 

This segment is part 1 in the series : 1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Roman Kikta, Managing Partner at Mobility Ventures
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