The 12-Hour Flight Test: Backing the Right Founders with Fergal Mullen

Fergal Mullen left Ireland at 18 on an athletics scholarship and has spent 25 years in venture — first inside a NASDAQ-listed consultancy, then at Highland Capital Partners in Boston, before spinning out its European arm in 2012 to co-found Highland Europe. The firm now manages close to €4 billion, sees around 3,000 companies a year, and invests in seven or eight. Very few people can tell founders what happens on the other side of the table with that much of a funnel behind them.

In this conversation, we get into:

• What “coachable founder” actually means — and why the softest criterion on Highland Europe’s list is the one that decides.

• The bar for a growth-stage cheque: €10M+ revenue, 50%+ growth, and unit economics that treat investors’ capital with respect.

• Why Highland Europe scrapped the Monday partner pitch and meets founders at their own offices — and what they read from how you treat your team.

• The pitch that won an investment without a single slide.

• How the firm separates foundational AI businesses from wrappers a single model release could erase.

If you’re an Irish founder — raising now or a few years out — this episode is a look at exactly what the other side of the table is checking for.

Fergal Mullen is a co-founder and Partner at Highland Europe, the growth-stage technology investment firm based in London and Geneva.

Prior to founding Highland Europe, Fergal was a Partner at Highland Capital Partners, where he launched the firm’s European investment program in 2007.

Over the course of his career, Fergal has been involved with a number of leading technology companies, including Coremetrics (acquired by IBM), GlassesDirect (acquired by Essilor), Wooga (acquired by Playtika), Finanzcheck (acquired by Scout24), Privalia (acquired by Veepee), PhotoBox (acquired by Exponent Private Equity and Electra Partners), He has also been involved with VistaPrint (NASDAQ IPO), AMCS Group (acquired by EQT), and Nexthink (acquired by Vista Equity Partners).

Earlier in his career, Fergal was a founding partner of RSA Ventures, the corporate venture arm of RSA Security.

Before that, he was a founder and Senior Vice President of Cambridge Technology Partners (NASDAQ: CATP), where he served on the firm’s Global Executive Committee.

Fergal attended Harvard Business School where he earned his MBA and Brown University where he earned a BSc in Electrical Engineering and a BA in Business Economics.

Highland Europe is a growth-stage technology investment firm with offices in London and Geneva. Founded in 2012, the firm backs European software and consumer internet companies that have established product-market fit — typically €10 million or more in revenue, growing 50%+ — with cheques of €30–70 million. Highland Europe has backed close to 100 companies, holds around 60 in its current portfolio, and manages nearly €4 billion across six funds.

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