Hi Reader,

The support this week has been incredible, thank you. I couldn't be prouder to say Venice has its first paying members.

At its core, Venice is about networking. We exist to connect European eCommerce founders and facilitate collective problem-solving. Everything we do stems from that mission: bringing the right people together to share knowledge, tackle challenges, and grow together — tell us what you’re struggling with and we’ll know someone with the answer.

With that, I thought this would be a good opportunity to remind everyone how exactly we aim to add value:

• All Hands: Deep discussions where one founder leads each week, sharing a current challenge for 5 minutes, then we dig in together. No holds barred.
• Drop Ins: Expert-led sessions on specific topics. Kevin Indig kicked us off with AI + SEO, and we're building the lineup for the coming months.
• IRL Events: Our next Amsterdam event is next week with Kasper (LABFRESH), Micha (Marie-Stella-Maris), and Leonardo (Jump Ventures) leading our fireside chat. The next city announcement is coming soon.
• Partner Discounts: 50+ exclusive deals, with a dedicated section launching on the new website to make them easier to discover.
• Slack: Always-on communication for real-time problem-solving and connections.
• Newsletter + content: We want to cover European brands. Who’s growing, who’s getting funded or acquired, what’s working, trends, etc. and we're building out the systems to track and report on all of this.

Plus, we're working on more ways to help you connect and extract value as we scale.

Want to lock in founding member pricing? We have two options:

• Lifetime access: €500 (limiting to 20 more spots) → Make payment here​
• Monthly: €50 (50% off what new members pay) → Subscribe here​

But no rush. Your access stays free until January 2026 if you want.

Best,
Patrick

P.S. Having our first paying members feels like a real milestone. Thank you for believing in what we're building. Want to chat about anything? Drop me a DM or let’s hop on a call.

01. Around the Community 💬

• Our Amsterdam event is coming around fast. Both James and I will be over in Amsterdam next week. We’re looking forward to connecting with you all on July 9th!
• Kasper shared why LABFRESH has moved away from AI photography and back to human-shot creative. (I’d love to dig deeper into this one day soon + learn more about where you’re all using AI and where you’re not.)
• OOSC Clothing co-founder Nick Marsden is taking part in the Croyde Ocean Triathlon this weekend to raise money for the NR2F1 Foundation. Donate here.
• What’s one thing you wish you’d stressed less about at the start of your career? Astid & Miyu asked its team and got some great responses (not stressing about what you can’t control, changing your mind, not having to know everything).
• The alt*ego team took a trip to Wimbledon.

02. Inspo 💭

• Oshun’s problem-aware ads.
• Wild Nutrition launched its first out of home ad campaign across London.
• DASH Water made its TV ad debut.
• Jo Malone launched a seaside themed pop up in London.

03. Tactics, Trends, and Tools 📈

• Atria launched an Ad-Clone feature, enabling brands to replicate top-performing creatives in their own style and voice.
• Alcohol free beer sales have hit record highs, with the category showing +22% YoY growth.
• Mango launched a virtual fashion assistant tool, Mango Stylist, designed to make it easy and fast for shoppers to put together outfits.
• Almost 87% of Dutch consumers shop online. The average of all EU member states is 60.2%.

04. Market Moves 🌍

• UK supplement brand Tonic Health raised £2.8m to help support its growth.
• Neutonic has raised $3.7m at a valuation of $20m just 18 months after launch. The brand founded by James Smith and Chris Williamson will use the cash to increase its headcount and drive growth, retail and distribution.
• Cadence announced a partnership with Soho House across the UK and EU.
• Who Gives A Crap reported a 17% increase in revenues (£45.5M) between 1st July 2023 – 30th June 2024 and its operating profits have more than doubled to £2.8M.
• London-based Heights launched Hydrate+, an electrolyte formula with Cognizin® citicoline to support focus.

Supporters

The Venice newsletter is supported by Portless:

Struggling with tariffs? Unsure about upcoming changes? With Portless, you only pay tariffs after your customers pay you, so your cash always moves faster than your costs. Get the details here.

Let me know what you’re working on! If you ever want to chat / get a second opinion - just let me know. If I don’t have the answer I’ll connect you to someone who will :)

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