Sophia Bendz
About Sophia Bendz
Sophia Bendz began her career in marketing at Spotify. A podcast profile describes her as one of the company's first 10 employees, and she later served as global marketing director. She moved from Stockholm to Spotify's New York office during its growth years.
She later joined Atomico as an Executive in Residence and was promoted to partner in November 2018, with a focus on Nordic investments. At Atomico she created the Atomico Angel Programme, which gives outside individuals a way to scout and invest alongside the firm in seed-stage founders. In July 2020 she left Atomico to join Cherry Ventures in Berlin. Her stated reason was to focus on seed stage, where she could do more deals and work with founders earlier.
She is based in Stockholm. Her X profile lists her as General Partner at Cherry, angel investor, advisor to Atomico and advisor to the Swedish Prime Minister.
TechCrunch reported in July 2020 that she had made 44 angel deals in the previous nine years. She has said her first angel investment came from a former Spotify colleague who started a company and asked her to be an investor and advisor. She committed a few hours a week and received stock as compensation. Tictail was another early angel investment and advisory role.
PitchBook lists 41 investments and Crunchbase lists 33 personal investments. These counts come from different databases and differ from each other.
In July 2026 Bendz took part as an angel in the $3.2M seed round of Scape, a Stockholm startup building an AI-native email client. Y Combinator and General Catalyst backed the round, alongside FundersClub and other angels including Max Junestrand and Sebastian Knutsson. Crunchbase also lists her as an investor in Aiden.ai's 2018 seed round. We found no other AI-specific deals in public sources.
At Cherry she invests at seed stage. Atomico, by contrast, mainly backs Series A and later rounds. Public sources place her in Europe, with a Nordic emphasis during her Atomico years. Her interviews describe an interest in female founders and diverse, underrepresented teams. Her public portfolio includes consumer, climate and health companies as well as AI. We found no check size that she has stated publicly.
- Scape: Stockholm AI-native email client; joined its $3.2M seed as an angel in July 2026.
- Aiden.ai: listed by Crunchbase as a seed investment in November 2018.
- Tictail: e-commerce platform whose founder asked her to invest and advise; year not stated in the source.
- Care to Translate: Crunchbase lists her in a February 2022 round.
- Wikifarmer: Crunchbase and PitchBook list a seed investment, with PitchBook dating it February 2023.
- techcrunch.com/2020/07/17/former-spotify-marketing-exec-turned-vc-soph
- medium.com/included-vc/the-art-of-being-a-wholesome-and-authentic-vc-w
- scandinavianmind.com/angel-eye
- open.spotify.com/episode/2kIfqiBDe3SD48oVkFP2Rn
- x.com/sophiabendz
- x.com/sophiabendz/status/1059383277927256064
- crunchbase.com/person/sophia-bendz
- crunchbase.com/organization/aiden-2/financial_details
Investing activity
Sophia Bendz appears in 1 AI deal tracked by the Lounge deals desk. The rounds are mostly Seed, with a median round size of $3M. The most recent is Scape (Seed, $3.2M, Jul 2026).
Sophia Bendz most often invests alongside FundersClub, General Catalyst, Max Junestrand and Y Combinator, and the companies they back on Lounge are mostly in AI.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Sophia Bendz
Who is Sophia Bendz?
She is a Swedish angel investor and General Partner at Cherry Ventures. She previously led global marketing at Spotify and was a partner at Atomico.
Does Sophia Bendz invest in AI startups?
Yes. She was an angel in Scape's $3.2M seed round in July 2026, and Crunchbase lists her as an investor in Aiden.ai's 2018 seed. Her portfolio is not limited to AI.
What stage does Sophia Bendz invest in?
At Cherry Ventures she focuses on seed stage. She said she left Atomico to work with founders earlier than Series A.
What is Sophia Bendz's check size?
She has not stated a check size publicly, and we found no reliable figure.
How should founders reach Sophia Bendz?
She is active on X at @sophiabendz and on LinkedIn. Founders can also approach her through Cherry Ventures.
What is the Atomico Angel Programme?
She created it at Atomico. It lets selected individuals scout and invest alongside the firm in seed-stage founders, especially underrepresented ones.
Is Sophia Bendz an angel investor?
Yes. Sophia Bendz invests personally as an angel.
What AI companies has Sophia Bendz invested in?
Sophia Bendz's AI investments include Scape. The 1 round on Lounge are listed on this page with amounts, dates and co-investors.
What stage does Sophia Bendz invest at?
In the rounds tracked on Lounge, Sophia Bendz has invested at Seed, with a median round of $3M.
Who does Sophia Bendz co-invest with?
Sophia Bendz's most frequent co-investors on Lounge are FundersClub (1 deal), General Catalyst (1 deal), Max Junestrand (1 deal), Y Combinator (1 deal) and Jacob Wallenberg (1 deal).