byFounders Welcomes Sara Rywe

From flipping burgers in the Swedish countryside to truly living up to the term ‘global citizen,’ Sara’s journey leading her to join byFounders this January (2020) is quite a remarkable story to tell.

Despite her young age, Sara has lived, studied, and worked in over 10 countries. Her first real entrepreneurial endeavor began at the age of 17 when she started a dancing school targeted to help kids with low self-esteem. Together with her co-founder she employed three dance instructors and helped more than 80 kids.

Since then, she’s been diligently paving her path in the startup ecosystem, supporting young entrepreneurs around the world across a range of initiatives. She worked as the national coordinator for the European entrepreneurial network JA-YE Alumni, helped implement South America’s first regional company competition for young entrepreneurs, toured around schools as an inspirational speaker in the US, and started UF Alumni (one of Sweden’s most extensive networks for young entrepreneurs).

“It was not until I started my dancing school that I realized how impactful it can be to work with what you’re truly passionate about and stand on your own two feet. Suddenly my years at McDonald's, as a home help, and as a factory operator felt very distant. That’s when I decided to dedicate my time to encourage others to also explore the entrepreneurial route.”

Before joining the team at byFounders, Sara began her career with some short stints in two digital startups, MyCube, a Singapore-based social network focused on online privacy and monetization of content, and Wikia, Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales’ commercial offshoot (now called Fandom). She also spent countless of hours at the intersection of social impact and business, exploring topics such as social entrepreneurship and diversity in business.

After finishing her bachelor's degree, Sara went on to explore the ‘grown-up world’ of management consulting at McKinsey & Company, primarily focusing on organizational topics and transformational change in financial services, followed by a role as the Head of the group-wide Transformation Office at Danske Bank.

“Sara’s analytical and strategic background is something we really value at byFounders — but what truly makes us happy to have her on board is that she combines this with a real understanding of the startup world and a warm-hearted yet action-oriented personality.”

At byFounders, Sara will be overseeing our investments in Scandinavia, focusing primarily on Sweden and Norway. While being industry-agnostic, Sara is particularly eager to find ground-breaking opportunities within the HR Tech space where her organizational knowledge comes in good hand. Her keen interest in social impact and diversity is something that she also continues to focus on as she scouts for visionary and action-oriented founders.

“I’m inspired by the people who set out to solve some of the world’s most pressing challenges — the one of a kind people who dare to be “nerdy.” I feel grateful and privileged to be able to listen to the stories of these founders daily.”

Sara is an experienced public speaker, food-lover, and a proven adventurer who holds an MBA from INSEAD and Wharton Business School, a Bachelor in Business & Economics from Stockholm School of Economics and a certificate in International Business from the State University of New York.

Safe to say, we are excited to have Sara on board with us! If you wish to get in touch, she can be reached at sara@byfounders.vc ✉️