Investor of the Month: Torsten Kolind on what founders still get wrong about fundraising
This month, we are spotlighting Torsten Kolind - former founder, now full-time investor with a growing focus on women’s health.
With decades of experience building software companies - including time in Silicon Valley - Torsten found his way into women’s health through conversations and people in his network. Over time, those conversations gradually pulled him further into the space.
And as a male investor in a space still largely shaped and led by women, we were curious to hear what drew him in - and how he views the category today.
We talked about founder mentality, commercial evidence, and why researching your investors is what gets you the right meetings. And about why women’s health, despite its enormous potential, remains surprisingly hard to fund.
His take on the space is straightforward:
“On paper, it almost looks like a no-brainer. The opportunities are enormous. But at the same time, it is still incredibly difficult to raise funding in this space.”
From founder to investor - the long way around
Before becoming an investor, Torsten spent decades building companies - first in Denmark, then in Silicon Valley, where he got close to startup culture and learned what fundraising looks like from the founder side.
When he eventually stepped out of his own company, he had something most people in his world rarely get: time. Time to slow down, have conversations, and explore what he wanted to focus on next.
That is how he ended up talking to founders in the women’s health space - not as an investor, but as a mentor.
“I did not know much about women’s health. But I knew what it means to build something, to raise money, to go through the ups and downs.”
One thing led to another, and today, Torsten has backed four women’s health startups: Cacto Health, Oasi Care, Bea Fertility, and The Blue Box. And despite spending his entire career in software, all four are hardware companies.
“That was not exactly planned,” he says. “But that is sometimes how it goes.”
Why women’s health is still difficult to fund
Women’s health is not a niche. The market is large, the problems are real, and awareness is growing. And yet, raising money in this space remains hard - and Torsten has a clear sense of why.
Most women’s health companies sit at the intersection of healthcare, hardware, regulation, and long development timelines. That combination makes many investors more cautious than the actual opportunity warrants.
“Even when a case looks incredibly strong on paper, it is still much harder to raise money than if you were building something a more traditional male investor immediately recognises.”
But the difficulty, he argues, does not make it less interesting. If anything, it is part of the opportunity.
What makes him invest
When asked what makes him lean forward - whether in a pitch or a first conversation - his answer is clear:
“I look for companies that can create massive impact and become extremely commercially successful. It has to be both.”
Neither side of that is optional. He is not interested in the next crypto scheme just because it makes money. But he is equally not looking to back something that behaves more like a non-profit than a scalable business.
Beyond the product, he also pays close attention to the people building it. Why are they doing this? What happens if fundraising takes longer than expected?
“I need to feel that this is something they would keep building regardless.”
Torsten also pushes back on one of startup culture’s most persistent myths: that you need to walk into a room overly confident.
“I am actually much more interested in realistic and coachable founders than in overly confident ones.”
Startup culture tells founders they need to have every answer ready, every number nailed, and every objection pre-empted. But according to Torsten, that kind of performance can actually work against you. What he is looking for instead is someone who understands that building a company is a process - and who is honest about that.
“The best founders understand they will need other people around them. They stay flexible. They listen.”
Commercial evidence beats big promises
One theme kept coming up throughout our conversation, and it is one Torsten feels strongly about: evidence.
Not market projections. Not slides filled with billion-dollar opportunities. Not statistics about how many people could theoretically benefit from a product.
Real signals. From real people. Willing to pay.
“I care much more about commercial evidence than big dreams.”
A founder showing that 20 people have already signed up and are ready to pay the moment a product ships - that is worth more to him than any market size slide.
“Anyone can say half the world’s population is female and therefore the market is enormous. That is not the same as showing that people will actually pay for your solution.”
He says this as someone who has been on the other side of that pressure. As a founder, the instinct to think big and present bold visions is strong - and understandable. But smaller, real signals carry more weight for him.
“Investors have heard the big numbers. What they have not heard enough of is proof.”
The goal is not the cheque
When the conversation turned to pitching, Torsten shared something it took him a long time to understand - and something he wishes someone had told him earlier.
“The goal is not to convince someone to invest. The goal is to make them interested enough to ask for the next meeting.”
That shift in framing takes an enormous amount of pressure out of a pitch. Instead of trying to close the deal in seven minutes, founders can focus on creating enough interest for the conversation to continue. You listen better. You stop performing and start connecting.
“It removes a lot of the panic. You start thinking about what actually matters to the person in front of you - instead of trying to get through your deck.”
Research your investors - seriously
When the conversation shifted to fundraising and investor outreach, Torsten was very clear about one thing.
He spent too long - as a founder and early investor - pitching the wrong people. And he wants founders to learn from his mistakes.
“Founders spend too much time pitching investors who were never going to say yes. Not because the company is bad. Because there was a mismatch from the start.”
His advice is simple: treat investor research the same way you would treat any other part of building your business. Do the work.
That means knowing who invests at your stage. Who leads rounds and who only follows. Who is actively deploying capital right now - and who is between funds and essentially on pause. And crucially: which specific person inside a fund has actually backed something similar to what you are building.
“If a fund has invested in a women’s health company that looks like yours, find out who made that call. That is the person you want to reach - not whoever answers the general contact form.”
It also means asking other founders. Getting warm introductions where possible. And understanding that an investor who is a great fit on paper might still not be the right partner for your specific company at your specific stage.
“It took me far too long to understand all of this. And there is really no good reason for founders to have to learn it the hard way.”
What women’s health still needs
When asked what the Nordic women’s health space needs most over the next three to five years, Torsten does not hesitate.
“We need successful exits.”
Reports, market projections, and growing visibility all help move the conversation forward. But for Torsten, what will actually shift the broader investment ecosystem is proof - the kind that shows up in returns.
“We need to show that this is not just exciting to talk about. We need to show that investors can actually make money here.”
The McKinsey reports and the headline numbers are great indicators. But they are not the same as a track record. And that track record is what will bring more capital to the table.
One last thing
Torsten does not sugarcoat it. Fundraising in women’s health is a long game - and it will require a lot of conversations and a lot of rejection.
But hard does not mean impossible. And it is definitely not a reason to give up before you have even started.
“It is a long stretch. You have to talk to a lot of investors - and give them time to come around to the fact that what you are building is fantastic. And that you are fantastic. The founders who make it are usually the ones who keep going anyway.”
