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Venture Capital News
Medium
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The Silent Thief of Productivity
- Many people are neglecting their basic need for hydration in various settings.
- Despite focusing on productivity and optimizing workflows, the importance of hydration is often overlooked.
- A company called LVL Technologies developed a wearable hydration monitor, indicating a market for such technology.
- Dehydration can lead to cognitive decline, fatigue risks for athletes, and significant losses in workplace productivity.
- Potential solutions include smart bottles that sync to wearables, hydration alerts in schools, and dehydration safeguards for gig economy workers.
- There is existing technology to address hydration needs, but its widespread adoption is still lacking.
- The focus is on encouraging investments in hydration tech to enhance performance.
- Josué HOMESPUN is promoting partnerships for ventures looking to expand in Europe, the Caribbean, or emerging markets.
- Email [email protected] for partnership inquiries or book a call on www.iamhomespun.com.
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Medium
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In Search of the Outlier: Why Venture Returns Aren’t Built on Averages
- One company often defines the outcome of an entire portfolio.
- Venture returns are not built on averages but on outliers like Airbnb, Uber, and Stripe that redefine the industry.
- In venture capital, the focus is on identifying companies with power-law potential for outsized returns.
- The majority of returns in venture capital usually come from 1–2 standout companies.
- Success in venture capital involves identifying outliers with the capacity for extreme impact.
- AI is accelerating power law dynamics by enabling faster scaling and automation in startups.
- Cultural mindsets in various regions influence venture outcomes, with some emphasizing steady growth over extreme returns.
- Companies like UiPath, Spotify, Checkout.com, and Revolut showcase how outliers can emerge from different regions.
- Investors and founders should focus on breakout potential and seek partners who understand the goal of reshaping the industry curve.
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The Future of VC Liquidity: How Funds Can Finally Free Themselves
- VC fundraising has dropped sharply in 2024 due to low exit volume, reaching its lowest level since 2015.
- In 2024, only $76.1 billion was raised through 508 funds, making it one of the slowest years for new fund formation.
- Facing performance challenges and drying liquidity, GPs are exploring alternative strategies for value realization.
- Secondary transactions are being rebranded as strategic and necessary, accounting for 14% of global secondary volume in 2024.
- The shift towards secondaries offers a more flexible and controlled path to liquidity, providing options beyond waiting for a public exit.
- In 2024, the secondary market transaction volume reached a record-high of $162 billion.
- Venture capital firms like NewView Capital, StepStone, and Hamilton Lane are leading the trend towards secondary market transactions.
- New mechanisms such as continuation vehicles and structured secondaries are allowing GPs to actively manage portfolios and restore capital rotation.
- Secondary deals offer a way to generate DPI before the end of fund life, crucial for maintaining team morale and LP confidence in an industry where long-term holds can be challenging.
- In 2024, venture secondaries traded at a discount to NAV, offering liquidity opportunities despite the discount.
- The structured deals in the secondary market have become cleaner and more aligned, with bid-ask spreads narrowing to 2018 and 2019 levels.
- Secondaries are not just for aging unicorns; they are being used at the growth stage, allowing founders to sell parts of their stakes early on.
- The use of secondaries benefits various stakeholders, providing cash back to LPs, more control to GPs, and motivation to founders and employees.
- Experts predict the secondary market to grow another 15–20% in 2025, highlighting its increasing importance in the VC landscape.
- Secondaries address issues like messy cap tables, value unlocking, partial exits, better pricing, and smoother paths to IPO in a challenging exit environment.
- GPs, LPs, and founders need to rethink their fundraising strategies in light of the changing VC liquidity landscape.
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Piva Capital’s Summer Associates Program: Meet the Class of 2025
- Piva Capital's Summer Associates Program in downtown San Francisco involves graduate students contributing to investment research, due diligence, market mapping, and deal sourcing across various sectors.
- The program emphasizes hands-on experience and exposure to a team with technical and operational expertise, fostering a thesis-led approach to startup innovation.
- This year's class includes Julie Barger, Dan Mayers, Mira Nagarajan, and Katie Sheline, each bringing diverse backgrounds and experiences to the Piva team.
- Dan Mayers, a Thouron Scholar from Wharton, focuses on sustainable finance and nature-based investing, showing interest in resiliency trends and maritime decarbonization.
- Katie Sheline from Kellogg has experience in sustainability-focused programs and previously worked in investment banking with a focus on energy transition, keen on go-to-market execution in climate infrastructure.
- Julie Barger from Wharton supports early-stage climate tech companies and tracks rising energy demand's impact on grid infrastructure, interested in battery chemistry and geothermal energy.
- Mira Nagarajan from Harvard Business School has a background in consulting and corporate strategy, focusing on the future of solar geoengineering and adaptation tech in addressing global temperature rise.
- The Summer Associates express enthusiasm for learning about venture capital, investment decision-making, and emerging technologies in industrial decarbonization and climate adaptation.
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Medium
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The Investment Gap No One Talks About: Science and Startups Are Still Not Speaking the Same…
- The gap between science and startups is hindering billion-dollar opportunities from emerging as most VCs struggle to evaluate raw research, while researchers find it challenging to present their work in a business context.
- In universities, labs, and R&D divisions, groundbreaking research in new materials, AI, energy systems, and biotech often goes unnoticed in the startup world due to a lack of context rather than potential.
- Capital typically flows towards familiar territories rather than frontier innovation, perpetuating a cycle where startups pitch, investors evaluate, and researchers publish within segregated platforms and timelines.
- The need for systems that bridge the gap between science and capital is crucial, emphasizing the importance of connecting researchers with commercial viability insights and guiding investors towards emerging scientific trends.
- AAK TeleScience aims to address this gap by integrating scientific research, global investment data, and startup activity in a single platform to analyze, score, and visualize opportunities for innovation and investment.
- The platform focuses on translating raw data into actionable insights, showcasing where science is leading and directing capital towards promising areas.
- By enhancing intuition with intelligence, AAK TeleScience seeks to eliminate the existing disconnect between science and startups, providing visibility to overlooked brilliance in the research field.
- The platform's approach revolves around turning the unseen potential in scientific research into viable investment prospects, ultimately bridging the gap that has hindered substantial innovation from reaching the startup landscape.
- AAK TeleScience's intervention aims to not only store information but also interpret and guide stakeholders towards profitable opportunities that align with emerging scientific advancements.
- The initiative signifies a shift towards a more integrated approach in the innovation ecosystem, aiming to leverage untapped scientific potential and connect it with the investment community.
- AAK's endeavor highlights the importance of transforming scientific research into tangible investment possibilities through data analysis and strategic alignment, ultimately closing the longstanding gap between science and startups.
- The aspiration to eliminate the visibility gap between researchers and investors underscores the significance of informed decision-making in capitalizing on the untapped potential inherent in scientific advancements.
- AAK TeleScience's platform not only houses data but also offers a comprehensive analysis that empowers stakeholders to make informed decisions and capitalize on emerging scientific trends.
- The platform's focus on intelligence-driven decision-making and connecting the dots between scientific progress and investment opportunities reflects a pivotal step towards fostering innovation and capital flow in a more integrated and informed manner.
- The bridging of the gap between science and startups by AAK TeleScience signifies a transformative shift towards leveraging scientific research for viable investment options and aligning capital with untapped breakthroughs in various fields.
- The platform's role in enhancing visibility, guiding investment decisions, and fostering collaboration between researchers and investors highlights the critical link between scientific progress and entrepreneurial success.
- AAK TeleScience's mission to align scientific research with investment opportunities emphasizes the importance of synergy between knowledge creation and financial backing, paving the way for enhanced innovation and economic growth.
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Saastr
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5 Interesting Learnings from Circle at $2.3 Billion in “ARR”
- Circle, a fintech issuing stablecoins, went public with a $2.3 billion revenue run rate and a 60% growth rate.
- Lessons for B2B and SaaS founders from Circle's IPO include revenue concentration risks and the importance of diversifying revenue streams.
- The partnership dynamics with Coinbase highlight the need for protecting margins and structuring deals effectively as companies scale.
- Early regulatory compliance, like Circle's New York BitLicense, can serve as a competitive advantage in highly regulated industries.
- Growth at scale can impact profitability, emphasizing the importance of strong unit economics before expanding into new initiatives.
- Transparency as a product strategy can be a differentiator in crowded markets, promoting trust and accountability.
- Circle's unique customer acquisition model involves paying distribution partners for access, showcasing a different approach to CAC.
- Operating expenses growing with revenue without achieving typical SaaS leverage demonstrates the challenges of operating in financial services-like models.
- Circle's revenue sensitivity to interest rates highlights the risks of variable revenue models tied to external factors.
- Circle's IPO indicates both the power and challenges of platform businesses at scale, with significant structural issues to address.
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Saastr
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Every Month is a Good Month to Raise: What 42,000+ Funding Rounds Tell Us About Raising Capital in July
- The article challenges the myth that summer months, particularly July, are not ideal for raising capital, backed by data analysis of 42,000+ funding rounds from US startups between 2018-2024.
- Contrary to belief, July averages 8.4% of all deals, above the expected baseline distribution if deals were evenly spread across 12 months.
- December emerges as the month with the highest deal volume, contradicting the idea of a holiday season slowdown.
- The broader summer period from May to August constitutes more than one-third of annual deal volume, indicating active fundraising activity during this time.
- Year-over-year analysis demonstrates that summer months maintained their strength even during periods of overall funding contraction.
- The article debunks the myth of a 'summer dead zone' for fundraising, attributing it to confirmation bias, regional VC differences, and self-fulfilling prophecies.
- Fundraising strategy recommendations include reevaluating timing based on actual data, highlighting the importance of December for deal closure and the relative activity in July and August.
- Key insights reveal that VCs are actively making investment decisions and closing deals throughout the summer months, contrary to the perception of reduced activity.
- Top takeaways include the encouragement to challenge traditional beliefs, leveraging lower competition in 'off-season' months, and emphasizing the impact of market conditions over seasonal trends.
- The article advises founders to rethink their fundraising calendars based on real data, emphasizing that great companies can secure funding regardless of the month, including July.
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Medium
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The Tokenomics Due Diligence Framework: What Institutional Investors Actually Analyze
- Token investing success lies in identifying tokens with sustainable value accrual mechanisms before market recognition.
- Institutional investors focus on economic machinery beneath each protocol to understand token value.
- Token value is evaluated through mechanisms like cash flow rights, governance rights, utility rights, and monetary premium.
- A scoring system from 1-10 helps determine the potential returns of tokens based on various factors.
- Institutional investors analyze dynamic supply, revenue qualities, competitive advantages, and cycle patterns.
- Understanding effective circulating supply growth rates and revenue stream qualities is crucial for institutional investments.
- Different moat types like network effects moat and regulatory moat impact sustained token value capture.
- Token markets exhibit distinct cycle patterns necessitating strategic portfolio allocation adjustments.
- Institutional investors should beware of red flags that disqualify tokens from consideration.
- Conducting correlation management, liquidity management, risk management, and research process are vital in token analysis.
- Balancing traditional finance rigor with crypto-native understanding is critical for success in the evolving crypto market.
- Institutions mastering analytical discipline will lead in capturing future crypto opportunities.
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Medium
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Tech Startup IPOs in Emerging Venture Markets: A Deep Dive on Talabat and the Broader Opportunity
- The MENA region has become a hub for tech startup IPOs with exchanges like DFM, ADX, and Tadawul being important for listing activity.
- Tech startups are at the forefront of a shift in emerging venture markets, making public markets more accessible to digital-first businesses.
- The Talabat IPO is seen as part of a broader trend indicating increasing IPOs in emerging markets.
- Future success in IPOs for tech startups from emerging markets will likely stem from sectoral innovation, regulatory changes, and increased participation by investors.
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Guardian
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BT considers takeover move for struggling rival TalkTalk
- BT is considering a potential takeover of struggling rival TalkTalk, amid financial difficulties and a customer exodus.
- TalkTalk, the fourth-largest telecoms group in the UK, lost 400,000 customers in the past year and faced financial challenges.
- TalkTalk was taken private by Toscafund in a leveraged buyout, adding significant debt to its balance sheet.
- A BT-TalkTalk merger would control about 36% of the UK broadband market.
- Recent reports suggest TalkTalk has fallen behind on payments to suppliers, including Openreach and CityFibre.
- TalkTalk cut 350 jobs last year as part of cost-cutting measures.
- If BT moves forward with a takeover, it could face objections from rivals and regulatory scrutiny.
- Virgin Media O2 has also considered the possibility of making an offer for TalkTalk.
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Saastr
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Dear SaaStr: How Does a Founder Mindset Change As You Go From Startup to Scaleup?
- Founders transitioning from startup to scaleup experience significant mindset changes.
- Transitioning from being a hustler in the early days to becoming a strategist while still retaining hustle.
- Shift from focusing on execution to leading, trusting others to carry out tasks, and concentrating on strategic decisions.
- Obsession with metrics and levers to understand business performance and optimize for growth.
- Necessity of letting go of control and developing systems and processes to maintain quality and culture as the company grows.
- Progressing from product obsession to customer obsession, emphasizing customer satisfaction and value delivery.
- Developing self-awareness, recognizing limitations, and bringing in skilled individuals to handle weak areas.
- Imposter syndrome may increase as success grows, leading to constant comparison with other successful companies.
- Shifting focus from survival to sustainable growth with a long-term perspective.
- Realization of the critical role of culture, balancing values as the company scales.
- Founders maintain a 24/7 obsession with the business, always thinking about improvements and problem-solving.
- Understanding that company success transcends individual achievements, moving from being the hero to the enabler.
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Medium
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ERP 2.0: From Legacy Suites to AI-Driven Composable Platforms
- Major ERP vendors like SAP, QuickBooks, NetSuite, Visma, and Microsoft Dynamics lead various customer segments, with emerging businesses often built on top of ERP systems for AR/AP automation and treasury management.
- The rise of APIs has made it easier for new vendors to integrate into the ERP ecosystem, leading to product duplication and challenges for businesses as they grow.
- Enterprise-grade ERPs offer deep functionality but have lengthy and resource-intensive implementations, creating difficulties in switching systems as businesses scale.
- Innovation and disruption in the ERP market are challenging due to the complexity and strong moats created by major ERP vendors, but AI-powered features are being rolled out to stay competitive.
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Guardian
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UK watchdog to investigate merger of Evri with DHL’s UK parcel arm
- UK watchdog, Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), to investigate the merger of delivery company Evri with DHL's UK e-commerce business.
- The merger could create one of the biggest parcel couriers in Britain, combining over 30,000 couriers and van drivers, along with 12,000 additional workers.
- The investigation will focus on whether the merger would lead to a substantial reduction in competition, gathering comments from interested parties till June 25.
- Other delivery companies are also making moves in the market, such as EP Group's takeover of Royal Mail and InPost's agreement to acquire Yodel, amidst challenges to retain customer trust during the surge in online shopping.
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Medium
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Raising Venture Capital in 2025
- In 2025, the venture capital landscape is more focused and disciplined, with investors being more selective across regions and sectors.
- To raise capital successfully, companies must demonstrate lasting advantages, strong execution, sharper narratives, and fundamentals.
- Traits shared by successful companies include leveraging AI effectively, establishing distribution partnerships, mastering global and local markets, focusing on financial user experience, and prioritizing regulatory compliance.
- The new standard for enduring fintech companies involves integrating AI responsibly, demonstrating consistency, resilience, and clarity in navigating complexity, and building sustainable businesses with sound economics.
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Medium
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The Metropolitan Museum of Manila: A Contemporary Art Haven in the Heart of BGC
- The Metropolitan Museum of Manila, known as The M, is a haven for contemporary art featuring Filipino and international artists with rotating exhibitions offering a wide range of artistic expressions.
- The museum's architectural design is inspired by the natural landscapes of the Philippines, creating an environment that complements artworks and enhances the visitor experience.
- Current exhibitions at The M include showcases like Timeless: J. Moreno, Dream States, and Printmaking: The Power of Pressed Images, offering visitors a diverse range of artistic experiences.
- Located in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, The Metropolitan Museum of Manila provides a unique cultural experience for art enthusiasts and those interested in contemporary creativity, promising inspiration, reflection, and discovery.
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