Sonya Baranova

🌱 Calling all Seed Founders! 🌱 Are you an early-stage startup seeking investment? My latest article is a comprehensive guide to the UK's SEIS and the investors participating in it. Here's what you'll find inside: ✨ Understanding SEIS for early-stage 💼 Must have documents to secure funding 🕵‍♀️ List of 24 active SEIS funds across sectors If you represent a SEIS fund not yet featured, feel free to comment below or reach out to me directly. 💬 I'd love to include you and help connect more founders to the right investors. Link to article in the comments 🔗

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Investors often get asked what we’re currently looking for as we evaluate early stage companies - how do we build conviction that a company can succeed? This is how I think about it ⤵ There are lots of different aspects that can and should be underwritten when evaluating an early stage company. These aspects range from team > traction > TAM > product > incumbent dynamics > product > competitive landscape > cap table > valuation and the list goes on. My current framework is to spend most of my time on one of two things: > Previous experience > Current traction When I think about previous experience, I’m particularly interested in how the founder handled challenges while building a previous business. I had a conversation recently with another founder-slash-investor, and we talked a lot about how being a successful founder is all about pain tolerance. Like how many proverbial punches in the mouth are you able to take before you give up, surrender, wave the white flag and move on? This founder-investor told me he will really only work with founders who have already gotten beat up. The founders who are battle-tested. This is important for a couple of key reasons. > First, it’s easier to believe battle-tested founders have the pain and stress tolerance required to be able to build a big business and endure all of the highs and the lows and the ups and downs that come with it. > Second, I'm very interested in working with second- and third- and fourth-time founders because they know where the landmines are. The good ones have made the mistakes, and they've learned lessons from them that make them even better the next time around. Now let’s look at traction: If you’re a first-time founder, the traction bar for me is considerably higher. If I can’t check the battle-tested box, then I am looking for a lot more traction than I might from a repeat founder in the early stages of building. Unpacking this a little further, these two buckets are my answer to the “what are you looking for” question above: > Battle-tested, repeat founders who have a big disruptive vision in a market that has dynamics that allow you to build a moat. Earlier on in their journey is fine in this scenario. > Founders who have positive unit economics and meaningful traction with a product, service or good in the market, ideally growing their number one KPI by 20% MoM. If you’re a founder building in the Built World and fit one of those buckets, let’s connect. For investors, I’m interested in how you think about this framework and what you spend the most time on during your diligence process. #builtworld #venturecapital #startupfounder

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Voodoo didn’t buy BeReal for €500MM. Per reporting, the cash consideration in Voodoo’s acquisition of BeReal is €166MM, with the remainder of the €500MM “valuation” being paid out if performance targets are met in an earn-out. I don’t think that Voodoo’s acquisition of BeReal is motivated by cross promotion. Voodoo states that BeReal features 40MM “active users,” which is vague. I’d estimate BeReal has MAU in the 5-10MM range, with the 40MM number representing a longer timeline. This isn’t enough MAU to justify the price solely on the basis of cross promotion, especially given that BeReal’s MAU is likely stagnant. Further, Voodoo’s own social media app, Wizz, is growing faster than BeReal in the US: it sits at Top Downloaded rank #17 in the Social Networking category vs. 27 for BeReal. The CEO of Wizz, Voodoo’s social media app, will become the CEO of BeReal. My sense is that Voodoo may integrate the functionality of BeReal into Wizz at some point to accommodate BeReal’s core demographic and serve a larger TAM. If cross promotion does factor into the equation, it’s likely from games into the social media properties. Voodoo is a much more valuable company with a scaled social media property than an operator of a hybridcasual gaming portfolio, the titles in which are volatile from a growth perspective (see the chart below). BeReal was something of a gimmick, and it may work better as a feature than a standalone app. If Voodoo can use BeReal’s core mechanic to grow Wizz into a scaled social media property, with strong retention and long-term engagement, it can pair its existing advertising infrastructure with Wizz to service ads not just in its social media footprint but against an audience network across its published titles. But in the meantime, I’d expect traffic to move from Voodoo’s games to Wizz as it scales that property.

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🌟 B2C AI Companies are not good (so far) 🌟 Talking to fellow VC Jonny Boyarsky few weeks back, and he asked me which type of companies Developer Capital looks at investing in. I replied “Everything related to AI, but so far we have only done B2B deals.” Why is that? I am not inherently against AI companies focused on consumers. But so far all their business models suck. Here are the characteristics of B2C AI companies I am seeing most often: 🔴 Lack of Stickiness: Most of the B2C AI ideas I come across these days are easily replicable, leading to high user churn. Just think of what happened to jasper AI in the past year. Without unique, compelling value propositions, users quickly move on to the next new thing. 🔴 No Moat: The barriers to entry in the B2C space are crazy low. Competitors can quickly copy and improve upon existing solutions, making it difficult for any one company to maintain a dominant position. 🔴 Unsustainable Business Models: B2C AI companies gain users quickly either through paid promotion or having a viral moment of “oh wow this is fun to play with”. 15 minutes lates the novelty wears off. Then users churn out chasing the next cool thing. This sucks as a business model. - Now lets contrast that with B2B AI companies - ✅ Extremely Sticky: The good B2B AI companies are using their clients data (hopefully within a good data privacy framework) to make their product better and customized for the client. The longer the client stays, the more value the product offers that client. That a big moat. ✅ Low Churn: These tend to not be nice to haves or small productivity boosters. The value proposition is clear, and we are often seeing 10x cost savings. The end results, unlike B2C, the churn is much more similar to pure enterprise SaaS in the 3%-4% range. Coupled with 90% gross margins, we get great long term fundamentals. ✅ Business Model Defensibility: B2B AI companies tend to develop significant competitive advantages over time. Whether it's through proprietary technology, data accumulation, or deep integration with client systems, these companies build moats that protect them from competitors and reward the incumbent for being first-mover. Even if a Microsoft or a Salesforce wants to roll out a similar product down the road, they would have a hard time competing. At the end of the day, just because a company is in the hot sector du jour (AI) doesn’t mean they can get away from core business fundamentals. For consumer facing AI companies, it’s still very early in the lifecycle. I am confident founders will eventually figure out how to build good businesses.

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🌍 Attention fellow investors! Join me in exploring some of the most promising startups across Europe and the UK at Startupbootcamp's upcoming Investor Roadshow Series! Each event is carefully curated to spotlight startups from specific regions and sectors, ensuring that we find opportunities that align with our investment strategies. Here’s what’s on the agenda for our upcoming EU and UK roadshows: May 22nd: Dive into the EU's thriving Fintech scene. Details & Registration: https://lu.ma/IREUIFD May 23rd: Connect with Energy startups across the EU. Details & Registration: https://lu.ma/IREURNZ May 28th: Focus on the UK's dynamic energy sector. Details & Registration: https://lu.ma/IRUKRNZ June 11th: Explore Fintech innovations in the UK. Details & Registration: https://lu.ma/IRUKIFD Don't miss out on these exclusive online events! Let's connect and explore exciting investment opportunities together! #Startupbootcamp #InvestorRoadshow #TechStartups #Fintech #EnergyInnovation #StartupLife #Entrepreneurship #InvestInInnovation #EUStartups #UKStartups 🚀

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📍 The co-founder of PayPal and Palantir Technologies, and renowned backer of fintech companies such as Stripe, Wise, Coya, Stash, Bitpanda, and dozens of other high-growth companies, Peter Thiel, announced the close of the new fund of Valar Ventures LLC at $300 million—half the size of its last fund. There is a lot of talk about a big slowdown in fintech, but what does the data say? 📍 As per the Female Foundry report published earlier this year, fintech is the second largest category of innovation for female founded companies (15% of total capital that was raised in 2023 by female entrepreneurs, went to fintech startups). I have pulled up some stats on fintech fundraising to provide more context - *data from Dealroom.co 📍 Fundraising:  VC investment into fintech startups reached $42bn in 2023, a 63% drop from the previous year. The US, however has held better than Europe, with a 45% drop in funding in 2023 from a previous year compared to 66% drop in Europe. Fintech funding is now at ~⅓ of its 2021 peak and at its lowest since 2018. Median round size is down at all stages in 2023, but Seed and Series A show more resilience decreasing 12% compared to 31% for Series C+. 📍 Valuations: In 2021, a record high 148 new unicorns were minted. In 2023, only 8. Today there are 378 fintech unicorns and $1B exits in US & Europe. 222 unicorns were created in the 2019-2021 period. 31 of them have lost their unicorn status. It is now estimated that fintech companies founded in 2000 and onwards (both the US and Europe) are now worth $2tn and 66% of the value is still private hands with less than 20% being public. Exits: The last two years saw nearly no public listings. There was only one fintech IPO in 2023, ReAlpha, down from 51 IPOs in 2021 (!) and a SPAC of Better Mortgage. 2023 has been one of the most active year to date for fintech M&A with 241 recorded in fintech. 📍 Sub-sectors: Payments have attracted nearly 3x the funding as any other sub-industry and were the most resilient segment in 2023. Climate fintech funding even though dropped 55%, but is still 2.4x higher than pre-pandemic levels with Crypto and DeFi seeing the biggest decline in funding 72%. 📍 Geography: The US and Europe accounted for 68% of global fintech funding in 2023, up from 40-50% in 2016-2018. US attracted 5x more funding than the next country, the UK. In Europe, London attracted 4x more funding than the second hub, Paris. Madrid and Munich showed the least decline from 2022. 📍 The most active European VC investors in the past 12 months include SFC Capital (10 deals), BPi France (10 deals), Outlier Ventures (9 deals), Kima Ventures (8 deals), Notion Capital (8 deals) and Speedinvest (8 deals). More on this in the latest Female Foundry newsletter: https://lnkd.in/eTwUapqJ #femalefoundry #news #fintech #funding #venturecapital

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What do investors get right (and wrong) about Ukraine's ecosystem? There are founded and unfounded fears. "The founded ones are two-fold. First, it is indeed hard to operate in a country at war. VC as a concept is already risky, so GPs look to minimize other, exogenous sources of risk. The “war” factor is unnerving for many. Second, while Ukrainian founders try to sell to Western markets, it is objectively difficult to do so from Ukraine. Especially the US market, which is tough to break into without presence on the ground, deep cultural understanding, established networks…. The unfounded ones revolve around misunderstandings. I’ve overheard some foreign investors express wariness at “Eastern Europeans”. In other words: they thought that since the founders were from Eastern Europe, they would get scammed. That is simplistic and erroneous. You can get scammed by anyone, anywhere. Local Ukrainian founders also have a hard time pitching themselves. They have different backgrounds from what foreign VCs are used to seeing. They aren’t Ivy League graduates, nor are they ex-FAANG engineers. Foreign investors struggle to value these alternative backgrounds, while local founders need to do a better job of pitching them. That being said, we’re seeing an increase in US interest in the CEE region as a whole. I encounter more and more Americans at regional conferences. They aren’t doing much yet, but they’ve started their due diligence." Insights pulled from Elena M. from Flyer One Ventures' piece on the Realistic Optimist. Read it here: https://lnkd.in/g26GZhGk

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UNLOCKING THE SECREATS OF THE GLOBAL VC ECOSYSTEM : A SUMMIT FOR LIMITED PARTNERS AND VENTURE CAPITALISTS TO THE GLOBAL VC's ECOSYSTEM SUMMIT -------------- 💰💵 Check 1st post in features section in my profile 💵💰 -------------- #VCEcosystemSummit #VentureCapital #LimitedPartners #Investment #PortfolioManagement #GrowthStrategy #IndustryLeaders #Networking #Collaboration #Innovation #Startup #Entrepreneurship #Funding #Investor #LP #GP #VC #PrivateEquity #HedgeFund #AssetManagement #WealthManagement #FinancialServices #InvestmentBanking #CapitalMarkets #BusinessGrowth #Scaling #Expansion #Disruption #Volatility #RiskManagement #Resilience #Sustainability #ESG #ImpactInvesting #Diversity #Inclusion #Equity #Equality #WomenInVC #WomenInFinance #MenInVC #MenInFinance #VentureCapitalist #InvestmentBanker #FinancialAnalyst #PortfolioManager #InvestmentManager #AssetManager #WealthManager #FinancialPlanner #InvestmentAdvisor #VCFirm #StartupAccelerator #Incubator #CoworkingSpace #EntrepreneurialEcosystem #InnovationHub #BusinessNetworking #ProfessionalDevelopment #Leadership #Mentorship #CareerGrowth #IndustryTrends #MarketInsights #FinancialRegulations #InvestmentStrategy #RiskAssessment #DueDiligence #DealMaking #MandA #IPO #PrivatePlacement #HedgeFundManager #AssetAllocator #FamilyOffice #SovereignWealthFund #PensionFund #EndowmentFund #VentureCapitalInvesting #StartupFunding #GrowthCapital #ExpansionCapital #Buyout #Recapitalization #Restructuring #Turnaround #DistressedInvesting #SpecialSituations #EventDriven #CreditInvesting #DebtFinancing #EquityInvesting #MezzanineFinancing #GrowthEquity #VentureDebt #SeedFunding #SeriesA #SeriesB #SeriesC #IPOPrep #PreIPO #PostIPO #PrivateCompany #PublicCompany #MicroVC #NanoVC #SeedStage #EarlyStage #GrowthStage #LateStage #PrivateEquityFund #HedgeFundManager #InvestmentPortfolio #RiskManagementStrategy #InvestmentResearch #FinancialPlanning #WealthCreation #CapitalGrowth #InvestmentOpportunities #BusinessExpansion #MarketTrends #IndustryInsights #FinancialInnovation #InvestmentInnovation #VCDeals #StartupSuccess #InvestmentStrategy #PortfolioDiversification #InvestmentRisk #InvestmentReturn #InvestmentGrowth #InvestmentIncome #InvestmentManagement #InvestmentConsulting #PrivateEquityInvesting #HedgeFundInvesting #VentureCapitalInvesting #AngelInvesting #ImpactInvesting #SustainableInvesting #ESGInvesting #ResponsibleInvesting #InvestmentFirms #InvestmentCompanies #InvestmentPartners #InvestmentNetwork #InvestmentCommunity #InvestmentEvents #InvestmentConferences #InvestmentSummit #InvestmentForum #InvestmentRoundtable #StartupInvesting #EarlyStageInvesting #GrowthStageInvesting #LateStageInvesting #PrivateEquityFirms #HedgeFundManagers #VentureCapitalFirms #AngelGroups #ImpactInvestors

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Summary: ShareChat, a popular social media startup in India, has seen its valuation plummet from $5 billion to $2 billion following a new funding round. The company has experienced a positive year, cutting expenses and doubling revenue, but has still faced a significant decrease in valuation. Key takeaways: ShareChat's investors, including Google and Tencent, have seen their debt convert to equity at a valuation below $2 billion in the latest funding round. Despite facing strong competition from Instagram and YouTube, ShareChat remains the largest standalone social media app in India and is focused on live-streaming as a differentiating factor. ShareChat has been able to reduce expenses and increase revenue through cost optimization and investment in AI talent. Counter arguments: Some may argue that ShareChat's decrease in valuation is a sign of potential challenges in the Indian market and the company's ability to sustain growth. There may also be concerns about ShareChat's reliance on monetizing through advertisements, particularly as the Indian government is considering stricter regulations for social media platforms. #valuations #tech #private

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In a recent Sifted article, I share thoughts on emerging managers esp. Solo-GPs, here's what I think 👇🏽 https://lnkd.in/eYx7h5Qv I’m a solo-GP building OpenseedVC, here’s what some think this means; 🔻That there is key-person risk 🔻That there is little accountability or governance 🔻That it is a one-person show Here’s what it ACTUALLY often means; 👇🏽 ✅ We've set up governance that foster accountability, not bureaucracy ✅ As a fund, we have a dizzying depth of complementary skillsets ✅ We build conviction and move quickly; critical for early stage ✅ We are process geniuses, automations and efficiency is in our DNA ✅ We have a lean, mean team optimised for high for efficiency There is no "founder-like fund" quite like a Solo-GP emerging manager. For us at OpenseedVC, we invest up to $150k at the angel stage, and are flexible. We can lead your angel round. We can follow if the terms work for us. We don't take board seats. Whatever it is, we are first investors in ambitious and experienced operators just as they start their technology companies! We are founders ourselves, and have parallel experiences to the most ambitious and resilient founders, and this is ultimately superpower 💥 Solo-GPs are outliers, and in the business of #VC #venturecapital, outliers signal potential for outsized opportunity. #operators #openseedvc #europe #africa #soloGPs

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IF ONLY PADDYPOWER DID CRYPTO - THEY DON'T, AND NEITHER DO CARLSBERG Nevertheless DECENTRALISATION IS coming... READY OR NOT #onchainsummer2024 Imagine an (almost!) UTOPIAN future where you could invest in crypto and NFTs Safely, securely and smartly with guidance from the brightest crypto minds on the planet 🌎 Chasing mind-blowing returns on capital... A place that DEMOCRATISES access to crypto and NFTs Why would you need this? Reliable forecasts suggest: 1 billion crypto wallets by 2025 4 billion crypto wallets by 2030 Now, no one's suggesting putting the HOUSE 🏠 on it... Not even an unpowered PADDY on a shedload of CARLSBERG would do that, would he? But to have NO SKIN in the game... Not even an allotment - a small GARDEN Well, frankly that's feeling like a bit of a RISK given that the rate of adoption of crypto... far exceeds the rate of adoption of the INTERNET Anyways, stay tuned... for news on how... TO GROW 🪴 YOUR GARDEN #onchainsummer2024

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Here is a free, curated list of 500 active seed-stage VCs. (Scroll down to get it) But first, a few words on how to use it: Your goal is to connect with the general partners in those VCs - they are the decision-makers. Analysts, associates, and venture partners can be helpful but only if you can get them to forward your pitch to the the general partners. Now, when you are raising from angel investors, the best strategy is well-researched cold outreach. But since there might not be many VCs that are a true fit for your startup, you need to be more strategic to connect with the VCs' general partners. Here is what we suggest you do: 1. Research - go through the list, read the description, and check that there is a basic match with your domain and location. Then, go to their websites and other online resources (Crunchbase) to ensure the VC firm is a good fit for you. 2. Go to their LinkedIn page and identify the general partners in the firm. 3. Check to see if you have any mutual contacts that can introduce you to one of the partners. 4. If you can't find a way to connect via an intro or in person: focus on one of the partners. Ideally, you should find someone who is your second-level contact on LinkedIn and an active LinkedIn user. If possible, engage lightly with their content and then reach out with a connection request on LinkedIn. 5. If you get no response after a day or two, reach out to the next general partner in that VC. The list we giving you has been hand-checked by the Meet.Capital team and includes all you need to get started: Website. Location. Investment thesis/description. Preferred domains. Preferred stage. Linkedin company page. ✅ To get it - visit here: https://lnkd.in/dEYuAQsY ❤️ Also, comment on this post, if: 1. You want to introduce your VC to founders viewing this post. 2. You work with or support many startups and want to partner with Meet.Capital 3. There is someone who you know can benefit from this post - tag them.  4. You want to help this reach more founders ❤️ Thanks! * Join over 5,000 startup founders and investors subscribed to get our weekly 5 startup tips and more. You can subscribe on the link above (and get the free investor list) or right on our homepage (and get a free guide).

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🚨 Fundraising Alert 🚨 Top tier companies raising Pre-Seed to Series A in the next 6 months should apply to Focal where they can pitch almost all their prospective investors at once. Demo day is on May 16th. ✅ Applying takes 7 mins ✅ Previous applicants raised from funds like Sequoia, Balderton, Episode 1, Lightspeed and GV. ✅ Even if you find fundraising easy, this is a way to build added momentum. You can apply here: https://lnkd.in/eTdTtSw7

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VC Platform explained, in apples. By the nature of what I do, I think about social systems a lot: how do we build a platform of founders supporting other founders? It’s so easy to get caught up in complexity here, that I make myself think about it, quite literally, in apples. Give it a try: * If I have two apples, and give you one, how many do I have left? One less than I had, so down to one apple. * But in real life the correct answer is that I now have an apple and a relationship with the culture of sharing with others when you can. I‘ll be able to lean back on that relationship when in a twist of fate it’s now me standing with no apples. I am now part of a system. * Can I rely on someone else to start this system? Yes, I can. But apples in life are a bit more complicated: — Maybe the person in front of me doesn’t share the apple with me, because she has already committed it to someone else. — Maybe she borrowed the apple from someone else in the past, and now wants to return it. — Maybe she hasn’t eaten in a while, and now needs not one, but both apples to sate herself. — All these people might be generally willing to share an apple with me—but maybe not this exact one, the timing may be not right at the moment, they are part of a bigger group where they have agreed to only share apples inside the group etc. Yes, the analogy with deal-sharing is intended, too. :) * When we factor in real-life circumstances, it’s hard to tell if the person, in fact, has a spare apple or not. Besides, when I wait for someone else to share an apple first, I make myself dependent on an external factor over which I have no control. I shouldn‘t, therefore, be surprized to find myself in a situation when I would want someone to share an apple with me, but the system is not there yet. * So, in reality, the only sure way to become part of a system like that is to wait for a moment when I have a spare apple and share it. * For this to work, the person I am sharing the apple with should actually need the apple. Let’s imagine I try to share an apple with someone who has just had two, doesn’t like apples, or has an apple tree. In the best case, it just won’t work. In worse cases, if let’s suppose I insist on giving the apple, the person might grow irritated. So, I need to share my spare apple with someone who actually needs an apple at this point in time. * This example is fabulous, as it helps answer other questions as well. For example, should I then give both apples, so that the relationship is 2x stronger? My answer will follow in the next post. PS. The artwork frivolously used by me to illustrate my thoughts is by a generative artist @dmitricherniak on inst who considers automation his artistic medium. He makes it seem easy, but after spending an hour in DALL•E and getting a bunch of really ugly apples in webs, I am a raging fan.

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Vsquared VC: New Fund II Raised💰 Vsquared Ventures has successfully closed its Fund II at €214m to invest in early-stage deeptech startups across Europe. The fund significantly exceeded its initial target of €165m, reflecting the growing momentum and understanding of deeptech's importance in Europe. Founding partner Thomas Oehl attributes this success to the increasing recognition of deeptech's potential.🌟 The fund will invest between €500k and €5m in approximately 25 companies, reserving two-thirds of the fund for follow-on investments. The portfolio already includes notable startups: cylib, Synthara AG, and NEURA Robotics.🤖 🔎The new fund will focus on six key themes: AI and next-gen software, energy transition, new computing and sensing, space, tech bio, and robotics and manufacturing. Oehl emphasizes that Vsquared aims to be the first institutional investor in these deeptech startups, positioning itself as a leading supporter of innovative technologies.🦸‍♂️ Vsquared's latest fund is primarily backed by European LPs, including Novo Holdings, the NATO Innovation Fund (NIF), the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark, the European Investment Fund (EIF), and Germany’s KfW Capital . This deliberate choice showcases Vsquared as a pan-European fund. The fund also includes founders as LPs, such as Simon Bolz of Klara, and Dr. Oliver Trinchera and Dr. Alexander Huettenbrink, co-founders of KINEXON.💵 GP Lise Rechsteiner, PhD notes a significant shift in the perception of deeptech investments over the past few years. "Two or three years ago, you had to explain a lot why you were doing deeptech investments, and that has completely changed. There is no question around that anymore," she says. Rechsteiner emphasizes that Europe's strength in deeptech is underpinned by its high-quality universities, scientific research, and graduate talent. Rechsteiner highlights several emerging deeptech hubs outside the traditional powerhouses of Munich, London, Paris, and Stockholm. She sees Vilnius as strong in cybersecurity and tech bio, and Copenhagen emerging as a hub for quantum and biomanufacturing.🏦 Despite the immense opportunity for Europe to build deeptech champions, Rechsteiner points out challenges such as fragmentation in the European IPO market. Unlike the centralized Nasdaq in the US, Europe's decentralized IPO markets create a fragmented investor base, making it difficult for not-yet-profitable companies. "Getting rid of hurdles and trying to really see Europe as a united region would be amazing," Rechsteiner concludes. 🌍✨ ✅ Looking to raise capital for your #VCfund and increase the international pool of your LPs?   🤝 Need warm #LP introductions?   📝 Selling #secondaries to increase liquidity?   🧐 Looking for co-investments (Series A/Series B)?   ▶G+QUANT's link for inquiries and fund decks: https://lnkd.in/gjC_EuTE   #Deeptech #VentureCapital #EuropeanInnovation #Startups #TechInvesting

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🚀 European Innovation Takes Center Stage at Andreessen Horowitz Accelerator in London 🌍 🔎 Renowned venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has launched its Crypto Startup Accelerator in London for the first time, signaling the UK's potential as a hub for web3 innovation, reported Sifted. 📝The 10-week program offers participating startups $500k in funding, mentorship from industry experts, and unparalleled networking opportunities, cementing a16z's reputation as a leader in the crypto investment space. 🎯"The UK has the potential to become a center for web3 innovation," remarks Jason Rosenthal, partner at a16z and head of the accelerator, highlighting the strategic significance of the London-based initiative. 🌍European founders dominate this year's cohort, with 12 out of 25 startups hailing from the UK and across the continent. These innovative companies span various sectors, including gaming, infrastructure, consumer-focused crypto projects, and decentralized finance (DeFi), showcasing the region's diverse talent and entrepreneurial spirit. 🕹Gaming: ➡ Playmint, based in Brighton, is developing blockchain-based games with a team of industry veterans. ➡ MagicBlock Labs provides tools for game development on the Solana network, led by founders in London and Dublin. 🌉 Infrastructure: ➡ Sablier offers a protocol for decentralized payment distribution in crypto. ➡ Valyu Network leverages machine learning and smart contracts to monetize datasets, led by a team from UCL University College London. ➡ zkPassport pioneers an authentication platform for passports using cryptographic technology, bridging the gap between security and privacy. ➡ Hungry Cats Studio utilizes cryptography to verify the safety of AI workflows. ➡ Taralli Labs creates a protocol for generating zero-knowledge proofs, empowering applications with enhanced privacy and security. 💻Consumer and web3: ➡ Tata Bazaar aims to revolutionize social commerce for fashion and beauty products, led by a former investment associate at Multicoin Capital. ➡ Launcher introduces a social media platform for web3 enthusiasts, built on Ethereum's blockchain, fostering collaboration and innovation in the decentralized space. 📈 DeFi and finance: ➡ OpenTrade offers blockchain-based lending and yield products for financial institutions and fintechs. ➡ Compass Labs provides a DeFi interface on Python, enabling developers to build and simulate strategies seamlessly. ➡ Tranched.fi automates loan management and reporting on the blockchain, streamlining financial transactions with innovative technology. ✅ Looking to raise capital for your #fund and increase the international pool of your LP #investors?   🤝 Need warm #LP introductions?   📝 Selling #secondaries to increase liquidity?   🧐 Looking for co-investments?   ▶ G+QUANT's link for inquiries and fund decks: https://lnkd.in/gjC_EuTE #Crypto #Innovation #StartupAcceleration #EuropeTechLeadership 🚀🔗

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🌟Creandum successfully closes its Fund VII🌟 A €500m vehicle aimed at supporting seed and early-stage startups across Europe, raised in just 12 weeks, is backed by 30 global LPs, with more than half of the capital coming from US investors. The investor base includes 5 of the eight largest US university endowments, as well as pension funds and foundations.💰 Creandum plans to make 35-40 investments at the seed and Series A stages over the next two to three years, across various sectors. The firm, with offices in Stockholm, Berlin, London, and San Francisco, has a history of backing notable companies like Spotify, Klarna, and Depop. Impressively, one in six of Creandum’s early-stage investments has turned into unicorns 🦄. In a statement, Creandum highlighted that the closure of its latest fund demonstrates strong interest from top global investors in European tech, particularly at the early stages. Europe is a significant hub for seed funding, attracting nearly a third of all seed capital globally, and is home to over 500 unicorns spread across 65 cities and 25 countries 🌍. Despite a significant drop in VC investment, Creandum’s latest fund closure underscores a robust appetite from top investors for exposure to European tech. The firm’s LP Top Tier Capital Partners's Jonathan Biggs mentioned that their returns show that European VC groups can match their Silicon Valley peers. “The firm is comfortably at the top table of global VCs,” Biggs said.🏆 Creandum’s fundraising success reflects its disciplined focus and consistent approach. The firm believes that a generalist approach, partnering with top entrepreneurs to build global, category-defining companies at the earliest stages, is key to maintaining market-leading returns.📈 The firm is optimistic about Europe’s tech landscape. The last quarter saw increases in both funding and valuations, largely driven by AI and SaaS. Creandum is excited to back startups like the H Company, which is pioneering the development of Artificial General Intelligence 🤖. Climate tech is another massive opportunity in Europe, with 22% of VC funding in 2023 going to this sector, compared to just 7% in the US. European companies like Enode and Monta are leading efforts to decarbonize the power sector 🌱. Creandum is eager to support a new generation of European founders. The firm extends its gratitude to its team, LPs, portfolio companies, co-investors, and follow-on investors for their partnership and support. ✅ Looking to raise capital for your #VCfund and increase the international pool of your LPs?   🤝 Need warm #LP introductions?   📝 Selling #secondaries to increase liquidity?   🧐 Looking for co-investments (Series A/Series B)?   ▶ G+QUANT's link for inquiries and fund decks: https://lnkd.in/gjC_EuTE #VentureCapital #EuropeanTech #StartupFunding #AI #ClimateTech #SeedInvesting #SeriesA #Innovation #TechInvesting 4o

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Fundraising strategies that work: 1. Finesse 2. Brute Force 3. Just be a 2nd-time exited founder 4. Just be an early employee at Ramp, Stripe, Open AI (any of the 3-5 hottest companies in tech will do) 5. Just have a trust fund Idk why more people don't do number 3-5. In all seriousness, if you're a 1st-time founder you won't be able to raise like a second time founder so just accept that and focus on what you can do.

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