Craig Cummings

Where is the money? "In Q1, funding to startups in the industries of military, national security and law enforcement dropped to $118 million, a 74% drop from the $459 million invested in such startups in Q1 of last year." #funding #investment #investmentstrategies #defence #dualuse #venturecapital #privateequity

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"The bureau’s stellar track record seems, on paper, inexplicable. INR is tiny, with fewer than 500 employees total. The DIA has over 16,500, and while the CIA’s headcount is classified, it was 21,575 in 2013, when Edward Snowden leaked it. You could fit over 47 INRs in the CIA, and even if you exclude the non-analysts on the CIA's payroll, Langley’s analytic headcount is far greater than INR’s. Tom Fingar, who led the bureau from 2000 to 2001 and 2004 to 2005, once told a reporter its budget was “decimal dust.” In 2023, it came to only $83.5 million, or 0.1 percent of overall US intelligence spending. On top of that, INR has no spies abroad, no satellites in the sky, no bugs on any laptops. But it reads the same raw intel as everyone else, and in at least a few cases, was the only agency to get some key questions right. The most important factor in building this culture, every veteran I spoke to stated, is the unusual way that INR selects and uses analysts. The CIA and DIA tend to favor generalists. Analysts rotate between roles every two to three years, often changing countries or even regions. At INR, the average analyst has been on their topic for over 14 years. “At most of the other intel organizations you rotate out of your portfolio every two to three years,” McCarthy says. “At INR, they die at their desks.” https://lnkd.in/gDP54Wjj

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Last week, mid-market companies were trading hands faster than picks at the NFL draft. 10 notable MM PE deals from the past week: ➡️ Incline Equity Partners invested in VMG Health, a TX-based compliance, strategy, and transaction advisory firm serving the healthcare industry. ➡️ Serent Capital acquired Medical Informatics Engineering, Inc., a provider of healthcare IT software for the occupational health market. ➡️ Celebrity Coaches, LLC, a TN-based portfolio company of Allied Industrial Partners, acquired Moonstruck Leasing, an entertainment coach leasing company. ➡️ Granite Creek Capital Partners, L.L.C. in partnership with Boathouse Capital, invested in DCG, a full-service strategic comms firm serving federal government clients. ➡️ Apax Digital invested in IANS, a MA-based provider of research and advisory services for the infosec market. ➡️ The Stephens Group, LLC partnered with VisionSafe Corporation - EVAS, a HI-based provider of aircraft cockpit smoke displacement systems. ➡️ Gamut Capital Management is set to acquire DEX Imaging, a provider of managed print services across industries. ➡️ Century Park Capital Partners acquired Total Access Elevator, a CA-based provider of commercial elevator modernization, maintenance, and repair services. ➡️  Shoreline Equity Partners invested in Prime Meats LLC, a GA-based processor and distributor of proteins. ➡️ Family office CC Industries acquires Foremark Performance Chemicals, a producer of formaldehyde and derivatives for the petrochemicals industries. #PrivateEquity #MergersandAcquisitions #Acquisitions #PE #Acquisitions

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🧬 This week's Austin Bio + Health Roundup highlights significant data trends, my stance on covering funding announcements, new partnerships, and action across the Texas Bio Triangle. 🧬 💰 Funding: The Way I Plan to Cover Funding Announcements You may have seen reports of a local Bio & Health startup’s funding round through an SEC report filing. While some outlets have covered this, my position is not to. I prefer to support our builders directly rather than trolling the filings for scoops. There is plenty of real investigative journalism that our city would be well served by if that is where they focused. Remember I am not a journalist and I am not the media. When the company is ready to announce their round officially, I’ll gladly shout it to the rooftops. 📊 Data Peter Walker at Carta reports that in 2017, Biopharma and Medical Devices captured just under 10% of all VC dollars. By 2023, this figure rose to 17.7%, and in Q1 2024, it reached 24%. The overarching tailwinds favor our sector and region with trends towards Bio & Health and the physical & digital intersection. Energy and hardware, two other sector blossoming in Central Texas, also saw similar share gains. 🤝 M&A and Partnerships Sensi.AI, a 24/7 senior care intelligence agent, is partnering with Caring Senior Service to deploy SensiAI’s platform in Caring’s 50 locations across the US. This partnership allows seniors a better opportunity to age gracefully in their homes. 🚩 Texas Bio Triangle BioMedSA is hosting an event called Women in Bioscience, Thursday June 20th. It’s designed to connect and empower women in the bioscience industry across Central Texas, and features Randi Brosterman Hutchens discussing "Building your Personal Board." Find the link to the event in the comments. Houston-based Lokum, a staffing solution to connect clinicians and clinical staff to health care facilities, has raised a $700K pre-seed round. Congrats Ayoade (Joy) Ademuyewo on the raise. What’s Next? #AustinNext #LifeSciences #Healthcare #Biotechnology

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🧬 This week's Austin Bio + Health Roundup has acquisitions, funding, leader’s insights on national healthcare news, critical new infrastructure, and developments from across the Texas Bio Triangle. 🧬 🤝 M&A and Partnerships Subjectwell, a patient access marketplace connecting patients to clinical trials and treatments, was acquired by Windrose Health Investors.  This acquisition will also provide Subjectwell with additional capital for its next growth phase. 💰 Funding Thoughtful Automation, an AI company specializing in revenue-cycle management tools for healthcare providers, has announced its move to Austin and has secured $12.5M in funding. Congrats and welcome to Central Texas! 💡 Insights from Local Builders and Innovators Michelle Davey, Founder and CEO of Wheel, provided her commentary to FierceHealthcare on the recent exits from the virtual care market by major players Walmart and Optum. Michelle said, “It's not just about being big—it's about the platform that drives the care delivery itself - and how it's purpose-built to scale to mass adoption and repeat utilization." 🏗️ Infrastructure Dell Med is launching a Center for Rare Diseases, focusing on cutting-edge research and therapies. This initiative will support advances in diagnostics and boost awareness, providing critical assistance for patients and families dealing with rare conditions. 🚀 Launches, Expansions, and Milestones The co-founder of artist collaborative Meow Wolf is leaving to launch a new $15M wellness and spa experience in Austin. They are branding it as the “world’s first neuroscience-enabled spa,” bringing a new element to the Austin’s strength at the convergence of bio, health, and tech. 🚩 Texas Bio Triangle First Bight Ventures’ industrial biology accelerator, BioWell, is now seeking its first cohort of 10 companies, with applications due by May 15. The STRONG STAR Consortium has secured $17 million in DoD funding to address brain injuries, PTSD, and related conditions, which will launch 8 programs spanning detection, prevention, and treatment. As always, the news is as varied and dynamic as our region, let’s keep it up! What’s Next? #AustinNext #LifeSciences #Healthcare #Biotechnology

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Who doesn't love chatting about the frontier of Space?! Loved getting this insiders look from Epsilon3 CEO Laura Crabtree (ex-SpaceX, Northrop Grumman) as the industry reshapes into a lightening fast startup ecosystem for us to marvel. Small teams are lowering the cost to access space. Homegrown automation software is dramatically reducing team size -- as Laura puts it: "You won’t see 50 people in a control room for launch…you’ll see 5 controlling 50 different assets and a couple of 100 assets that are mostly operating on their own." Personally i'm keeping a close eye on the new interconnectedness between space and the broader economy will spark a flywheel of innovation. 🎙️ Listen in to our discussion (link in comments) as we release today -- 5YF#16: Space command reimagined, automating mission control, new deep tech hubs, interstellar missions, and the future of space operations w/ Epsilon3 CEO Laura Crabtree To infinity!

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Exciting news for startups! California accounts for about 50% of all venture investments. The not-so-secret reason is that non-competes are illegal in California, so engineers at FAANGs can build competitors without fear. Today, the US Federal Trade Commission declared non-compete agreements illegal nationwide. This means that engineers at big tech companies can now leave and build their own companies without fear of violating a non-competes (legacy agreements for executives are still enforceable - talk to your lawyer), this is a step in the right direction for fostering innovation and competition across the country. A variety of big-business groups have vowed to sue to bring non-competes back, but at least for now, they're gone! #startups #innovation #competition #noncompete Official Announcement: https://lnkd.in/gRXUpgDy Impending lawsuit: https://lnkd.in/gqSiVuTd

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How is AI transforming the future of defense and warfare, and what role does Austin play in this evolution? On today’s Austin Next episode, I sat down with Charlie B., Founder and CEO of both Valkyrie and their newest spinout, Valkyrie Andromeda, to discuss not just the technological advancements shaping modern warfare, but also the philosophical, inspirational, and cultural underpinnings behind those advancements. Episode Highlights: 🌟 What is Andromeda? Synthesizing large volumes of information quickly and accurately to make informed decisions. 🎥 Media Narratives: How pop culture and media, from Terminator to Oppenheimer, shape public perception of technology. 🤝 Industry & Defense: History has shown that industry and defense have always been intertwined, with modern tech entrepreneurs playing roles similar to past industrialists. 🔢 Probabilistic Thinking: The critical role of thinking in probabilities and confidence intervals to manage high levels of uncertainty. 🔮 Intelligence Community in Austin: "I think the next thing for Austin...we're going to see a big push to support the intelligence community the way we've seen a big push to support the defense community." ⬇️ Find links to the full episode in the comments. What’s Next?

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Wilmington North Carolina USA is #1 Startup Ecosystem in the WORLD for small cities under 300,000 people #2 in North Carolina behind an ecosystem that is 40 years old #22 in the USA no matter what size population #61 in the WORLD and the fastest climb up the rankings by moving up 32 spots  in StartupBlink #WilmingtonNC #startup #entrepreneur #investor #NorthCarolina

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Excellent article Excerpts: "By providing zero guidance and leadership, the people who get paid to educate at the highest levels have plummeted their own students into the lowest dungeons of human instinct: the catacombs where erstwhile hatred reigns and the light of analytical exercise is nowhere to be found." "Put simply: in institutions of academic learning, where scholarly thought leaders should stand ready to guide, encourage, lead, and elevate students to new heights of knowledge and new paths of intellectual curiosity, there is no intelligent leadership to be found." "The pervasive lack of leadership at our colleges has created a herd in search of a leader." "Students have joined the protests.. [because] they have learned, in class, that you don’t have to exercise reason, analysis, and discernment in order to engage in social and political issues." "The abdication of the college faculty from the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza has allowed virulent, openly anti-intellectual forces to hijack the protests (and probably organize many of them in the first place)." "...the men and women who are supposed to educate our college students are generally far less intellectually astute than their predecessors were only half a century ago." "When complex events enter their workspace—anti-war protests on campus—they lack the methodological skills to lead those protests in a peaceful, productive, and academically illuminating direction." "The silver lining in the current campus protests is that the students protesting are, for the most part, so ill-educated that they will have a hard time climbing the ladders of influence in American society." "Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about the people who run our academic institutions. For this very reason, many of today’s protesters will be tomorrow’s tenured college faculty."

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This analysis, at least anecdotally makes sense to me. In many situations, infringe and holdout is the least painful option for large infringers. The system enables it. - The plaintiff must allocate the time and $$ to assert, taking time and $$ away from selling and developing products. Even if they engage litigation financiers they are limiting their upside potential. - The infringer continues to infringe while employing stall tactics or simply relying on the painfully slow, overburdened legal system. - The cost benefit analysis for infringers - "infringe and pay lawyers" typically outweighs the cost of design around or license. - Enhanced damages and injunctions are rare. - Litigation insurance products reduce risk all around. "The Marcum report shows that there is indeed something wrong with the patent system in the United States but it’s not excessive litigation or patent trolls. The real problem is the inability of patent owners to enforce their rights against infringers. Given the difficulty of obtaining injunctive relief and the limited enhancement of damages, it is unsurprising that predatory infringement has become a standard business practice when, at worst, all an infringer can be expected to pay is a reasonable royalty and, at best, nothing at all."

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Federal Communications Commission calling?!? Most likely not unless you are a bad actor!! Defeating brand (businesses, government agencies, NGOs) impersonation is imperative to restore trust in communications. Learn more by reading comments to the Federal Trade Commission as they "Seek Comment for Trade Regulation Rule on Impersonation of Government and Businesses" and may be found here: https://lnkd.in/emN54gaF

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A few Friday thoughts... After several days in Chicago surrounded by 200+ LPs at the ILPA Members' Conference covering everything from AI to NAV facilities, I'm headed into the weekend energized by what's to come. That may come at a surprise after the week we've had as an industry. The decision from the U.S. Fifth Circuit on the SEC's Private Fund Advisers rules was handed down just moments before we kicked off ILPA’s AGM on Wednesday. All along, ILPA has viewed the PFA as addressing areas that pose risks to both LPs and the industry around transparency, governance and alignment of interest. It was disappointing—albeit not a shock—to see the PFA vacated. But ILPA is choosing to turn our energy to the compelling opportunity before us as an industry. Together, we can chart the path for how we'll work better together, on our own terms. Particularly around transparency. Just days prior to the ruling, we had debuted the next evolution of ILPA reporting templates on fees and expenses and performance for industry feedback. The templates were developed by a broad industry coalition over a three-month period, partly to comply with the PFA quarterly statements rule implementation deadline, but largely because this work needed to be done. We've temporarily paused the comment period. Now we have the benefit of more time to ensure that these minimum reporting standards have cross-industry buy-in to ensure wide support and adoption. Will you join us in this effort, in paving the way forward as an industry? https://lnkd.in/e-6hspU4

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ISP Strategic Leadership, Engineering, and Operations As an organization scales, there is often a need to separate strategic technology leadership under the CTO from internal execution under engineering and operations management. This allows the CTO to focus on outward-facing duties while enabling streamlined operational efficiency. However, it's crucial to recognize the differing motivations and needs of these distinct technical roles. On one hand, engineers thrive on tackling interesting, challenging projects that push their abilities and knowledge. They value working alongside capable peers, genuine recognition of technical accomplishments, and contributing to products/services that reach the market. In contrast, operations teams should strive for repeatable processes, continual improvement, and driving efficiency at scale. Their priorities revolve around standardizing workflows, minimizing disruptions, and incrementally optimizing existing systems and procedures to maintain consistent service delivery as the company grows. An effective organizational structure acknowledges this dichotomy, fostering an environment that fuels engineering innovation while providing operations with the stability and process-orientation they require. Striking this balance enables the company to stay agile and innovative through its engineering efforts, while simultaneously scaling operational execution in a reliable and repeatable manner. Competitive compensation remains an important motivator across both domains. By properly aligning structural elements, motivational factors, and leadership priorities, a rapidly growing ISP can position itself to attract and retain top talent across engineering and operations, driving sustainable growth and success in the dynamic technology landscape.

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Movac KiwiNet Deep Tech is difficult because you do not comprehend 95% of the universe using the Standard Model of Particle physics. Either learn that measurement is flawed due to human bias or experience and unbiased state through transcendence experiences corresponding to Christ consciousness. The physics of life is based on LENR and not the Standard Model of Particle physics. Unfortunately, scientific research has been captured by the materialism perspective. This is mutually exclusive to the light observed in consciousness. Physics of life. Deep Tech https://lnkd.in/gKqC3PAR Gateway into the aromatic ring Faraday cage system. Time to see the light 😁.

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Key takeaway from Texas Venture Gala & Forum this past weekend? "Heck if I know" 😂 A wonderfully fun photo with the incredible Christine G. of VU Venture Partners made me put a bit more thought to the early morning panel I moderated with Austin Technology Incubator's Rebecca (Becky) Taylor, Muriel Foster of gener8tor's gBeta, Angelos Angelou from the International Accelerator, and Martín Martinez of Founder Institute. That, if I were sum up the most paramount of lessons to #entrepreneurs and venture capital investors, it's that we don't know. The very definition of #startup means that we're trying something distinct, and hopefully evolutionary. Anyone claiming to have the answers is lying to themselves and misleading you. Founders, TRY it, TEST it, and PIVOT Investors, if you're looking for a sure bet, please go back into banking and stay out of startups. The consensus among the panelists exploring how Venture Capitalists can help incubators and accelerators was the same: participate. Show up, mentor, help, and be involved. The ONLY way to capably serve innovation is through collaboration. Help founders avoid mistakes by advising and answering what we *do know* so that they can focus on solving the problems not yet explored and resolved. How? Where? Everyone, get Incubators in place for the pre-seed and support Accelerators as startups are (actually) ready to scale. Join me here for more on that perspective and some wonderful ongoing discussion: https://lnkd.in/gixAeSm8

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The Activity level of #VentureCapital in the Southeast Find it EVERY Friday here on Hypepotamus #Entrepreneur #Startup #Investor

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Exciting news! We just sent out the inaugural newsletter for Future Frontier Capital, our pre-seed venture fund backing frontier tech startups. As I hit "send," I realized how launching FFC parallels the path of the founders we support. Starting FFC has required the same passion, perseverance, and self-belief that drive entrepreneurs. Just like a startup, getting a VC fund off the ground demands relentless hustle—building the brand, perfecting the pitch, and networking tirelessly. There are constant challenges that test your resolve and endless hours of unglamorous work behind the scenes. And perhaps most daunting - the self-doubt, wondering if you're crazy for attempting something so bold. Pushing through that negative self-talk requires unshakable faith in your mission. Raising this VC fund reminds me of starting our IP strategy and patent analytics firm two decades ago. It’s a powerful reminder of the perseverance, creativity, and resilience needed to turn an ambitious idea into reality. This experience makes us more empathetic partners, ready to support the founders we back. Our work is just beginning, and this inaugural newsletter underscores our commitment to supporting frontier tech startups every step of the way. #startups #VentureCapital #EmergingManagers #Entrepreneurship #InnovationMindSet

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A great essay to read by Armenak Ohanesian!

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