VNTR Capital News August 20, 2023 – News, Events, VC Reads
Venture Capital, Web3, and Private Equity – August 20 News, Events, and VC Reads
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Happy Sunday!
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VNTR CAPITAL COMMUNITY NEWS
Spotlight
VNTR 1-on-1 Speed Networking Event — Grow your co-investors network at the VNTR Investors Speed Networking event on Sep 6 with VNTR members, where you can build valuable new connections. To participate, apply on the VNTR Platform.
Peer-to-Peer Support — The VNTR Platform now offers a space for our members to seek assistance and receive support from VNTR peers. Drawing upon our members' combined knowledge and connections, you can swiftly address your concerns, identify relevant contacts, and swiftly solve challenges. Submit a request, and fellow VNTR peers will promptly offer their insights and responses to assist you.
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This week
Santa Cruz Bolivia — This week, we hosted our first event in South America in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, on Aug 16 as a side event to VCiLAT (view photos).
Toronto — We hosted the second VNTR Investors Breakfast in Toronto on Aug 16 as a side event to Blockchain Futurist Conference (view photos)
Upcoming
Bali — VNTR Bali Chapter will host its first event on Aug 25 to connect investors visiting Coinfest Asia (10% off with VNTR10).
Seoul — We are returning to Seoul to host the first VNTR Investors Roundtable on September 6th to kickstart VNTR Chapter Seoul events during Korea Blockchain Week.
Singapore — Our flagship event in South East Asia is on Sep 14 in Singapore (official side event to Token2049, 10% Off with VNTRCAPITAL) and will feature a keynote speaker and 4 presenting partner companies. One slot is still available; apply to present.
Zug — The first Venture Capital Investors Roundtable in Zug is on Sep 15 during Crypto Valley and Crypto Oasis Swiss Web3 Festival.
San Francisco — Our second Investors Roundtable in Silicon Valley will take place on Sep 20 during TechCrunch Disrupt 2023.
Thank you to our Partners:
Crypto Hunters is a new futuristic reality adventure TV show and immersive mobile game utilizing augmented reality (AR), with the primary objective of promoting widespread adoption and educating the general public about Crypto, Blockchain, NFTs, and Web3. The show aims to engage large audiences globally and increase their understanding of these concepts through captivating challenges and rewards. Currently, Crypto Hunters is in the process of recruiting 16 candidates (8 teams of 2) who will compete across 8 episodes for a chance to win the grand prize of $1 million. The show intends to reach a staggering audience of 500 million viewers, granting them the opportunity to participate in the immersive AR game associated with Crypto Hunters. Viewers can compete for rewards and cash prizes by engaging in various challenges and games. This synergistic relationship between the show and the game will create an extensive ecosystem and a vibrant community of Crypto Hunters token (CRH) holders. The tokens will serve as a means for community members to partake in games, purchase NFTs, merchandise, and more. With its multi-season format, the show plans to propel the adoption of cryptocurrencies further and foster one of the largest crypto communities globally. Last Chance to join Crypto Hunters Online Casting. Join the Crypto Hunters Telegram community. Contact HK to learn more.
EHP is the only three-phase heat transfer technology that contains nanoparticles and a miraculous way to reduce energy consumption. EHP Technology (watch video) is the world's first and only known 5th-generation heat transfer technology, the world's fastest, most affordable, and most efficient heat transfer technology. EHP is the first recycling technology that can reduce up to 70% of our world's global waste heat to go to the air, saving up to 40% of the world's global energy problem. You can contact Anil to learn more.
Upcoming VNTR Capital events:
Sep 6 VNTR Speed Networking (Online)
Sep 25 VNTR Investors Roundtable Munich (During Bitz & Pretzels)
Oct 5 VNTR Investors Roundtable London (During Sifted Summit)
Oct 8 VNTR Investors Roundtable Tbilisi (During DeGameFi)
Oct 17 VNTR Investors Roundtable Dubai (During GITEX Global and Expand North Star)
Oct 18 VNTR Investors Roundtable New York (During NY Tech Week)
Oct 19 VNTR Investors Roundtable Lisbon (During Block3000)
Oct 23 VNTR Investors Roundtable Las Vegas (During Money20/20)
Oct 25 VNTR Investors Roundtable Barcelona (During European Blockchain Week)
Nov 1 VNTR Investors Roundtable Hong Kong (During Hong Kong FinTech Week)
Nov 14 VNTR Investors Roundtable Lisbon (During Web Summit)
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UPCOMING VC EVENTS
Aug 24-25 Coinfest Asia 2023, Bali (10% off with VNTR10)
Sep 1-5 IFA Berlin. Germany
Sep 4-5 Seamless, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Sep 6-7 DLD, Munich, Germany
Sep 11-13 Permissionless II, Austin, Texas
Sep 12-17 Crypto Valley and Crypto Oasis Festival, Zug / Zurich, Switzerland
Sep 12-14 Dreamforce, San Francisco, USA
Sep 12-19 Berlin Blockchain Week, Berlin, Germany
Sep 12-13 MoneyLive Asia, Singapore
Sep 12-14 Glendale Tech Week, LA, USA
Sep 13-14 Token2049 Asia, Singapore (10% off with VNTRCAPITAL)
Sep 18-19 IPEM Paris, France
Sep 19-21 TechCrunch Disrupt 2023
Sep 19-22 Super Return Asia, Singapore
Sep 20-21 DMEXCO, Cologne, Germany
Sep 21-22 Metaverse Summit, Paris, France
Sep 21-23 TechSparks 2023, Bengaluru, India
Sep 24-26 Bits and Pretzels, Munich, Germany
Sep 26-28 Meridian by Stellar, Madrid, Spain
Sep 26-28 Mobile World Congress, Las Vegas, USA
Sep 27-30 Monaco Yacht Show, Monaco
Oct 3-4 CV Summit, Zug, Switzerland
Oct 4-5 Sifted Summit, London, UK
Oct 5-6 Zebu Live, London, UK
Oct 7-8 DeGameFi, Tbilisi, Georgia (10% off VIP passes with VNTRVIP10)
Oct 8-9 Wow Summit, Dubai, UAE
Oct 15-18 Expand North Star Dubai Harbour, UAE
Oct 16-20 GITEX Global, Dubai, UAE
Oct 16-22 NY Tech Week, New York, USA
Oct 19-21 VC Weekend, Dubai, UAE
Oct 20-23 Plan B Forum, Lugano, Switzerland
Oct 22-24 Money 20/20, Las Vegas, USA
Oct 24-26 Digital Nigeria, Abuja, Nigeria
Oct 24-25 Blockchain Life 2023, Dubai, UAE
Oct 30-Nov 3 Solana Breakpoint, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Oct 30-Nov 5 Hong Kong FinTech Week, Hong Kong
Nov 7-10 Nearcon, Lisbon, Portugal
Nov 11-12 Australian Crypto Convention, Melbourne, Australia
Nov 13-16 Web Summit, Lisbon, Portugal
Nov 13 Europas, Lisbon, Portugal
Nov 13-17 AIBC Europe, Malta
Nov 14-16 SALT iConnections Asia, Singapore
Nov 15-17 Singapore Fintech Festival, Singapore
Nov 30-Dec1 SLUSH, Helsinki, Finland
Dec 4-5 Next Block Expo, Berlin, Germany
Dec 4-8 West Tech Fest, Perth, Australia
Dec 8-10 Art Basel, Miami, USA
If you would like to submit VC-related events, please respond to this email or Telegram @byuric
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Check out VNTR Capital upcoming events
VC Reads
What Does ‘Dry Powder’ Actually Mean For Startups?
As startup fundraising appears to be stabilizing after a few tumultuous years, there’s one topic which has reliably featured in that conversation: dry powder. “Dry powder” refers to the amount of money that limited partners have committed to venture capital funds. Rather than being delivered upfront, that capital is requested in increments by VCs during the first few years of a fund in order to meet funding obligations to founders. That estimated number stood at around $580 billion at the end of 2022. Depending on who you listen to, this mountain of capital is either a bullish signal — as VCs take advantage of the post-bubble environment to snatch up equity at bargain prices — or it’s meaningless, as poor fund performance, slower exits and higher interest rates incentivise LPs to direct their money elsewhere.
Most VCs have no clue what a CTO does
Venture capitalists look at businesses from many angles. Is the market big enough? Do the founders have good founder-market fit? Is the problem worth solving, does the solution make sense, and is the product a half-decent implementation of the solution? The diligence goes deep, too: calls with potential customers, market experts and character reference calls.
However, I’ve worked with a lot of pitch coaching clients and have realized that actually doing technical diligence is remarkably rare. It seems that investors will often look closely at what they understand well, which means poring over the financials and potential of the business. Less time is spent where there’s less expertise, which, for many investors, means that they’re just looking for a check box to check. If there’s a technical co-founder — literally any technical co-founder — on the team, it’s solid.
How first-time fund managers can gain fundraising edge
Fundraising in the private equity industry follows a familiar tale: Bulge bracket investment firms enjoy easy access to capital, while first-time fundraisers typically find it challenging to hit their targets. Exceptions do exist, though. There are specialist managers that wrapped up their first-time funds in a relatively smooth process this year. While there is no silver bullet for success, some of these debut funds supported their fundraising pitches by showing a proven ability to find deals and deploy capital quickly. Others offered co-investment opportunities or stood out as specialists with focused sector or regional expertise.
Tech Valuations Q2’23 Report
The reset in private tech company valuations continued in Q2’23, especially at later stages. We look at how valuations, deal sizes, and deal terms are changing across the venture landscape.
Median tech valuations declined again for Series A, C, and D+ startups in Q2’23.
The latest stages — Series D and above — experienced the sharpest quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) decline (-33%) as valuations moved further away from unicorn levels. In contrast, startups at the earliest stages raising seed and angel rounds experienced slight growth (5%) in median valuation QoQ.
However, the median valuation was still down across the board year-over-year.
State of pre-seed fundraising: Q2 2023
Every startup begins as a pre-seed company. At Carta, we define “pre-seed” as any company that has yet to raise a priced equity round. These nascent businesses usually raise capital with convertible instruments, the most common being SAFEs (Simple Agreements for Future Equity) or convertible notes.
For the first time, we’re diving deep into our pre-seed cap table data to understand how founders at this stage raise capital from friends & family, angel investors, and pre-seed VCs. And there is a lot of data: Tens of thousands of startups that use Carta are currently pre-seed and 2,103 of them raised capital with convertible financings in H1 2023.
Why generalist investors will always win
Year after year, vertical-specific investors become increasingly central to the venture world.
Andreessen Horowitz’s American Dynamism practice has carved out a remarkable brand in the “world of atoms.” Paradigm first made a name for itself with bold crypto bets. Numerous funds are currently spinning up to take advantage of the AI gold rush specifically. It’s understandable: As the venture world becomes increasingly competitive and rich, investors need to build their teams (and brands) to be as targeted and high-impact for entrepreneurs as possible. Choosing a vertical makes commanding capital from LPs more straightforward as well. And this strategy has worked. The investors mentioned above are often at the top of founders’ fundraising lists. It’s no surprise that other firms feel increasingly pressured to show off their expertise in various spaces by publishing market maps and investment theses.
UK launches £1 billion fintech fund to compete with Silicon Valley
The U.K. has created an investment vehicle to back growth-stage financial technology companies until they can go public, in a bid to bolster Britain’s global image as a fintech investment hub.
Backed by the likes of Mastercard, Barclays and the London Stock Exchange Group, the Fintech Growth Fund aims to invest between £10 million to £100 million into fintech companies, ranging from consumer-focused challenger banks and payments tech groups to financial infrastructure and regulatory technology.
The fund, which is being advised by U.K. investment bank Peel Hunt, looks to support companies at the growth stage of their funding cycle, as they seek Series C rounds and above.
The venture was created in response to a 2021 government-commissioned review helmed by former Worldpay Vice Chairman Ron Kalifa and examined whether the U.K.’s listings environment is unattractive for tech firms.
The Week’s 10 Biggest Funding Rounds: Biotech Startup Abcuro Takes Top Spot
The week felt slow news-wise, but it actually did provide a handful of pretty big rounds. While they may not have come from some of the bigger names in the tech startup landscape — although one large round did go to a well-known AI startup — they were big nonetheless. We are heading into the final slow weeks of summer, so it’ll be interesting to see where things go from here.
Which US VCs have partners on the ground in Europe?
Some of America's biggest VC firms have pitched their flags in Europe in the last several years, enticed by the opportunities in one of the world’s liveliest startup scenes. And they’re backing some of the continent’s biggest movers and shakers: companies like mobility unicorn Bolt, buy now, pay later giant Klarna and Stability AI have all been the beneficiaries of American cash. So far this year, 42% of the funding drummed up by Europe’s startups has come from investors based in the US, according to Dealroom — and it’s not just the cash making its way here. The firms are starting to permanently base partners across the pond in a hope of getting closer to deals. Here are the US headquartered VCs with at least one partner now based in Europe. Sifted confirmed the partners and deal number with the firms. Where Dealroom data is used, the firms did not respond to a request for comment, or declined to comment on deal count.
An Investor's Perspective on the Value of Regular Check-Ins
This post is not about why founders should write and send investor updates. We have enough of those posts already, and if you do a simple search, you’ll find tons of VCs opining on why founders should keep their investors updated regularly. I want to address a different but related topic. We have a very large portfolio, and many of my investors (Limited Partners, or LPs) ask me why I spend so much time meeting with existing portfolio companies and what I get out of those meetings. In a typical week, I talk to 30-40 of our existing portfolio companies; those meetings are a significant chunk of my time and are very important to me. I find these meetings extremely valuable, and I wanted to lay out why I find them so useful and what I, as an investor, get out of them.
As Venture Market Slows, Fewer Early-Round Unicorns Being Minted
As the venture market has significantly slowed, so has the pace of minting young startups as unicorns. With valuations going down across the board, investors seem more wary than they have in the past few years about anointing a $1 billion-plus valuation to a company before its Series C. Of the 47 unicorns minted through the first seven months of the year, only 18 of them joined The Crunchbase Unicorn Board after an early-stage funding round — defined as seed, Series A or Series B — an analysis of Crunchbase data shows. That is a far cry from 2021, when 107 early-round funding startups were given a $1 billion valuation. Even last year, 77 such companies hit that valuation after an early funding. At the current rate, only 31 early-stage funding startups will hit unicorn status this year, putting it on pace for the lowest count since 2019.
Chinese private equity navigates choppy waters
Once a focal point for Asia's fastest-growing private markets industry, China has become a riskier bet for the region's investors, with the latest US trade restrictions making it even more challenging to invest in the country. President Joe Biden's executive order to ban investment in semiconductors, quantum computing and specific AI systems is of particular concern to tech-focused venture capitalists. But the new policy also has consequences for private equity. There are still opportunities to be found in China, but its appeal among investors in Asian private equity is, at the very least, diminished. At the same time, those who continue to invest in the country will likely have to find new ways to navigate regulations as they contend with greater state oversight.
Inside the rise of enterprise AI
Enterprise AI — the integration of AI into various aspects of enterprise technologies — is growing and expected to transform how companies function, influencing every part of a business from process automation to marketing and risk management. Sifted and Sapphire Ventures’ latest report, which recognises the 100 most promising privately held software companies in Europe and Israel, featured 22 AI startups for enterprise use. How is enterprise AI changing the way companies work — and what are the opportunities and challenges?
New Unicorn Creation Has Dwindled From 2 Per Day To 2 Per Month
Only two companies joined The Crunchbase Unicorn Board in July — the lowest monthly count since we started tracking new unicorn pacing by month at the beginning of 2020. Both new companies are in the Web3 sector, and neither are from the U.S. The pace of new unicorn creation marks a big shift from 2021, when the average was more than two unicorns per work day. Even in 2022, new unicorns still averaged more than one per work day. So far this year, new unicorns have averaged one every three to four work days. Months-old Zyber 365, an India-based blockchain operating system company that raised a $100 million Series A funding led by Sram & Mram. The company was valued at $1.2 billion.
‘Winners Take None’ Is A Mantra For Many In The Unicorn Era
When heavily funded startups vie for dominance in a hot, emerging sector, we usually expect at least one will come out on top. But in case after case lately, that hasn’t happened. Rather, in spaces from co-working to scooters to used car sales, multiple unicorns have simply petered out. “Winners take none” is the phrase that Hunter Walk, partner at seed and early-stage investor Homebrew, used in a recent blog post to describe this phenomenon. He notes that investors committed vast sums to multiple markets where fast scaling and large capital expenditures failed to produce successful companies. So in which sectors has this theme been playing out most conspicuously? Using Crunchbase data on unicorn rounds, we put together a list of areas where startups raised gobs of cash without yet producing an emergent winner or winners.
Party's over for European unicorns as valuation dips
The aggregate value of European unicorns has declined for the first time in a decade as higher financing costs and public market volatility puts pressure on valuations. In H1, the combined post-money valuation of European companies worth over €1 billion stood at €442.2 billion (about $480 billion), according to PitchBook's Q2 2023 European VC Valuations Report, down from €446.3 at the end of 2022. Muted deal activity among European unicorns has contributed to the contracting valuation of the overall group. In H1, 20 deals were completed worth €2.1 billion, significantly less than the 63 rounds totaling €15.9 billion registered in H1 2022. Being the closest to exit, unicorns are more impacted by the movements in the public market valuations than startups at earlier stages. As exit activity, particularly for listings, remains significantly more depressed than previous years, LPs and investors may be reluctant to take part in late stage rounds as they are unlikely to see positive returns in the near future.
Crypto grants foster innovation amid venture capital exodus
As the bear market keeps slashing venture capital investments in the crypto industry, alternative funding options, such as grants, have been gaining traction as a means of supporting the community while enabling the growth of established projects.
According to Blockchain Grants, at least 40 crypto projects are currently offering grants for developers working on Web3 solutions, while data from Cointelegraph Research indicates that the market downturn has left a void in crypto venture capital, resulting in a 30% drop in funds injected into Web3 projects over the past 12 months.
Grants and venture capital are two different funding mechanisms with distinct purposes and conditions. While grants are often used to support projects that align with specific objectives and values, venture capital seeks startups with high growth potential and a focus on financial returns.
Chinese tech will lose more than money as Biden blocks U.S. venture capital, but P.R.C. startups can look elsewhere
Chinese startups could miss American know-how as much as they’ll miss U.S. venture capital soon to be barred from flowing across the Pacific by restrictions aimed at firms whose products might aid China’s military. But observers say China’s investment ecosystem won’t suffer too badly. President Joseph Biden signed an executive order on August 9 designed to block American dollars from funding Chinese companies developing artificial intelligence, semiconductor, and quantum computing technologies that can have military applications. The restrictions are expected to take effect sometime in 2024. In addition to blocking American capital from flowing to companies that could develop technology to aid the People’s Liberation Army — now the largest military in the world — the proposed regulations put forward by the U.S. Department of the Treasury would stem Chinese startups’ access to “intangible benefits” offered along with investment by venture funds run by such U.S. tech giants as Google, Qualcomm, and Intel, and by American venture capital firms such as GSR Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz.
21 generative AI startups to watch, according to investors
Investors have been swept up in the kind of FOMO-driven deal-making that saw four-week-old French startup Mistral raise an eye-watering €105m in June despite having no product. UK-based Synthesia raised $90m, also in June, and Germany’s DeepL picked €100m in January, which gave it unicorn status.
There seems to be no sign that VCs are losing interest — Sifted has seen a flurry of GenAI rounds drop into our inbox recently — so we can expect the money to keep on sloshing around the sector.
Can telehealth startups fill the gap in adolescent mental healthcare?
Telehealth startups—which have been struggling to get back on stable footing after coming down from a pandemic-fueled boom—are eyeing adolescent mental healthcare as a growing opportunity. After the surgeon general's report on the loneliness epidemic in the US—which cited that one in three young people struggle with mental illness—some investors believe tech startups could serve an unmet need. But startups face a significant challenge in maintaining investors' interest: Telehealth VC investment has dropped over 80% from its peak of $2.2 billion globally in Q1 2021 to $433 million in Q1 2023, according to PitchBook data. The teletherapy and behavioral health subsegment generated almost $800 million in deal value at its peak.
Institutionalized Belief In The Greater Fool
COVID happened, and the company exploded. From November 2020 to August 2021, the company's valuation went from $2B to $7.7B. The company also reached $100M+ of revenue, serving 100K+ organizations running 15K+ events per month! Across 4 rounds in 14 months, the company raised ~$1B in funding! Boufarhat, the CEO, wasn't without his own enrichment. Over the course of those rounds, he sold ~$200M of secondary.
And then, wouldn't you know it, COVID restrictions started to lift, people could travel again, and Hopin's usefulness dropped from 15K events per month to 158. After several rounds of layoffs, Boufarhat announced he was stepping down and the company's flagship virtual events product was being sold to RingCentral for $15 million in cash with $35 million in potential performance-based earn outs.
Insight Partners Has Invested More Than $4B Into AI. What’s Next?
New York-based investment firm Insight Partners has invested around $4 billion in artificial intelligence companies over the past five years.
That’s according to George Mathew, a partner at the firm who has led some of its key investments in the AI sector.
“Every business is having a transformative moment,” Mathew said in a conversation with Crunchbase News, speaking to the new wave of innovation unleashed by the launch of ChatGPT late last year. Such generative AI models have raised the bar that will “reformat all of software,” he said.
The End of the End of Crypto
Trying to figure out whether crypto is here to stay isn’t as simple as tallying up the industry’s wins or losses. For a while there it genuinely seemed possible that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) could wipe crypto off the map (maybe with the help of other government agencies). Then again, there’s practically a cottage industry of people who’ve made it their business to count all the times Bitcoin or crypto supposedly died. And, as sure as we are the sun will rise tomorrow, Bitcoin will likely keep adding blocks to the chain. That’s induction, baby! Without speaking out of step, it seems like the overall mood of the crypto scene has shifted. Last week the “Greed & Fear” index for measuring sentiment in bitcoin markets flipped bullish. Beginning with BlackRock’s surprising move into the realm of crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and running through PayPal’s just-launched stablecoin, it seems like most of the major crypto news headlines are pointing a way forward.
As Congress Bickers, the Rest of World Recognizes Stablecoins
Sadly, I must open up this week’s newsletter on a down note. On Monday, CoinDesk made the necessary but extremely difficult decision to let go of 24 colleagues — the bulk of them from our editorial operations — to reduce costs in the face of a brutally challenging market for crypto media revenue. Every one of those people was a vital contributor to the high standards of journalism that have made CoinDesk a household name in the world of crypto. They helped us win awards — a Polk award, a New York Press Club award and, just this week, a finalist listing for this year’s Loeb awards. They contributed to the best “play for each other” spirit I’ve ever encountered in a newsroom. They made working at CoinDesk exciting and rewarding. They are all, already, sorely missed. I wish them all the very best and hope that one day I have the pleasure of working with some or all of them again.
The role of blockchain in agriculture and how it advances the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals
Many global challenges need to be addressed through a collaborative effort. Blockchain can play a role in accelerating some of the major goals, such as ending poverty and fostering inclusive economic growth. In 2015, the United Nations (UN) presented its Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), which consist of 17 global goals aimed at tackling critical challenges related to poverty, equality, climate change, education, infrastructure, land and water management and more. These goals are part of the UN’s broader agenda for 2030. A 2022 report by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) found that 83% of companies worldwide had openly supported the SDGs, aligning their strategies with one or more goals. With the adoption of blockchain technology across major industries, including agriculture, many blockchain-oriented companies have the opportunity to drive and accelerate the UN’s goals. This includes ambitious goals like eradicating poverty, ending hunger, ensuring food security, promoting sustainable agriculture, and providing complete and productive employment for all.
Next Billion Dollar Startups 2023
Time to polish the crystal ball. There are more than 50,000 venture-backed startups in the U.S., and only the tiniest fraction of them will ever reach a billion-dollar valuation. For the ninth year in a row, Forbes has teamed with TrueBridge Capital Partners to search for the 25 most likely to pass that mark. Our track record is superb: Of the list’s 200 alumni, 120 have become unicorns, including DoorDash, Benchling, Duolingo and Rippling; another 27 were acquired, while three went public for less than $1 billion. Only five imploded or shut down, although at least 21 of our alumni that previously surpassed $1 billion are now worth less than that. Given banking troubles, layoffs, skittish investors and compressed valuations, it has been a tough year to pick winners. But from more than 200 nominations, we think these 25, presented in alphabetical order, have the best chance of becoming stars.
IBM blockchain and AI expert says ChatGPT poses several ‘key risks’ for enterprise use
Chief technology officer of IBM Automation Jerry Cuomo recently published a blog post laying out what he claims are several risks associated with using ChatGPT for enterprise. There are several key risk areas, according to the blog post, that businesses should consider before operating ChatGPT. Ultimately, however, Cuomo concludes that only non-sensitive data is safe with ChatGPT: “Once your data enters ChatGPT," writes Cuomo, “you have no control or knowledge of how it is being used.” Per the post, this type of unintentional data leakage could also put businesses on the hook, legally speaking, if partner, customer or client data is exposed to the general public after being leaked into ChatGPT’s training data. Cuomo further cites risks to intellectual property and the possibility that leakage could put businesses in violation of open-source agreements.
King-Making vs. Taste-Making
Power has, historically, been able to operate in a vacuum. Whoever has the largest army, or the most resources can largely control the world. "Whoever has the gold makes the rules." I'm no historian, but it seems that for the majority of human history there was a fairly limited role for "personal preference" to play in how things are governed.
Whether its the Magna Carta, or the Declaration of Independence, there are points in time when people have thrown off the top-down preferences in favor of their "own will." Perhaps one of the greatest demonstrations of the inspired many against the powerful few comes from A Bug's Life.
Exclusive: SBA expands $5 billion program to attract more VC funds
The U.S. Small Business Administration today will open up billions of loan dollars to venture capital funds, via the implementation of a new rule, it tells Axios exclusively.
The big picture: This is a modernization of the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program aimed at increasing investment in U.S. startups.
Particularly for small businesses in underserved communities and geographies, plus for capital intensive industries and those critical for national security.