VNTR Capital News August 6, 2023 – News, Events, VC Reads
Venture Capital, Web3, and Private Equity – August 6 News, Events, and VC Reads
Hello friends,
Happy Sunday!
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Scroll down for VNTR Capital Community News, Upcoming Events, and VC News/Reads.
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.
VNTR Event Sponsorships — We plan to host additional 30+ events by the end of 2023. Learn about VNTR Sponsorship opportunities. Companies seeking to connect and engage with investors and their portfolios are welcome to apply for partnership opportunities.
VNTR Chapter Director program — Join the VNTR team to build VNTR Investors Membership in tech hubs globally and build a secure community for VCs, angel investors, family offices, crypto investors, and CVCs. You can learn more about the VNTR Chapter Director role and apply here.
Create your VNTR Platform Account
Upcoming
Santa Cruz Bolivia — We partnered with VCiLAT to host VNTR Roundtable Santa Cruz on Aug 16 at the conference and provide a place for VCs and angels to learn about the current investment trends in LATAM and each other through the roundtable introductions.
Toronto — VNTR Toronto Chapter will host the second roundtable on Aug 16 as a side event to Blockchain Futurist Conference.
Bali — VNTR Bali Chapter will host its first event on Aug 25 to connect investors at Coinfest Asia.
Seoul — We are returning to Seoul for the first VNTR Investors Roundtable on September 6th to kickstart VNTR Chapter Seoul during Korea Blockchain Week. We hosted two events in Seoul in 2018.
Singapore — Our flagship event in South East Asia is scheduled on Sep 14 in Singapore as a side event to Token2049 and F1 Grand Prix Singapore. This event also signifies the inauguration of the VNTR Singapore Chapter to establish our strong presence in the SEA region.
Zug — Our partners at Crypto Valley and Crypto Oasis invited us to host a side to their Ecosystem Feastival. We invite you to join us at the first Venture Capital Investors Roundtable on Zug on Sep 15.
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 20 candidates (10 teams of 2) who will compete across 10 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. Join the Crypto Hunters Telegram community. Contact HK to learn more.
Upcoming VNTR Capital events:
Aug 16 VNTR Investors Roundtable Santa Cruz, Bolivia (During VCiLat)
Aug 16 VNTR Investors Roundtable Toronto (During Blockchain Futurist Conference)
Aug 25 VNTR Investors Roundtable Bali (During Coinfest Asia)
Sep 6 VNTR Speed Networking (Online)
Sep 6 VNTR Investors Roundtable Seoul (During Korea Blockchain Week)
Sep 14 VNTR Investors Roundtable Singapore (During Token2049)
Sep 15 Venture Capital Investors Roundtable Zug (During Ecosystem Festival)
Sep 20 VNTR Investors Roundtable San Francisco (During TechCrunch Disrupt)
Sep 25 VNTR Investors Roundtable Munich (During Bitz & Pretzels)
RSVP to Upcoming VNTR Capital Events
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UPCOMING VC EVENTS
Aug 16-18 VCiLat, Santa Cruz De La Sierra, Bolivia
Aug 24-25 Coinfest Asia 2023, Bali
Sep 1-5 IFA Berlin. Germany
Sep 4-5 Seamless, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Sep 6-7 DLD, Munich, Germany
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
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
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 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 13-16 Web Summit, 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
Follow us on Social media: Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, Flickr, and Twitter.
Check out VNTR Capital upcoming events
VC Reads
This Under-The-Radar Firm From Berlin Is The Most Active Investor In New Unicorns So Far In 2023
When you consider the investors putting money into new unicorn startups, maybe you think of storied Silicon Valley names like Sequoia Capital and Kleiner Perkins, or large New York firms like Tiger Global and Insight Partners that in recent years have dominated startup investment. But in another sign of how much the market tides have shifted, the top investor leading rounds for new unicorn startups so far this year is none of those. Instead, it’s a relatively small, under-the-radar investor based in Berlin. Early-stage investment firm b2venture was the most active investor in new unicorn startups in the first half of 2023, Crunchbase data shows. The firm participated in nine funding rounds across three new unicorn startups — a significant portion of the only 44 total new unicorns minted in H1 2023.
The Week’s 10 Biggest Funding Rounds: John Chambers’ Nile, Newlight Technologies Light The Way
There were lots of big rounds this week as August roared in after a kind of sleepy July. The big rounds went to all different types of companies — from networking to biotech to sustainability. However, while there were five nine-figure rounds, none topped $200 million. Still, not a bad start to the final full month of summer.
State of Private Markets: Q2 2023
Venture funding on Carta inched upward in Q2. Startups combined to raise more than $15.4 billion in funding during the second quarter of 2023, up 26% from Q1. In several other areas of the venture landscape, such as early-stage valuations and late-stage deal counts, the story is similar: Numbers were trending back up in Q2 after significant declines in recent quarters.
Even with these recent gains, the venture market remains a long way off from the salad days of 2021. While capital raised was up significantly in Q2 on a quarterly basis, it’s still down 58% year over year. And there are other signs that the fundraising environment remains tight. For instance, nearly 20% of all rounds raised in Q2 were down rounds, the second-highest quarterly figure of the past five years.
It might be some time before activity returns to the record-setting pace of recent years. But it appears the overall venture market found a floor in the first half of 2023.
Hopin, one of the most iconic startups of the pandemic era, said this week it sold its virtual event and webinar hosting business to RingCentral, and that its founder and CEO, Johnny Boufarhat, is stepping down. The sale marks a pitiful finale for the once-heralded startup.
Similar to Clubhouse, the chat app valued at $4 billion in 2021, Hopin had reached a unicorn valuation in record time before fetching a whopping $7.8 billion valuation in 2021. I’ll always remember it as the company that investors insisted was once in a generation, even after pandemic restrictions were lifted and it became clear virtual events would not be as popular in a post–Covid-19 world. For those investors, there was no room for doubt!
Europe’s seed-stage funding plummets by almost half in July
July was a slow month for Europe’s seed-stage startups. Funding was down by almost half compared to June’s €697m, to €376m, according to Dealroom. There were just 218 rounds closed across the month, compared to 228 in June. While a dip between June and July’s figures is normal, this drop-off is much more severe than in previous years — in 2022, it fell from June's total of €526m to €433m in July. The UK contributed 55 of last month’s rounds, with €93m raised. That saw it take back its top spot as the country that brought in the most funding. France, which took the crown in June, dropped to third place in July.
Early-Stage Venture Capital Investment Down 54%
Dollars invested by VCs and the number of funding transactions fell in the first half, and exit deals remained elusive.
Risk-averse venture capitalists continued to pull back on investing in U.S. companies at nearly all stages of financing in the first half of 2023. Like banks, VCs are tighter with their terms and using a higher bar to judge prospective business investments.
VC exits were also rare in the first half, according to the second-quarter Pitchbook/NVCA Venture Monitor, discouraging limited partners from putting capital back into the VC ecosystem.
AI + Carbon = Funded Startups
Artificial intelligence and carbon removal are two of the hotter themes for startup funding in recent months. So what if you combined the two? We explored this question in an effort to see how much investment is going to companies touting expertise in both AI and in technologies tied to reducing carbon footprints. Turns out, quite a few funded startups tout credentials in these two areas. The past two years have been particularly active, with more than $400 million going to dozens of seed- through late-stage rounds straddling these two focus areas. Using Crunchbase data, we curated a list of 15 companies at the intersection of AI and carbon, each of which has raised $10 million or more.
AI boom to beat electricity and PCs, $200B investment by 2025: Goldman Sachs
Artificial intelligence could eventually have a bigger financial impact on the American economy than electricity and personal computers, according to economists at investment banking giant Goldman Sachs. In an Aug. 1 investment report, Goldman Sachs economists Joseph Briggs and Devesh Kodnani predicted that AI could pull as much as $200 billion in global investments by 2025 — with half of that in the United States — boosting its gross domestic product (GDP). While past tech booms spurred by the introduction of electricity and PCs saw GDP grow 2%, Goldman economists estimated that AI could account for up to 4% of GDP in the United States and 2.5% in other nations that have already begun investing heavily in the technology.
US private capital scores big in European soccer
More than a third of clubs in Europe's "Big Five" soccer leagues are backed by US-based private equity, venture capital or other forms of private capital, according to PitchBook data. Thirty-four of the 98 clubs analyzed in PitchBook's recent note on Private Capital in European Football have US private capital participation at the ownership level, whether through minority or majority stakes. PE accounted for the largest share, with 21 out of the 98 clubs backed by US-based PE investors. US investors—a mix of PE, high net worth individuals, and corporations—have been involved in six out of the 10 largest European soccer deals on record. In by far the biggest example, Chelsea Football Club was sold in a blockbuster £2.5 billion (about $3.2 billion) leveraged buyout in May 2022 to a consortium of US PE investors.
Stablecoins: A Potential Counter to De-Dollarization
As the global economy continues to absorb geopolitical tensions, we see increasing speculation that the U.S. dollar’s global dominance could wane, with a steady decline in the dollar’s share of central bank reserves and increasing de-dollarization efforts among BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and other emerging markets. While the dollar is likely to remain the dominant reserve currency globally in the near future, domestic and foreign policies could erode its overall dominance. Amid these shifts, U.S. regulated fiat-backed stablecoins may offer a novel counter-narrative that can enhance the dollar's global power and mitigate the impacts of de-dollarization.
Operational and finance tips for early-stage startups in a tough market
There is no question that this market is tough for tech startups. The market meltdown today can be compared to the dot-com meltdown in 2000 and the Great Recession meltdown in 2009. But even in tough markets, there are many survivors. This article explores survival tips for startups — for both operational and corporate finance. For the many companies that do survive, there will be an opportunity to grow faster since fewer competitors will fight for market share and corporate finance conditions will improve. An excellent example of survival is Amazon, which was on the verge of bankruptcy in the dot-com meltdown in 2000. Amazon’s stock price plummeted from $106 to $10. Amazon survived by pivoting to selling internally developed technology to others — selling its e-commerce platform to other retailers through Amazon Services and selling its cloud computing technology through Amazon Web Services.
India, Israel Lead The Way In Asian Venture Market Drop
With growing tensions starting to affect U.S. investment in China, it seems logical to conclude the 44% drop in Q2 venture funding in Asia is mainly due to a pullback by investors in Chinese startups. But that doesn’t appear to be the case, at least according to Crunchbase numbers. In fact, China’s venture market seems to have steadied from last year, while uncertainty continues to roil the funding markets in the region’s other large venture hubs. Meanwhile, India, South Korea, Singapore and Israel all saw significant drops in venture funding when comparing Q2 of this year to the same time last year.There is no denying the strained relationship between China and the U.S. and its effect on investments in the world’s second-most populated country.
Funding to Indian startups fell 77% from Jan-July 2023 over 2022
In July, investors participated in about 42 funding rounds and invested $523 million, slightly lower than $546 million in about 44 deals in June. Funding to Indian startups tanked about 77 percent in the first seven months of 2023 compared to the same period last year, worsening the fund crunch at a time when industry watchers warn about the overestimation of India's internet market. Indian startups recorded $4.4 billion in private equity and venture capital (PE/VC) funding in the January-July period, down from $19.3 billion a year ago, according to data shared by Venture Intelligence. Startups in India secured only 344 funding deals in this period against 821 in the first seven months 2022, data shows.
European PE funds taking longer to close as LPs focus on biggest firms
The median time that European private equity funds are taking to reach a final close is growing as more capital gravitates toward a handful of large, established firms. In the first half of this year, the median time between fund launch and the final close for vehicles that closed was 15.8 months, according to PitchBook data. The median for the whole of 2022 was 12.5 months. If the trend continues for the rest of year, it could be the longest median fundraising time for any year since 2013. Record inflation, soaring interest rates and a gloomy economic outlook have made fundraising harder for many managers. In these conditions, LPs invested €24.1 billion in mega-funds—those greater than €5 billion—in H1 this year, according to PitchBook's Q2 2023 European PE Breakdown.
NATO Is Ready To Start Writing Checks To Security And Defense Startups From Its New $1.1B Fund
NATO said Tuesday it has closed on a 1 billion euro ($1.1 billion) fund to back startups working on defense and security technology that would benefit the military alliance. The fund is the first of its kind — a multicountry venture fund that will invest in defense-related startups to support its member nations — and comes as Russia’s war in Ukraine continues to rage, with NATO countries providing intense support to Kyiv. Twenty-three NATO member countries are limited partners in the fund. That includes Sweden, which is pursuing membership in the alliance. The NATO Innovation Fund will make direct investments into startups, as well as provide capital to venture funds that invest in such startups. Notably, the U.S. is not one of the member nations backing the NATO fund, which appears to be somewhat modeled after In-Q-Tel, a venture firm that works with the CIA to back startups.
Steve Jobs’s Son Gets Into Venture Capital
Reed Jobs is stepping into the spotlight: The 31-year-old son of Steve Jobs and Laurene Powell Jobs is starting a venture capital firm to invest in new cancer treatments, DealBook is the first to report. It’s an area that hits close to home, since his father, the iconic Apple co-founder, died from complications of pancreatic cancer in 2011. “My father got diagnosed with cancer when I was 12,” Mr. Jobs told DealBook’s Andrew Ross Sorkin in his first interview with a news organization. That led him to begin focusing on oncology, starting with a summer internship at Stanford when he was 15.
These Are The Most Active And Spendiest Cleantech Investors
Venture investing can be a cliquish business. Sure, there are plenty of generalist firms. But when you look at the most active investors in a single industry, specialist funds often lead.
This is certainly the case for sustainability investment. A handful of climate-focused investors dominate the ranks for deal count and investment size in recent quarters, per Crunchbase data. Many of the busiest cleantech investors have also gotten more active in 2023. That’s significant, given that overall venture funding has fallen, indicating these industry-focused firms see both increased urgency and opportunity around their investment thesis.
Who is leading the private debt fundraising race in 2023?
A number of major-league credit managers have wrapped up big-ticket funds this year, buoying overall fundraising for private debt. PitchBook data shows private debt funds have raised $122 billion globally in 2023 as of July 28, a roughly 10% increase compared to the same time frame in 2022. However, the number of new funds closed year-to-date shrank to just 81, compared with 112 funds last year. The three largest vehicles closed in 2023 targeted mezzanine or special situations strategies, suggesting a growing appetite for riskier investments that target higher returns.Private debt has largely defied a fundraising drought that dampened other private market strategies, underscoring the appeal of floating rate instruments as interest rates rise.
Towards a Web3 Without Wallets
Blockchain wallets are a core component of Web3. Wallets are key for user identity in Web3 and give users ownership of data and permissions in apps and smart contracts. However, the combination of a steep learning curve and the high stakes of mistakes have been obstacles to mass adoption of Web3. Users have been stuck with either custodial or self-custodial wallets. Custodial wallets are managed by a centralized third-party, which means reduced functionality and control for users. In contrast, self-custodial wallets put users in the driver’s seat but are complex to set up and operate. With self-custody, users must remember and protect a 12- or 24-word seed phrase to avoid losing access to their wallet. The “wallet barrier” has significantly hindered onboarding of brands and consumers that are otherwise attracted to Web3.
Not all early-stage AI startups are created equal
The AI sector has gotten hotter over the last year. But unlike many of past venture fads — like crypto or web3 — the AI sector had a number of large startups and legacy players already active when the market started to froth. There have been AI exits and there are even whiffs of potential government regulation. This dynamic makes it a much more complex ecosystem for founders and investors alike — especially considering many of them weren’t paying attention to AI even a year ago. Entrepreneurs have flocked to the sector, and early-stage investors are trying to cut through the noise to find which startups are merely riding the hype and which have the potential to grow into substantial companies. One thing, not unlike other sectors, is that investors are looking for companies with a moat, or competitive advantage over rivals. With deep-pocketed players like Microsoft, Google and OpenAI also actively building in the category, investors want to make sure they aren’t backing companies that could be made irrelevant by the actions of one of the larger entities.
M&A dealmakers rely on structured deals to close transactions
Middle-market PE firms are facing a crowded arena for high-quality assets as larger GPs hunt downstream amid tight lending conditions. In order to close deals, financial buyers are finding creative ways to package financing and conducting due diligence early to reduce transaction risk, according to panelists at an event held by the Association for Corporate Growth in Seattle on August 3. A main takeaway from the panelists was that middle-market PE firms are under pressure to deploy capital in the face of increased competition from funds that traditionally target larger-sized deals.
Unicorns Hobbled Amid VC Pullbacks
Non-public companies valued at $1 billion and up haven’t sprung back with the stock market.
In mythology, unicorns have magical powers, from healing sickness to turning water potable.
In finance, their enchantment is fading, owing to over-valuation that lately has crashed. Unlike the flying, one-horned horses of fable, the financial unicorns—private startups worth $1 billion or more—have run up against forces pulling them back to earth.
On paper, venture capital-backed unicorns, many of them tech-tilted companies, are valued at $5 trillion. But their recent problems have sliced that in half, by the estimate of Coatue Management, a technology-oriented investment firm with both private and public holdings. There are “too many unicorns requiring too much capital,” a Coatue research presentation stated.
Most Active US Investors: Alumni Ventures Leads Cool Month
A year ago, well-known venture firms such as Andreessen Horowitz and FJ Labs were near the top of the most active U.S. investors list — each making at least 10 bets on innovative startups.
Times have changed, though. The venture market continues to creep along even more slowly than it did a year ago, and firms have cooled their pace.
While Andreessen Hororwitz placed 13 bets in July of last year, the firm made only three announced investments in U.S.-based startups last month. Similarly, FJ Labs went from 10 deals to only two.
An Investor's Perspective on the Value of Regular Check-Ins
We have tons of posts about why founders should write updates, this is a post about the investor perspective on the value of real-time 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.
Revisiting the Dot Com Era — What’s Similar, and Will Tech’s Recovery Be As Slow and Painful?
Every quarter, the Cowboy Ventures team gets together to compare notes on industry trends in areas like AI, security, dev tools, fintech and vertical SaaS.
Given how many in tech today have never lived through a downturn, we recently revisited the dot com era to see how the past might inform the future.
The walk down memory lane illuminated many parallels, uncanny visuals and lessons — read on for more (TLDR we’re working with startups to “plan for the worst, but hope for the best”).