VNTR Capital News Feb 18, 2024 – News, Events, VC Reads
Venture Capital, Web3, and Private Equity – Feb 18 News, Events, and VC Reads
Hello friends,
Happy Sunday!
VNTR Capital Newsletter is delivered to 70k+ investors weekly to share the latest news, events, and articles from the global VC and startup ecosystem.
Scroll down for VNTR Capital Community News, Upcoming Events, and VC News/Reads.
VNTR CAPITAL COMMUNITY NEWS
Spotlight
VNTR Welcome Roundtables — The VNTR Community and platform are growing, with hundreds of new members joining monthly. We are launching New Members Welcome Roundtables, where new members can meet each other, share their investment preferences, goals, challenges, and get started with VNTR Membership. Join our first online Welcome Roundtable on Friday, Feb 23 at 2 pm London time, 8 am New York. We will host roundtables in different time zones to accommodate all members.
VNTR Speed Networking — Join us this week on Feb 20 to connect with VNTR Members through 5-7 min one-on-one introduction meetings. Great opportunity to kickstart 10+ new relationships. The Networking is enabled through Airmeet, our tech partner. Get a 10% discount using "VNTR-Airmeet10" code to host your events with Airmeet.
VNTR PRO Masterminds — We introduced new thematic VNTR Growth Masterminds for VNTR PRO members, where you can collaborate with like-minded investors, share deals, get feedback on ideas, review deals, learn about trends, and grow together as investors. Schedule an intro call with Sophia to customize your VNTR PRO membership and join the masterminds:
VNTR PRO Web3 Mastermind on Feb 19
VNTR PRO AI Mastermind on Feb 21, hosting Neville Teagarden, Managing Partner from AI Capital
VNTR PRO FinTech Mastermind on Feb 22
VNTR Supercars Rally UAE — We have rescheduled our VNTR PRO Supercars Rally to new dates: April 19-21 in Dubai side event to Token2049 Dubai. We will travel together through the deserts and mountains on the UAE roads, enjoy interactive bonding activities, and create strong relationships with VNTR members. Apply to join (limited number of spots available)
VNTR LP Roundtables — GPs raising their new funds and wanting to connect with LPs can contact Julie. Limited Partners are invited to join us at our upcoming events to learn about the trends, new VC funds, investment opportunities and meet other peers who are investing in funds:
Corporate Membership and Sponsorship — Companies can now join the VNTR community on a Corporate Membership. Learn about Corporate Membership. Reach out to Lukas to join!
This week
Lisbon — Lisbon — We hosted our first event in Lisbon this year, the VNTR Investors Luncheon, on Feb 16, with keynote speakers Logan Ryan Golema, CEO of SophiaVerse, and Grace The Robot. Thank you, FinTech House and Sitio, for hosting us.
Estoril — Due to rain, we reschedule our golf experience and networking lunch to Feb 22. Join us for a round of golf on February 22, followed by a networking lunch.
Online — We will meet with VNTR members daily at VNTR LP Roundtable, VNTR Speed Networking, 3 VNTR PRO Masterminds, and VNTR Welcome Roundtable.
Thank you to our Partners:
Perfect — Book your flights, hotels, and supercars for the VNTR Rally using the Perfect Personal Lifestyle app with premium concierge services. Empower your routine with integrated GPT technology for seamless access to luxury services and an effortless lifestyle. Enjoy personalized assistance with tasks, errands, and reservations, freeing time for what truly matters. Join Perfect using "VNTR" code to get special discounts and VNTR experiences. Use Perfect via iOS, Android, WhatsApp or Telegram.
Crypto Hunters — An innovative multiplayer game combining Augmented Reality and Digital Treasure Hunting. Crypto Hunters is gearing up for an exciting phase as the game development enters its final stage, boasting fully integrated AR and VR components alongside blockchain technology. With all game types successfully tested, anticipation mounts for the upcoming April launch, where the team will unveil the first two twin cities for players to engage with their digital avatars and interact with real-world counterparts. Adding to the buzz, filming for the Crypto Hunters show is set to commence imminently, with locations already secured and government approvals in place. Contact Hussein Karaki to learn more.
Upcoming VNTR Events:
Feb 26 VNTR Investors Roundtable Dubai (AIBC and GCC Forum ($200 Discount using VNTRGCC code))
Feb 27 VNTR Investors Roundtable Barcelona (Mobile World Congress)
Feb 28 VNTR LP Roundtable Doha (Web Summit Qatar)
Feb 29 VNTR Investors Roundtable Singapore hosted at Marsh Singapore
March 1 VNTR Investors Roundtable Denver (ETH Denver)
March 5 VNTR Investors Roundtable Riyadh (LEAP) cohosted with When Worlds Collide (KSA)
March 6 VNTR LP Roundtable Riyadh (LEAP) cohosted with When Worlds Collide (KSA)
March 10 VNTR Investors Roundtable Austin (SXSW)
March 21 VNTR Investors Roundtable Porto Alegre (South Summit Brazil)
March 27 VNTR Investors Roundtable Hong Kong (Wow Summit HK)
April 10 VNTR Investors Roundtable Paris (Paris Blockchain Week)
April 16 VNTR Investors Roundtable Rio De Janeiro (Web Summit Rio)
April 19 VNTR Investors Roundtable Dubai (Token2049 Dubai)
April 19-21 VNTR Supercars Rally Dubai (Token2049 Dubai)
April 19 VNTR Investors Roundtable Miami (eMerge Americas)
April 24 VNTR Investors Roundtable Bangkok (Money 20/20 Asia)
April 24 VNTR Investors Roundtable Silicon Valley (Startup Grind Conference)
May 7 VNTR Investors Roundtable Dubai (Dubai FinTech Summit)
More events available on the VNTR Platform
Follow us on Social media: Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, Flickr, and Twitter.
UPCOMING VC EVENTS
Feb 20-21 Crypto360, Dubai, UAE
Feb 21-22 Step Conference, Dubai, UAE
Feb 21-23 The Money Show, Las Vegas, USA
Feb 23-24 NFT Paris, France
Feb 23-Mar 3 ETH Denver, Denver, USA
Feb 25-28 AIBC, Dubai, UAE
Feb 26 GCC Forum, Dubai, UAE ($200 Discount using VNTRGCC code)
Feb 26-29 Mobile World Congress, Barcelona, Spain
Feb 26-29 4YFN, Barcelona, Spain
Feb 27-28 Finovate Europe, London, UK
Feb 28-29 FiNext Dubai, UAE
Feb 28-29 Investopia, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Feb 29-Mar 3 VNTR Supercars Rally UAE
Mar 4-7 LEAP, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Mar 6-7 MoneyLive Summit London, UK
Mar 6-7 Cloud Expo Europe, London, UK
Mar 8-16 SXSW, Austin, USA
Mar 19-20 CEE VC Summit, Warsaw, Poland
Mar 20-22 South Summit Brazil, Porto Alegre, Brazil (30% Discount using VNTR_30OFF_ATT or 10% Discount using VNTR_10OFF_BUS)
Mar 26-27 Wow Summit, Hong Kong
April 8-12 Paris Blockchain Week, Paris, France (Startup Competition Application)
April 18-19 Token2049, Dubai, UAE
April 18-19 EmergeAmericas, Miami, USA
April 23-25 Money 20/20 Asia, Bangkok, Thailand
April 23-24 Startup Grind Conference, Redwood City, USA
May 6-7 Dubai FinTech Summit, Dubai, UAE
May 9-10 EU Startups Summit, Malta
May 15-16 Next Block Expo
May 15-16 Echelon by E27, Singapore
May 22-25 Viva Technology, Paris, France
May 29-31 Consensus, Austin, UAE
May 29 -31 Gitex Africa, Morocco
June 5-7 South Summit, Madrid, Spain
June 17-20 Collision Conf, Toronto, Canada
July 10-11 World Business Forum, Singapore
If you would like to submit VC-related events, please respond to this email or Telegram @byuric
Check out VNTR Capital upcoming events
VC Reads and News
View curated VC news and articles on the VNTR Platform
Real dilution by venture round - data from 17,000 primary rounds since 2020
The primary round note is important, as there are lots of bridge rounds, extensions, and all sorts of creative financing going on.
But in the standard venture alphabet round, here's how much founders are selling to investors.
How to navigate fund performance in a changing economy
It can be difficult for limited partners (LPs) to find the right balance of risk and return in their portfolios. In fact, many allocators have now realized they can no longer rely on outdated methods of analysis, which can lead to inaccurate cash flow projections. As the private capital markets continue to evolve, LPs must also adapt their allocation strategies to ensure their fiduciary responsibilities are met.
In this blog post, we’ll explore how LPs are navigating changing market conditions with new tools and resources for stronger portfolio allocation. While we believe a soft-landing scenario is increasingly likely, there is still a high chance of a US recession—making this an opportune time to revisit your portfolio construction.
VCs sacrifice future gains for cash amid IPO dry spell
The lowest venture capital fund distribution environment since the global financial crisis is driving some investors to knowingly leave money on the table. To return cash to their LPs, these early-stage VCs are selling secondary stakes in their best portfolio companies to later-stage investors at significant discounts. The tactic is an about-face for an industry that preaches patience in the face of market swings. It shows how the multiyear drought of IPOs and M&A is forcing the hands of venture firms. “A lot of the primary deals that we’re doing now have big secondary components,” said Miguel Luiña, managing director for fund investments at Hamilton Lane.
AI Is Like Water
Water is three things. Necessary. Ubiquitous. And the same. fucking. thing. inside every bottle. AI is like water. Or more specifically, generative AI applications are like bottled water.
Over the last year and a half, we’ve looked at hundreds of generative AI companies on the application layer. Many of them are the exact same under the hood. This is just the reality: there will be 100 teams trying to make the same generative AI application as you are right now. Plus there will be incumbents gunning for your market.
Elon Musk, fuming over $55 billion Tesla pay ruling, switches Neuralink incorporation from Delaware to Nevada
Elon Musk’s brain implant company, Neuralink Corp., switched the location of its business incorporation to Nevada from Delaware, taking steps to cut ties to a state where Musk has suffered significant legal setbacks — one over pay and another over his acquisition of Twitter.
The change was completed Thursday, according to the office of the Nevada secretary of state and a notice sent to shareholders in the company. Last week, a Delaware judge struck down Musk’s $55 billion Tesla Inc. pay package. In a post on X, the social network he owns, Musk advised founders not to incorporate in the state.
AI Leads New Unicorn Creation As Ranks Of $1B Startups Swells
Fewer startups became unicorns in 2023, but The Crunchbase Unicorn Board also became more crowded, as exits became even scarcer.
That means that 10 years after the term “unicorn” was coined to denote those private startups valued at $1 billion or more, there are over 1,500 current unicorn companies globally, collectively valued at more than $5 trillion based on their most recent valuations from funding deals.
All told, fewer than 100 companies joined the Unicorn Board in 2023, the lowest count in more than five years, an analysis of Crunchbase data shows.
Of the 95 companies that joined the board in 2023, AI was the leading sector, adding 20 new unicorns alone. Other leading unicorn sectors in 2023 included fintech (with 14 companies), cleantech and energy (12 each), and semiconductors (nine).
SEC Proposes Rule to Update Definition of Qualifying Venture Capital Funds
The Securities and Exchange Commission today proposed a rule that would update the dollar threshold for a fund to qualify as a “qualifying venture capital fund” for purposes of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (Act). The rule would update the dollar threshold to $12 million aggregate capital contributions and uncalled committed capital, up from the current standard of $10 million.
Stablecoins could boost dollar as global reserve currency: Fed governor
The popularity of United States dollar-denominated stablecoins in decentralized finance (DeFi) may be helping secure the dollar’s dominance as a global reserve currency, says Federal Reserve governor Christopher Waller. “About 99% of stablecoin market capitalization is linked to the U.S. dollar,” Waller said at a central banking-focused conference on Feb. 15. “People often conjecture that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin may replace the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency,” Waller added. He noted, however, that most DeFi trades use stablecoins largely linked to the dollar.
12 hospital tech startups to watch, according to VCs
With public spending cuts, ageing populations and staff burnout all putting pressure on struggling healthcare systems across Europe, providers are increasingly looking to tech solutions to ease some of the burden. Across 2021 and 2022, VC money poured into European startups building tech for hospitals and clinics. $3.6bn was invested in that period, as the likes of surgery robotics company CMR Surgical and practice management software provider Doctolib raised nine-figure rounds. Since then things have been a little quieter. While 2023 saw just $771m invested in the sector, CMR Surgical and DistalMotion, another robotics startup, both raised rounds north of $100m. The artificial intelligence boom also saw doctor copilot Corti raise $60m and cardiology startup Volta Medical pick up €36m.
From Construction To AI Diagnostics, Here Are 5 Areas Where Seed Investors Are Most Active
Predicting the future — once the realm of crystal balls and tea leaves — is now a full-fledged profession. Hundreds of professional futurists now work in government, academia and other sectors, analyzing demographic, technological and climatic trends to envision what life will look like years from now. Here at Crunchbase News, we have our own future-telling tool: Seed-funding data. By looking at today’s cohort of very young funded companies, we can piece together a sense of the technologies startup investors see most impacting our lives in future years.
How Venture Capital Firms Can Thrive by Tapping the Y Combinator Approach
In the world of traditional finance, private equity firms have long been known for their old-school approach to investing, characterized by large capital deployments into established companies with the aim of generating substantial returns over a relatively long period.
However, as the financial landscape undergoes a seismic shift with the rise of Web3 technologies and decentralized finance (DeFi), there is a growing realization that private equity firms need to adapt their strategies to remain competitive in this new era.
More than almost anything else, private equity firms – especially in nascent, hyper-growth tech spaces – can benefit from the Y Combinator approach, which involves selecting projects that are strong in most areas but may be missing one piece that can be supplied by the network and resources of the VC group.
20% of Bitcoin hash rate could go offline after halving — Galaxy Digital
As much as 20% of Bitcoin’s current hash rate could go offline after the Bitcoin halving, which will see block rewards slashed in half and leave only the most efficient mining rigs standing. At the end of 2023, over 70% of the Bitcoin hash rate was churned out by eight ASIC miner models, Galaxy’s mining analysts said in a Feb. 14 report citing Coin Metrics data. “Given how sensitive the breakevens are for the various ASIC models to Bitcoin price and transaction fees as a percent of rewards, we estimate that between 15 – 20% of network hash rate coming from the ASIC models [...] could come offline,” the analysts wrote.
Europe needs more scientists in VC to become a deeptech powerhouse
Europe's deep tech sector has substantial technical talent and research leadership and is uniquely positioned for global impact.
The region leads in high-impact research publications with 28.1 per cent, ahead of the US (19.3 per cent) and China (17.7 per cent), and has a higher percentage of STEM graduates than the US. Europe is also home to prestigious universities, including six of the top 20 in computer science and five in engineering.
Despite these strengths, Europe has historically struggled to commercialise its significant scientific and technological breakthroughs.
These 12 startups could be France’s next unicorns
French president Emmanuel Macron is well-known for his love of unicorns. In 2022, when sky-high company valuations were still fashionable, he set an ambitious target of hitting 100 French unicorns by 2030. Two years later, the country counts 30 startups that have reached a $1bn valuation — with the latest addition to the club, Paris-based fintech Pennylane, hitting the milestone a week ago. That doesn’t mean that reaching president Macron’s objective will be easy. Last year, France saw only two startups become unicorns — battery manufacturer Verkor and AI newbie Mistral, with the latter managing to launch, raise almost €500m and unlock a $2bn valuation all in the same year.
KKR says the average family office is allocating 52% of their portfolio towards alternatives
Family offices are increasingly pivoting towards alternative investments, according to data collected by KKR and Henry McVey, chief investment officer of KKR’s balance sheet. KKR and McVey surveyed over 75 family office chief investment officers, who on average manage north of $3 billion in assets. If there’s one key stat from the report you need to know, it’s this: Family offices on average are allocating 52% of their portfolios to alternative investments right now, and that marks an increase of 200 basis points since 2020.
Crypto exits remain low but investors remain unfazed
The global venture capital market is enduring a long period of limited exits. Startups are staying private longer, M&A is quiet in part due to sharpened regulatory oversight, and the IPO market remains frozen. This means many historical venture deals are slowly rotting on the vine, in IRR terms. The crypto market is no different, but some investors in the space are unfazed. New data from PitchBook’s Q4 2023 Crypto Report makes it clear that if the larger startup market is suffering from an exit drought, crypto startups are possibly even more parched.
Publicly traded US private equity heavyweights explored new avenues for growth as the LBO boom—previously powered by cheap debt—ran out of steam. They also unveiled new vehicles that open private-market assets to a new flock of investors: individuals. All of these moves point to the fact that the giants of the PE industry are embracing change. “The tailwinds that powered us to 2023 are not the same as the tailwinds that are likely to power us going forward,” said Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan on the firm’s Feb. 8 earnings call.
Why Sequoia is funding open source developers via a new equity-free fellowship
Sequoia Capital plans to fund up to three open source software developers annually, as a continuation of a program it debuted last year. The Silicon Valley venture capital firm announced the Sequoia Open Source Fellowship last May, but it was initially offered on an invite-only basis with a single recipient to shout about so far. Moving forward, Sequoia is inviting developers to apply for a stipend that will cover their costs for up to a year so they can work full-time on the project — without giving up any equity or ownership.
Startups Roll Out More Services For Growing Ranks Of Self-Employed And Gig Workers
Whether by choice or necessity, the share of workers who are self-employed or toiling in the gig economy continues to grow. And with it, tools to manage all the attendant accounting and job-finding burdens have been scaling up too. Startups are taking a leading role. Over the past few quarters, venture investors have poured hundreds of millions into companies with offerings aimed at freelance and gig workers. Top focus areas include platforms for finding work, accounting tools and apps tailored for specific industries.
Deep Tech Investments Down, But Maybe Not As Much As You Think
The venture market was down 38% last year as investors continued to reel back their funding with money becoming more expensive and liquidity options drying up. In such an environment, most would think the tech sector most greatly affected by the pullback would be deep tech — casually defined as cutting-edge scientific innovation that can create brand-new industries. With its cash-intensive research and long product-to-market lead time, it usually is not attractive to investors in a down market where cash is king. However, after seeing a significant slowdown through the first half of 2022, some of the biggest sectors in deep tech — also called “frontier” and “hard tech” — showed resiliency, despite still being down.
Citigroup tests tokenization to open up PE market
Private equity has long been an exclusive market, accessible only to a privileged few including pension funds and endowments. But with advancements in technology, PE is being opened up to broader world of investors. This week, global banking giant Citigroup, in collaboration with Wellington Management and WisdomTree, successfully trialed tokenizing a private equity fund on a blockchain network. For the uninitiated, tokenization is the process of turning ownership or rights to an asset into digital tokens that can be easily traded and managed using blockchain technology.
PE firms need to double down on adding value
Reading some of the news headlines of recent weeks, driven by a refinancing bonanza and a return of dividend recaps, it has almost been possible to imagine we were back in a different time. One where money was easy to come by and PE firms could handily generate returns. However, while improved conditions in the leveraged debt markets may have given squeezed PE firms some respite in recent weeks, investors should not expect the cost of finance to be reduced significantly or dependably in the short term.
How the ‘Halving’ Could Impact Bitcoin
The new entrants coming into Bitcoin via the recently launched ETF and prices bounce back up towards $50,000, it’s a good time to dig a bit into the Bitcoin halving, as we’re expected to go into another halving event in mid-April.
The Bitcoin halving cycle refers to the recurring event that reduces the blockchain rewards paid in bitcoin and given to miners for validating transactions and creating new blocks on the blockchain. This reduction occurs approximately every four years, specifically when the number of total blocks on the Bitcoin blockchain reaches a certain threshold, currently set at 210,000 blocks.
Investors Swipe Right On Some Dating Startups, But Don’t Make Big Commitments
Investing in dating startups is a lot like dating itself. Despite the likelihood that most won’t go anywhere, investors still back a lot of these companies. This is because they still believe that, once in a while, something transformative will come from it. As is typical in the startup world, the biggest, best-known dating platforms and apps started as modest efforts. Tinder’s creators cobbled together their prototype in days over a hackathon. Grindr’s founder paid a software developer $2,000 to build the initial app in 2009.
Crypto Has an Unrealized Opportunity in Asia
In the crypto world, plenty of time and attention has been focused on the United States and the actions of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This has been especially true since the approval of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETF) — for good reason. U.S. policies and its economy have a profound effect on the rest of the world and, whether we agree with those policies or not, given the breadth and depth of its capital markets, it will continue to play a key role in institutional crypto adoption and growth.
How to break into Silicon Valley
If you work in tech, you'll never regret spending 3-5 years in the Bay Area.
Lessons learned by Andrew Chen
- personal viral loop: Asking people for more people
- ask for advice and listen
- why it's helpful to "have a thing"
- know what you bring to the table
- find your cult
- how blogging/tweeting is helpful
- why avoid conferences/events
- building a network while you sleep