VNTR Capital News June 11, 2023 – News, Events, VC Reads
Venture Capital, Web3, and Private Equity – June 11 News, Events, and VC Reads
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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 Platform Launch — Founding Members are in the process of onboarding onto the VNTR Platform. Thank you to the Founding Members who are actively engaged and providing feedback on the platform to meet investor needs better. This is your platform, so please fire away with your feedback and requests!
You can create your account here if you want to be a Founding Member.
VNTR Platform allows VNTR Members to connect, share deals, help each other with requests, register for VNTR events, and enjoy partner offers.Register for Events on the VNTR Platform — Registering for VNTR events is a matter of one click once you set up your investor profile on the platform. The first 4 deals are now available on the platform and ready for co-investment.
Last Week
Amsterdam — We hosted our first Investors Roundtable in Amsterdam, where we connected FinTech investors as a side event to Money20/20 Europe Annual Conference. Check out photos
Lisbon — Our 3rd Investors Roundtable in Lisbon hosted Alex Pisarevsky from Epic Web3 and Eric Benz from Flashy.Cash presented their ventures to local and visiting investors.
Upcoming
London — Tomorrow, Crypto Hunters are hosting London Casting for the upcoming Crypto Adventure Reality Show on June 12-14. Last chance to Apply for the casting and potentially secure a spot at the show, competing for the coveted grand prize of $1 million.
VNTR will co-host the Investors Roundtable London on June 13 and the Investors Party at Crypto Hunters Casting Party on June 14 (use VNTRVIP code), side events to London Tech Week (15% discount with VNTR15OFF)
Paris — VivaTech (30% discount using FP3UHDUJ4 code), Europe's Largest Startup and Tech Event, kicks off on June 14th! Join us on June 15th for the VNTR Investors Roundtable Paris, our second event in the city this year.
Toronto — Announcing our 1st Investors Roundtable in Toronto to be held June 27 as a side event to Collision 2023, one of North America's premier technology conferences.
Programs
VNTR Membership — We are opening our 3rd Mastermind Group to serve our growing membership and provide a place to share your progress, get support and grow as an active investor. Learn more about VNTR Membership benefits. Active PRO members can use VNTR Connections Concierge via Telegram or WhatsApp, submit a request, and our team will introduce you to relevant members/partners.
Thank you to our partners:
Crypto Hunters TV Show is an innovative adventure-reality series that uniquely explores cryptocurrency and blockchain. The show provides an exciting combination of action, education, and entertainment as contestants embark on a thrilling global adventure to uncover the secrets of the crypto world. With a focus on accessibility and entertainment, the show aims to make the excitement of cryptocurrency accessible to a broader audience. You can apply for casting in London on June 12-14 here. For those who can't make it to the casting events, we invite you to join the Crypto Hunters Telegram community. You can contact HK.
EHP is the only three-phase heat transfer technology that contains nanoparticles and a miraculous way to reduce energy consumption. EHP Technology is the world's first and only known 5th-generation heat transfer technology.
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EHP Technology is the technology that saves our world by ending the world's energy crisis and the world's carbon emission problem because it is the only technology that is compatible up to 100% with renewable energy sources.
EHP is the first recycling technology that causes up to 70% of our world's global waste heat going to the air, which can save up to 40% of world's global energy problem. You can contact Anil.
Partner with VNTR to achieve your goals
Upcoming VNTR Capital events:
Jun 13 VNTR Investors Roundtable London (During London Tech Week)
Jun 14 VNTR Investors Party London (During Crypto Hunters Casting Party)
Jun 15 VNTR Investors Roundtable Paris (During Viva Technology)
Jun 27 VNTR Investors Roundtable Toronto (During Collision)
Jul 7 VNTR Investors Roundtable Lisbon (During Block 3000)
Jul 11 VNTR Investors Roundtable Algarve (During Block Down Festival)
RSVP to Upcoming VNTR Capital Events
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UPCOMING VC EVENTS
June 12-16 London Tech Week (15% discount with VNTR15OFF)
Jun 12-13 SIGEF2023, Women Summit, Malta
Jun 13-14 Bloomberg New Economy Forum, Morocco
June 14 Crypto Hunters London Casting Party (VNTRVIP code for passes)
Jun 14-17 Viva Technology, Paris (30% discount using FP3UHDUJ4)
Jun 14-15 Proof of Talk, Paris, France
Jun 15-18 Art Basel, Basel, Switzerland
Jun 19-23 Cannes Lions, Cannes, France
Jun 22 Global Innovation Ventures Summit, Mountain View, CA, USA
Jun 25-26 Silicon Valley Comes to Tel-Aviv
Jun 26-29 Collision, Toronto, Canada
Jun 28-30 Blockchance, Hamburg, Germany (20% discount using BC23_VNCR)
July 6-7 Block3000, Lisbon, Portugal (reach out for complimentary investor pass)
July 10-12 Block Down Portugal 2023, Algarve, Portugal (50% discount using VNTR50)
July 25-26 WebX, Tokyo, Japan
July 26 Bloomberg Sustainable Business Summit, Singapore (with VNTR Members access)
Sep 13-14 Token2049 Asia, Singapore
Sep 19-21 TechCrunch Disrupt 2023
Sep 20-21 DMEXCO, Cologne, Germany
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
Nov 13-16 Web Summit, Lisbon, Portugal
Nov 30-Dec1 SLUSH, Helsinki, Finland
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
The 10 Biggest Rounds Of May: AI And Biotech Startups Get Big Bucks, Led By Anthropic And ElevateBio
You had to go big in May to get on this list. Each of the 10 biggest rounds last month was well above $100 million, so it seems like investors opened their checkbooks a little more.
Not surprisingly, AI again led the way, but biotech also remained strong in the last full month of spring. Other sectors including cleantech, network software and even crypto (it’s been a while) also had large raises.
Will fund-of-funds open the door to early-stage deals?
The late-stage venture market is a perilous place to be at the moment, particularly for those itching to offload assets in the public markets.
For that reason, many VCs dedicated to backing the most mature of startups are glancing behind them to see what the earlier stages have to offer. The advantages of this strategy seem obvious—today's early-stage companies could mature in a more forgiving exit environment—particularly for those worried about late-stage valuation trends.
Ultimate Guide to Platforms
The brass ring of product development is to create a platform. I say brass ring because by and large creating a platform is elusive for most products, at least at the scale we tend to think of when we think of platforms (Windows, iPhone, AdWords, and so on). In reality when, we look around there are tons of examples of platforms that deliver massive economics and powerful gains for those that bet on the platforms as customers and third parties.
While we all want to create a technology platform, we lack a common taxonomy or definitions. Once we have that definition, we can also look at the patterns that lead to the rise and fall of platforms.
15 fastest-growing university spinouts in Europe
Investors and governments are convinced that the next generation of companies will emerge from scientists commercialising their research from universities and institutions — known as spinouts. Many are building key technologies like quantum, AI, biotech and life sciences.
Governments are raising funds committed to spinouts while specialised investors are looking to get in on the university game. The UK government is also conducting a review into the best practices for commercialising research.
But which spinouts are already having an impact?
SoftBank’s Hits Are Iconic, But So Are Its Misses
In 2018 when SoftBank Vision Fund invested $375 million in Zume, a Silicon Valley startup with a robot-crafted pizza-making service, there were one of two gut responses. First: That’s not going to work out well. Second: Sounds out there, but maybe they’re onto something.
Nearly five years later, it looks like the first response was on target. Zume, which pivoted a few years ago from pizza to sustainable packaging, recently shut down due to insolvency, according to reports. The closure was the latest in a long string of disappointing outcomes for the Vision Fund, which shook up startupland in 2017 with the first $100 billion investment vehicle — the largest in industry history. A couple years later came the similarly jumbo-sized SoftBank Vision Fund II. These funds went on to back some notorious flops, like former construction industry unicorn Katerra. Others that are still around are worth a tiny fraction of their former valuations, including companies like WeWork.
‘Already explored’ — Apple Vision Pro fails to impress Mark Zuckerberg
As Meta struggles to lead the way in virtual and augmented reality, Apple’s recent entry into the market has generated curiosity and apprehension. With the official announcement of its Vision Pro headset, speculations arose about Mark Zuckerberg’s viewpoint as Meta CEO on the competition posed by Apple’s mixed reality headset. During an all-hands meeting observed by The Verge, Zuckerberg discussed his response to the technical features of the Vision Pro. Expressing his curiosity about Apple’s offering, Zuckerberg acknowledged that he had yet to experience the Vision Pro firsthand. He revealed that Meta’s teams had “already explored” and contemplated the constraints of laws and physics, implying that Apple’s solutions were not entirely groundbreaking.
European VC female founders dashboard
Venture capital funding overall has surged in recent years, but the numbers haven't leapt forward for female founders at the same pace. Last year, companies founded solely by women garnered just 0.9% of the total capital invested in venture-backed startups in Europe. But that number doesn't tell the whole story. VC funding for female-founded or co-founded companies in Europe has been trending up in recent years, and 2021 saw the creation of several women-led funds, incubators for female founders and more new companies. We took a deep dive into European investment trends for women in VC over the last 14 years, diving into deal counts by country, industry and stage. The data below is sourced from the PitchBook Platform and will be updated monthly.
The art behind building a successful venture capital fund portfolio
Having a clear investment thesis, picking strong teams with large addressable markets, and spreading risk effectively are key aspects towards building a successful venture capital fund portfolio, say leading African tech investors.Key to building a strong portfolio is having a clear investment thesis, says Philip Gasaatura of Katapult Africa. “Your investment thesis or strategy is your “why?”. Having that is saying “this is what we are about”,” he said. Brett Commaille of Hlayisani Capital agrees with Philip on the importance of a thesis. “It is critical. You can be broad in many aspects but to add value you really do need some commonality between your businesses, whether that is stage, or you focus on a certain sector, or you focus on a certain type of entrepreneur, there are many things that you can use as the key part of your thesis,” he said.
Tax implications for angel investors in the U.S.
If you are testing the waters of angel investing in the U.S., understanding the tax treatment of angel investments is especially important. While you are enjoying the ups and downs of sharing the company-building journey with entrepreneurs, it is crucial to keep accurate tax records and be aware of all the tax rules and regulations the IRS has made for angel investors.
New Unicorns In May Hit Double Digits With Two AI Companies
Ten companies joined The Crunchbase Unicorn Board in May 2023 — double the count for April 2023 but still significantly down from the 34 new unicorns in May 2022. This new unicorn count took place in a funding environment where the most active unicorn investor, Tiger Global, is looking to sell its stakes in private companies, and investors continue to downgrade unicorn portfolio values. The 10 companies hailed across nine different industries, and AI topped the list with two companies. Other sectors with a single new unicorn ranged from energy, biotech, robotics, enterprise SaaS and transportation among others. Five of the new unicorns are U.S.-based and two are from China. Canada, Indonesia and Japan each counted one new unicorn this past month. Around $5 billion of the $22 billion in global venture funding raised in May 2023 went to unicorn companies. That’s less than half of the $11 billion that unicorns raised in May 2022. The largest funding last month went to fast-fashion e-commerce platform Shein, which raised $2 billion in a single round at a reduced valuation of $66 billion.
Why AI Will Save the World
The era of Artificial Intelligence is here, and boy are people freaking out.
Fortunately, I am here to bring the good news: AI will not destroy the world, and in fact may save it. First, a short description of what AI is: The application of mathematics and software code to teach computers how to understand, synthesize, and generate knowledge in ways similar to how people do it. AI is a computer program like any other – it runs, takes input, processes, and generates output. AI’s output is useful across a wide range of fields, ranging from coding to medicine to law to the creative arts. It is owned by people and controlled by people, like any other technology.
BlackRock's latest acquisition signals venture debt appetite
BlackRock on Thursday announced that it will acquire Kreos, a provider of growth and venture debt in technology and healthcare. BlackRock's European private debt platform will absorb Kreos' private debt platform, which has committed around $5.6 billion in over 750 transactions, demonstrating strengthening investor demand for exposure to venture debt and private credit. The announcement is the latest example of frenzied investor activity in private credit, a product of high interest rates, a limited pool of banks providing leverage and the continued need to finance private market transactions. The asset class raised a total of $42.5 billion in the first quarter of 2023, according to PitchBook's Global Private Market Fundraising Report. "Current market dynamics have made private credit an attractive asset class as investors focus on its income generation, low volatility, portfolio diversification and its low defaults versus public markets," Stephan Caron, head of EMEA Private Debt at BlackRock, said in the deal announcement. BlackRock had no further comment.
These Are The Top Universities For Funded Founders
Every year or so at Crunchbase News, we tally up which U.S. universities graduate the highest number of recently funded startup founders. And each time, we see mostly predictable results, with a few surprises in the mix.
This time around, we saw minimal flux at the top of the list. The leading universities for funded founders are Stanford, MIT, UC Berkeley, and Harvard. The top business schools are Harvard, Stanford and Wharton.
Israel Successfully Tests Tokenization of Government Bonds
The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) and the Israeli Ministry of Finance completed test trials of the Eden blockchain platform, in which the first fictitious digital government bond in the form of ERC-1155 was issued.
Can Binance Survive the SEC's Charges?
After news broke that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is suing Binance, the Chief Executive of the world’s largest crypto exchange, Changpeng Zhao (aka CZ), took to a familiar strategy: tweeting. CZ’s first Twitter communiqué was just the number “4,” posted around the same time SEC Chair Gary Gensler was likely cleaning up for the first of several TV interviews. That might be a head scratcher to most of us. But to many of CZ’s 8 million followers, the tweet was a message, a joke and an attempt at reassurance they’ve heard before. After news broke that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is suing Binance, the Chief Executive of the world’s largest crypto exchange, Changpeng Zhao (aka CZ), took to a familiar strategy: tweeting. CZ’s first Twitter communiqué was just the number “4,” posted around the same time SEC Chair Gary Gensler was likely cleaning up for the first of several TV interviews. That might be a head scratcher to most of us. But to many of CZ’s 8 million followers, the tweet was a message, a joke and an attempt at reassurance they’ve heard before.
Trading Volume on DEXs Rises Amid SEC Pressure on CEXs
Major decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges (DEX) are showing growth in trading volume after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed charges against Binance and Coinbase.
Trading volume on the leading decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges has increased by an average of 30% in the last 48 hours, and the weekly trading activity figure showed a growth of more than 50%.
Decoding The Thematic Funds Landscape In India
In the last few years, challenges like falling returns on investments, volatile public markets, broken supply chains, constantly rising interest rates, and weakening of the INR against the USD have dented the investment sentiment in the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem, India. However, as the world is quickly adapting to this new normal, so are venture capitalists (VCs). In search of better returns and drenching with the enthusiasm to bet on futuristic trends, an increasing number of VCs, and many other investors, are now shifting their focus to theme-based investing, tweaking their investment strategies. Theme-based or thematic investing includes investments in diverse themes and companies operating in a specific sector, including its sub-sectors, with a pool of funds dedicated specifically to them. These funds are floated with the primary objective of tapping into futuristic trends early and leveraging LPs’ expertise in a sector to attract quality startup deals.
Global venture capital investment activity plunges YOY in May
Venture capital investments worldwide dropped 47.8% year over year in May to $18.85 billion from $36.08 billion, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data. The number of funding rounds slumped 38.9% to 1,129, from 1,847 a year earlier. May totals increased slightly from the previous month, when $16.52 billion was raised across 1,057 venture capital-involved funding rounds. Chinese company Nanjing Shein E-Commerce Co. Ltd. closed the largest funding round in May with a transaction value of $2.00 billion. General Atlantic Service Co. LP, Mamoura Diversified Global Holding PJSC and Sequoia Capital Operations LLC participated in the funding round. The next-largest transaction was a $940.0 million funding round for South Korean electric vehicle battery manufacturer SK on Co. Ltd. The round involved participation from BlackRock Inc., MBK Partners, Qatar Investment Authority and SNB Capital Co.
Will Recent US Crackdown On Crypto Affect Venture?
It’s been quite a turbulent couple of days for crypto, as U.S. regulators sued the two biggest exchanges in the world, Binance and Coinbase. The charges brought against both companies by the Securities and Exchange Commission explicitly show the regulator is getting very serious about bringing crypto under its jurisdiction and that of federal securities laws. While those regulatory actions affected two of the largest players in crypto and caused an unsteadying of cryptocurrency prices, they could also likely affect the crypto startup and venture capital world as the industry tries to find its footing in a murky financial space. “Most crypto firms and venture funds welcome thoughtful regulation in this space,” said Yash Patel, general partner at Telstra Ventures, who invests in crypto startups. “However, the SEC’s focus on enforcement by regulation versus more transparent, clear legislative action will compel most crypto firms — not just startups — to leave the U.S. and would not be ideal for America’s competitive position as key talent leaves elsewhere.”
De-dollarization: Is it really happening?
De-dollarization, the decline of the United States dollar as the world’s dominant reserved currency, is underway, and it’s gaining momentum. For over 100 years, the U.S. dollar has been the world reserve currency, which means it has been the dominant foreign currency held by central banks to carry out international transactions and settle international debt. However, in the last 20 years, the dollar’s dominance in countries’ reserves has decreased from 70% to under 60%, according to the International Monetary Fund. This trend has been accelerating since last year, when the U.S. and its allies froze Russia’s dollar reserve as a response to the country’s invasion of Ukraine. Since then, several countries have been looking for alternatives to the U.S. dollar. Some are discussing the creation of new currencies for international trade, while others are buying an increasing amount of gold to diversify their reserve.
Four venture capital personas (and how to land them)
There’s tons of advice out there about how to approach venture capitalists for startup fundraising, but in my experience as both a former VC and current founder, I’ve found there is no one-size-fits-all method. Venture capital investors get into the industry for many different reasons and come from a wide variety of backgrounds that shape their perspectives on the companies they consider for investments. Founders must understand which kind of VC investor they’re dealing with to have the best shot at closing a funding round. Here are the four personas of venture capital investors, and what founders can do to partner with them.
Want to raise from VCs? You better get your management team in order
If you’re a founder looking to raise this year, you'd better have your management team in shape. That’s according to a new report by VC firm Speedinvest, which offers an insight into the attitudes of Europe’s investors towards the current conditions of the continent’s tech industry. The survey also has some sobering news for unicorns. Speedinvest spoke to 437 investors across Europe for the survey, 84% of which worked at institutional investors. 65% of the firms represented invest in early-stage startups, with 16% focused solely on growth or late-stage companies. Here are five main takeaways.
It’s Taking Longer For Startups To Raise From Series A To Series B
Startups that raise Series A rounds typically have only a short break before they’re fundraising again. Among U.S. companies that go on to close Series B funding, the median is just under two years to do so, according to a Crunchbase analysis from 2012 to today. For the speediest quartile, the median is under 18 months. But as venture funding contracts, the lag time between rounds is getting longer. Startups across sectors are taking steps to cut costs and extend runways. The steep rise in average round size in 2020 and 2021 also means many companies that raised then have plenty of cash to help push off the next fundraise. We’re already seeing evidence of delays this year, with the average time lapse between Series A and Series B hitting 31 months — the longest span in at least 12 years.
PE-backed bankruptcies pick up
A growing number of private equity-backed companies seeking bankruptcy protection could be a sign that more of these businesses are struggling to service their debt. Even after undertaking extensive efforts to manage portfolio company liabilities, some sponsors will still see businesses fail; they will need to help their favored investments survive as the credit cycle turns against overextended borrowers in their portfolios. PitchBook data shows at least 18 PE-backed companies filed for bankruptcy in the US during the first five months of 2023—the highest number since 2020. The rise coincides with an overall uptick in US corporate bankruptcies. The companies include some prominent names like KKR-owned hospital staffing company Envision Healthcare, Advent International-backed mattress-maker Serta Simmons, and Vice Media, a once red-hot media giant that counted TPG and Sixth Street among its backers. Several of these distressed borrowers listed more than $500 million in total liabilities when they filed for bankruptcy. Envision listed $7.7 billion in outstanding debt.
Understanding Sequoia's high-profile split from China
Sequoia Capital's rupture from its China and India businesses has the tech world talking, but few close watchers of the firm were surprised by the dramatic change. The leaders of the three units—Roelof Botha, Neil Shen and Shailendra Singh—told their limited partners that the breakup was in large part a result of conflicts that arose when different geographies invested in companies that could potentially compete with each other. But many observers I spoke to are doubtful that what the firm described in a letter to its LPs as "growing market confusion due to the shared Sequoia brand" is the main reason for the separation. Rising geopolitical tension between the US and China is an obvious catalyst for Sequoia's high-profile decoupling. But the rift between Washington and Beijing is likely not the only impetus for the storied firm's geographical dissolution.