VNTR Capital News March 24, 2024 – News, Events, VC Reads
Venture Capital, Web3, and Private Equity – March 24 News, Events, and VC Reads
Hello friends,
Happy Sunday!
VNTR Capital Newsletter is delivered to 75k+ 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 Supercars Road Trip Dubai — We are 3 weeks away from the VNTR Rally in Dubai in partnership with Perfect (use VNTR to activate your membership). Join us on April 19-21 in Dubai for a road trip with VNTR PRO members. We will travel together from Dubai to RAK to Fujairah, enjoy interactive bonding activities, and create strong relationships with VNTR members. Apply to join (limited number of spots available). Learn about VNTR PRO membership.
VNTR Academy — We launched the VNTR Learning Academy, which allows our premium members to learn and grow as investors. We are actively building the content through VNTR Expert sessions in the form of online masterclasses and workshops by our VNTR PRO and VNTR Corporate members.
VNTR Media and Podcast — Introducing the VNTR Podcast, where we delve into the world of investments through insightful interviews and thought-provoking editorial articles. Join us as we bring together industry experts, including VNTR members, GPs, Fund of Funds, LPs, Corporate VCs, and Sovereign Funds. They will share their wisdom on investments, emerging trends, and best practices. Our mission is to empower you with the knowledge and insights you need to thrive and succeed as an investor. The content will be shared on the VNTR YouTube channel and various podcasting platforms. Reach out to Yuri to join our future episodes.
VNTR Summit—We are planning on hosting our global community VNTR Summit in Lisbon on November 13 during the Web Summit Lisbon. Reach out to Lukas if you would like to join as a sponsor. Registration will open soon.
This week
San Francisco — March 26 VNTR Investor Workshop San Francisco "Success and Failure in Venture Capital" with VNTR GP Member Igor Ryabekiy, Founder and Managing Partner at AltaIR Capital. Having invested in over 300 companies, including domain-defining leaders like Deel, Miro, and PandaDoc, Dr. Ryabenkiy has led early-stage fundraising efforts, showcasing his keen eye for promising ventures.
Hong Kong — March 27 VNTR Investors Roundtable Hong Kong will gather investors visiting WOW Summit HK on March 26-27 and VNTR HK chapter members. Qualified investors get free passes, a 50% discount on VIP passes using WOWHK24VNTR50
Bengaluru — March 30 VNTR Investors Roundtable Bengaluru will mark the launch of VNTR Bengaluru Chapter as a side event to the Global Startup Summit. We welcome our Bengaluru Chapter Director, Meenu Sasikumar.
VNTR PRO Member Request
Joachim Rittfeldt Hofvenschiöld Co-Founder at uBIT.vc: "We are looking for a trusted gas cylinder supplier in the DACH region for a portfolio company selling BBQ grills and accessories. Are there any recommendations or connections within the community who could guide us to the right partner in this industry?" - Respond on VNTR
Dariia Vasylieva, Founder at FD Capital: "We are looking for mentors, corporate partners, and startups for our new female-focused accelerator, EWA Accelerator, for diverse Founding Teams that are building in UAE" - Respond on VNTR
Thank you to our Partners:
Stellar is a decentralized, fast, scalable, and uniquely sustainable network for financial products and services. It is both a cross-currency transaction system and a platform for digital asset issuance, designed to connect the world’s financial infrastructure. Financial institutions worldwide issue assets and settle payments on the Stellar network, which has grown to over 7 million accounts. The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) is a non-profit organization that supports the development and growth of Stellar, an open-source network that connects the world’s financial infrastructure.
Perfect is a Personal Lifestyle app that helps you Book your flights, hotels, and supercars for the VNTR Rally. 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.
Upcoming VNTR Events:
April 2 VNTR PRO Expert Session with Niko Leon: "AI: Building Chatbot Insights"
April 5 VNTR Investors Roundtable New York (NY NFT)
April 10 VNTR Investors Roundtable Paris (Paris Blockchain Week)
April 11 VNTR PRO Expert Session with Gillian Muessig: "Moneyball: The Evolution of Venture Capital"
April 12 VNTR Investors Breakfast Munich
April 16 VNTR Investors Roundtable Rio De Janeiro (Web Summit Rio)
April 18 VNTR LP Roundtable Dubai
April 18 VNTR Investors Roundtable Riga (TechChill)
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 22 VNTR Investors Roundtable Silicon Valley (Startup Grind Conference)
April 24 VNTR Investors Roundtable Bangkok (Money 20/20 Asia)
April 28 VNTR Investors Roundtable Bali (Uncoference Bali)
May 7 VNTR Investors Roundtable Dubai (Dubai FinTech Summit)
May 9 VNTR Investors Roundtable Hong Kong (Blockshow X Blockdown)
May 16 VNTR Investors Roundtable Jakarta (World Finance Forum)
May 21 VNTR Investors Roundtable Auckland (New Zealand Techweek)
May 23 VNTR Investors Roundtable Paris (Viva Technology Paris)
More events available on the VNTR Platform
Reach out to Lukas to sponsor VNTR events our join VNTR Corporate Membership.
Follow us on Social media: Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, Flickr, and Twitter.
UPCOMING VC EVENTS
March 26-27 Wow Summit, Hong Kong (50% discount on Standard, Business and VIP tickets using WOWHK24VNTR50, Complimentary investor passes for VNTR PRO members)
March 26-27 CIX Forum, Toronto, Canada
March 28 Georgia Tech Summit, Atlanta, USA
March 30 Global Startup Summit, Bengaluru, India (15% Discount using VNTR15)
April 3-5 NY NFT, New York, USA
April 6-9 Web3 Festival, Hong Kong
April 8-12 Paris Blockchain Week, Paris, France (15% Discount using VNTR15)
April 10 Empire Fintech Conference, NY, USA
April 15-16 Blockchain Life, Dubai, UAE (10% Discount using VNTR)
April 15-18 Web Summit Rio, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
April 16-17 Global Blockchain Show, Dubai, UAE
April 16-18 0100 Conference, Amsterdam, Netherlands
April 17-19 TechChill, Riga, Latvia (20% Discount using VNTRxTechChill24)
April 18-19 Token2049, Dubai, UAE (10% Discount using VNTR10)
April 18-19 EmergeAmericas, Miami, USA
April 19-21 VNTR Supercars Rally Dubai
April 23-25 Money 20/20 Asia, Bangkok, Thailand
April 23-24 Startup Grind Conference, Redwood City, USA (20% Discount using VNTR)
April 27-28 Unconference Bali, Indonesia
April 29-30 AIM Summit, London, UK
May 6-7 Dubai FinTech Summit, Dubai, UAE
May 7-9 FinTech Americas, Miami, USA
May 8-9 Blockshow + Blockdown, Hong Kong
May 9-10 EU Startups Summit, Malta
May 13-15 Podim 2024, Maribor, Slovenia
May 15-16 Next Block Expo
May 15-16 Echelon by E27, Singapore
May 15-16 SusHi Tech Tokyo, Japan
May 20-21 SALT iConnections New York, USA
May 20-26 New Zealand Tech Week, Auckland, NZ
May 22-25 Viva Technology, Paris, France
May 27-31 CC Forum, Paris, France
May 29-31 Consensus, Austin, UAE
May 29 -31 Gitex Africa, Morocco (Free for VNTR investors)
June 5-7 South Summit, Madrid, Spain
June 5-11 WEB3FEST, Zurich/Zug, Switzerland
June 17-20 Collision Conf, Toronto, Canada
June 22-23 DeGameFi, Tbilisi, Georgia
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
The Week’s 10 Biggest Funding Rounds: Wonder Delivers Largest Round Of Week
The week was slightly slower for huge rounds compared to previous ones, but half of the funding deals broke the $100 million mark. However, it still was not all that bad for big rounds, especially considering the huge $700 million raised by a food delivery company.
Global Population Set To Fall For First Time In 700 Years
A major study published in scientific journal The Lancet has found that the global population will start to fall within decades due to vastly reduced fertility rates and may never recover.
The study, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, found that by the year 2050, 155 of 204 countries are on course to have birth rates lower than required to sustain the population level.
It notes that as of 2021, the “total fertility rate” worldwide was 2.23, hovering only just above the 2.1 children per woman needed to maintain population growth.
That figure has fallen from 4.84 in 1950, with researchers predicting it will decrease to 1.83 in 2050 and go as low as 1.59 by 2100.
Series B rounds are getting bigger — but harder to raise, according to new data
Raising capital is a tough task across the market right now, whether you’re an early-stage founder getting off the ground or a later-stage startup trying to scale. Some believe the clouds are beginning to part: last week, investors told Sifted that the growth stage scene across Europe is starting to look more promising again. But new data from equity management platform Carta has revealed that while the amount that Series B companies are raising is on the up, it’s taking much longer for these deals to get done than it has in the past.
AI Venture Funding May Be Hot, But M&A Remains Slow
To say investors seem bullish on AI may be the understatement of the decade, as venture funding in the space topped $50 billion last year and is again going full bore with huge rounds for the likes of Figure and Lambda. Public market investors have also been in on the act, as chip giant Nvidia has battled Apple recently for the title of the world’s second-most-valuable company, and earlier in the month chip startup Astera Labs — riding the AI surge — filed to raise up to $534 million in an IPO that would value the startup at up to $4.5 billion. The value is a nice uptick from the $3.2 billion the company was valued at during its last private raise in late 2022.
Late-stage VCs may be preventing their startups from going public in 2024
While some investors are loudly bemoaning that the IPO window can’t stay shut forever, other VCs themselves are actually part of the problem. A lot of standard VC deal terms give investors the ability to block an IPO or acquisition if they didn’t think the timing or price was right, Eric Weiner, a partner at Lowenstein Sandler, told TechCrunch. While it’s relatively uncommon for investors to put in direct language to have the ability to block an IPO — although he has seen it in the past — there are very table stakes deal terms that essentially allow investors with preferred shares to do the same thing, he added.
How Big Tech is winning the AI talent war
Call it the Nadella variation. It might sound like a diabolical move in a chess match, but it is in fact a useful term to describe the latest calculated corporate gambit by Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s chief executive.
Tech companies often try to poach teams of smart employees through so-called acquihires: acquiring a start-up to hire the people. Nadella’s novel twist is to hire the people and leave the company behind.
This week, Microsoft announced that it had recruited two of the three founders of Inflection, once one of the hottest AI start-ups in the US, as well as many of its 70 employees.
Restaurant Robotics Revs Up Amid Labor Shortages
Americans love eating out. This year, we’re forecast to spend more than $1.1 trillion doing so — the highest total ever, per the National Restaurant Association. Trouble is, restaurants need people to provide those drinks, meals and snacks. By the end of the year, the industry will likely employ nearly 16 million of us nationwide. But it won’t be enough: Nearly half of food service employers today say they need more workers. Theoretically, automation could go a long way to ease the labor shortage. To that end, startups have tried to pitch in over the past few years, bringing us robot waiters, baristas, pizza chefs, burger-flippers and french fry cooks.
Will decentralized protocols become the future infrastructure of machine learning?
Booming interest in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) has led to a shortage of hardware resources and exorbitant cloud service costs, but decentralized infrastructure could challenge the dependence on centralized players. Harry Grieve, co-founder of machine learning compute network Gensyn, spoke exclusively to Cointelegraph during the ETHGlobal event in London about the promise of peer-to-peer computing networks challenging Web2 services like Amazon Web Services. Gensyn is an in-development decentralized network that will enable people to connect to various devices across the internet to train machine learning models. The company is backed by several Web3 venture capital firms and raised $50 million from Andreessen Horowitz in 2023.
A year on from the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, startup companies are falling into insolvency at the fastest rate in a decade
It has been a year since the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and last year saw the highest number of insolvencies of startup companies in a decade, according to new PwC analysis. In total there were 12,841 startup insolvencies - equating to 51% of the 25,158 total. Despite this being the lowest proportion of startup insolvencies in a decade, the overall number is the highest it has been in the same time period.
What Happens if the SEC Classifies ETH a Security? (Wrong Answers Only)
It came to light yesterday that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is likely looking to reclassify Ethereum’s native token, ether (ETH), as a security. Not everyone believes this to be the case, and so far the SEC has deferred answering definitively on whether there is an ongoing probe of the Ethereum Foundation — just like how the agency has punted the can on saying definitively that ETH is or isn’t a security.
Now Is The Defining Moment For The Tech Sector To Rebuild Trust
It’s been a bumpy 2024 for the technology sector. Well over 30,000 tech workers have been laid off in the U.S. alone this year, adding to the nearly 200,000 workers affected in 2023. And when the majority of Americans believe that Big Tech has “too much power,” while crowds set fire to a Waymo driverless vehicle, it’s clear that trust in tech is ebbing. As a public relations professional, I believe that the souring public opinions toward the tech industry is a defining moment. Building and maintaining a positive brand reputation requires long-term, deliberate attention and — with cutbacks now rampant — there’s never been a more vital time to focus on brand-building.
A VC Firm Tracked 200+ Startups Through The Chaos Of Growing Fast: Here’s What It Found
How do successful startup founders scale their companies during the hectic, fast-growth early days between zero and 1,000 employees?
To answer that question and offer guidance to startup founders on how to grow their businesses through that tumultuous early period, venture firm Index Ventures tracked 210 startups as they grew to their first 1,000 employees.
The insights it gained are captured in a new book, “Scaling Through Chaos,” released Monday. The firm is simultaneously releasing an app called TeamPlan that founders can use to find guidance on everything from how to scale an engineering team to when to hire a CFO.
Ahead of the book’s release, we spoke with Martin Mignot, a partner at Index who moved from Europe to set up the firm’s New York office, and Dominic Jacquesson, vice president of talent at Index.
“For these hyper-growth companies, it’s very, very hard,” said Jacquesson. “There’s a lot of change.”
Global corporate defaults accruing at fastest pace since 2009 – S&P report
The tally of global corporate defaults maintained their blistering pace in February, as 15 issuer defaults brought the year-to-date total to 29, according to an S&P Global Ratings report. It’s the most for the first two months of a year since the Global Financial Crisis in 2009, while January’s default rate was the highest since 2010. The US led February’s count with 10 issuer defaults, bringing its YTD total to 17, one shy of last year’s 18 in February. On the other hand, the three defaults last month in Europe brought the region’s YTD total to eight, versus three at the same point last year.
Bitcoin bull cycle is ‘far from over’ thanks to the halving
Over the past 48 hours, Bitcoin’ price dropped 13% from its new all-time high of $73,835 to briefly trade near $60,000. The correction was caused by overheated market conditions in what analysts have christened a “pre-halving retrace” ahead of the Bitcoin halving event that is roughly 30 days away. However, a report by CryptoQuant shows that the Bitcoin bull cycle is not over, given the relatively low level of investment flows from new investors and price valuation metrics still below levels seen in past market tops.
Eye On AI: Startups Should Heed ‘AI-Washing’ Warnings
It’s become difficult to hear a CEO talk about their company or read a description of a business in a press release that doesn’t mention how it’s “AI-infused,” “AI-enhanced” or some other AI descriptor. While that verbiage may be shrugged off by most, it seems like some people who get paid to keep an eye on such claims are looking very closely at what companies tell folks — especially potential investors — and startups would be wise to take note.
From my home base in Berlin, I’ve been keeping an eye on what’s going on with deal flow in Germany. And in the last week or so, I’ve noticed a seemingly big uptick in German startup funding announcements. Last week, there were 14 German startup deals announced, according to data compiled by Sifted. It’s been a strongish month so far, with 29 deals announced — compared to 42 during a slower February and 52 in January, by Sifted’s calculations (our Sifted Pro deals newsletter recently pointed to a rise in Germany’s deal activity). Some of those recent deal announcements include Berlin-based restaurant app NeoTaste, Paderborn-based enterprise sales data platform acto, Munich-based data product management tool Mindfuel last week and Berlin-based EV charging infrastructure startup Enapi earlier this week.
Blackrock Aims to Launch Tokenized Investment Fund, Seeks SEC Nod for 'BUIDL' Fund on Ethereum
The globe’s most substantial asset manager by assets under management, Blackrock, has submitted a form to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the initiation of a tokenized investment fund. Additionally, the community has unearthed the development of a token named the “Blackrock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund” or BUIDL on the Ethereum blockchain.
Number of African VC Deals Decrease in 2023
For the first time in almost a decade of consistently strong growth, the number of venture capital deals in Africa decreased by 31% YoY, according to the African Private Capital Association 2023 Venture Capital in Africa Report. The number of deals was only 545 last year from the record-setting 787 deals struck in 2022. Added to the global downward trend of venture capital, investors faced currency volatility and continued high inflation in Africa, prompting investors to back prospects in portfolio companies with an established track record rather than new ventures.
VCs target Southeast Asia’s B2C startups
Southeast Asia’s consumer-focused startups grabbed the largest share of venture capital deal value last year, replacing software as the region’s most funded sector. Some $4.2 billion was invested in Southeast Asian B2C startups in 2023, according to PitchBook’s 2024 Southeast Asia Private Capital Breakdown, an increase of 31.3% from the previous year. It was one of the few sectors to see a rise in deal value in 2023. It represented 36.5% of total deal value for the region—its highest percentage since 2020.
After a staggering crypto rally, primarily led by Bitcoin, it is fair to say that the approval of spot bitcoin U.S. ETFs in January approval was a game-changer. Since January 10, crypto’s total market cap has surged from $1.5 trillion to $2.4 trillion, a 60% increase. Nonetheless, crypto remains a nascent and niche asset class – its size is only a fraction of gold (10%) and smaller than Microsoft ($3.1 trillion).
Many naysayers predicted that the ETF approval would be a classic buy-the-rumor-sell-the-fact situation. But, given the massive price rally, this could not have been further from the truth.
The Institutional Era of Crypto Brings Fresh Innovation
In the wake of Binance’s $4.3 billion settlement with U.S. regulators last November, a shift is underway in the institutional adoption of digital assets. We are now in a fresh market cycle and we’re seeing innovative custody solutions and many market opportunities. The collaboration between Binance and Sygnum to introduce a tri-party agreement for off-exchange custody exemplifies this shift. This arrangement, by decoupling custody and trading, helps mitigate exchange risk and opens accessibility and security for institutional investors venturing into the domain of digital assets. (Under the agreement, larger traders on Binance can now custody their assets at third-party institutions like banks.)
Chinese PE makes friends in Mideast
Frosty relations with the US have chipped away at Chinese private equity, but investors in the Middle East have been more than willing to step into the breach.
The Financial Times reported Tuesday that Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund is looking to pick up stakes in funds managed by Hong Kong-based PAG, one of Asia’s largest PE firms, as US investors wind down their exposure in China. This is not an isolated example. In January, law firm Morrison Foerster’s report on global PE trends illustrated how Chinese GPs, who have struggled to raise capital from North American LPs, have been increasingly dependent on commitments from sovereign wealth funds from other regions, especially the Middle East and Singapore, as a main source of funding.
European payments startup exits hit record high
Exits at European payments startups are at their highest point ever, amid a dip in investment in the sector. Last year, while VC funding in the space totalled $2bn — its lowest level since 2018 — there were 31 exits among payment companies in Europe, according to Sifted Intelligence’s latest weekly Briefing.
Capital Still Flows To Ukrainian-Staffed Startups, Though Founders Are Mostly Expats
As a data company we’ve long faced challenges tracking investment in Ukraine-based and Ukrainian-led startups. It’s not due to a shortage of founders and skilled techies in the country. Ukraine is well-known for its tech-savvy workforce, with IT services ranking as the country’s largest service export. No, the difficulties in tabulating funding arise because Ukrainian founders of venture-backed startups tend to headquarter outside the country. It’s not uncommon to see a company with a Ukrainian founder and a majority of employees in Ukraine make its headquarters in New York, London or San Francisco.
Meet the nuclear fusion startups with the deepest pockets
Why was one of Sam Altman’s biggest investments to date—a massive $375 million check—into a nuclear fusion startup called Helion? It’s the same reason Tiger Global, Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Jeff Bezos have poured capital into Commonwealth Fusion Systems, another cleantech specialist pursuing pilot plants. Spurred on by technological breakthroughs and expanded federal funding, VCs are paying more attention to the moonshot technology as a promising solution to the demands of the global energy transition.
How The Decentralization Of The CIO Will Impact The SaaS Startup Landscape In 2024
Steak might have been on the menu 10 years ago when a sales lead took a CIO to dinner to close on a software deal. At the time, CIOs controlled every piece of software their company purchased. They were the gatekeepers to adoption, and the sales cycle was designed to capture their influence over the budget for software procurement. Today’s CIOs have democratized their purchasing power to the rest of the C-suite, executive leaders and the individual users of software. They might not even be aware of all of the software applications that employees are using — a huge shift in visibility into the adoption of tech and information-sharing with third parties.
PE accounting deals thrive amid industry upheaval
Big Four accounting firm Deloitte is kicking off a major shake-up as it cuts costs in a tough market. At the same time, private equity investors are showing a growing appetite for professional services. The Financial Times reported that Deloitte is looking to cut itself from five divisions down to four in a restructuring program that will take around a year to put into action. The overhaul may not directly translate into deal flow, and there are no reports that Deloitte is currently looking to sell parts of its business. However, it’s another example of how the Big Four accounting firms—the list also includes EY, PwC, and KPMG—are under pressure to reform in a difficult economy and with client demand falling.