VNTR Newsletter Feb 23, 2025 - VNTR Regatta
Venture Capital, Web3, and Private Equity – News, Events, and VC Reads
Hello friends,
Happy Sunday!
VNTR Newsletter is delivered to 100k+ investors and subscribers weekly to share the latest news, events, and articles from the global VC and startup ecosystem.
Scroll down to discover VNTR Community News, Upcoming Events, and the latest VC News and Reads.
VNTR Community News
VNTR Roadshow Bahrain: We successfully completed our inaugural VNTR Roadshow to Bahrain, delivering an immersive three-day experience filled with high-level connections, impactful discussions, and cultural exploration:
1. Ecosystem Day – Engaging with Bahrain’s key business and investment leaders through visits to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Bahrain Chamber of Commerce, Bahrain Economic Development Board, Hope Ventures at HQ, and Bahrain FinTech Bay.
2. Conference Day – A full-day forum featuring Khalid Al Zayani and Khalid Aldoseri keynotes, panel discussions with leading investors and industry experts, and three thematic roundtables.
3. Club Retreat – We explored Bahrain with VNTR Club members. We visited Bab Al Bahrain, Manama Souq, Al Fateh Grand Mosque, the Pearling Path, and Bahrain Fort, immersing ourselves in the country’s history and traditions.
The next VNTR Bahrain Roundtable is on April 13 during F1 Grandprix Bahrain.
Special thanks to Salah Al Janahi (VNTR Bahrain Chapter Director), Aldoseri Investments, In2 Bahrain, ATME, and local partners for their generous hospitality and support.
Next VNTR Roadshow: Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦 Join us in Riyadh from April 21 to April 25. Secure your spot – contact Elise for details.
VNTR March 2025 Fellowship Program: VNTR is rapidly expanding its global chapter network to 50+ cities in 2025, strategically focusing on key tech hubs across EMEA and Southeast Asia. The current cohort includes leading innovation centers such as Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong, Seoul, Jakarta, Melbourne, Sydney, Berlin, Monaco, Jeddah, Tel Aviv, New Delhi, Nairobi, Lisbon, London, Warsaw, Frankfurt, Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Marrakesh, Lagos, and more.
The March 2025 Fellowship Cohort is a five-week program designed to support serial entrepreneurs transitioning into Venture Capital, becoming active investors, and serving as super connectors within their local VNTR chapters. Fellows will gain the knowledge, tools, and strategies needed to launch and successfully expand the VNTR chapter in their region.
The VNTR Chapter Director is a regional partnership role that offers:
Revenue share within the region
Carry share in deals facilitated
The opportunity to build and lead a local investment ecosystem while leveraging VNTR’s global network
🚀 Apply for the March 2025 cohort and take on a leadership role at VNTR!
🔗 Know someone who could be a great fit? Share this opportunity with your network.
Join The VNTR Club Exclusive Lifetime Membership: We are inviting top-quartile investors to join The VNTR Club, an exclusive membership offering unparalleled access to:
Syndicate Deals & Priority Access – Syndicate VNTR Club deals and secure priority participation in exclusive opportunities.
Club Committees – Sector-focused investment committees and peer groups to review deals and co-invest.
VNTR Platform – Full access to our investor platform, including the member directory, matchmaking, deal flow, events, academy, an exclusive offers.
Curated Introductions – Personalized, double opt-in connections via our concierge service.
Club Masterminds & Roundtables – Engaging online and offline sessions designed for members to connect, learn, and collaborate.
Exclusive Club Retreats – High-impact retreats and immersive travel experiences to foster deep connections and explore new opportunities.
VIP Passes – Priority entry to VNTR Summits, Conferences, Roundtables, Roadshows, and partner events.
Premium Perks – Exclusive benefits and opportunities from VNTR partners.
A limited number of Lifetime Memberships are available for select investors who also become VNTR equity partners.
📩 Contact Elise to learn more and schedule your onboarding call.
VNTR Podcast: Check out our new episode with Oskar Hartmann, a prolific serial entrepreneur and super angel investor. With involvement in over 150 ventures and 14 unicorns, Oskar shares invaluable insights from his remarkable journey. Tune in on YouTube, Apple, or Spotify.
VNTR Regatta Sardinia: Set sail with VNTR Club members for an unforgettable sailing experience along Sardinia’s breathtaking coastline. From May 26 to 30, immerse yourself in a unique blend of adventure, networking, and deep discussions on the future of venture investing. Sail through Sardinia’s picturesque coastline, build deep relationships with fellow investors, engage in thought-provoking discussions on the latest venture capital trends, and unwind with curated experiences, gourmet dining, and breathtaking views.
Spouses and life partners are welcome and can share a cabin or hotel room.
🚀 Limited spots available – secure yours today and prepare to set sail with VNTR!
VNTR Events
Join us at our upcoming events to connect with key investment decision-makers:
25 Feb 2025
Investor Roundtable Doha
during Web Summit Qatar
26 Feb 2025
Investor Roundtable San Antonio
26 Feb 2025
Investor Breakfast Madrid
26 Feb 2025
Investor Afterwork Paris
27 Feb 2025
Investor Breakfast Toronto
27 Feb 2025
Investor Roundtable Denver
during ETHDenver
27 Feb 2025
Investor Roundtable Kuala Lumpur
4 Mar 2025
Investor Roundtable Miami
during Florida Venture Capital Conference
5 Mar 2025
Investor Roundtable Barcelona
during Mobile World Congress
6 Mar 2025
Speed Networking Online
8 Mar 2025
Investor Roundtable Austin
during SXSW
11 Mar 2025
Investor Roundtable London
during Super Return
13 Mar 2025
Investor Breakfast Amsterdam
19 Mar 2025
Investor Roundtable San Francisco
during GDC
26 Mar 2025
Investor Breakfast Madrid
27 Mar 2025
Club Mastermind Dubai
for active VNTR Club members only
9 Apr 2025
Investor Roundtable Paris
during Paris Blockchain Week
13 Apr 2025
Investor Roundtable Manama
Formula 1 Grand Prix
Thank you to our Partners
DeFi Bank in your Pocket 🔒 The ultimate DeFi wallet on iOS and Android, including multi-signature functionality for retail users whales, treasuries, and DAOs. Thorwallet enables seamless trading & savings with zero intermediaries. It is a fast-growing and profitable platform generating $950m yearly trading volume. Contact Marcel Harmann, Founder and CEO
Bahrain-licensed digital assets platform is rapidly establishing itself as a transformative force in the capital markets. ATME bridges traditional finance principles with digital innovation opportunities, providing a secure and compliant exchange for tokenized assets (Real-World Assets, RWAs). Contact Julia to learn more.
Soonami is the fastest-growing ecosystem for innovators, empowering startups to create, build, and scale using the best of Web3 and AI solutions. We believe in a remote-first world, fostering inclusivity for founders across the globe. The vision is to build a software-driven platform that connects co-founders with groundbreaking ideas and funds the most promising ventures. Today, over 8,000 founders and 900+ projects trust the soonami platform to fuel their success. Contact Christian to learn more.
Your Personal Lifestyle app that helps you Book flights and hotels and manage your 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 access to VNTR experiences.
Companies who would like to sponsor VNTR events can apply as a sponsor. View the top events sponsorship packages.
Or be a core supporter of the VNTR community year-round, engaging with our global investor network. Check Details & Packages.
Upcoming VC Events and Conferences
Feb 23-26 Web Summit Qatar, Doha, Qatar
Feb 25 FO Summit Dubai, UAE
March 2-3 Crypto Expo Europe, Bucharest, Romania (Complimentary passes for Club members, 30% discount using VNTR30 code)
March 3-6 4YFN, Barcelona, Spain
March 3-6 Mobile World Congress
March 18-20 Digital Asset Summit 2025, New York, US
March 25-26 CEE VC Summit, Warsaw, Poland
April 9-11 South Summit Brazil, Porto Alegre, Brazil
April 11-13 Liberland's 10-year anniversary
April 14-16 GITEX Africa, Marrakech, Morocco
April 23-25 Money 20/20 Asia, Bangkok, Thailand
April 23-25 GITEX Asia, Singapore
April 27-30 Web Summit Rio, Brazil
April 29-30 Startup Grind Conference, Silicon Valley, USA (90% discount for a special bundle of 2 investor passes)
April 30 - May 1 Token2049, Dubai, UAE
May 12-13 Dubai FinTech Summit, Dubai, UAE
May 14-16 Consensus, Toronto, Canada
May 21-23 GITEX Europe, Berlin, Germany
May 27-29 Bitcoin 2025, Las Vegas, US
May 27-30 Web Summit Vancouver, Canada
June 11-14 Viva Technology, Paris, France
June 19-21 BTC Prague, Czech Republic
June 26-27 LegalTech Talk, London, UK (complimentary investor passes)
June 26-27 Istanbul Blockchain Week
If you would like to submit VC-related events, please get in touch with Yuri or Telegram @byuric
VC Reads and News
View curated VC news and articles on the VNTR Platform
The Week’s Biggest Funding Rounds: Saronic’s Massive Raise Tops List
For the second week in a row, big, $100 million-plus rounds rolled into startups. This week defense and artificial intelligence led the way with massive rounds, but healthcare, security and more also saw big raises.
Investors Are Once Again Rapidly Minting Early-Stage Startups As Unicorns
Through the past couple years, investors have talked about how the calming of the venture market was good, allowing more time for due diligence and companies to mature before they sought sky-high valuations. Well, while investors haven’t totally reverted back to their 2021 attitudes, they are back to rapidly minting more early-stage startups as unicorns, or private companies valued at $1 billion or more.
Meet the LP which won't back VCs unless they can back weapons
VCs have become more interested in raising funds able to invest in defence, but one big sticking point is that it’s a no go for many of their investors. It’s an issue that many VCs are wrestling with at the moment, but one that state-backed Estonian investor SmartCap has come down decisively on: it will only back funds with the ability to invest in weapons. Last month SmartCap announced a €100m fund to invest in defence startups and VC funds — and while it can still invest in dual use funds, CEO Sille Pettai tells Sifted that it doesn’t “accept any exclusions or limitations on weapons and ammunition.
Auctions in AI : Cost of Capital as a Strategic Advantage
A decade ago, most startup pitches ended with a calculation justifying the amount they sought to raise.
In other words, the raise was an output of the financial model.
But for the most sought after companies, the raise amount is disjointed from the capital needs of the business - instead it’s driven by the fundraising auction.
Secondaries funds aren’t returning as they should
Last month, French alternative asset manager Ardian said it closed on $30 billion to buy stakes in aging PE vehicles, making it the largest secondaries fund in the world. The secondary PE market has grown exponentially over the past decade as more traditional exit routes dried up and primary fund managers opted for liquidity mechanisms like continuation funds to return cash to investors. But what happens when returns to investors slow down?
Microsoft is boosting capacity to support OpenAI’s GPT-4-5, GPT-5 models
Engineers at Microsoft are boosting infrastructure capacity in preparation for the latest iterations of OpenAI’s large language models, the first of which could be implemented by the end of February. Sources close to Microsoft informed Tom Warren of The Verge that the software giant is planning to host OpenAI’s newest GPT-4.5 as early as next week. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently disclosed that the company plans to “next ship GPT-4.5,” but didn’t provide an exact date.
These fintech players could be next to hop on the IPO train
A slight uptick in fintech VC exits toward the end of 2024 indicates the sector’s promising IPO candidates could be closer to testing the public markets. Global fintech VC exit activity is at its highest level both in deal value and count since Q2 2022, with $7.4 billion in value across 65 exits in Q4 2024. Key exits from last year included the IPOs of Glendale, Calif.-based ServiceTitan, Denver-based Ibotta, and Chinese companies LianLian Digitech and Baiwang. The largest strategic deals included the sale of Chicago-based Tegus to AlphaSense, and of UK-based Featurespace to Visa.
Oil and gas M&A expected to pick up in 2025
Last year was lackluster for oil and gas mergers and acquisitions, but some dealmakers are optimistic that 2025 will shine brighter. Rising energy demand and a more favorable regulatory environment are expected to fuel an uptick in dealmaking, especially for non-core divestitures from recent megadeals, smaller transactions and the midstream space.
Meet Europe’s 25 most active angel investors
After a difficult couple of years, Europe’s tech scene bounced back in 2024 — with investment rising for startups across the board, from pre-seed to late-stage. With angel investments also on the rise, Sifted wanted to find out how Europe’s most prominent angel investors played their chips. The most prolific angel investor of the year was Thibaud Elzière, a man who has reportedly backed over 100 companies. Sifted tracked 17 investments of his last year, covering AI, spacetech and everything in between.
U.S. Stablecoin Adoption Is Being Hindered by a Lack of Regulation, S&P Says
The absence of stablecoin regulation in the U.S. is one of the main hurdles to adoption, S&P Global Ratings said in a Wednesday report. "The lack of regulation is one of the main impediments to stablecoin adoption in the U.S. and has prevented a broader institutional adoption of stablecoins," analysts led by Mohamed Damak wrote.
SEC approves first yield-bearing stablecoin security
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has approved an application from Figure Markets for a yield-bearing stablecoin that will allow users to earn interest payments on their holdings — signaling the regulator’s intent to accommodate the rapidly growing stablecoin market. According to regulatory filings that appeared on the SEC’s website on Feb. 18, exchange operator Figure Markets got the green light to launch its US dollar-pegged YLDS stablecoin. Currently, YLDS offers holders a yield of 3.85% and is registered as a security with the SEC.
European Central Bank ramps up wholesale CBDC platform development
The European Central Bank (ECB) is expanding the development of a wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) payment system to settle transactions between institutions, according to a Feb. 20 announcement. Establishing the new system will occur in two phases. First, the CBDC settlement platform will be developed, while the second phase involves deeper integration into existing ECB systems, such as foreign currency exchange markets.
AI boom sparks investor frenzy for robotics startups
AI is driving up venture interest in robotics, propelling the sector forward and fueling a burgeoning ecosystem beyond hardware. Last year, investors poured $6.1 billion of VC dollars into robotics, up 19% from 2023, according to PitchBook data. And the energy isn’t stopping: Just last week, Texas-based Apptronik, a robotics hardware and software maker, announced $350 million in Series A funding.
Eye On AI: As SoftBank Piles Up Losses, It Doubles Down On AI
It’s hard to write (or read) anything on artificial intelligence and startups right now without a mention of OpenAI. We’ll be honest, we’re no better. The ChatGPT creator’s current back-and-forth with everything-everywhere-all-at-once Elon Musk has turned into a never ending soap opera none of us asked for. However, last week as Musk seemed to place his OpenAI offer on and off the table daily, something else OpenAI-related caught our eye — SoftBank reported a net loss of nearly $2.4 billion for its fiscal third quarter.
Financial Literacy Is A Venture Capital Superpower
The exuberant decade, from 2011 to 2021, was marked by all kinds of incoherence in venture capital. Practices to increase capital velocity and fee income were disguised as good practices for generating returns, separating unwitting LPs from their money. Today, the divergence of fee-driven asset managers and performance-driven venture capitalists is clearer, but there are many lessons to unlearn.
What East Asian Startup Founders Can Learn From The Immigrant Community At Large
Although they make up the majority of Silicon Valley’s tech workforce, people of Asian descent remain significantly underrepresented in leadership roles: 27% at Apple, 30% at Google, and 25% at Facebook, according to MarketWatch. The disparity is even starker for East Asians, who face pronounced barriers to advancement due to pervasive stereotypes around leadership style and cultural biases that favor Western communication norms.
Startups Go Shopping: More VC-Backed Companies Bought Their Brethren Last Year
Exits and liquidity aren’t just on the minds of venture capitalists lately — it seems many of their portfolio companies are eager to get deals done too. Last year, there were nearly 400 deals in which startups bought other startups — a 31% surge — per Crunchbase data, with the year ending particularly strong. In 2023, barely 300 such deals occurred.
How Can We Better Support Successful Latin American Women In The Tech Space?
Despite female founders receiving less than 2% of venture funding worldwide, Latin America still represents a growth opportunity for women entrepreneurs. According to Global Entrepreneur Monitor, the rate of small businesses founded by women in Latin America is 21.2% — higher than most regions, but predominantly focused within the informal sector. Thankfully, LatAm already has what other regions lack: a natural impulse by women to want to start businesses. The challenge, however, lies in how to bring that drive into the formal technology startup ecosystem.
Healthcare And AI Is A Hot Combination For Startups
Funding at the intersection of healthcare and AI has been on a tear this past year. Even so, investment remains below the heights scaled during the 2021 market peak. Last year, more than $7.5 billion globally went to companies applying advances in artificial intelligence to health-related areas such as medical services and pharmaceutical development, per Crunchbase data. This year is off to a brisk start as well, with nearly $1.68 billion already invested.