VNTR Newsletter Jan 26, 2025 - Bahrain Roadshow

Venture Capital, Web3, and Private Equity – News, Events, and VC Reads

Jan 26, 2025

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

Spotlight

VNTR Roadshow Bahrain: Join us for a 4-day VNTR Roadshow to Bahrain and the VNTR Investor Conference Bahrain on February 18, supported by In2 Bahrain and ATME. We invite companies interested in the Bahrain market to join as partners (sponsorship packages). Apply to join the Roadshow
- Feb 17 Ecosystem Day - full-day program to visit key ecosystem players (roadshow attendees only)
- Feb 18 VNTR Investor Conference Bahrain - full-day conference to connect with investment decision-makers and learn from peers. Apply to join the VNTR Conference
- Feb 19 VNTR Club Retreat Bahrain - full-day experience with investors to explore Bahrain together
Partner Conference Offers:
- AI Everything Dubai - Complimentary Investor Passes
- Digital Assets Forum, London - (15% discount using 15VNTR, complimentary for VNTR Club members)
- LEAP Riyadh - Complimentary Investor Passes
- Consensus - (15% discount using VNTRDESK15, complimentary for VNTR Club members)
Davos WEF 2025: We successfully hosted three events during the Davos WEF 2025, welcoming over 200 investor guests at the Ski Retreat, Investor Roundtable, and LP Roundtable. Thank you to our partners, THORWallet, CV VC, CV Labs, Web3 House Davos, Car Vision, UnDavos, Yalla Limited, and Denario, for supporting these events.
Early-Stage Virtual Conf: Join 3,000 VC investors, startups, angels, family offices & advisors registered for the Early-Stage Virtual Conf on Jan 30. Listen to panels on VC trends 2025, how Family Offices invest in VC funds and startups, & best fundraising practices, and join the event.
VNTR GP Club Membership: Morphosis Venture Capital joined VNTR Club as a new GP Club member this week. We invite seasoned General Partners (GPs) raising their third or subsequent funds to join the VNTR GP Club Membership and connect with potential global LPs through the VNTR platform, LP-focused events, and curated member introduction service. Schedule an onboarding call with Robert.
Corporate Partners: Partner with us to elevate your brand, expand your reach, and be part of a thriving global investor community. You can sponsor a series of events or join our Annual Corporate Partnership program for year-round engagement. Contact Sara to explore customized corporate integration opportunities.
VNTR Podcast: Stay updated with our latest episodes, and subscribe on your preferred platform to never miss insightful discussions: YouTube, Spotify, and Apple. Contact Elise if you would like to be on the show.

VNTR Events

Join us at our upcoming events to connect with key investment decision-makers:

View the full list of VNTR events and top events sponsorship packages

RSVP to Upcoming VNTR Events

Thank you to our Partners:

THORWallet — 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
ATME — 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.
Perfect — 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.

UPCOMING VC EVENTS

Jan 28 soonami Demo Day (online)
Feb 3 Digital Assets Forum, London (15% discount using 15VNTR)
Feb 4-6 AI Everything Global, Dubai, UAE (complimentary investor passes)
Feb 5-7 Techchill, Riga, Latvia
Feb 9-12 LEAP, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (complimentary investor passes)
Feb 18-20 Consensus, Hong Kong (15% discount using VNTRDESK15)
Feb 23-26 Web Summit Qatar, Doha, Qatar
March 3-6 4YFN, Barcelona, Spain
March 3-6 Mobile World Congress
March 25-26 CEE VC Summit, Warsaw, Poland
April 9-11 South Summit Brazil, Porto Alegre, Brazil
April 14-16 GITEX Africa, Marrakech, Morocco
April 23-25 GITEX Asia, Singapore
April 27-30 Web Summit Rio, Brazil
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 27-30 Web Summit Vancouver, Canada
June 11-14 Viva Technology, Paris, France

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

Eye On AI: Who Were The Most-Active AI Investors In 2024?
Who is putting that cash into the sector? Not surprisingly, it’s the usual suspects.
Andreessen Horowitz — which also topped our list of most-active global post-seed investors last year — also took part in the most post-seed rounds for AI-related startups. The firm completed 42 deals, per Crunchbase data. That’s more AI-related rounds than the firm consummated in 2022 and 2023 combined.

VC funds-of-funds look on the bright side
Funds-of-funds have the unique pleasure of being hounded for money—and begging others for it as well. They’re currently doing both amid a sluggish venture market and an ongoing AI boom.
While 2024 was the smallest fundraising haul for these firms in 16 years, some VC fund-of-fund managers are betting that LPs will come back around, if they haven’t already.

The Week’s Biggest Funding Rounds: Anthropic Leads Slow, Slow Week
After a frenetic first couple of weeks as far as big rounds go, this week was quieter than a library. Only one round of more than $100 million was reported — although it was actually $1 billion — as everything came to a crawl. The goings on in Washington, D.C., likely had something to do with that, as many companies may have decided to hold their news until a slower week.

Seed Rounds Got Larger Through The Downturn. Why Is That?
Seed funding was the most resilient venture investment stage through the startup funding downturn, an analysis of Crunchbase data shows. In fact, while one might expect round sizes to get smaller in a tighter funding environment, larger seed rounds have increased since 2021, underscoring the expansion of seed as an investment stage.

The most active LPs in Europe
The last three years have been a rocky period for European VCs. As exits have been scarce, and there’s less money flowing into startups, VCs themselves have hit a snag raising their own funds: European VC fundraising slumped to nearly €21bn in 2024, down from €34bn in 2022, according to PitchBook data.
Though many investors still report a tough fundraising environment, LP appetite for European VCs is looking up: 29% of LPs say they’re more interested in investing in European VC compared to a year ago, at 18%, according to VC Atomico’s recent state of European tech report.

Meet the first-time European VC funds of 2025
It’s been a tough few years for new VC fund managers out hunting for investment. Returns have been few and far between, the IPO market is still stuck in the mud and some of Europe’s biggest VCs have been raising even bigger funds.
And yet, first-time fund managers are still giving it a go.

Trump promises to make US ’world capital’ of AI, crypto at Davos
US President Donald Trump pledged to make the country the “world capital of artificial intelligence and crypto” at an annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, which was one of his first public appearances since taking office.
Speaking virtually from Washington, DC, to an audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 23, Trump claimed US energy production from oil and gas could be used to “reduce the cost of virtually all goods and services” and make the country a “manufacturing superpower.”

Europe’s VCs enter 2025 with high hopes amid AI gold rush and IPO recovery
The anticipated pick-up in European VC dealmaking failed to materialize in 2024, but investors are expecting a return to growth this year, spurred by the rising tide of AI startups.
In total, €58.7 billion (about $61.2 billion) was invested in the region across 8,968 deals, according to PitchBook data, representing declines of 4.4% and 21.5%, respectively, from 2023. Although both value and count were down, the extent of the fall was lesser than from 2022.
Looking ahead, the consensus is that the worst is behind us, with both dealmaking and exits likely to outperform 2024. According to investors, here are key themes that will characterize Europe’s VC market.

Seed Funding Fell Hard In These Sectors
While 2024 was an up year for venture funding, the narrative did not extend to seed investment.
U.S. seed-stage investment actually declined a bit last year, driven by a steep drop in reported rounds, and global funding was flat. Although we did see robust investment across some hot spaces largely driven by the AI boom, this was more than counterbalanced by decreases elsewhere.
The declines in seed funding were particularly pronounced in a handful of industries, including several beset by disappointing performance of startups funded in recent prior years. Below, we look at four of these areas.

Seed Funding Rose In These Spaces
When forecasting which startup sectors are likely to attract big follow-on rounds, it’s helpful to find areas that are already seeing a lot of large initial ones. For this, we can look to seed funding tallies.
Even as overall seed-stage investment declined in 2024, a few areas saw big gains. This includes the obvious category — artificial intelligence — as well as a subset of sectors largely focused on automating things that humans currently do.
Below, we look at four top picks.

Saudi ecosystem sees seeds rounds and dedicated funds
Saudi Arabia’s startup ecosystem has seen notable activity across multiple industries with local firms securing sizable funding rounds and venture capitals announcing dedicated funds.

US investor appetite drove up European PE dealmaking
Europe’s private equity market is well on its way to recovery as renewed US investor participation and increased AI dealmaking boosted deal activity in 2024.
Improved dealmaking came despite regional and global headwinds, according to PitchBook’s 2024 Annual European PE Breakdown. In a year of elections, France, Germany and the UK were subject to political upheaval, while the war in Ukraine showed little sign of abating. At the same time, interest rates remained elevated.

Cultural Collateral: Why People Are Important For A Successful M&A Transaction
Global merger and acquisition volumes have been rebounding throughout 2024 with total deal counts rising 6% and transaction values up 23% through the first three quarters of the year, and projections for this year are even stronger. However, if the latest statistics on employee attrition following a major transaction are correct, roughly half (47%) of the employees of those acquired companies will be gone before the end of the year. Over the next three years, 75% of employees will have left.

BlackRock CEO wants SEC to ‘rapidly approve’ tokenization of bonds, stocks: What it means for crypto
Larry Fink, CEO of the world’s largest fund manager BlackRock, has expressed his hope that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will swiftly approve the tokenization of bonds and stocks. During a CNBC interview on Jan. 23, Fink strongly endorsed digital assets, underscoring their potential to democratize investments.
The open question is whether this shift toward tokenizing traditional assets can benefit cryptocurrencies, which sectors might flourish, and which projects might face heightened competition.

The Role of Naysayers For Early-Stage Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurship is a journey of navigating uncertainty, challenging norms and taking risks.
Along the way, naysayers are inevitable. Some can be your closest friends or family, and they may have genuine concerns for your future. While some may objectively question the feasibility of your idea, others may reflect their own limitations or aversion to risk.
For early-stage entrepreneurs, the challenge lies in discerning valuable feedback from background noise. This distinction is critical when deciding whether to pivot, persist or refine your approach.

SEC cancels controversial crypto accounting rule SAB 121
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has revoked a rule that discouraged financial firms from holding crypto, by requiring them to record digital assets as liabilities on their balance sheets.

Here are the types of AI companies enterprise VCs want to back in 2025
The AI startup market is sprawling, from companies looking to develop new chips, to those using AI to build robots, to others looking to use AI to create niche solutions for industry-specific workflows. There are a lot of potential areas for venture capitalists to invest in, but there are clearly a few subsectors they are more excited about than others.
TechCrunch recently surveyed 20 VCs who invest in startups looking to sell to enterprises about their predictions for 2025.

Preparing For The Bell: Governance Essentials To IPO Success
The IPO market has slowed down significantly since the unprecedented surge of 2021, which saw 1,026 companies raise more than $100 billion in the U.S. Many organizations that rushed to go public during the boom have since experienced steep declines in valuation, highlighting the importance of careful preparation and providing a valuable lesson for pre-IPO companies.
Achieving IPO readiness goes beyond executing on the IPO transaction itself. In this environment, the emphasis is shifting toward long-term sustainability, requiring organizations to demonstrate they are fully prepared not just to go public but to operate successfully as public companies in the subsequent years.

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