VNTR Newsletter July 7, 2024 – News, Events, VC Reads
Venture Capital, Web3, and Private Equity – News, Events, and VC Reads
Hello friends,
Happy Sunday!
VNTR Newsletter is delivered to 95k+ investors and subscribers weekly to share the latest news, events, and articles from the global VC and startup ecosystem.
Scroll down for VNTR Community News, Upcoming Events, and VC News/Reads.
VNTR COMMUNITY NEWS
Spotlight
Perfect Integration: We have partnered with Perfect, a premier global concierge service, to assist our community members with all their travel and lifestyle needs. Activate your Perfect mobile app membership using the VNTR code to enjoy special discounts and personalized services.
VNTR Platform: We onboarded 2000+ active investment decision-makers on the VNTR Platform (private investors, GPs at VC funds, family offices, CVCs, and institutional investors). Members can access the members' directory, share deals, syndicate, and co-invest, ask for peer help, register for events with one click, and enjoy partner offers. We are developing VNTR Marketplace, allowing peer-to-peer equity/token secondaries and M&As between community members. Activate your free investor account to join VNTR's inner circle of investors. Learn about the VNTR Community and Club.
VNTR Podcast: Join us on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts for engaging interviews with venture capitalists and capital allocators. Poscast goal is to educate our global community on the best practices for investing in startups and funds. We launched the VNTR Shorts Series with the best moments from the episodes. Featured episodes:
Tim Draper, Founding Partner at Draper Associates
Kelly Perdew, Co-Founder & Managing General Partner at Moonshots Capital
Dave McClure, Founder, Managing Partner Practical Venture Capital
Lou Kerner, Founder CryptoOracle Collective and Crypto Mondays
VNTR Summit: Join us for the annual VNTR Global Summit in Lisbon from November 11 to 14, coinciding with the Web Summit. The summit will unite our global community for an exciting program of keynotes, panel discussions, and roundtables. Attendees will have the opportunity to share insights, learn from industry leaders, network, and collaborate with investors from around the world. You can reserve your spot via VNTR. Companies interested in connecting with investors can apply for sponsorship or contact Lukas.
July Events:
Brussels: July 09 VNTR Investors Roundtable during Ethereum Community Conference. Thank you to our partners, Bitget, Internet Computer, Cointelegraph Accelerator, Fintech Belgium, and Startup Grind Brussels.
Ulaanbaatar: July 11 VNTR Investors Breakfast Mongolia
Phnom Penh: July 16 VNTR Investors Dinner Cambodia
Mexico City: July 17 VNTR Investors Breakfast
Cascais: July 18 VNTR Padel Cascais
Online: July 23 VNTR Speed Networking
Online: July 24 VNTR Mastermind "Investor Mentoring" hosted by Gillian Muessig, Managing Director, Mastersfund, and Andrey Kostyuk, Co-founder, AAlchemy Ventures.
Kuala Lumpur: July 25 VNTR Investors Roundtable Malaysia during TechInAsia Conference.
Nashville: July 26 VNTR Investors Roundtable during Bitcoin2024.
Thank you to our Partners:
BitGet is a leading global crypto exchange and Web3 Company serving over 25 million users in over 100 countries. Committed to helping users trade smarter, Bitget offers a pioneering copy trading feature and other trading solutions and inspires individuals to embrace crypto through collaborations with credible partners like legendary footballer Lionel Messi and official eSports events organizer PGL.
ICP is a general-purpose blockchain that hosts canister smart contracts. It is designed to provide a World Computer that can replace traditional IT and host a new generation of Web 3.0 services and applications that run solely from the blockchain, without the need for traditional IT.
Upcoming VNTR Events:
Aug 8 VNTR Investors Roundtable Auckland (New Zealand Chapter gathering)
Aug 13 VNTR Investors Roundtable Toronto (Blockchain Futurist Conference)
Sep 4 VNTR Investors Roundtable Seoul (Korea Blockchain Week)
Sep 12 VNTR Investors Roundtable Dubai (Dubai AI & Web3 Festival)
Sep 26 VNTR Investors Roundtable Barcelona (European Blockchain Convention)
Oct 17 VNTR Investors Roundtable Dubai (GITEX Global and Expand North Star)
More events available on the VNTR Platform
Reach out to Lukas to sponsor VNTR events or join VNTR Corporate Membership.
Follow us on Social media: Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, Flickr, and X.
UPCOMING VC EVENTS
July 25-27 Bitcoin2024, Nashville, USA
Aug 21-23 VCILAT, Santa Cruz De La Sierra, Bolivia
Aug 22-24 Coinfest, Bali, Indonesia (20% Discount using CA24VNTR)
Aug 28-29 WebX, Tokyo, Japan
Sep 11-12 TechBBQ, Copenhagen, Denmark
Sep 18-19 Token2049, Singapore
Sep 24-27 Super Return Asia, Singapore
Sep 25-27 South Summit, Seoul, Korea
Sep 29 - Oct 1 Bitz & Pretzels, Munich, Germany
Oct 2-3 How to Web, Bucharest, Romania
Oct 7-13 San Francisco Tech Week, USA
Oct 14-18 GITEX Global, Dubai, UAE (Complimentary investor passes)
Oct 14-20 Los Angeles Tech Week, USA
Oct 15-17 Meridian by Stellar, London, UK
Oct 21-27 Mexico Tech Week, Mexico City, Mexico
Oct 22-23 Blockchain Life, Dubai, UAE (10% Discount using VNTR)
Oct 28-29 SWITCH, Singapore
Oct 28-Nov 1 Hong Kong FinTech Week, Hong Kong
Nov 11-14 Web Summit, Lisbon, Portugal
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 10 Biggest Rounds Of June: Cruise And AlphaSense Nab Top Spots For Month
Lots of big rounds last month, including two huge ones well over a half-billion dollars. While June started slow, it ended in a flurry of massive-money deals — making this list tough to crack.
First Cut—State of Private Markets: Q2 2024
Initial data from Q2 2024 shows modest increases in median valuation and round size across much of the U.S. venture ecosystem.
Every quarter, Carta releases information on the startup ecosystem in our State of Private Markets report. It can take a few weeks for rounds to be recorded on our platform, so we produce a full analysis after we get the final numbers.
In the meantime, we publish a “first cut” of data as close to the end of the quarter as possible. This initial analysis focuses on round valuations and cash raised across the venture stages.
Circle Becomes First to Receive License in the EU to Issue Stablecoins Under MiCA
On July 1, Jeremy Allaire, co-founder and CEO of Circle, announced that the firm became the first global stablecoin issuer to gain regulatory approval under the European Union's sweeping Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulatory framework.
USDC and EURC are regulatory compliant under the new rules, effective immediately, quelling fears that investors would have to redeem their stablecoins or transfer their funds to other digital assets in order to stay compliant.
European VCs outperform US VCs over 10 and 15 year horizons
Venture capital might have been born in the US — but Europeans aren’t too bad at it nowadays. European VC returns are better than North American VC returns over 10 and 15 year horizons, finds a new report from industry body Invest Europe, based on data from investment firm Cambridge Associates. European VC yielded 20.77% net IRR (internal rate of return) over 10 years, compared to North American VC’s 18.18%. Over a 15 year period too, European VC has better returns: 16.57% IRR to North American VC’s 16.09% IRR.
Startups in Action: Blockchain Use Cases and Industry Applications
Dive deep into enterprise blockchain adoption and industry use cases with "Startups in Action: Blockchain Use Cases and Industry Applications" conference, organised by Vis Caeli and Igniteers. This event showcases groundbreaking blockchain applications and insights on the future of blockchain. Perfect for founders, investors, and tech enthusiasts eager to stay ahead in the blockchain space.
Defense tech and ´resilience` get global funding sources
We live in a very different world since the Russian invasionof Ukraine in 2022 and Hama's October 7 attack on Israel. With global military expenditure reaching $2.4 trillion last year, startups are hoping to get a share of the pie, and formerly reluctant investors are keen to help them do so. The U.S. budget is by far the largest, with contracts worth $53 billion to major tech firms between 2019 and 2022. But the rise of defense tech as an investment trend is very much global. German-based AI startup Helsing is a strong example of the unprecedented amounts of capital available to tech companies with military potential.
UK start-ups turn to Silicon Valley to fill void left by risk-averse pension funds
Matthew Scullion is crystal clear that the turning point for the UK software company he founded was when it won the backing of two US venture capital firms.
In 2018, Scale Venture Partners and Sapphire Venture led a funding round in Matillion, then a seven-year-old start-up headquartered in Manchester.
UK investors contributed a small amount, but Scullion credits the injection of Silicon Valley cash and knowhow for helping propel Matillion into a select club: one of the UK’s unicorns, or private companies worth at least $1bn.
89% of corporate investors plan to increase or maintain level of startup investments
Back in 2010, corporates were by no means a go-to investor for European startups, accounting for just 10% of the funding they raised. Nowadays, the picture is quite different; so far, in 2024, corporates account for over a quarter of startup funding, in terms of volume of capital invested, according to data platform Dealroom — a huge uptick in interest. So far this year, CVCs have also been involved in one in four European startup deals, according to Dealroom. And that share is likely to only increase, finds a new report from advisory firm Mountside Ventures and VC firm Love Ventures published today and exclusively shared with Sifted. 89% of corporate investors plan to increase or at least maintain the number of startup investments they do in the next three years compared to the last three years.
The top 10 most active gaming VC investors
Despite a difficult VC environment, investors continue to level up in gaming, lured by opportunities in augmented and virtual reality as well as a renewed interest in Web3 gaming. Several high-profile VC firms have closed large gaming-centric funds in recent months. Andreessen Horowitz closed its second dedicated gaming vehicle on $600 million in April. That same month, Bitkraft Ventures unveiled its third flagship fund with a $275 million target. And Griffin Gaming Partners is targeting $500 million for its third flagship vehicle, PitchBook reported in June.
AI deals lift US venture capital funding to highest level in two years, data shows
U.S. venture capital funding surged to $55.6 billion in the second quarter, marking the highest quarterly total in two years, according to PitchBook data published on Wednesday.
The latest figure shows a 47% jump from the $37.8 billion U.S. startups raised in the first quarter, largely driven by significant investments in artificial-intelligence companies, including $6 billion raised by Elon Musk's xAI and $1.1 billion raised by CoreWeave.
UK's Revolut teases IPO plans, but will it pick London?
UK challenger bank Revolut is hinting at IPO plans after reporting a record profit, but the lack of a local banking license and listing restrictions could make London an unlikely destination. On Tuesday, Revolut—which is currently seeking a $40 billion valuation—recorded pretax profits of £438 million (around $555 million) for 2023, after reporting losses of £25 million the year before. It also saw its revenues double from £923 million to £1.8 billion. In its report, the bank also highlighted how it had improved its financial controls, adding that it is bringing its “financial processes in line with the standards expected from publicly listed companies,” suggesting it is laying the groundwork for a potential IPO.
BlackRock to acquire private markets data provider Preqin for £2.55bn
The acquisition adds a highly complementary data business to BlackRock’s investment technology, marking a strategic expansion into the fast-growing private markets data segment, the global asset manager said in a statement. Private markets data is estimated to be an $8 billion total addressable market and growing 12% per year, reaching $18 billion by 2030, it said.
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 1.6% 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 2023 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.
Cost Reduction Strategies Without Sacrificing Quality for Tech Companies
For growing tech companies aiming to reach profitability, balancing cost reduction with maintaining high-quality products and services is crucial, especially when most expenses are tied up in manpower, marketing, sales and R&D. Here’s how you can trim the fat without losing your edge.
Softbank lost 99% when the dotcom blue burst, now it's all on AI
Softbank Group Corporation’s stock rose 1.5% to reach an all-time-high on July 2. The high mark comes just a few years after the company saw its shares plummet amid the closure of numerous high-profile tech startups, including WeWork, and a tech sector crackdown by the Chinese government. Analysts have largely attributed the Japanese company’s recent uptick to its pivot toward artificial intelligence and the performance of its computing subsidiary Arm Holdings.
Mental Health Startup Funding Holds Steady As Therapy Demand Grows
Therapy is a growth market. That, at least, was the trend following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Total annual U.S. mental health spending, estimated at around $280 billion in 2020, rose sharply in subsequent years across age groups, boosted in part by the rise of telehealth platforms. These days, more than one-fifth of American adults receive mental health treatment in a given year, per a recent federal government estimate. Much of that comes in the form of one-on-one therapy.
Carveout deals stage a comeback
Corporate divestitures bounced back in the first quarter, offering sellers flexibility and liquidity while providing private equity buyers with acquisition opportunities at a time of limited sponsor-to-sponsor activity. According to PitchBook’s Q1 2024 US PE Middle Market Report, carveout deals saw a significant spike in Q1, accounting for 15.5% of buyout deals in the middle market—defined as deals between $25 million and $1 billion—rebounding from a low of 7.6% in 2022. The quarter also surpassed its historical average of 12.1% from 2010 to 2020.
Web3 users reached an all-time high of 10M in Q2: DappRadar
According to a July 4 report from blockchain analytics platform DappRadar, the number of users using Web3 applications reached a record high in the second quarter. The number of daily unique active wallets (dUAW) was approximately 10 million over the quarter, a 40% increase from the first quarter and the highest number ever reached. According to the report, “[e]ach sector of the DApp [decentralized application] industry has experienced notable growth, contributing to an overall bullish trajectory.”
The UK's most active early-stage investors
2023 wasn’t a good year for early-stage deal count in UK tech. There were 2.7k pre-seed, seed and Series A deals, according to Dealroom; the lowest figure since 2016 and a long drop from the 4.1k deals done in the heady days of 2021. The figures for 2024 aren’t looking much stronger — Dealroom counts 1.1k so far this year — although a reporting lag typically means early stage rounds are under-reported. But while VC investment might have dropped off broadly, a number of investors are still pumping money into British startups.
Decentralized Science: A Better Way to Fund and Grow Breakthrough Ideas
A common trope of those who discredit Web3 is that it’s trying to solve a problem no one has. And, perhaps it’s easy to see it that way when you mostly see celebrities launching meme coins to self-enrich themselves and leaving their fans being the bag holders when the tokens go to zero. Or the animal JPEGs from the last cycle in 2021 that had values as high as six and seven figures.