VNTR Newsletter Nov 17, 2024 – Venture Capital News, Events, VC Reads
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
Spotlight
VNTR Summit 2024: We hosted our first VNTR Global Investor Summit in Lisbon, bringing together over 200 investors from around the world. The event featured 40+ speakers and moderators, providing thoughtful programming and valuable insights.
We thank our speakers, partners, global team, chapter directors, and venture partners for contributing to the summit’s success. Explore highlights and photos from the Summit.
Registrations are now open for the VNTR Global Investor Summit 2025, which will also take place in Lisbon on November 12, 2025. Companies interested in sponsorship opportunities can contact Elise to arrange an introductory call.
VNTR Summit 2025 Schedule:November 10: VNTR Chapter Directors Summit
November 11: VNTR Welcome Reception
November 12: VNTR Summit & Roundtables, including the VNTR LP Roundtable
November 13: VNTR Club Retreat
VNTR Summit 2024 Sponsors: Thank you, our summit sponsors:
Title Sponsor — Hivello — With just a few clicks on the Hivello app, users can effortlessly participate in multiple DePIN networks. This seamless process empowers users to generate passive income by leveraging their idle computers. For partnership opportunities and to learn more, contact Domenic Carosa directly.
Platinum Sponsor — Stellar Enterprise Fund — a venture-style fund that expands the open-source Stellar Network. At the Stellar Development Fund, investment in companies can transform the future of everyday financial services through Web3 Innovation. Connect with Daniel to partner with Stellar.
Gold Sponsor — 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.
Wine Sponsor — Lobo de Vasconcellos Wines
Energy Drinks Sponsor — SAVG
Ecosystem Sponsor — Unicorn Factory
VENTURE at Davos WEF 2025: This January, VENTURE is bringing the global VC community together in Davos during the World Economic Forum with an exclusive series of three high-impact events designed to foster connections, insights, and opportunities among leading investors. Sponsorship opportunities are available.
VNTR Fund of Funds: We are building our Fund of Funds team and looking for experienced General Partners to join and lead it. The team is dedicated to deploying capital into top-tier VC funds within our global network. If you want to join the VNTR Fund of Funds team, please contact Yuri.
Upcoming VNTR Events:
Houston: Nov 20 VNTR Investor Breakfast
Helsinki: Nov 21 VNTR Investor Roundtable during SLUSH
London: Nov 28 VNTR investor Luncheon
Munich: Dec 4 VNTR Investor Roundtable during ISPO Munich
Miami: Dec 6 VNTR Investor Roundtable during Art Basel (Sponsorship packages)
Abu Dhabi: Sponsorship packages
Manama: Jan 15 VNTR Investor Roundtable Bahrain (part of VNTR GCC Roadshow)
Upcoming VNTR Events:
More events available on the VNTR Platform
Contact Elise to sponsor VNTR events or join the VNTR Annual Corporate Partnership.
Follow us on Social media: Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, Flickr, and X.
UPCOMING VC EVENTS
Nov 20-21 Slush, Helsinki, Finland
Dec 3-5 ISPO Munich, Germany
Dec 4-7 CC Forum, Paris, France (VNTR100EXEC complimentary General Admission pass, VNTR20VIP for 20% discount code for a VIP pass)
Dec 9-12 Abu Dhabi Finance Week, UAE
Dec 10-11 World AI Summit, Doha, Qatar
Jan 7-10 CES, Las Vegas, USA
Jan 15-17 CFC St. Moritz, Switzerland
Jan 20-24 World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland
Feb 4-6 AI Everything Global, Dubai, UAE
Feb 9-12 LEAP, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Feb 23-26 Web Summit Qatar, Doha, Qatar
April 14-16 GITEX Africa, Marrakech, Morocco
April 23-25 GITEX Asia, Singapore
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
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
The Week’s Biggest Funding Rounds: Food Delivery Startup Wonder Leads Big Week
After a slow week last week, big rounds saw a good rebound with seven startups raising $100 million or more. While food delivery led the way, it also was a good week for aerospace, AI, biotech and defense.
Eye On AI: October Shows Sector’s Crazy Venture Totals Still Abound
While it was not shocking to see AI as the leading sector in October’s venture funding numbers, it was intriguing to see the sector also had its second-strongest fundraising month of all time.
Last month, AI-related startups raised $12.2 billion in funding — per Crunchbase data — or 38% of total monthly venture funding globally. That is only behind May of this year, when similar startups raised a whopping $12.8 billion led by Elon Musk’s generative AI startup, xAI, raising a $6 billion Series B round at a $24 billion valuation.
Similarly, last month also had a really big round — OpenAI’s long-awaited raise of $6.6 billion at a post-money valuation of $157 billion — but it seems almost every month has a really big AI raise.
The US IPO window hasn’t reopened yet, but startups take what they can
Despite the short workweek in many locations, the last few days have been crammed with deal announcements and funding news, although it is too early to tell how much was just on hold before the U.S. election.
There are early signs that the U.S. IPO window may reopen, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves; for now, we mostly have IPOs in India, M&As, and not-so-great news.
Quantum Computing Funding Hits Record High With Apparent AI Boost
Quantum computing has been getting more attention in recent years as its promise becomes more palpable. Venture funding in the sector has hit new levels this year — perhaps thanks in large part to another red-hot sector: AI.
Quantum computing startups have already raised $1.5 billion in venture funding in 50 deals so far in 2024, according to Crunchbase data. That nearly doubles the $785 million raised last year in 67 deals, and surpasses the all-time high raised in 2022 of nearly $963 million in 77 deals.
SoftBank Vision Funds architect departs as funds log best gains in years
Rajeev Misra, co-CEO of SoftBank Investment Advisers and one of the top brass behind the Vision Funds, is leaving SoftBank—just as Vision Fund I posted its biggest gains in years.
SoftBank Group Tuesday reported a net profit of $7.66 billion in the last quarter, including $3 billion in gains from SoftBank Vision Fund I and $913 million from Vision Fund II. Behind much of the investment gain is the performance of Coupang and DiDi out of Fund I and Revolut and Klarna out of Fund II.
Misra, who first joined SoftBank in 2014, helped raise more than $150 billion for the Vision Funds—the largest VC funds that the asset class has ever seen—from LPs including Saudi Arabia’s PIF, Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala and Apple.
4 Questions Startup Founders Should Ask In Meetings With VCs
As an investor working in corporate venture capital, I average about four introductory meetings a week with startups coming to me with fundraising pitches — and I’ve noticed that founders could be doing a lot more to optimize their time with VCs.
The greatest missed opportunity? They’re not leaving time for discussion. Or when they do, they expect me to be the one to ask all the questions.
But the most fruitful post-pitch Q&A’s are collaborative conversations. With that in mind, I’d advise all founders to come to these VC meetings ready to ask these four questions.
Access is everything
Successful investing in the public markets requires the right asset allocation; successful private market investing requires the right manager selection. Or so the adage goes.
Indexing has been very successful in the public markets in allowing low cost exposure to the targeted underlying assets. Indices outperform almost all active public managers in the long term. In 2024, indexed assets surpassed actively managed assets for the first time. The debate in public markets has moved to doom mongering about achieving the singularity where indices represent 100% of the market: what happens to prices if no-one is actually looking at anything? Has indexing already made the market more inefficient?
All the new first-time European VC funds of 2024
Fundraising in 2023 was not easy, for founders or VCs. Sifted tracked just over 40 new first-time funds that announced a first or second close in 2023 — compared to over 60 in 2022.
Will 2024 be rosier? We’re not too sure.
Limited partnerships are still waiting for more established funds to return capital, the public listing market is still on ice and the mood music remains muted.
But those dogged VCs who do succeed in closing a fund in 2024 we’ll list right here.
Klarna files for long-awaited US IPO
Swedish buy-now, pay-later giant, Klarna, filed initial documents Tuesday for its US IPO. The long-anticipated float is expected to value the fintech at anywhere up to $20 billion.
Bloomberg reported Klarna’s latest valuation at around $14.6 billion.
The company has long been looking to expand in the US market, where it competes against local rival Affirm. The expansion contributed to greater losses in 2021 and 2022. However, the company reported a 69% reduction in losses in 2023, from €1 billion (about $1.06 billion) to €290 million, achieving its first quarterly operating profit in four years.
Metaverse And VR Funding Slides Further As Even Apple Can’t Make A Hit
Apple is known for launching generationally iconic consumer devices. But not every gadget goes on to be a hit.
Take the Vision Pro, Apple’s $3,500 mixed-reality headset that launched to great fanfare early this year. Now, the company reportedly may be on the cusp of ending production, following months of slow sales.
If this does come to pass, it won’t be a surprising development. Early on, Apple failed to sustain enthusiasm for the device it introduced as a “spatial computing” breakthrough in areas from immersive video to workplace collaboration to content creation.
Non-bank venture debt lenders profit from rise in loans to growth startups
Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse a year and a half ago set off ripple effects that reverberated far beyond the venture landscape. With the most prominent name in venture debt involved, many feared a chilling effect on the sector. What a difference a year and a half makes.
Non-bank lenders, which swooped in as banks pulled back, are reaping the fruits of their labor amid a rise in the value of startup loans.
Total venture debt deal value has surpassed last year’s total and is on track to eclipse 2022 levels, according to the latest PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor. Lenders deployed $34.7 billion through Q3.
VC Roundup: Funding falls to $2.4B in Q3 2024, early-stage startups dominate
Venture capital funding in blockchain-based startups reached $2.4 billion in the third quarter of 2024, marking a 20% decline compared to the previous quarter, according to Galaxy Research.
Between July and September, crypto startups closed 478 deals, a 17% decrease from the second quarter. Despite the slowdown, the year remains on pace to match or slightly exceed 2023 investment levels, with $8 billion invested in the industry’s startups so far. Crunchbase’s Web3 Tracker has previously reported a more conservative figure, citing $5.4 billion in venture capital in the first three quarters of the year.
According to Galaxy’s report, a fivefold increase in funding has been witnessed by startups combining artificial intelligence and blockchain technologies over the last three months. Key contributors included rounds from Sentient, CeTi, and Sahara AI, collectively raising $188 million.
Real Estate Startup Investors Are Still Bullish About These 4 Themes
Earlier this week, we wrote about the sharp decline in venture funding to U.S. real estate-related startups. But while overall numbers are down, there are still areas popular with investors.
Using Crunchbase data, we identified four spaces where this is the case: Home equity financing, rental management, eco-friendly building and tools for streamlining construction.
Notably, these are all themes that play into the current real estate market climate, characterized by higher lending costs, lower affordability and fewer homeowners opting to sell and move. It’s a sharp contrast to funding trends from a few years ago, an era of low rates and active sales.
Here are all the European startups that have done secondaries this year
Startup secondaries — when private companies enable existing shareholders like VCs and employees to sell some of those shares — have picked up this year.
Many companies have put off fundraising over the past few years (usually an opportunity for existing shareholders to cash out) and other exit events, like IPOs, have been few and far between.
As a result, plenty of investors are thirsty for liquidity, while current and former employees of many highly-valued tech companies want to reap the rewards of their labour sooner rather than later.
Climate startups button up for a post-election freeze
The “Valley of Death” serves as the title of a 1968 Western, several World War II battle sites and a song by a Swedish heavy metal band.
In the venture world, it refers to the period when a startup is spending money—on research, personnel, laboratory or office space—but isn’t yet generating significant revenue.
For the climate tech startups now navigating this stage, it’s going to be a rough six months. As the industry adjusts to a new energy policy regime under President-elect Donald Trump, there’ll be a chill in the air for project financing and major fundraising for companies in the line of fire.
Singapore's venture capital market grows increasingly attractive
According to a report by Enterprise Singapore and research firm Pitchbook issued in November, firms headquartered in the country raised $4.05 billion across 369 deals in the nine months ending September, down slightly from $4.3 billion and 410 deals in the same period in 2023.
On the other hand, the nation captured the lion’s share of venture capital among the ASEAN countries, accounting for 58% of total deal volume and 68% of deal value.
Venture activity was uneven within Singapore’s start-up ecosystem, with some sectors seeing dips in deal volume and value compared with 2023, according to data from the government-backed Research, Innovation and Enterprise (RIE) 2025 plan.
Your Idea of a Memecoin Community Is Wrong
Memecoins have taken the crypto world by storm, but not for the reasons you think. According to CoinGecko, memecoins accounted for 14.3% of all transaction volume in Q2 of 2024, making them the biggest narrative in crypto. However, despite their meteoric rise, the way we understand memecoin communities needs a serious rethink.
5 Things To Look For When Evaluating AI Startups
According to a report by McKinsey, generative AI could have an economic impact of $2.6 trillion to $4.4 trillion annually. For context, the United Kingdom’s entire GDP in 2021 was $3.1 trillion. Roughly 75% of that value will emanate from productivity gains across customer operations, sales and marketing, software engineering, and R&D.
Bob Ma of Copec Wind VenturesBob Ma of Copec Wind Ventures
AI’s eye-popping potential has given rise to numerous enterprise generative AI startups focused on applying large language model technology to the enterprise context. Standard products include employee copilots, content generation for marketing, back-office automation and enterprise knowledge search.
These AI-driven solutions are beginning to realize the projected global economic impact by significantly reducing operating expenses, generating sales and boosting employee productivity.
Time Dislocations in Venture Capital
One of the ways I describe venture capital as an asset class to those considering investing is that it’s like a very lumpy, long-term annuity. An annuity requires a lump sum up-front investment for guaranteed payments at a later date in time. It’s a phase shift, or a time dislocation, moving money from now to some time in the distant future. Whereas an annuity has next to no risk, but also next to no upside, consistent allocation into venture capital can provide a long run dislocation of capital, but with higher risk and also much higher potential future returns. It’s a “lumpy annuity.”
If you’re bearish on today, but bullish on tomorrow, you might want to shift some of your capital out into this future set of opportunities or outcomes. You might also want to consider the cost of holding onto your capital today, and the purchasing power erosion you might experience if your money is not growing with the economy. In other words, you might want to allocate into venture capital, because this is a bet on the future, and a time shift of smaller returns today for bigger returns tomorrow.