Smaller VCs are having an impact on diverse investors and founders

Smaller funds, those that have $50 million or less in assets under management, are helping to usher in a new wave of diversity within venture capital. And the reasons for this are simple.

The latest crop of investors stems from historically overlooked or marginalized communities that are setting up funds and then investing back in those funds. “Small funds operate with a sense of purpose, leveraging their limited resources to drive positive change and foster diversity in the entrepreneurial landscape,” B. Pagles Minor, the founder of DVRGNT Ventures, told TechCrunch+. READ MORE

It’s Taking Longer For Startups To Raise From Series A To Series B

Startups that raise Series A rounds typically have only a short break before they’re fundraising again.

Among U.S. companies that go on to close Series B funding, the median is just under two years to do so, according to a Crunchbase analysis from 2012 to today. For the speediest quartile, the median is under 18 months. READ MORE

Pandemic Didn’t Alter Dominance Of Stanford, Harvard Or MIT For Funded Founders

The pandemic changed many things about how Americans build and fund startups, from the rise of remote teams to the willingness of investors to back companies located far from the home office.

One thing that hasn’t changed, however, is the dominance of three universities — Stanford, Harvard and MIT — in churning out founders of funded companies. READ MORE

5 charts: Big GPs set the tone for fundraising

In nearly every corner of the private markets, fundraising totals are lower today than a year ago. That's what many GPs are saying, and their laments are borne out in the data, according to PitchBook's Q1 2023 Global Private Markets Fundraising Report.

Over the 12-month period that ended in March, investment funds dedicated to PE, VC, real assets, real estate, private debt and funds-of-funds raised anywhere from 15% to 64% less than what those strategies raised the prior year. READ MORE

Revealed: the top 20 global venture capital firms

Only five of the top 20 best-performing venture capital firms around the world are based outside the US and only one is European, according to the 2022 HEC-Dow Jones Venture Capital Performance Ranking.

The top place is taken by IT specialist New York-based IA Ventures, with Australia-based internet and software investor Blackbird in second place. 

The size of the US VC market is much larger than any other country, so the prominence of American firms is not surprising. READ MORE

North Korean hackers spoof venture capital firms in Japan, Vietnam and US

Hackers based in North Korea are spoofing financial institutions and venture capital firms in the U.S., Vietnam and Japan, according to new research.

Recorded Future’s Insikt Group linked the campaign to APT38, a state-sponsored group in North Korea notorious for several high-profile attacks on cryptocurrency firms and other organizations. READ MORE

Startup founder pleads guilty to ripping off VC investors with cooked books and phony customer claims

She took the phrase “fake it ‘til you make it,” a bit too literally. 

A startup founder has pleaded guilty to cooking the books of her human resources software firm and lying about how many customers it had in order to attract over $5 million from venture capitalists focused on diverse investing. READ MORE

These 3 Charts Show It’s Not Easy Being A Seed Startup These Days

U.S. seed startups have been the least affected by the venture funding downturn. But these companies are competing in a more crowded field than ever for investor attention and will likely have to wait longer to raise their Series A rounds — if they’re able to at all — an analysis of Crunchbase data shows.

To paint a clearer picture of the state of the U.S. seed market, let’s break it down into three charts. READ MORE

Sequoia Capital splits China, India businesses into separate entities

Sequoia Capital is splitting into three entities after the company announced it was "becoming increasingly complex to run a decentralized global investment business."

The venture capital firm said Sequoia India and Southeast Asia will become Peak XV Partners and Sequoia China will become HongShan, while the U.S. and European business will remain Sequoia Capital. READ MORE

Global Venture Funding Leveled In May 2023 Despite Big AI Raises

For the past two months, global venture funding has leveled off above the $20 billion mark, as investors continue to pare back their funding pace.

Global funding almost reached $22 billion in May 2023, up a bit month over month and significantly down, around 44%, compared to May 2022, Crunchbase data shows. READ MORE

Hourly Workers Are In High Demand, As Are Some Startups Catering To Them

Few people get rich working short-term and hourly wage jobs. However, it is how most of us make a living.

In the U.S. for instance, over 76 million workers were paid at hourly rates last year, representing over 55% of all wage and salary recipients. Millions more earn freelance and gig work income calculated using other methods. READ MORE

These Are The Top Universities For Funded Founders

Every year or so at Crunchbase News, we tally up which U.S. universities graduate the highest number of recently funded startup founders. And each time, we see mostly predictable results, with a few surprises in the mix.

This time around, we saw minimal flux at the top of the list. The leading universities for funded founders are Stanford, MIT, UC Berkeley, and Harvard. The top business schools are Harvard, Stanford and Wharton. READ MORE

There’s No Easy Exit for Companies Backed by PE and VC

The true value of private equity- and venture capital-owned companies — a source of much debate — can be hard for outsiders to know. But Verdad Advisers’ founder Dan Rasmussen and senior analyst Chris Satterthwaite have figured a way to peek behind the curtain — and what they’ve found is not pretty.

“The clock is ticking” for private equity, Rasmussen told Institutional Investor. “The margin picture was bad and has gotten worse, the debt picture was bad and has gotten a lot worse, and the valuation picture was bad and has gotten a lot worse.” Combined, it’s “pretty scary,” he said. READ MORE

Ten questions early-stage founders should be asking investors

When I wrote this post in August 2021, we were at the peak of exuberance in VC investing and startup valuations. I bemoaned the decline in early-stage investing and feared that innovation would suffer as a result of it. READ MORE

8 Reasons Why VC Could Only Have Developed In The U.S.

Venture capital (VC) is the 3rd rail of venture financing. It is highly charged and mostly misunderstood. The assumption is that there is a shortage of VC, implying that more VC will result in more home runs, more wealth, and more job creation. Yet, a few VCs earn most of VC profits, and very few entrepreneurs benefit from VC.

VC was developed in the U.S. The first VC fund was in Boston and Silicon Valley has perfected the funding strategy. So VC is not only an American invention, but it could only have been developed in the U.S. Here is why. READ MORE

Filings reveal PE and VC returns amid escalating write-downs

Some high-profile venture capital and private equity firms are slashing the valuation of their holdings, causing billions in apparent profits to evaporate as the economic downturn undermines the sustained growth of the last 13 years.

The California Pension System, the largest pension system in the U.S. whose investments are sprinkled across the globe, injected $368.8 million into Silver Lake Partners’ 2015 V fund. In the quarter ending September 2021, the value on that return stood at $668.3 million. However, by the same quarter in 2022, this figure was reduced by $100 million, according to documents released by the pension firm in response to a request for public records made by TechCrunch. READ MORE

7 Key Takeaways on Startup Funding from a Big Angel Group Report

Tech Coast Angels in an angel investment group based in Los Angeles. With 410 angel investors across 5 separate chapters, the group is one of the largest and most active angel investment groups in the country. I’ve been a member since 2010 and am on the executive committee of the LA chapter.

Thanks to the efforts of John Harbison, the group puts out an annual report with incredibly useful data that highlights the status of angel investment every year. The full report for 2022 is available here, but I’ve summarized the points most interesting to founders and investors. READ MORE

"It is increasingly crucial to ensure that Seed capital can sustain a startup for at least 24 months"

“From the perspective of Seed investors we can find some positive elements that emerge from the crisis we are experiencing in recent times, like realistic, down to earth valuations for the startups, or higher availability of relevant talents and professional staff,” says Nathan Shuchami, Managing Partner at Israeli Hyperwise Ventures.

Shuchami spoke with CTech as part of the project “Where do we go from here?” which aims to examine how the Israeli VC industry is dealing with the crisis in the sector. READ MORE

Celebrity investors pile into consumer savings startup Checkmate

We’ve all been there. Shopping online and desperately searching for a promo code so that you can save some money on a purchase.

Well, at least I’ve been there.

Enter Checkmate.  READ MORE

Nasdaq threatens to delist the Trump SPAC from the stock market

Digital World Acquisition Corp., the blank-check firm seeking to merge with former President Donald Trump’s media venture that owns the Truth Social app, has received a delisting notice from the Nasdaq.

In a press release Wednesday, Digital World said it “received an expected letter” from the stock market because hasn’t filed a quarterly report for the period ending on March 31. The letter doesn’t mean the company will be delisted, but its stock could disappear from the Nasdaq exchange if it doesn’t get its act together soon. READ MORE