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Venture capitalist panels judged companies from the defense, environment and technology spaces and offered advice to entrepreneurs pitching their ideas during AFCEA TechNet Emergence, an event hosted by AFCEA, held between March 11 and 12 in Reston, Virginia.
One of the most important points covered concerned well-rehearsed presentations and deep market knowledge. READ MORE
Given the breakneck pace of technology development and turnover at growing companies, one might imagine the makeup of firms created to fund emerging, potentially blockbuster startups would experience similar turnover. Yet it appears that many of Silicon Valley's financial old guard are only now starting to pass the torch to a new generation of aspiring venture capital entrepreneurs. READ MORE
Sara Choi, a biotech investor and partner at Wing Venture Capital, has invested in nine companies led by women or people of color. But she isn’t motivated by altruism. Choi is looking to make money.
“I gave these founders a chance, and they’re making me and my firm quite successful,” says Choi. “It’s not just charity.” READ MORE
No one needs to be told how crucial innovation is to a business’s survival in a constantly morphing landscape. Corporate venture capital (CVC) is one of three main innovation mechanisms that large companies now deploy, along with internal R&D and innovation M&As. In recent years, CVC units have become increasingly important across geographical borders, industries, and technology sectors, helping companies to stay nimble and forward-looking — and to create new growth engines. In 2022, global CVCs invested almost $100 billion in about 5,000 investment rounds of VC-backed companies. Over 100 new CVCs were created that year alone. READ MORE
If you asked a bunch of VCs at the end of 2023 if the IPO market would finally open again in 2024, most of them would have said yes. We know because TechCrunch surveyed more than 40 of them in December and that’s what they said.
Yet, there are two weeks left in Q1, still no completed major IPOs, and very few in the works. Reddit is the only big-time IPO far enough along to be priced. Otherwise, there is just speculation on who might go public, with very few public SEC documents. For instance, there’s Shein who reportedly filed a confidential S-1 last fall, or car rental marketplace Turo who is still waiting on the sidelines after filing its initial S-1 in 2022. READ MORE
Reid Hoffman, a founder of LinkedIn and a longtime venture capitalist, is no longer the public face of the venture firm Greylock. Michael Moritz, a force at Sequoia Capital for 38 years, officially separated from the investment firm last summer. And Jeff Jordan, a top investor at Andreessen Horowitz for 12 years, left in May.
They are among the most recognizable of a generation of Silicon Valley investors who are getting out of venture capital at the end of a lucrative 15-year upswing for the industry. READ MORE
We’re officially in the era of the solopreneur, marking the next evolution of early-stage businesses.
These solopreneurs are a one-person show, operating and managing a business independently, handling all aspects from product development to marketing to sales. And, solopreneurship is skyrocketing globally, thanks to tech advancements that make running a business smoother and more cost-effective. READ MORE
Like many parents of autistic children, Misty Richard was thrilled in 2017 to find a clinic close to her home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, that could help her son, Javier Bautista, known as J.J. The facility was operated by the Center for Autism and Related Disorders, a nationwide company that had 265 locations at its peak. Known as CARD, the center specialized in Applied Behavior Analysis, an individualized program that uses reinforcement strategies to help autistic children cope, learn and communicate. READ MORE
So, you’ve successfully navigated your startup to a pivotal moment. You’ve secured some $10 million in funding, identified a product-market fit, and achieved an impressive $3 million in annual revenue with consistent year-over-year growth.
The clock is ticking: Projections point to profitability in 12 months, but your runway is drying up in nine. The pressure is on! READ MORE
For venture-backed startups, it’s historically rather common to wind up selling to another startup. Lately, however, the pace of these deals has been slowing down.
In all of 2023, just over 650 funded startups globally were acquired by other funded startups, per Crunchbase data, the lowest total in three years. READ MORE
AI commanded the attention of VCs last year, but while investors debated whether to bet on image-generation AI or medtech AI, several extremely consequential startup sectors ended up being overshadowed.
Some of these verticals, though less popular among traditional VCs, may change the world in the next few years, and investors should take note before missing out. READ MORE
This is one record private equity isn’t proud to have broken in 2023. A record number of PE-owned companies filed for bankruptcy last year. Heavy debt loads paired with rising interest rates have put tremendous pressure on these company’s loan payments, driving many into bankruptcy. READ MORE
Private equity firms are buying up the US economy and stripping it for parts. From healthcare to education, utilities, and more, massive firms like Blackstone and the Carlyle Group have acquired vast holdings across critical industries essential to the health and well-being of everyday people. Instead of seeking to make these ventures more profitable, private equity firms are more likely to orchestrate to bleed their assets for short-term gains—even if those assets are univerisites, hospitals, or nursing homes. Gretchen Morgens0n, author of These Are the Plunderers: How Private Equity Runs—and Wrecks—America, returns to The Chris Hedges Report to discuss how private equity came to hold America hostage. READ MORE
Financial backers and firms are both caught in a 'Wile E. Coyote' dilemma
VCs now must decide which startups to save and which to let go.
Startup companies increasingly are tumbling over a financial cliff, while others are hanging in mid-air like Wile E. Coyote before the inevitable fall. READ MORE
Perception can overshadow reality in the image-conscious world of venture capital. But some funds are running out of money to keep the facade going.
So-called "zombie VCs" — or venture funds that don't have enough cash to cut deals — are set to become a big issue this year. READ MORE
Last year was a challenge for many in private capital. TechCrunch reported that total venture investment in the third quarter of 2023 was $73 billion, falling more than $25 billion from a year earlier and 65% from the record highs set in the fourth quarter of 2021.
As investor focus has shifted from companies that pursued growth-at-all-costs to those with solid traction and a path to profitability, fewer deals met the new threshold for investor appetite. But things are shifting again. The promise of interest rate cuts in 2024 is offering a glimmer of hope, at the same time that many of the startups that last raised at the peak of the market will soon need to raise again. READ MORE
Following the debut of ChatGPT, it didn’t take long for AI companies to flood the business landscape. But while AI startups successfully raised $50 billion worth of investment in 2023, there was a clear decline in investments by the end of the year, indicating the initial investment buzz was wearing off.
Rather than casting wide nets of investments over the space, investors are now seeking stronger market fits. To succeed in this new age of AI maturation, entrepreneurs need to focus on building moats — finding unique ways to build a defense perimeter around their offering to fend off competitors or, at the very least, make it difficult to compete with them. READ MORE
Finding defensible magic is hard. Completing your Ph.D. is hard. Building a company is hard.
Understanding how VC works should be easy.
But so many scientist-founders never get the full breakdown. Once you see how it all fits together, everything makes sense. Why some companies get funded and others don’t. READ MORE
There's no one-size-fits-all strategy when it comes to venture capital investments in the booming artificial intelligence sector.
State of play: Large language model companies are still making headlines for raising piles of cash at eye-popping valuations, but it also appears a growing number of VCs are slinging some of their checks in other directions.
The big picture: At Upfront Ventures' annual confab in Los Angeles this week, a number of top VCs took the stage to share their thoughts on investing in AI. READ MORE
The venture-capital industry has mostly been a tale of woe in the past year, with thousands of startups struggling to raise money and many shutting down.
For some lucky founders, though, the market is as frothy as ever and edging into the realm of insanity again. READ MORE