Johan Steneros

We are thrilled to announce that we have just led a €2M funding round in Danelfin, the AI-powered stock analytics platform that’s revolutionising the decision making process for retail investors worldwide!   📈 Why Danelfin Stands Out 📈 Danelfin leverages advanced AI to simplify stock analysis for retail investors, turning thousands of stock features - including hundreds of sentiment analysis indicators - into a single, easy-to-understand AI Score (ranging from 1 to 10). Impressively, stocks with an AI Score of 10 have outperformed the market (S&P 500) by an average of +14.69% over three months (annualised alpha) over the past five years.    🌍 Why Now? 🌍 In the past two years alone, about 30 million new brokerage accounts were opened in the USA. Retail investors now make up 25% of all stock trades, significantly higher than a decade ago. Daily investments from retail investors hit a record $1.5 billion in February 2023, and 61% of U.S. adults invested in the stock market in 2023, up from 52% in 2016. These numbers highlight the rapidly growing influence and importance of retail investors in the market.    We’re proud to support #Danelfin on their journey to empower retail investors to make smarter, data-driven decisions. Stay tuned for more updates!   #FinTech #RetailInvesting #Funding #Prosumer #VC

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We are thrilled to share that we have just closed a €2M funding round led by Nauta! Thank you, Nauta, for sharing our vision and supporting us on our mission to democratize AI technology for investors worldwide. Until now, advanced AI stock analysis was a privilege reserved for hedge funds and elite investors. With Danelfin, AI-powered stock analysis is now accessible to retail investors, empowering everyone to make data-driven investment decisions. 📈 Why Danelfin Stands Out 📈 Danelfin leverages advanced AI to simplify stock analysis, turning thousands of stock features into a single, easy-to-understand AI Score (ranging from 1 to 10). Impressively, stocks with an AI Score of 10 have outperformed the market (S&P 500) by an average of +14.69% over three months (annualized alpha) over the past five years. 🌍 Why Now? 🌍 In the past two years alone, about 30 million new brokerage accounts were opened in the USA. Retail investors now make up 25% of all stock trades, significantly higher than a decade ago. Daily investments from retail investors hit a record $1.5 billion in February 2023, and 61% of U.S. adults invested in the stock market in 2023, up from 52% in 2016. These numbers highlight the rapidly growing influence and importance of retail investors in the market.

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Remove the detailed roadmaps from your pitch decks. No VC will invest the time to go through all the milestones in your history and those in the future, with all the bullets providing details about each milestone. Far too early. VCs are not warm enough when they read your pitch deck. Put your detailed roadmaps into your data room and let VCs digest them after they had 1-2 meetings with you and ask for further material. If you think a roadmap could help to increase a VCs appetite, then only provide 3-5 high-level milestones on a slide that could be read and understood in max 10 seconds. Check my FundraisingCOUP program if you want to become a Top 1% fundraiser & get in touch with me if you're building a disruptive Future of Work & Learning startup and looking for Pre-Seed or Seed funding.

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🌍 Exciting news! Seaya Ventures has closed its €300M climate tech fund, Seaya Andromeda, making it Spain’s largest VC firm with €650M in assets. The fund will invest €7M-40M in companies reducing waste and greenhouse gas emissions. 🌱 Launched in 2022, Seaya Andromeda focuses on energy transition, zero emissions mobility, industry decarbonization, circular economy, agritech, and foodtech. Southern Europe’s potential is vast, with ample sunlight for renewables and strong automotive and real estate sectors ripe for innovation. Interesting to see the backers, including Iberdrola (congrats Diego Díaz Pilas!), Nortia, Santander, and the involvement of French organizations like BNP Paribas and Bpifrance. Seaya has already backed companies like Glovo, Wallbox Chargers,Cabify, Recycleye and 011h, with plans for 25 investments by 2027. More info in this article: https://shorturl.at/wyyQk Alberto Onetti, Mind the Bridge, Helene LABAUME, Elisabeth Menant, Lajla Aganovic, CFA #ClimateTech #Sustainability #VentureCapital #Innovation #OpenInnovation #SeayaVentures #RenewableEnergy #CircularEconomy #SouthernEurope

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🚀 Marosa Secures €12M to Boost Growth & Expand Globally 🌍 Marosa, a Spanish fintech focused on invoicing and compliance, has raised €12 million in its first funding round with Aquiline. The investment will accelerate product development, expand its VATify software, and support global growth. VATify simplifies e-invoicing, VAT registration, and communication with tax authorities, addressing Europe's new digital VAT compliance regulations. With over 1,200 customers across the EU, Marosa is set for even greater success. CEO Pedro Pestana da Silva is excited about the partnership, aiming to lead in the evolving compliance tech space. https://lnkd.in/d-BNYEZE #Fintech #Investment #SaaS #Compliance #EInvoicing #GlobalExpansion #TechNews 🌐🚀

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🚨 Rebranding Alert: All Iron Ventures is Now Acurio Ventures! 🚨 Spanish venture capital firm All Iron Ventures has officially rebranded as Acurio Ventures, marking a new chapter with the launch of their €150 million 'follow-on' fund! 💶 This new fund will focus on doubling down on their existing portfolio companies, taking equity stakes ranging from 3% to 10%. 🏦 💡 Why is this important? Under its previous name, Acurio backed successful European startups like: - Seedtag - JOBANDTALENT CHILLY-MAZARIN - Lingokids - Preply - refurbed - Lookiero Co-founded by Ander Michelena, who sold Ticketbis to eBay for €16.5 million, Acurio Ventures is poised to capitalize on the booming Spanish tech ecosystem, which surpassed €100 billion in enterprise value in 2023! 🌍📈 💼 The New Fund Strategy: • Focus on 'follow-on' investments • Invest across multiple sectors and regions in Europe • A portfolio of 50 companies per fund, offering flexibility to manage investments and divestments more effectively 🔄 The European Investment Bank (EIB) venture capital arm is also set to invest €1 billion in Spanish growth-stage tech startups, making this a golden time for Spanish tech! 🌟 Acurio Ventures is ready to take on the opportunities ahead, led by Ander Michelena, Diego Recondo, Hugo Fdez.-Mardomingo, and Kate Cornell. 📢 Stay tuned to Future Techly for the latest updates on this groundbreaking initiative and the latest in tech and business! 💥 Source: TechCrunch #AcurioVentures #VentureCapital #TechStartups #Rebranding #FollowOnFund #EuropeanTech #SpanishTech #Investment #FutureTechly

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This fintech concept was SOLD before we even realized it! (yep, you read that right) We presented an exclusive concept at  ↳ our client demo last week. And, well… Before we even got to the Q&A, it was SOLD. Not just a “we’ll think about it” moment  – full-on commitment! Why? Because it offered exactly what today’s users demand: - Effortless experience - Inspiring elegance - Exclusive enhancements It’s not enough for fintech to just "work" these days;  people want that wow factor, that seamless touch. Here’s what we’ve learned: - Design isn’t just about visuals; it’s about emotion. - Users expect refinement and utility in every detail. - And most of all, an unforgettable experience drives loyalty. Curious? Check out the full case study on Behance! ➡️https://lnkd.in/geKDQw_d P.S. Let me know in the comments  ↳ what's your take on today’s fintech experience? ♻️

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Great news, folks! SentiVue has just teamed up with Startup Lisboa and we're feeling like kids in a candy store! 🍭🎉 Here's the lowdown: 🔥 Why We're Pumped: Startup Lisboa is all about fostering growth and innovation – and that's right up our alley. It's the perfect playground for our AI baby, SentiVue, to grow smarter and make customer interactions even more awesome. 🤗 Community Vibes: We're now part of an amazing family of innovators and go-getters. Think of all the cool ideas and friendships waiting to happen! 🚀 Boosting Our Game: With top-notch mentors and resources at our fingertips, we're gearing up to bring you even cooler stuff. Stay tuned! 💡 Learning and Laughing: We're here to learn, experiment, and maybe have a bit too much fun along the way. 🌍 Going Global, Staying Grounded: We might be setting our sights on global horizons, but our heart and hustle remain the same. So, here's to new adventures and making every step count with Startup Lisboa. We can't wait to share our journey with you all! We will rock this! ✨ Mohamed Hani ElMasry & Rim Abohegab #SentiVue #StartupLisboa #NewBeginnings #TechLife #GrowthStory #InnovationAdventure

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☀️ Get Ready, Spain! 🎉   BayLoop Ventures has teamed up with Slush to host the most electrifying event of 2025 - Slush’D in Bilbao! Think you’ve seen it all in tech and entrepreneurship? Think again. Slush’D is the powerhouse event where only the best startups, the boldest entrepreneurs, the sharpest visionaries, and the elite investors gather to redefine the cutting edge. This isn’t just another networking event - it’s where the future of innovation stakes its claim. 🚀 Mark your calendars, prepare your pitches, and get ready to rub shoulders with the top tier of the global innovation scene right here in Spain. This is where you bring your A-game, connect with the best, and show the world what you’re made of. Stay glued to our page and follow Bilbao Slush'D for all the updates you’ll need to be a part of this monumental event. It’s more than just an event; it’s where legacies are built. Let’s light up Bilbao like never before! #BilbaoSlushD #Startups #Ecosystem #InnovationOnFire #NextBigThing

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Lifescience investors, this is for you! Invest in the best hand-picked and validated by industry leaders startups! 💰 This year Caelestinus accelerator was highly effective. I want to highlight the best achievements we've done together with startups within the InterSystems innovations ecosystem during the 4-month program. Let's start with ROOK - one of the top-performing businesses! ✅ Revenue approaching $1M in ARR ✅ 100k active users ✅ 30 clients ✅ 3 pilots as of today, all with the integration of InterSystems' IRIS ✅ Received a grant, and participated in the InterSystems Global Summit (Miami, USA) Also, I have no idea, how Marco Benitez and Jonas Dücker found the time to support other participants and be so dedicated to community goals. But they did! These guys are worth building business with and investing in. My personal recommendation! Don't hesitate to reach them out! #healthtech #venturecapital #growth #medtech #mentorship #GTM

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You gotta love "Chili sin Carne". Asterion’s latest investment is Edonia, a foodtech startup processing microalgae to create the ultimate alternative protein ingredient. What makes it unique? Edonia creates the protein via a transformation process called “edonization.” This transforms the microalgae biomass into a textured super ingredient with numerous taste, odor, texture, nutritional and environmental qualities. The edonization technique converts the texture to “meaty-like tender grains” with aromatics similar to one that smoking or grilling would produce. Minimally processed, high in proteins, low CO2 emissions. Edonia's ingredient is 30% protein, comprised of essential amino acids, and contains other minerals and vitamins. That’s a bit higher percentage of protein than ground beef for instance. The Life Cycle Assessment shows Edonia’s product could emit 40 times less carbon dioxide than its ground meat equivalent, and three times less than its textured soy equivalent. Previous to Edonia, Hugo VALENTIN and Pierre Mignon built and grew Ammi, a company working on spirulina-based products. The official launch will be European, and then Edonia aims to quickly expand to Asia and the US, through strategic partnerships. At Asterion Ventures, we are dedicated to supporting the most ambitious teams based in France with carefully curated groups of angels - 35 entrepreneurs and C-Levels invested alongside us in Edonia -. Chili sin Carne is tastier with Edonia.

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Random thoughts about AI and how I use it as a solo-founder... I built Verbanest.com fast thanks to AI, actually I do many things with AI... I use n8n to connect many blocks together with AI to take decisions and automate things that I do regularly, like keep an eye on the version of tools that I use in SaaS and self-hosted ones for any important security issues/patches to update. Connect all of my email inboxes, and notify me on Slack if received any critical email that need quick reply, I use my vault on Obsidian as context for personalized answers using Fabric (https://lnkd.in/eBDD93cz), and many small things that save me time as a solo-founder to focus on what really matters most. I think in the next few years we will see more fine-tuning with many state-of-the-art inventions that will use AI as a backbone in many areas (in dev: Devin, v0, Cursor...) These will develop into complex systems that will form an OS-based AI, system 2 thinking... Think of it! All of this is a result of something called self-attention and transformers, a simple but wonderful way to not remember everything but keep attention on important things in a good chunk of the internet. Sure, AI doesn't "think" or create something entirely new. BUT What it does do incredibly well is connect the dots in vast amounts of data, we see that in many areas. The pieces are there, and with the right size of data and computing power, AI can make those connections with those pieces, leading to discoveries. Keep learning, automating, building, experimenting, and ship it fast! 🔥

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Tomorrow! Unicorn Pitches Competition Event in Lisbon! 🦄 Get ready for an exciting showcase of innovative startups vying for the title of the best startup. We are thrilled to present the full list of participants: PnPAI — Just as Uber transports you from Point A to Point B without needing to own a car, PnPAI propels your business from no AI to advanced AI without requiring an in-house AI team. Vixtape — Vixtape is a social TV platform that creates streaming channels by integrating smart contracts and AI curation models. Its mission is to transform the world’s media and pay creators fairly. SoulcareAI—SoulcareAI provides 24/7 personalised mental health support, empowering users to improve their well-being through AI-driven insights and compassionate care. It is accessible to individuals and businesses. Raily — MEETS ON THE MOVE - Raily is a social travel hub that connects people on the go while being power-charged by AI, AR, MR and Web3 capabilities. Jsonify — They use AI to turn websites and documents into useful structured data pipelines, automatically. KitLegit — KitLegit uses AI/ML technology to digitally authenticate sports merchandise through imagery. Their technology can be used by consumers or integrated into marketplaces, leagues, clubs and brands. Purpose Platform —- is a blockchain solution that allows coaches to reward users for progress in their mental and physical health. using the betting protocol for your personal growth. WiseWorld.ai — At WiseWorld they made soft skills measurable with an AI-powered, game-based platform designed to assess and empower employees through life-like challenges, providing managers with reliable data for better decision-making. Don't miss this opportunity to witness groundbreaking innovations and support these incredible startups! 📅 Date: July 9th, 2024 🕕 Time: 6:00 PM 📍 Location: Fintech House Lisboa by Sitio.pt, Av. Duque de Loulé 12, 1050-093, Lisboa 🔗 Register Now: https://lnkd.in/dDKbbgwA See you there! #UnicornPitchesLisbon #AI #AIFintechStartupPitch #Fintech #StartupCompetition

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Two weeks tomorrow we will be at Web Summit in Lisbon. We are exhibiting in the Alpha Startup section on the first day, Tuesday 12th November. This will mark the official start of our fundraising campaign. We will demonstrate the tech stack we have built, which is in the market, and show the new version 2 features, which are close to release. This includes the first application of an AI layer to automate rewards and completely sidestep POS integration, keeping meed as a self-onboarding product, not an installed service. meed is changing how loyalty works, not just disrupting but completely dismantling a broken system as we know it and rebuilding it in a new model that removes customer fragmentation and frustration. If you are going to the Web Summit, please come and say hello! #WebSummit #loyalty #customerengagement

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👏 Amsterdam-based startup Magic Lane, secure a €3M investment from Dutch firm, No Such Ventures. Founded in 2022, Magic Lane is a mapping and navigation platform catalysing further tech innovation in the micro-mobility sector. ❓Using tools like advanced rider and driver systems (ADAS) and developing highly customisable maps that can be tailored to different urban environments – Magic Lane are focusing their efforts on optimising routes for various micro-mobility vehicles. 💡This approach aligns with broader urban mobility goals of reducing dependency on cars and making eco-friendly alternatives a safer and dependable option. The funding will be focused on marketing, commercial operations and bringing Magic Lane’s tech to new markets. 🚲 Magic Lane joins a plethora of companies focused on micro-mobility that call Amsterdam home, such as Cargoroo, VanMoof and Dott – who each offer a unique approach to micro-mobility in Amsterdam, and beyond. 🔗 Find out more here: https://lnkd.in/dEqZF25F #MicromobilityCity #UrbanMobilityAMS #GreenCommute #MicroMobilityAMS

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Iris.ai, led by Jacobo Elosua and Victor Botev, leading AI startup in Europe, raised €7.64M in Series A funding, led by Silverline Capital and the European Innovation Council Accelerator Fund, bringing its total funding to €16M. Iris.ai addresses the overwhelming volume of published research faced by R&D departments using proprietary scientific language models and a generative AI module. With the new funding, Iris.ai aims to further develop its RSpace solution, enhancing its factual accuracy and streamlining research processes for corporations and universities. #DeepTech #AIResearch #InnovationFunding #TechInvestments #EuropeanStartups #AIForScience #DataScience #AIModels #TechDevelopment #ScientificTools #FutureOfAI #ResearchSolutions #SmartTech #NextGenAI #TechEcosystem #AIAdvancements #ResearchEfficiency

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Week 6️⃣ of starting a company: Building First MVP, First Angel Commit and VC Talks It’s been a now pretty exactly 1 and a half months of officially going out of my job to start something new. Here are 3 things we did and learned this week: 1️⃣ Building First MVP After talking to +80 user we started to map the existing user journey on Miro. We added 2 new simple “solution steps” to the flow on the biggest pain point we saw. Then I built the first hi-fi version in Figma (we use an existing UI kit with auto layout). Lastly, I called some tech friends to ask what would be the quickest way to build X. In the end we decided to go with Retool for our use case, low-code Excel based builder. It took quite some iterations to reduce what we want to build to the bare minimum that would solve the core problem. Tbh I got a bit too excited on what the full-fledged product could look like, and wasted a few hours designing, in the end my co-founder tamed me. We went back and asked our selves how can we increase speed to insight; what’s the minimum version we can launch quickly that would help us significantly increase confidence. 2️⃣ First Angel Commit On Monday we could close our first strategic advisor/angel, who was one of my co-founder’s old bosses, highly relevant for us since he is well-connected in a regulated space with high barriers of entry (more on details once we go out of stealth). 3️⃣ VC Talks We talked to 6 VCs and 3 Angels this week, most intros came through first and secondary connections. We prepared a simple pitch deck: Mission, Exec Summary, Problem, Solution, Why Now, Market Size (we always skipped that - we now do a proper bottom-up of SOM; no BS trillion dollar top-down number), Competition, Team, Milestones. We do not want to fundraise at this moment, but want to have them poke holes and get feedback on what traction benchmark we should reach to get enough confidence. Key feedback was on (1) Distribution and (2) Long-Term Vision. (1) Distribution because we focus on SME long-tail, which have high CACs, what scalable channels we would leverage (hint: we currently go deep on Community-Led Motion which works great). (2) Long-Term Vision, what are the "plays" after the first "play", showcasing a reasonable strategic narrative on how we would embark on to hitting $100M ARR (i.e. unicorn valuation). We realized it’s all about story telling in pre-seed, crafting a catchy story and backing up the story with good assumptions and data, while showcasing we think big and can execute it! P.S. With Melting Pot we organize monthly meet-ups for entrepreneurs. We have a few spots left: 📍Berlin, Thursday 27 June: https://lu.ma/4u1f2dyk 📍Munich, Thursday 27 June: https://lu.ma/171al8ea #startup #founder #entrepreneur #berlin

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