Andre Woon

Elizabeth Cook, Managing Partner of VC firm AI Capital, addresses the art of the [VC] deal: An intricate blend of relationship building, offering a succinct and concise value proposition, domain expertise, and of course, profit! #venturecapital #vc #ai #artificialintelligence #enterpriseai #startups #entrepreneurship #investing #alternativeinvestments #familyoffice #pensions #foundations #endowments

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Series A or B wondering when to bring in a VP of Finance or CFO? It’s a crucial decision that can shape the future of your company. At this stage, financial leadership is not just about managing numbers but also scaling processes, securing funding, and driving strategic growth. My colleague Paul breaks down key signs that it’s time to hire and indicators for choosing between VP of Finance and a CFO #FinanceLeadership #CFO #StartupGrowth #SeriesA #SeriesB #NextGenLeadership

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Summary: Bolt's CEO has threatened legal action against an investment bank involved in their recent fundraising efforts, claiming they signed a binding term sheet for $200 million but did not follow through. Key takeaways: Bolt's CEO believes there was miscommunication at Silverbear Capital, one of their lead investors, leading to confusion about the fundraising deal. A leaked term sheet showed Bolt trying to raise $200 million in equity and $250 million in marketing credits, with a unique pay-to-play structure. The involvement of Silverbear Capital and The London Fund in the deal remains unclear. Counter arguments: Silverbear Capital's partner insists there was no miscommunication and the deal was never discussed or approved. The London Fund has confirmed discussions with Bolt's management but denies any finalized transaction. #venturecapital

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On this week's Andreessen Horowitz Raising Health podcast, Vijay Pande, PhD and I interviewed Tom Hale, CEO of ŌURA. Our conversation spans lots of fun topics, including: -- Our love for our Oura rings, despite them being literal “buzz kills” in revealing the ruinous effect of alcohol on sleep  -- How the worlds of consumer and healthcare are merging, as consumers essentially now have access to clinical-grade wearable devices  -- How AI algorithms are deployed in wearable devices & what wearables might look like 20 years from now (implanted into our bodies and clothes)  -- How the sexiest people sleep in earplugs and eye masks Check it out! https://lnkd.in/eTAsX_sY

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20VC, the British VC launched by Harry Stebbings, just announced the closing of their third fund at $400 million #20VC announced the successful closure of their third #fund, amassing an impressive $400 million. Spearheaded by the dynamic Harry Stebbings, founder and managing partner of 20VC, this latest fund marks a substantial 2.5x growth from their previous $140 million fund raised in June 2021—a noteworthy achievement in today’s challenging fundraising environment. The new fund is strategically divided between Seed investments, with $125 million allocated, and Series A investments at $275 million, positioning 20VC to support a diverse array of early-stage tech startups. This significant capital infusion is backed by prestigious investors including the MIT Investment Management Company, Horsley Bridge, and Rothschild-backed RIT Capital Partners plc. What sets 20VC apart is its unique structure, comprising three specialized sub-funds: 20Sales, 20Growth, and 20Product. This model leverages the expertise of 24 top-tier operators from leading companies such as Notion, OpenAI, Doordash, Dropbox, Shopify, LinkedIn, Nubank, Snapchat, and Spotify. By integrating these seasoned professionals, 20VC effectively identifies and nurtures high-potential companies, creating a robust and repeatable investment machine that consistently finds, selects, and supports the best startups in the market. Under Harry’s visionary leadership, 20VC has also harnessed the immense reach of “The Twenty Minute VC” podcast, which boasts over 150 million downloads and has featured influential leaders like Sam Altman of OpenAI, Marc Benioff of Salesforce, Daniel Ek of Spotify, and Reid Hoffman of LinkedIn. This powerful media presence not only attracts top founders but also fosters invaluable connections within the global tech ecosystem. With endorsements from industry leaders such as Joshua Kushner of Thrive Capital and Ryan Akkina from MIT Investment Management Company, 20VC is well-positioned to drive significant growth and innovation in the early-stage tech landscape. The article on the Financial Times in the first comment.

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- Thoma exits Venafi at $1.5b at ~10x ARR - They bought the biz at $1.15b ~4 years ago at 11.5x ARR - Only a 1.3x in ~4 years (and could be less depending on CyberArk's stock) - 50% of the deal is in CyberArk stock, trading at $10b, at 12x multiple at close to all-time highs, and up 60% in the last year - The deal will allow Venafi to expand CyberArk's TAM by nearly $10 billion - Despite this, the stock has been flat since the announcement - CyberArk is growing 37% YoY //Objectively a weak exit for Thoma despite Venafi's solid performance and scale //Or is this a strong exit considering the headwinds to go public, an inability to trade up to bigger PE, credit markets still in the sh*tter, and a need for PE to provide liquidity and positive returns to LPs? //Is this a top performer in their portfolio or run-of-the-mill? //Thoma can book the return, funnel $ back to LPs, LPs re-up in the next fund, and Thoma has more $$ to deploy at depressed prices //Very interesting to see pricing of other exits like this in the near term https://lnkd.in/gBqkvP48

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🤔 Sounds like Pearl IO paid these guys...We didn't, but it doesn't hurt that they highlight how and why we exist and how we approach supporting PE partners succeed. Check out this recent Alvarez & Marsal webcast. Quick summary / takeaways: Generative AI is reshaping PE by accelerating deal execution, enhancing problem identification speed, and deepening analysis. Neat to see dialogue within PE continue regarding opportunities to enhance methods and outcomes. #PE #PrivateEquity #AI #Innovation #DataAnalytics #duediligence #diligence #portfoliomonitoring #valuecreation https://lnkd.in/dD3wznWS

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The world has never been more complex and dynamic. The cost of capital has increased, AI is in its infancy, data is abundant yet hard to navigate, and the world is still adjusting in a post-COVID era. With that, the role of the CFO has changed forever. CFOs must be more strategic, more disciplined and more forward-thinking. They must manage delicate relationships with the CEO, their teams and their board. At BCV, we’ve had a front row seat investing in the technology adopted by CFOs over the last 20 years. Now is the perfect time to create a CFO community where top-tier finance leaders can navigate these changes with their peers in a high-trust environment. We’ll use our depth of investing at BCV in the office of the CFO and financial technology plus the power of the broader Bain Capital network to keep advisory board members up to date on bleeding edge innovation to help them make informed decisions. We’ll look to advisory board members to help us understand their most pressing problems, as well as technology’s potential to solve them–including technology from our portfolio of companies. The CFO Advisory Board includes financial leaders from a variety of industries and geographies, representing late-stage growth companies to scaled public and private companies. I'm pleased to introduce the BCV CFO Advisory Board with Matt Harris, Noah Breslow, Alysaa Co, Nicole LoRusso, Joe DiMento, Sarah Hinkfuss, and Tina Dimitrova.

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He who has seen exponential growth understands and allocates. The ratio of founders or tech employees who are also small angels in SF is compared to European ecosystems multiple times higher. Allocations of pensions funds, foundations or endownments to VC asset class also higher. Sure, there might be legal (SAFEs) and tax reasons but the main point from my perspective is this. Once you experienced exponential growth first-hand, you understand, you can imagine it. And you start to allocate and support. Best place for that was and still is SF. Its harder to imagine exponential compared to linear growth. And there are not many good examples of exponential growth in Europe in last years. We somehow missed on cloud, mobile and also AI now. Europe driven by industry/manufacturing and private equity, US more by tech.

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How does a GP prove they can generate attractive results when they haven't had exits? Some excellent points from Bain & Company's 2024 Private Equity Report.

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Summary: Kandji, an Apple device management platform, has raised $100 million in funding from General Catalyst, bringing its total funding to $288 million and its valuation to $850 million. The company has seen rapid growth in revenue and customers, driven by expansion outside the U.S. and the addition of endpoint security to its platform. Key takeaways: Kandji has successfully raised a significant amount of funding and increased its valuation while many startups are struggling. The company's growth can be attributed to its expansion into international markets and offering endpoint security as a new product. Kandji is competitive in the market and has a high success rate in replacing legacy mobile device management solutions. Counter arguments: The company's valuation has not increased significantly since its last funding round, indicating a potential slowdown in growth. Kandji still faces competition from other MDM vendors and Apple itself.

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Summary: The article discusses the current venture firm fundraising market and the success of emerging VC firm A* in raising $315 million for its oversubscribed Fund II. It highlights the firm's focus on early-stage investments and its experienced founding partners. Key takeaways: Venture firms raised $9.3 billion in Q1 and it is unlikely that 2023's record-breaking total of $81.8 billion will be surpassed. A* has been successful in fundraising due to its focus on seed rounds and backing breakout companies in its portfolio. The firm's founding partners have a strong track record and diverse experience in different industries. Counter arguments: The article mentions that emerging managers are feeling the frost in the fundraising market, suggesting that not all emerging VCs may be as successful as A*. While A* has found success in raising institutional investors for Fund II, this may not be the case for all emerging VCs. #venturecapital #vc #fundraising #startups #innovation

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Wiz rejects $23B acquistion offer from Google Why did this seemingly enticing deal fall through? 1) Strategic Independence: In a recent internal memo, Assaf Rappaport, the CEO of Wiz, addressed employees regarding the importance of strategic independence. The leadership believes that by staying autonomous, the company can capitalize on growth opportunities and work towards its goal of becoming the leader in the cloud security industry. 2) Financial Considerations: Although the $23 billion acquisition offer is substantial, company leadership seems to believe that the future potential of the company surpasses this amount. Currently valued at approximately $12 billion, the company anticipates achieving greater valuations through market expansion and innovation. Additionally, a potential initial public offering (IPO) could further enhance the attractiveness of this decision. 3) Antitrust Concerns: The agreement between Wiz and Google was likely to draw the scrutiny of antitrust regulators, which may have played a considerable role in the decision to reject it. - #acquisition #vc #venturecapital #privateequity #tech

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Summary: Silicon Valley VC firm Menlo Ventures and AI startup Anthropic have announced a new $100 million fund to invest in pre-seed, seed, and Series A AI companies. Menlo Ventures will use its investment and close relationship with Anthropic to identify potential startups for future investments. The fund is open for applications and Menlo Ventures will also back subsequent rounds raised by promising companies. Key takeaways: The $100 million "Anthology Fund" will focus on investing in AI-first startups, leveraging Menlo Ventures' investment and relationship with Anthropic. Menlo Ventures recently closed a $1.35 billion fund and will use its proprietary machine learning tool to evaluate potential investments for the Anthology Fund. The fund is open for applications and will provide startups with $25,000 worth of credits to use Anthropic's models. Counter arguments: There is no guarantee that the investments made by the Anthology Fund will be successful, as with any VC investment. Menlo Ventures may face competition from other VC firms also interested in investing in AI-first startups, potentially driving up the valuations of these companies. #venturecapital #startups #vc

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VC world can be cruel and unforgiving. With LPs more and more pushing for distribution and liquidity, fund managers in the mid-tenure of their fund with zero DPI and TVPI around 1.0 would have much more difficulty to raise new fund. The ability to fundraise is one of the crucial indications and validation of the job for VCs. Key highlights from the article below: Thirteen percent of venture General Partners (GPs) no longer plan to raise another fund due to LP pullback. This rate has doubled since H1 2023 when only 6% of GPs had no plans for another fund. Nearly 44% of venture firms surveyed in mid-2023 had previously postponed their fundraising plans due to concerns about overexposure to the asset class. Many emerging managers entered venture capital in 2019 or 2020 when the LP market supported more funds. However, slow exits in the first half of 2024 have led to challenges in raising second funds without significant cash distributions to LPs. Some venture GPs are now actively participating in the secondaries market to demonstrate returns. Despite the challenges, GPs who secured fresh capital remain optimistic. They expect the 2023 and 2024 vintages to be the strongest return years since 2019. 🚀📈 #VC #VentureCapital #Fundraising #LPs #EmergingManagers #TechInvestment #MarketTrends #CountdownCapital #IndustryInsights #JetVentures #JetInvestment‍‍‍‍‍‍

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“Venture distribution cycles have elongated to the point that LPs now risk a decade of negative cash-flow on many of their VC relationships. That's not sustainable for institutions with large spend requirements, such as a university endowment.” A lack of liquidity in VC is proving to be a major issue for some endowments. There are plenty of medium sized endowments who went full in on the Yale model, but have a lot more concentration risk due to size. That’s a tough game to play when you have required outflows. https://lnkd.in/ewkhEDSi

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💡Insights on PE vs. VC In our latest webinar, Gain.pro’s Head of Insights Sid Jain and Carta's Head of Insights @Peter Walker explored key differences between PE and VC investments. Key Differences in Sector and Regional Focus: 🚀 Sector Focus VC: Targets early-stage companies in sectors with a strong appetite for innovation. In 2024, SaaS leads, followed by BioTech, HealthTech, and Energy. FinTech had dropped significantly in recent years but is now making a comeback as the funding winter eases. PE: Invests in mature, cash-flow-positive businesses, often founder or family-owned. Top sectors: Services, Industrials, TMT; the Consumer sector has seen a decline. 🌍 Regional Focus VC: In the US, capital is heavily concentrated in the Bay Area, accounting for >30% of investments. NY, Boston, and LA follow, collectively making up the next 30%. The Bay Area leads most sectors except for FinTech, where New York takes the top spot, and Consumer, where LA leads. PE: Investment is more evenly distributed across European cities. London accounts for 6% of total deals, followed by Paris at 3%. This spread is significantly lower than the high concentration seen in VC hubs, indicating a broader geographical approach by PE investors. Check out the full webinar: https://okt.to/T2SqX5 #webinar #privateequity #venturecapital #startup #investmentfocus #investmenttrends

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I'm looking forward to discussing the future of investing in artificial intelligence with Kleida Martiro, Ashish Kakran, and Len Jacoby at the Kellogg PE & VC Conference this Wednesday. AI is likely the most important new technology to come along in decades, and I'm excited to explore its implications for our economy, society, and the investment landscape. #ai #investing #innovation #disruption

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