Annelies Jansen

Really interesting question. Can it be done? Does the outdoor industry need it? Clearly some of the largest retailers have struggled with maintaining the correct amount of the right inventory and teams that are helpful and knowledgeable. But building a logistical beast such as Amazon is complex. Cheryl Stark any perspective?

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Insightful look into bioplatform strategy, and what it takes to raise a Series A from my partner, Omri Amirav-Drory: https://lnkd.in/dFv7GbF6

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A good dataroom makes a great impression, but is not that obvious what that looks like and what consumer VCs are looking for! Having gone through hundreds of these at dmg ventures and seen the good, the bad and the ugly we want to help entrepreneurs putting their best foot forward. So Taos Edmondson, CFA wrote a great piece on how B2C founders can build data rooms that investors will love. Have a read!

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Let's normalize talking about the emotional resilience required as a startup founder. At Treeo VC we do believe that the best operational synergies are derived from diverse co founding teams. We love seeing business, tech and subject matter experts coming together because that's where the innovation magic happens. And just as important as the unique insight that this trifecta delivers is the extra emotional juice to support each other and the organization. Here's an easy read below: Treeo VC Arzu Tekir Cigdem Toraman https://lnkd.in/drzRpyyK

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Eka Ventures enjoyed co-hosting a roundtable with Erevena on building brands for consumer and B2B companies We where fortunate to hear insights from scale up leaders Roxanne Nejad Iona Carter and Viktoria Tchoudakov. Thank you to Estia Ryan and Flo Bown for organising Key insights included: 1. Trust is the foundation of good brands: Viktoria Tchoudakov mentioned the value of Trustpilot to IWOCA's scale whilst Iona Carter focused on Plum Guide's "Michelin Star" inspired certification for properties 2. Organic is key: “When looking to drive organic growth through content, we focused on three themes: education for the user, demonstrating our values, and humour” – Roxanne 3. Tracking brand awareness is tough and can be expensive - but has a value to investors

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RETHINKING RETIREMENT We've been investing in the Future of Work since we launched BBG Ventures, targeting underserved segments like deskless workers (Anthill, OX) and solopreneurs (Topline Pro). Over the summer we spent time digging into another deeply underserved segment of the workforce: Boomers. By the end of this decade, the entire generation will have hit retirement age and, for the first time, Americans 65+ will outnumber those under 18. This has huge implications for every aspect of society, and it mandates that we start thinking differently about retirement. The question for all of us is this: Can we re-focus healthy Americans 60+ on a new phase of productivity, a “third act” that enables them to keep learning, keep earning, keep socially-engaged and contributing to the nation’s economic growth? And what role can AI play in helping every senior identify their unique skill set and personal priorities — and connect them with the right opportunities? We have some thoughts on how to make this happen, and we'd love you to give it a read, add your feedback, forward it to a founder who's working in this arena (or who you think might be intrigued), and share it! AgeTech has been too focused on death and decay; it's time we embrace longevity and give older Americans a way to keep working -- on their terms. cc: Carol Magalhães Isaacs, CFA Nisha Dua, Claire Biernacki, Drew Silverman Fennessy

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The latest isssue of HPC Today is published by the great tks | publisher, event organiser, media agency. Here's the surfactants insights column. "Will LAS be Replaced?" This is a really easily readable online magazine format. Check it out. Many peer reviewed articles in here also (not my opinion pieces, I hasten to add) #surfactants #alkybenzene

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Over the years, we at GFR Fund have solidified our investment thesis, which is that we invest in "emerging digitally native communities." These communities can be built around games, social media, and any consumer applications. Now, founders have many easy-to-use tools to build user communities, such as Discord, X/twitter, Instagram, etc, and we believe the founders should start building communities even before they launch a product. The communities can help founders: - reach PMF faster - acquire users cheaper - retain and engage users longer - build better UX/UI, and - hire early employees Below, you can see how RTFKT and Omeda Studios built the community and then worked with them to create a product the users really wanted. We would love to talk to the founders who think the community is essential in building a product!

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Something is definitely going on with Alo Yoga, so I dug into it even more... In the last video, you saw that e-commerce sales growth was softening, from 80% YoY in 2022 to 61% in 2023. As a digitally native DTC brand, Alo needs to continue their e-commerce growth and not rely solely on their retail expansion to take on giants like Lululemon and Nike. As an investor, I’ve been hyper-focused on brands that have nailed their ideal customer profile, have strong repeat purchase rates, and are growing profitably. Figuring out how to do that is harder than ever with the current digital marketing landscape and consumer sentiment, but I have a solution. Black Crow AI is an AI and machine learning tool, backed by Imaginary, that DTC consumer brands need to leverage to increase their repeat revenue and bring back the 80% of customers that, on average, never repurchase. I’ve seen a tangible difference and impact for an up-and-coming competitor in the athletic wear space that has been able to unlock hidden value across their entire business with Black Crow AI and their predictive repurchase model. https://shorturl.at/IrRpM It enables quick conversions, upsell potential, and long-term retention for their existing customer base and can take the conversion rate for repeat customers up to 60% using custom-built storefronts and email/SMS flows. Now the question is, will harnessing the power of their existing customer base and turning them into repeat customers be enough to save Alo? Let me know what you think. https://shorturl.at/IrRpM #ai #machinelearning #ecommerce #marketing #businessbreakdown #aloyoga #startup #venturecapital

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I’m thrilled to be announcing that Notion Capital is leading the $15m Series A investment in Cogna today. In the industry, we like to think that software has been eating the world. But when you look at the data a better description would be more of a nibble. Depending on what source you look at the software industry represents between 5-8% of global GDP. Contrast that with the services industry that represents between 60-70% of GDP and worth around $25 trillion on a global basis. Most services have been out of reach for the software industry. They have either been too complex or too specialized for off the shelf software to access in any economically viable way. But that’s beginnning to change with GenAI leading to the emergence of ‘service as a software.’ Cogna is at the forefront of this opportunity - building precision software at scale and delivering huge productivity gains for traditional industries. We know Ben Peters & Lars Mennen well having backed their previous company Five AI that was acquired by Bosch in 2022. And we’re very excited to be backing them again together with Hoxton Ventures & Chalfen Ventures Read my full blog post on why we invested here. Radu Bozga Ben Peters Lars Mennen Bryan Gartner Mike Chalfen Hussein Kanji Kirsten Connell https://lnkd.in/eh8mhcJb

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🌟Innovative VC Firm Overcomes Exits Drought with Secondary Sales🌟 ⛵Navigating a challenging landscape where exits are scarce, Santa Barbara Venture Partners (SBVP) has pioneered a novel approach to sustain its growth and attract investors for its second fund: secondary sales. Instead of waiting for traditional exits like IPOs or acquisitions, SBVP opted to sell shares of its portfolio companies, demonstrating its ability to generate returns for investors and stand out in a competitive market. 🎤According to Dan Engel, founder and managing partner of SBVP, these secondary transactions have been a game-changer, sparking investor interest and bolstering the firm's credibility. By leveraging its recent successes, including a lucrative stake in sports-betting company DraftKings Inc.' acquisition of digital lottery app Jackpocket, SBVP seized the opportunity to return profits to its limited partners (LPs) and pave the way for its second fund. 💡Engel highlighted the challenges faced by young VC firms in raising subsequent funds, particularly amid a downturn in exit activity and heightened investor scrutiny. With traditional exit routes becoming increasingly elusive, the pressure is on for firms to demonstrate tangible returns and establish a track record of success. ✨"For us, secondary sales have been a game-changer. They've helped us return profits to our LPs and attract investors for our second fund," said Dan Engel. 💰For SBVP, the decision to pursue secondary sales was driven by the need to provide liquidity to LPs and validate its investment thesis in the eyes of prospective investors. By strategically offloading portions of its holdings in high-performing portfolio companies like Bark Technologies and Rad AI, SBVP not only generated substantial returns but also bolstered investor confidence in its ability to deliver results. ⚠Despite the complexities and potential stigma associated with early share sales, Engel emphasized the importance of prioritizing investor returns and seizing opportunities to unlock value for stakeholders. With a focus on profitability and transparency, SBVP remains committed to its mission of delivering sustainable growth and maximizing returns for its LPs. 🔍 "Returning profits to our investors is our top priority. By strategically selling shares, we're proving our commitment to delivering results and driving value for our stakeholders," added Engel. As SBVP continues to explore secondary transactions and expand its investor base, the firm stands as a testament to innovation and resilience in the face of market challenges. 🚀 ✅ Looking to raise capital for your #fund and increase the international pool of your LP #investors?   🤝 Need warm #LP introductions?   📝 Selling #secondaries to increase liquidity?   🧐 Looking for co-investments?   ▶ G+QUANT's link for inquiries and fund decks: https://lnkd.in/gjC_EuTE #VCInnovation #SecondarySalesSuccess #InvestorReturns #ValueCreation 

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Meet MobilityVC. Back when we started this organization, the transportation landscape looked a tad bit different. But as we grew, and got to better know our LPs, portfolio companies, and the ecosystem at large, we saw they kept coming back for advice on growth, or market analysis, or access to new forms of capital. And so we’ve spent the past few years building out a truly tremendous team that can solve complex problems in the worlds of mobility, automotive and energy. That’s why I’m pleased to reintroduce this amazing organization as MobilityVC, which better captures our expanded capabilities and commitments to our partners. We offer advisory services to private and publicly traded companies – providing targeted transaction support for direct investments, acquisitions, technology licensing and product commercialization. This includes sourcing, due diligence, negotiation, integration and fundraising support. We’ve been successfully running a corporate venture capital program – sources startups, performs diligence and runs POCs on behalf of major OEMs. We have grown our funding capabilities to include SPVs & growth stage capital –  supporting companies as they scale, by establishing dedicated investment vehicles, allowing our LPs additional choice and transparency in their investments. And of course we still proudly invest in early stage investments – MobilityFund II is actively deploying capital into disruptive, seed and pre-seed investments across the mobility and automotive landscape, having just reached its second close milestone thanks to new partners like Jæger Group. I’ve got much more to share on this in the coming weeks and months, but I’m also eager to speak with you on a one-to-one basis. If you’ve got a thorny problem in the world of mobility, we’d love to explore how we can solve it together and accelerate your growth.

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Join me in welcoming Vasil Yakov and Edward Louth, the minds behind Distillery, as they join the Antler portfolio! Distillery is building the automated data stack for early-stage companies. They provide on-demand product and marketing insights from across data sources, without any of the data maintenance. Today, to get customer insights, companies need to hire a data team to build and maintain a data stack. And even with all that time and money spent, product and marketing managers end up wasting hours, days, and often weeks, getting customer insights to inform key decisions. Distillery gives product and marketing teams instant insights from customer data without the need to build or maintain data infrastructure. With their proprietary ML model, Distillery builds an understanding of your data and maintains it as your data changes and grows. 🔥Big impact: Within just a couple of months, Distillery are revenue-generating and saving their customers hours every week on analysis and thousands of $$ on data maintenance work! 👉 Meet the founders: Vasil Yakov (CEO) has 7+ years experience extracting data insights as a PM and has built AI and applied AI solutions. He’s lost days every month wrangling SaaS tools, databases and spreadsheets to get a clear view of his customers at companies like Builder AI and BlackRock. Edward Louth (CTO) has 8+ years experience building software and data systems at startups. After building the data team and helping Geomiq raise Series A, he co-founded Grai (YC S22) to radically improve how data teams build data pipelines. Welcome to the Antler portfolio, Distillery! #DataStack #CustomerInsights #MachineLearning

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📊 Unicorn Status: Not All That Glitters is Gold 🦄✨ A recent analysis of 391 unicorn companies reveals some eye-opening insights: 🔻 Over 25% of "unicorns" are now valued under $1B, losing their horns 📉 💼 28% are potential PE targets, with slower growth but stable revenues 🚀 Only 50% truly deserve unicorn status based on revenue and growth metrics 🤖 AI is the new rising star, accounting for ~20% of new unicorns post-2022 The 2021/2022 bubble created many "ZIRPicorns" that are now facing reality checks Secondary markets and fund valuations are aligning in marking down inflated valuations Sectors like Crypto and EdTech have cooled, while AI is heating up 🔥 Despite the shakeup, innovation continues at a rapid pace. The unicorn landscape is evolving, presenting both challenges and opportunities for investors and founders alike. Remember: Look under the hood before chasing that magical horn! 🔍🦄 #VentureCapital #Startups #UnicornStartups #TechInvestment #AIstartups #MarketTrends #InvestorInsights https://lnkd.in/dBB6PvhU

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Learn a bit more about our DNA and how we operate at Acurio Ventures from Kate Cornell

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Campbell's Soup reported better-than-expected quarterly results and raised its annual sales growth forecast, attributing the improvement to increased demand for soups and frozen meals and the acquisition of Sovos Brands, known for Rao's Specialty Foods, Inc. sauce. After a period of decline, Campbell's sales volumes improved sequentially this year, aided by softer price increases and recovering consumer spending. CEO Mark Clouse highlighted gains in the cooking side of the portfolio. With the acquisition of Sovos, Campbell anticipates a 3-4% annual sales growth. Analysts view the acquisition positively for Campbell's growth prospects. Despite a rise in quarterly profit and sales, Campbell adjusted its annual organic sales and profit forecasts downward due to ongoing challenges in its snacks business. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/exuaeKVG Branded Hospitality Ventures #innovation #hospitality #technology #marketing #venturecapital Gerald Drummond Robert Furbee Charles Nevin Mike Pierson Dan Poland Carrie Anderson Chris Foley Stewart Lindsay Danielle Brown

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