Francis Berwa

How Focus Drives Early Startup Success Listen to Alon Cinamon, VC at Ibex Investors:

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🔥Vanta , founded in 2018 by CEO 🌟Christina Cacioppo , 🚀🔥Sequoia Capital-backed Vanta raises funding at $2.45 billion valuation🚀🔥 🌟Visionary Leadership: CEO Christina Cacioppo’s leadership and vision have propelled Vanta from its inception in 2018 to a groundbreaking $2.45 billion valuation. 🌟Rapid Growth: Achieving such a significant valuation in just a few years showcases the rapid growth and immense potential of Vanta in the tech industry. 🌟Innovative Solutions: Vanta’s success highlights the importance of innovative solutions in addressing critical needs, reinforcing the value of creativity and forward-thinking in business. 🌟Strong Investor Confidence: Backing from Sequoia Capital signifies strong investor confidence in Vanta's business model and future prospects, reflecting the trust in Christina’s leadership. 🌟Empowering Change: Vanta’s journey underscores the power of startups to create meaningful change and impact, inspiring other entrepreneurs to pursue bold ideas. 🌟Trailblazing Success: Christina Cacioppo’s achievement is a testament to the impact one can make through determination, strategic planning, and a commitment to excellence. 🌟Industry Leadership: Vanta’s impressive valuation positions it as a leader in its field, setting a benchmark for other companies aiming to disrupt and innovate. 🌟Inspirational Achievement: The rise of Vanta from a startup to a billion-dollar valuation is an inspiring reminder that with the right vision and execution, incredible success is attainable. 🌟Driving Innovation: Vanta’s growth highlights the importance of continually driving innovation and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in the tech industry. 🌟Future of Tech: Vanta’s trajectory demonstrates the limitless possibilities within the tech sector, encouraging aspiring entrepreneurs to embrace innovation and aim high. ✅️Share Your Startup Story 🚀📲 https://lnkd.in/ggir3Qap ✅️visite our website🌐 https://lnkd.in/dad4nHP4 #SequoiaCapital #Vanta #StartupFunding #TechInvestment #Valuation #BusinessGrowth #Innovation #VentureCapital #Entrepreneurship #SuccessStory #scoopearth

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Among the many inefficiencies weighing on the heavy construction sector, equipment maintenance management is one of the more costly, particularly for heavy equipment dealers who bear the primary responsibility for managing the maintenance of the equipment they sell. We are pleased to have Digital Iron join C2V's portfolio. Ditial Iron seamlessly integrates machinery manuals, CRM data, and customer ERP systems to create a centralized source of equipment specifications, maintenance parameters, and field usage data and provides a natural language interface for researching these issues (the gen AI piece). Once dealers have established the cause of each issue, Digital Iron will automatically check dealer inventory and third-party suppliers for availability, lead time, and price of the necessary parts. This information can then be instantly shared with customers for approval and immediate order of needed parts. In addition to saving hours (often days) identifying and sourcing replacement parts, Digital Iron’s AI models also compare equipment usage information to manufacturer useful life/replacement recommendations for each component and prompt dealers to proactively suggest parts replacements to customers, allowing them to monetize all of the additional (and substantial) post-sale revenue for each piece of equipment they sell. https://lnkd.in/e2QJeQut #ai #construction #investing

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Breaking down our latest newsletter section by section, starting with our expanded focus in Deep Tech: --- We have built expertise in the robotics sector, and will continue to double (and triple) down on investing in this category, but we have been increasingly finding that robotics is naturally steering us into two exploding adjacent areas: Aerospace, and Advanced Manufacturing (which we define as industrials, semiconductors, materials science, and energy production). Stepping back, this expansion makes perfect sense. Robotics is an inherently horizontal platform - meaning it can be applied productively across multiple industries. This quality, paired with the fact that robotics has long shown the highest TRLs of any deep tech technology, makes it a kind of “gateway” to other sectors in the hard sciences. Now with the recent breakthroughs in AI for robotics, growing semiconductor demand, and the resurgence of aerospace and defense tech, we are seeing a dramatic uptake of robotics and relevant technologies in both advanced manufacturing and aerospace. As an added bonus of the expansion, many of the founder (and funder) networks across these landscapes have natural overlaps and linkages. For AlleyCorp Deep Tech this means that we can be extremely helpful, knowledgeable, and engaged across all three sectors right away, and continue to be the best-in-class investing team across these categories.  --- More in our newsletter: https://lnkd.in/ewiTuYq6

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Thrilled to double down on Bhanu and Layer2 Financial. Their growth is eye-popping and they have integrated stablecoin/fiat technology together in a way that's actually useful. Their APIs are - by far - the most mature in a rapidly emerging SWIFT-killers market. What's not in the press release is maybe the most impressive: - 2022/2023 banking/crypto crises (through no fault of their own) set the difficulty to "hard mode". They lost revenue, customers, upstream partners. Many founders would have wilted or quit. - They buckled down, stayed lean, built incredible product redundancies, and made some killer hires. - The new product foundation enabled them to grow 10x in 9 months. They are now processing *billions* in $ volume (which directly translates to ARR). Truly a case of a great team first surviving and now thriving in a rapidly expanding market.

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Coming soon on Aug 1: "Transformation to a Fresh Tomorrow." This is theme of our 3rd Annual Web3 Investor Day, as we welcome the innovators and investors convening in Chicago for these discussions around the next generation Internet. Our theme reflects the optimism, determination and commitment investors and innovators have solidified off the depths of the bear markets to drive success in the bull markets. Broader investor optimism suggests that fresh institutional funds into Web3 across both tokens and equity may endure.  Across adoption metrics, customer interest and developer activity, Web3 seems to have normalized. It’s refreshing to see the transformation and next evolution of Web3 and it’s refreshing to meet many of you on August 1.  And yet, even with the improved optimism from last year, there still remain open questions in the development and adoption of our next generation Internet:  1. the balance of speculative versus productive investor capital in this current cycle 2. the productive role of liquid trading capital in fostering Web3 innovation 3. the attractiveness of venture investments in follow on financings 4. the role of policy and regulation that may enhance innovation 5. the continued developer activity to improve the underlying infrastructure 6. other Web3 recovery characteristics in target customer use cases. We remain committed to navigating regulatory shifts, fostering investor optimism, and building the customer use cases for Web3.  Physical spaces enhance our innovation conversations.  In person relationships foster our collaboration.  Relationships drive breakthrough innovations.  Reach out to Rizza Torres at Decasonic if you would like to join us! #web3investorday #web3 #venturecapital

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🚀 AlleyCorp Closes $250M Fund to Fuel Tech Innovation in NYC and Beyond🗽 🌟 Founded by NYC internet entrepreneur Kevin Ryan, AlleyCorp incubates and invests in transformative companies across diverse verticals including Diversified Technology, Healthcare, Robotics, and Impact. 💡💰 🤝 The fund, backed by a select group of LPs, supports AlleyCorp's mission to originate ideas, hire teams, provide initial funding, and maintain integral leadership throughout the company’s lifecycle. 🌱🔍 💼 With about 20–30 new investments and 5–8 incubations per year, AlleyCorp has a track record of nurturing early-stage tech pioneers. 📈🌐 🦄 Notable investments include MongoDB (NASDAQ: MDB), Business Insider, Gilt Groupe, Zola, and Nomad Health, shaping the landscape of tech innovation in NYC. 🌆🌟 🔬 AlleyCorp also announces the incubation of Radical AI, pioneering AI-driven materials design, and Conduce Health, revolutionizing access to personalized healthcare specialists. 💻🏥 ✅ 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 #VentureCapital #TechInnovation #NYCTech #StartupInvestment #Incubation #AlleyCorp #ImpactInvesting #HealthTech #AI #Robotics #DiversifiedTechnology #InvestmentStrategy

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How Apollo XXI Utilizes Technology to Solve Problems Discover how Apollo XXI helps companies solve problems and achieve venture-driven growth through technology. Gain insights from Danny, who shares his career journey and the overarching theme that drives Apollo XXI's success. Congratulate Apollo XXI on reaching a significant milestone of 3 years in business! #ApolloXXI #TechnologySolutions #ProblemSolving #VentureGrowth #CareerJourney #BusinessMilestone #TechDrivenSuccess #ApolloXXIInsights #Innovation #BusinessSuccess

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Jim Milbery of ParkerGale Capital interviews Phillip Weinstein, founder of Atropates Capital, who discusses his entrepreneurial journey, and the concept of starting a search fund, and how search funds differ from other business models, such as private equity and venture capital. Phillip shares his insights about finding and evaluating deals, the challenges of operational leadership, technical debt in software, and integrating AI tools. https://lnkd.in/ge7AzGTu

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🌍 The Ventures Los Angeles Startup Award – Submit your application by December 6th! 👉 https://lnkd.in/dsZmTedg Be one of the 12 selected startups invited to pitch at an exclusive event for top-tier VCs and angel investors in Los Angeles. Here’s how to get started: • Apply today — it’s quick and easy! The application takes just a few minutes. • If selected, you’ll be invited to pitch at the finals.  • Present your startup to leading investors and explore exciting opportunities! Note: Final pitches will be in person, so please make sure you can attend the event in Los Angeles on December 20th. 🏆 What’s in it for you? • Pitch to 20+ investors in Los Angeles  • Connect with top-tier founders • Receive expert consulting to help grow your business  • Become part of a global network of 100+ VCs and angel investors ready to discover new startups Our investors represent top cities like San Francisco, New York, London, Singapore, and beyond, including prominent funds, investment clubs, and accelerators such as Pegasus Ventures, Plug and Play, Techstars, SkyDeck, and Scope Ventures. Don’t miss this chance to elevate your startup! Apply now for The Ventures Los Angeles Startup Award! #TheVentures #LosAngeles #Startups #VentureCapital #Innovation #GlobalNetworking #Entrepreneurship

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Exciting news from Sandlot Capital Group 🚀 We’re thrilled to be an advocate Oxcart Ventures! Oxcart Ventures is dedicated to investing in critical technologies for the future security and prosperity of America. 🇺🇸 Let’s connect and discuss a few of the groundbreaking opportunities ahead! #SandlotCapital #OxcartVentures #TechInvestments #FutureOfFinance

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🎉Congratulations to Spike Technologies on raising an oversubscribed $3.5M seed round! 🎉 The investment was co-led by Practica Capital and TheVentureCity with participation from Silicon Valley, New York, and Berlin-based investors, including CEAS Investments, Plug & Play Ventures, Geek Ventures, and Axel Springer Porsche (APX). Spike is a B2B data technology company, that allows developers to add AI superpowers to their healthcare apps. The company’s goal is to dramatically reduce development time and costs to a fraction of what they used to be and connect to the data collected by hundreds of medical, wearable, and IoT devices.I 🚀 📟 The seed investment will fuel Spike’s development of regulatory-compliant and safe Generative AI products and expansion to support a broader range of medical, wearables, and IoT sensor data aggregation from over 600 devices. 🩸Spike also looks to expand into Electronic Health Records (EHR) data, blood testing, lab testing, genomics data, and FDA-approved devices and datasets. Brands that are already using Spike’s software, include: 🌎 Global insurance leader Seguros SURA 🏋🏻‍♂️ Fitness apps Longevo and FITTR 💤 Sleep innovation company Emma – The Sleep Company 👩🏻‍⚕️ Women's wellness app Moody Month 🧠…and vagus nerve stimulator Pulsetto. To read more, check out Stewart Rogers’s article for Dataconomy Media below:  https://lnkd.in/eQnw_gqX

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After the first deep dive discussion w/ founders I often hear a comment "I wish I had heard about this alternative [to all-in must-become-a-unicorn] way to build a startup earlier as I have wasted years in pursuing the wrong thing". Our mission is that no founder would ever need to say that again as it is such a waste. Us preaching the gospel 1:1 just doesn't scale, hence we use mass media to multiply our efforts - that's how Gorillacast came to be. The 1st episode is out, featuring yours truly. "How can you know what food you like unless you taste everything" said a chef. How can founders make informed choices about the best strategy for them to follow unless they know of all alternatives? This might not be of interest to you but pls spread the word so that the founders who should hear it can find it. I have a dream!

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On May 2, 2024 REFASHIOND Ventures: The Industrial Transformation Fund convened people from around the world for Supply Chain & Industrial Transformation: The Next Generation (Silicon Valley 2024) at the JP Morgan Chase Palo Alto Technology Center in Palo Alto, CA. In this showcase Constanza Gomez demonstrates how Sortile enables the sorting of post-consumer waste textiles and apparel using near infrared spectroscopy. Sortile is a startup in our portfolio at REFASHIOND Ventures: The Industrial Transformation Fund. Our Thesis: REFASHIOND Ventures: The Industrial Transformation Fund invests in early stage startups refashioning legacy industries through Data & AI, Advanced Materials, Advanced Manufacturing, & Next Generation Supply Chains; Defensible through economic moats. More in the video below. #SCITSV2024 #SCITSV2024Showcase

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I find it hard to believe that with millions of EVs entering the market and the proliferation of AI compute that PGE is actually going to have excess capacity in 2040 without any additional generation from 3rd parties. I am also curious if there are enough transmission lines and if PGE views that as someone else’s problem. Maybe they are planning on AI and ACTUAL figuring it all out! https://lnkd.in/gybsMmaw

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I rarely write about one particular token, but given the volume of requests for our thesis on Stacks STX, especially after the recent announcement https://lnkd.in/gWpkm-iu, I’m consolidating my thoughts here in one place. Hope this is helpful to those seeking to understand the STX ecosystem and the reasons behind our conviction. Full thesis here: https://lnkd.in/g2JGahpZ TLDR 1. It's the OG blue-chip crypto project. 2. It's the first compliant token: a key driver for institutional adoption is to use STX as the de facto BTC staking provider. 3. The most optimal return on risk for real “whales” to generate yield on BTC with peace of mind. 4. The undisputed forerunner in bitcoin L2 with 10 years of first-mover advantage. 5. It has a rare token standard moat. 6. Its ecosystem moat: 155 monthly actively developers + 60+ projects adopting its token standard 7. It's vastly being undervalued at the moment based on comparables in ethereum. 8. Tokenomics and token maturity: 100% vested. 9. Upcoming catalysts

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🎃 Ready to carve out your path to Product-Market Fit?🎃 Join Companyon Ventures’ Behind the Curtain roundtable tomorrow (Oct 30) with Michael Ho, Firas Raouf, Eric Morgan, and Hersh Tapadia as they 'exorcise' the mysteries of PMF. Don’t ghost us—RSVP in the comments 👻 https://lnkd.in/emCJcn4w #emergingmanager #venturecapital #productmarketfit

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Thank you for the engaging interview, David Teten. While it's an exciting era for #deeptech, #AI, and #enterprisesoftware, the #VC industry has often lagged in evolution, maintaining the status quo over several decades. This persistence is partly due to entrenched practices and a reliance on traditional investment models that haven't adapted to the societal and technological advancements surrounding us. A significant area where this is evident is decision-making biases, particularly in deals involving women and minority founders. Historically, the venture capital landscape has been dominated by homogeneous decision-makers, resulting in unconscious biases that affect which startups receive funding. These biases can result in a disproportionate lack of capital for #DiverseFounders, perpetuating inequality and overlooking vast areas of untapped potential and innovation. To truly transform, the VC industry must actively recognize and address these biases. This involves leveraging data-driven insights and AI to standardize evaluation processes and make decisions based on objective criteria rather than subjective biases. By doing so, we open ourselves to a broader, more inclusive array of opportunities that reflect the diverse markets we serve. We have been fortunate to contribute to the development of the CIMA FUNDMASTER, which is set to change this landscape for the better. By integrating advanced analytics and AI into its platform, #CIMA aims to level the playing field by providing equal opportunities for all founders, regardless of background. Significantly, CIMA involves LPs in the decision-making process, giving them the choice to invest or not in specific deals. This inclusion not only adds transparency but also reduces bias in investment decisions by broadening the perspectives involved. Through CIMA, the VC industry can foster a more equitable ecosystem where innovation thrives, driven by the best ideas rather than the narrow perspectives of the past. I'm grateful for the opportunity to discuss how we're addressing these challenges at Candou Ventures and are committed to leveraging technology and insights, particularly through CIMA, to drive more inclusive and equitable investment strategies. Faraj Aalaei Shahin Hedayat Linda Reddick Laleh Masnavi Mehdi Maghsoodnia Nader Vasseghi Parsa Habibi Julie Castro Abrams Barbara Bickham Shellye Archambeau Gary Swart Kamran Elahian zohre elahian Mamoon Hamid Rohini Chakravarthy Keith Teare Kayvan Baroumand Pegah Ebrahimi Lucy Chow Lip-Bu Tan J. Skyler Fernandes Dave McClure David McJannet Meera Clark Azita Arvani, Stanford Sloan Fellow DeLinda Mrowka Michael Isip KQED Stanford University Stanford University Graduate School of Business Robert H. Cyrus Akbarpour Silicon Valley Cloud IT, LLC

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Watch this space. There are more amazing things to come from Cohere, a JC Venture Capital portfolio company. I was there when the Internet was just starting out and I tell anyone who will listen that AI is to Gen-Z what the Internet was to Gen-X. #ai #venturecapital #artificialintelligence.

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