Mark Beylin

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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How do we design funding mechanisms that are regenerative and built to last? In the latest Rehash episode, Sophia Dew from Celo Foundation joins me to talk about what blockchain enables for public goods funding, frameworks for designing regenerative onchain funding apps, and what it takes to build and maintain a layer 2 blockchain. Tune into our full conversation at the links below:

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Had a great discussion with Nathan Lands and Matt Wolfe on The Next Wave about where we are today with autonomous agents, and more :) https://lnkd.in/eijGB_P6 Episode 7: Why and how, Yohei Nakajim built a baby AGI. Matt Wolfe (https://x.com/mreflow) and Nathan Lands (https://x.com/NathanLands) sit down with Yohei Nakajima (https://lnkd.in/en_mQf9D), a venture capitalist and serial AI tool builder. In this episode, Yohei dives deep into the transformative potential of AI in automating tedious tasks, revolutionizing venture capital, and redefining job markets. He shares insights on the practical applications of AI for small and medium businesses, discusses the branding of "web three," and explores the development and impact of autonomous agents like his Baby Agi project. Whether you're interested in tech innovation, business adaptability, or AI ethics, this conversation covers it all. — Show Notes: (00:00) VC turned coder using AI for prototyping. (03:38) Community support led to modding and improvements to Baby AGI. (08:16) Learning curve in using autonomous agents. (11:31) AI agents offer guided next step suggestions. (15:04) Developers emphasize handcrafted agents over autonomous agents. (17:10) Balancing niche and broad market expectations in tech. (20:12) Massive models trained on millions of people. (22:52) Childhood fascination leads to pondering internet immortality. (27:24) Venture capital, AI, SaaS, future-proofing investment criteria. (30:03) Interest in lowering company startup costs and VC innovation. (33:34) Try using free version of chats first.

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The Kick Off Round Of The Sei Foundation Creator Fund's $10M Initiative Has Just Complete. With 862.5K $SEI Matched To Support Creators. The kickoff round offered a $250,000 matching pool to support projects building on Sei, utilizing Quadratic Funding (QF) through Gitcoin Grants Stack. This method amplifies the impact of small donations ensuring projects receive a larger share of the matching pool. For the kick off round Sei used an innovative approach to ensure a fair funding distribution pioneered by Gitcoin. The use of Connection-Oriented Cluster-Matching (COCM) addresses some of the limitations of traditional QF. Kick Off Round Metrics: - Total Matching Pool: 862,500 SEI - Total Raised by Crowd: $38,371.68 - Number of Voters: 2,707 - Number of Projects: 63 - Average Donor Contribution: $14.17 The Sei Foundation has partnered with Karma GAP to keep grantees accountable and share their progress with the community. Grantees must use Karma GAP to set milestones and provide updates. To qualify for future rounds, they must share their progress and explain fund usage. Here are the top five projects by total matching funding: - @crossover_xo: 72,029.91 SEI - @s3_labs: 64,288.63 SEI - @fuckersforlife: 59,168.59 SEI - @dobnfts: 55,294.63 SEI - @remosworld: 47,492.54 SEI If you are a creator on Sei make sure to stay tuned for announcements about the next funding round. Join the Sei Community Grants Telegram Group to stay updated and connect with other creators and supporters. Read more:  https://lnkd.in/dGRrF9XH

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And my second investment at defy is in 🐶 zeroETL puppies 🐶... I mean PuppyGraph, which is all the beauty of a graph database, none of the data migration or continuous upkeep of a graph database. Sounds like magic? So are puppies 🐶 . Puppygraph is NOT a graph or a database. It is graph analytics engine that answers graph questions on your existing data warehouses, whether that is a Databricks datalake, Google BigQuery or postgres. Compared to SQL, it's faster, handles way more complexity, scales and has almost no upkeep. How did I get to conviction? 1. Tailwinds - 🌊 Lakehouses 🌊 have helped enterprises put all their data in one place, enabling Puppygraph to unlock insights previously unavailable. - 📚 LLMs! 📚AI and RAG cannot easily traverse fragmented data. Puppygraph's Graph RAG unlocks insights with their Knowledge Graph and spoonfeeds to the LLMs. 2. 👯 Team 👯 We have graph experts from Google, LinkedIn, Databricks, Tigergraph, and Instacart who are uniquely able to build this solution. 3. 💸 Customers 💸 . My alma mater Coinbase is a proud user. The feedback from my former colleagues was off the charts! A blockchain is very much a graph database and Puppygraph tracks down fraudulent transactions that go through mixers and helps identify patterns. Huge congrats to Weimo Liu Danfeng Xu Lei Huang Zhenni Wu Gary Hagmueller, defy.vc is proud to be an investor!!

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🥁 Drum-rolls Please🥁 Introducing our first shiny new Micro-SaaS from Raissd Labs ✨ 𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 ✨ 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 (𝗔𝗧𝗙)? ATF, is an all-in-one fundraising tool to, 🥸 Identify the right investors in less than 5 mins 📈 Get pitch ready in less than 30 mins 😎 Capture investor attention and make impactful first impressions 💸 Get funding ready with comprehensive guidance and resources. ⚡ Boost your fundraising chances by 10X Sounds too good to be true? Why don’t you try it for yourself? 𝗝𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗧𝗙 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗹! 𝗪𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝘁𝘀! Here is a secret 🤫- All our Beta users get 6 months of free access to the ATF tool Join our waitlist now! Link in the first comment #Fundraising #StartupIndia #Entrepreneurship #EarlyStageStartups #StartupFunding#Waitlist #ProductLaunch #EarlyAccess

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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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Looking beyond #VC funding for your #startup? Aakash Shah of Wyndly (YC W21) reveals how he built a multi-million dollar #healthtech company using creative capital strategies. Learn how he leveraged Y Combinator's network and alternative funding methods to revolutionize allergy treatment. In case you missed it, you can watch the #FundraisingDemystified #podcast here: https://lnkd.in/eZT63YS4

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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 G. Mike Chalfen Hussein Kanji Kirsten Connell https://lnkd.in/eh8mhcJb

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This is great. And for additional color on the valley of death or the gap to scale — download the Sightline FOAK Guide: https://lnkd.in/eV9Wh7s5

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Embrace the "Gen-side"; Q3-2024 Generative AI $3.9B (90-days flat) or $43m per day, accross 209 deals - Pitchbook. quote "Perhaps they’re right. A Forrester report predicts 60% of generative AI skeptics will embrace the tech — knowingly or not — for tasks from summarization to creative problem solving. That’s quite a bit rosier than Gartner’s prediction earlier in the year that 30% of generative AI projects will be abandoned after proof-of-concept by 2026. “Large customers are rolling out production systems that take advantage of startup tooling and open source models,” Brendan Burke, senior analyst of emerging tech at PitchBook, told TechCrunch in an interview. “The latest wave of models shows that new generations of models are possible and may excel in scientific fields, data retrieval, and code execution.”" end quote. #money, #investments, #dollar, #venturecapital, #privateequity, #israel, #siliconvalley, #lifesciences, #artificialintelligence, #ml, #machinelearning, #deeptech, #deeplearning, #cfa, #caia, #alternativeinvestments, #hedgefunds, #gold, #bitcoin, #oil, #germany, #switzerland #geneva, #technology, #startups, #startup, #generativeai

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We're excited to co-lead the $4 million seed round of @Meridien with ParaFi Capital, to fuel the #Move #DeFi ecosystem on Movement Labs alongside Amber Group, Saison Capital, Interop Ventures, Oak Grove Ventures, Serafund, Flow Traders, Gate.io, Ambush Capital , Double Peak Group @DCF GOD and prominent angels from Quantstamp, Inc. among others. As a #DeFi resurgence looms, #Move is emerging as a superior alternative to the #EVM, offering enhanced performance, security, and developer friendliness. Movement Labs is leading the charge, and Meridian is playing a pivotal role by developing a suite of primitives and infrastructure to bolster the ecosystem To start, Meridian will serve as Movement Labs's central liquidity and yield hub, expanding to novel liquid (re)staking and validator infrastructure in the near future. To facilitate this, it is building a decentralized liquidity marketplace and liquid staking protocol on Movement Labs, enabling partner protocols to build deep liquidity in a capital-efficient manner while offering users secure, productive yield on their assets. This protocol is live on testnet and is scheduled to launch on day one of Movement Labs’s mainnet, marking a significant milestone for the #Move ecosystem. The #Move ecosystem currently represents only a fraction of total on-chain liquidity and trading volumes compared to existing #EVM and #SVM solutions. Meridian aims to bridge this gap by leveraging the security and composability of the #Move language. The platform will work closely with various (re)staking protocols and yield-bearing asset issuers to provide a highly secure and composable infrastructure for #DeFi activities. With this funding, Meridian plans to expand its global team, actively hiring across engineering, product, and marketing roles. This growth will fuel the platform’s ambitious roadmap and accelerate its #GoToMarket strategy. Newswire: https://lnkd.in/dfifZAtD Pulse 2.0: https://lnkd.in/d8XJYa2e

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Friends, Q2 was a quarter of progress and learning for us at HawkTower, where we invest in early-stage startups applying breakthrough computing technologies to maximize California's natural resource markets. Our focus is on technology-enabled interventions (e.g., AI-enabled geospatial radars for lithium-ion batteries in the waste stream) for critical, market-level imperatives (e.g., disaster prevention) that can drive rapid commercial adoption (e.g., placed on every recycling truck in the world). Our current investment priorities are: - Agricultural productivity and efficiency - Biomanufacturing - Labor and mobility automation - Waste stream optimization and decarbonization - Disaster prevention and management Here’s a snapshot of what we’ve been up to: Milestones and Investments: - In late April, we officially launched our fund, filing with the SEC. Yay. - By June, we completed our first fund close ahead of schedule, with backing from family offices, foundations, high-net-worth individuals, and organizations aligned with California's future. - Our portfolio now includes three early-stage investments (Farm-ng, Agriful Software, and Nexstera Tech). Strategic Partnerships: - We believe that startups operating closer to their customers and resources, especially in agriculture and biomanufacturing, have a strategic advantage. For instance, the Salinas Valley, a major agricultural hub, is less than an hour from Silicon Valley and serves as a center of thought leadership in the convergence of agriculture and AI (from Western Growers, Taylor Farms, and others). - Similarly, the North San Joaquin Valley is emerging as a biotech and agtech innovation hub, and we are proud to support BEAM Circular, a startup hub for the circular bioeconomy. Key Relationships: - Karen Warner, CEO of BEAM Circular, joined HawkTower as a strategic advisor. - Jackie Cruz, Ed. D. Cruz, Hartnell College’s VP of Advancement, advises on Salinas Valley and workforce development. - Ben Palone from Western Growers, with his technical background in agriculture, became a trusted advisor. - Matthew Hoffman from Driscoll's Global R&D team provides insights on global agriculture, product positioning, and investment strategy. - We collaborated with Monterey Bay DART for workforce development and automation in agtech. - Dominic Milano and the Milano Technical Group from Merced collaborated on key initiatives and advised us on investments. - HawkTower is participating in Santa Cruz Works's accelerator cohort as a mentor and advisor. Thank you Doug Erickson. - We published an overview of entrepreneurship across the UC system with input from across the University of California system. Moving into the fall, we remain deeply committed to supporting founders shaping California's future natural resource markets. Stay tuned and be in touch! : ) Db

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I’ve just found the 2024 State of Web3 Grants Report, produced by the Grant Innovation Lab! This 180-page report is packed with insights on: - 13 grants programs - 5 grants tools - 20 pages of key takeaways Contributors include Brent Beets, Arlery, Anke G. Liu, and more. It covers major programs from #Ethereum, DFINITY, #Solana, and others, along with essential tools like Karma and Hypercerts. 🔗 Read the report here: https://lnkd.in/gvMbsP9R ____ ♻️ Repost this if you think it's useful. 👍 Follow me Denis Stepanov if you want to join my digital experiments and never miss a post. #grants #web3 #money #startup #funding #blockchain #ai

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Insights from our Pygma State of Fintech Talk with Michael Morgenstern Ambassador at Brex: In Michael Morgenstern's session, he discussed how the perception of unicorn status (startups valued at over $1 billion) is shifting in the U.S. venture capital market. He suggested that the focus is moving away from just aiming to reach unicorn status. Instead, there's an increased appreciation for practical, sustainable business growth and financial viability. This reflects a more mature market where investors are looking for substantial and stable returns rather than simply betting on potential market disruptions that may not materialize.

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Investing in a venture studio is different than investing into a VC, so the diligence process should be different, as well. Venture studios create companies; VC's typically invest in companies that have already identified their product market fit and have a core team in place. So, when we diligence a studio, we need to look at the venture building operation, the team leading that operation, and get a strong sense of their financial plan and understanding of the market. Matthew Burris's post from earlier today does a really nice job of identifying the common missteps investors make when evaluating a studio investment.

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What do bio and health applications mean for the next wave of AI -- specifically about compute? (I'm talking to you NVDA longs!) LifeX Ventures is hosting a super roundtable with some serious techbio leaders tomorrow along with Analog Century Management's Val Zlatev -- come hear Thomas Clozel Sean McClain Chetan Patel at 11am ET For the survey results based on asking 100 techbio CTOs and CEOs, join the call. Here, my own speculations after wrapping up the report: -- Amazon needs to have a GPU program on warp drive right now -- Nvidia needs to have a data center / cloud business in the works -- Edge AI chips are about to be everywhere -- in your watch, car, sneakers, thermostats, gene sequencers, spectroscopes -- All this compute needs way more data: expect a boom in sensors of all types -- Remember human genome moonshot that sequenced one person once? Now you can sequence your every cell one by one. Expect that for protein folding (AlphaFold was that moonshot) and other simulation uses, a full "twin" model of you, cell by cell -- Google has no angle here -- worse chips, worse cloud, worse models, worse phones / edge devices -- Specialty silicon for unique use-cases, lower-power, lower-memory are surely coming fast - like back in the day for mobile phones when Qualcomm, Broadcomm, Infineon, Mediatek, etc duked it out.

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Another edition of VCs Doing Work: Slauson & Co. 🎉Congrats to raising $100M for your second fund continuing your mission to make a difference!🎉 Wait... What and who is Slauson and Co? Slauson & Co. is a Los Angeles-based venture capital firm focused on early-stage technology investments, founded by Austin Clements and Ajay Relan. The firm's mission centers on economic inclusion and democratizing access to entrepreneurship for underrepresented founders. Slauson & Co. primarily invests in: Preseed and seed SMB Tech (tools supporting small and medium businesses) Consumer technology The firm typically writes checks between $500,000 and $2 million, aiming to lead most rounds. Since its launch in 2020, Slauson & Co. has made significant strides: Raised a $75 million Fund I, exceeding its initial $50 million target Backed 38 companies, with a majority led by people of color and at least half by women Recently closed a $100 million Fund II, demonstrating continued investor interest in their inclusive approach The firm has garnered support from prominent investors and organizations, including: PayPal Ron Conway (veteran technology investor) Ashton Kutcher will.i.am True Capital Management Alpaca VC Slauson & Co. is just getting started! If you think you have a startup that fits their thesis and stage, reach out! #diversity #inclusion #venturecapital #consumer #smb Brittany Crockett #longla #losangeles #celebration #vcsdoingwork

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