Rebecca Szkutak

We've profiled almost 200 promising super-early-stage startups over the past two years at PreSeed Now. That's included at least one that is now a unicorn (ElevenLabs) and plenty that have gone on to raise their first or additional investment after being featured. We're filling a gap in tech media by not waiting for investors to provide a signal that a startup is interesting. Why wait for that? When I'm choosing startups to feature, I think like an investor and pick the ones that I think have true potential based on 15 years of writing about, talking to, and assessing startups. Those that we feature are usually those that could well be heading for big things, or occasionally founders that are really promising even if their current idea is likely to be heading for a pivot. Every three months, we take a look at the past year's worth of startups and see which ones are getting the most attention in our analytics and pull together a list. This time we feature: Honu MOMO Biotech Cambridge Future Tech Arro 🎯 PhytoMines GambitBio ClioBooks.ai Ask Silver Juno AI NeuWave Technologies Want to find out more about them all? Look no further! 👉 https://lnkd.in/ef26tdVZ 👈

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New from me: I wrote about how AI founders are raising money from investors. A simple agreement for future equity or SAFE is a Y Combinator model for funding that allows founders to bring in cash from VCs without having to price rounds at the early stage. The speed at which AI funding rounds are coming together, the high cost of talent and computational power, and the often pre-revenue nature of these businesses make SAFE notes and similar mechanisms outside of the US appealing. I spoke to David Sainteff at Global Founders Capital, Shaun Johnson of AIX Ventures, and Jaspar Carmichael-Jack, founder at Artisan AI, about the pros and cons of using SAFEs or similar funding tools for Business Insider: https://lnkd.in/epeG8zji #AI #funding #capital #vc #investors #equity #funding #safe

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Summary: Industry Ventures has raised a $900 million early-stage hybrid fund for investing in emerging managers and directly backing growth-stage companies. This is their seventh hybrid fund and is larger than their previous one. The fund will be split between backing VC funds, direct investments, and acquiring stakes from emerging managers. Key takeaways: Smaller, newer funds are finding it more difficult to raise capital, but this fund from Industry Ventures offers hope for emerging managers. The fund will be split between various investments, including backing VC funds and buying secondary interests. Industry Ventures may have an advantage due to their ability to invest in both emerging and more established managers. Counter arguments: Some may argue that it is still difficult for emerging managers to raise funds. The success of Industry Ventures may not be indicative of the overall climate for emerging managers. #venturecapital #venture #startups #fundraising

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"Bryce Roberts of Indie VC first highlighted the trend of “one-and-done” rounds back in 2017. Back then, it was something of a rarity, but these days a considerable number of founders are intentionally pursuing that path. At a broader level, the best founders today are raising fewer rounds with less dilution and/or skipping rounds altogether. And many VCs are struggling to come to terms with this. Firms with mediocre returns that don’t have much of a differentiator or positioning beyond “solid, inoffensive fund that’s a good fallback if you can’t raise from a top tier VC” are struggling to raise new funds or closing up shop entirely. Many individual investors who are later in their careers or who don’t have the inclination to reinvent themselves are opting out of venture capital as a career. Others who are refusing to adapt are being managed out by their firms." https://lnkd.in/gcNxKdzF

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As some once-hot AI bets sour, we thought it would be worth looking at which venture firms are most exposed to AI. That meant combing through more than 300 rounds since early 2022, including some big secondary sales and even a bankruptcy auction! The result is the VC firms with the most to win—or lose—from AI successes. Some tidbits: -Nine firms collectively led $9.5 billion in gen AI deals since early 2022 -Accel led the most (by $$), largely thanks to its late-stage round in Scale AI -Lightspeed and Andreessen Horowitz, among the top investors by the value of the rounds led, were the busiest (19 and 20 deals each) -Anthropic raised even more money than earlier reported -- $1 billion in its last round -Andreessen, General Catalyst and Lightspeed have all placed big bets on Mistral Read the full story (and chart) here via Julia Hornstein and Abubakar Idris https://lnkd.in/gRDEiE22

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Medical practice staff handle a large volume of calls and texts to patients for things like appointment scheduling, referral follow-ups and prescription refills. It's a time-consuming process and results in a lot of administrative overhead. I chatted w/ Alex Cohen about how his new startup Hello Patient built AI agents to automate this patient-facing communication work

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Impactful Biz, Ops & Investment Roles at Early Startups & VCs: • Chief of Staff to Ex. Head of Product at Google • Founding GTM at the most YC product used by other YC companies in the past four years • Chief of Staff to a Partner at a Top-Tier VC Fund • Head of Platform of a NY State Backed Accelerator • Investment Associate at a Seed Stage Fund Investing in Category-Defining Companies • Partner at a Defense-Focused VC Fund • Chief Revenue Officer of a New Space Company in El Segundo • Venture Capital Analyst at a fund investing in overlooked geographies • Investment Associate at a Spirit-Focused Fund • Strategy & Ops Lead at a Company Focused on Helping Improve Autism • Senior Product Manager at a Company Focused on Building Shopify for Content Creators • Program Manager for a Space Security Company • Open-ended Investment Position at a Top-Tier Accelerator • Biz & Ops Lead for One of the Most Loved Digital Consumer Products 💸 All companies are well-funded and backed by top-tier investors. ⬇ You can find links to the roles above, plus many more, in the comments.

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"Anomalous outcomes come from anomalous people." After hundreds of conversations with legendary investors and founders, I've distilled 52 lessons about venture capital. This is number one. Read the full piece: 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eqhbUppr

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In addition to C&EN's annual list of 10 Start-Ups to Watch, we also write up a list of 5 early-stage companies that are On Our Radar. I love writing this section. It's like peering into the future to see the technologies that will have big impact in the years to come. Read it here: https://lnkd.in/eWH8YD-f Here are the companies featured this year: Elateq treats a multitude of water contaminants with electricity Group1 makes better batteries with potassium Matereal is making polyurethane from plants and CO2 Pheronym protects crops with nematode pheromones Ultra High Materials is formulating cement that is cheaper and greener We typically search for these companies in the same places we look for the 10 Start-Ups to Watch, C&EN's coverage and venture-capital databases. For these early stage companies we also scan non-dilutive sources of funding like government grants and accelerators. And we look for companies submitted through our online nomination form. If you know about an early stage company we should consider next year, please send us a note: https://lnkd.in/e7dWtQDb

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Looking out into Morse Micro's future, founder and CEO Michael De Nil sees an IPO. “We’re looking to build real products, get some real revenue and then take the company public from there,” de Nil said of Morse Micro, which raised a huge $170 million round in 2022. The company makes WiFi chips that it says can beam signals 10 times further than is standard, useful for factories, offices and (big) homes that use smart cameras and other internet-connected devices. It has spent most of its eight years of operation in R&D mode, last year releasing its first product to market. As it prepares to announce a second-generation chip, Morse Micro’s focus is, as de Nil said, racking up some “real revenue.” To do that it’s trying to get its designs integrated into smart devices of all kinds – earlier this year it established an office in Taiwan where it can wheel and deal with the likes of Foxconn to achieve that end. Though de Nil said it was too early to talk about what exchange he would want to list on, an IPO would make Morse Micro the first IPO by a highly-valued Australian deep tech startup. That would be welcome inspiration for Australian startups toiling with often limited funds on the cutting edge of science and engineering. Read more in this week's Sweat Equity newsletter which, by the way, is free to sign up for 👊 https://lnkd.in/g6fU_cKM

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NEW: Like all VC firms, TRAC.vc wants to bet on the best startups. Unlike other VC firms, though, TRAC uses AI to pick every single investment. So, to get into more highly coveted deals, the firm gives founders a piece of its algorithm. After investing, TRAC creates custom AI dashboards for all its portfolio companies, which help the startups more accurately value themselves and find new investors. "The reality is, every single portfolio company will use this when they're thinking about fundraising," TRAC partner Fred Campbell told me. We got an exclusive look at the software TRAC has been building for 10 years, courtesy of its portfolio company Legacy. Check it out in Business Insider: https://lnkd.in/eq7gHyNC

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👀 Founders who are the right fight for the Community VC forums and Iceberg 👀 The most successful founders—the top 0.1%—achieve remarkable outcomes by systematically building vast networks of investors and supporters, leveraging them for capital, promotion, and critical resources. Companies like Zeroco (raising $5m in 7 hours from 3082 supporters) and Superhuman (raising $75m off the back of a 50k person waitlist) are prime examples. However, most founders: 👉 Lack the experience, network, or structured approach to replicate this success 👉 Spend 10+ hours a week chasing support (emailing, booking meetings, having pointless conversations) with little predictability or payoff 👉 Leave untapped value on the table with their investors and advocates That’s why we’ve built Community VC as a growth engine and Iceberg, a supporter CRM designed to replicate Zeroco and Superhumans’ success by helping founders attract, nurture, and activate their first 10, 100, and 1,000 supporters. In the past 6 months we have supported 30+ companies in building their supporter base to close capital for less than 3 hours per week (compared to 10 normally) and we’re still improving. We have 100 founders working with us and 500 on our waitlist. Every week we are receiving 10+ new sign ups, with zero marketing spend so far. A recent example of ROI on 10 nurtured supporters through our ecosystem by a founder: ✅ 3 months ✅ 15 hours total spent nurturing ✅ 50 referred deals ✅ $24,500 revenue 💯 That’s $326 per hour per advocate nurtured in revenue 💯 Plus investment of $25,000 Imagine if a founder who was gearing up for a raise of any type had an army of 100 or 1000 people who could be activated at an even better ROI with an automated, personalised system... How? 👉Founders uncover investors through their own network, via Community VC and other channels by distributing their Iceberg profile links 👉The link collects supporter data and adds them to the systematised Supporter CRM 👉The founders are prompted with evolving best practice investor comms to nurture and engage the supporters for help and capital Not only are founders attracting more supporters than they ever were, they are closing capital faster and with more aligned people with Community VC and Iceberg. 🕐Why now? The future of outsized returns will come by supporting small teams who can achieve huge amounts in extremely niche sectors, with much less funding. They will achieve this through leveraging AI and leveraging their community.

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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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Had a great conversation with Jacquelyn Miller and Christina Farr on the ins and outs of the direct communication method for startups. They had lots of great advice, which you can check out at the blog. My big takeaway, personally, is that there's truly no substitute for authentic expertise: Founders eat, breathe, and sleep their startup's market, giving them the kind of nuanced, insightful perspective that nobody else can provide. You don't need to be a professional writer or a seasoned on-camera personality to shine; you just have to give your real thoughts on the topic.

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Check out our curated list of #New York funded startups, featuring key insights like HQ locations, founded years, and investor info. https://lnkd.in/dbw7pUqq #startup #startups #venturecapital #funding #vc #investmentbanking

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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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Unlock Early-Stage Startup Opportunities with Nobody Studios 🚀 Family offices often look for unique opportunities to diversify their portfolios and access high-growth potential investments. But early-stage startups? They can be risky, time-consuming, and hard to navigate. That’s where we come in. At Nobody Studios, we provide a streamlined pathway for family offices to gain exposure to early-stage startups, but with a twist: 1️⃣ Curated Deal Flow Our venture studio model allows us to develop, validate, and scale startups from scratch. Family offices get access to a hand-picked selection of high-potential companies backed by our proven frameworks and methodologies. 2️⃣ De-risked Investments By co-investing alongside a community of experienced angels, VCs, and our internal team, we mitigate risk while enhancing upside potential. Our collaborative approach means you’re not going at it alone. 3️⃣ Active Participation Unlike passive investments, we provide family offices the opportunity to get involved at the ground level, offering mentorship, strategic guidance, and expertise to help shape the growth trajectory of our startups. 4️⃣ Portfolio Diversification Tap into diverse sectors—tech, FinTech, healthcare, and beyond. With Nobody Studios, you’re not just investing in a startup; you're investing in an ecosystem of innovation. Interested in exploring how your family office can be part of the next wave of disruptive startups? Let’s connect and discuss how you can get started with Nobody Studios. 🌐 🔔 Follow me for more insights on building and investing in early-stage startups! #venturecapital #familyoffices #investing #startups

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Congratulations to Roland Reynolds and the team at Industry Ventures on the raise of its latest $900M hybrid fund (split three ways, 40% backing VC funds, 40% directly investing in promising Series B startups from their existing partnerships, and 20% acquiring stakes in emerging investment firms from other LPs looking to exit). Read more from Marina Temkin, CFA at TechCrunch below. #VC #venturecapital #fundraising #startups #investing #news #technews #startupnews

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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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