Will Foss

The practical application of AI to help manufacturers eliminate unplanned downtime is key to our current and future offering. We do not label ourselves as purely an AI company, as that is one component of our value delivery, but I can say we have a world class team of AI Engineers building incredible tech alongside a team of world class Condition Monitoring Engineers. I am bullish and excited to see how Central Ohio emerges as a global AI hub with Intel as an anchor. cc: Brian Graham, Seyed Mohammad Parvasi, Ph.D., Jaidev Krishnan, Matt Longhouse, Chris Berry

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The 2024 NVCA Yearbook is out, and there are a few tidbits about the VC landscape 💴 ▪️More Places to Pitch: There's been a slight increase in investments made outside of Silicon Valley and other traditional tech hubs. Cities across the Midwest and South are seeing more VC activity, which could drive regional innovation. Not Seattle, though. Do better, PNW. ▪️Sluggish Fundraising, More Dry Powder: Although fundraising did not pick up steam in 2023, the amount of dry powder held by the industry ticked up slightly to $311 billion. It's out there, waiting to be deployed. ▪️The Old Normal: Corporate investors are still active-ish. CVC and family office investments were down but remain a significant minority of the deals and dollars committed in VC. ▪️Sustainable is Sizzling: ESG factors increasingly matter for deal-makers. More venture firms are making sustainability an investment focus area/criteria. Not-So-New Money: AI, biotech, and clean energy investing have been hot for a while. This isn’t breaking news, but it’s increasingly true. ▪️Risky and Safe: The current economic climate poses numerous challenges but also plenty of opportunities. Market volatility has made exiting more difficult but has also created attractive entry points for strong founders that could bear fruit later. All 91 pages of the 2024 NVCA Yearbook is below👇

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This is the beginning of big corporates in industrial and foundational industries solving the data availability problem to leverage the power of generative AI

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The funding landscape for founders has been tough over the past two years—but for female founders, it's been even tougher. At Fierce Foundry, we're stepping up to change that. Like the trailblazing organizations How Women Invest and WE Global Studios, we’re fueling the flywheel of female investment. Our innovative approach isn’t just about making noise—it’s about making measurable impact. Join me at my info session today (and every other week - register via the link below) to learn how you can help drive meaningful change for female founders. Let’s make it happen! 🌟 https://lnkd.in/e9FUg9Uj

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🚀Super excited to announce Day Zero Ventures Investment in Zeno🚀 We're thrilled to back Zeno, a company set to revolutionize two-wheel transportation in emerging markets with their innovative electric motorcycle ecosystem. Why we're excited: Massive Untapped Market: • 600M petrol motorcycles globally, growing to 2B by 2040 • 60-80% are 100-200cc commuter motorcycles • No good electric options exist for this segment yet Perfect Product-Market Fit: • African bike taxi (boda boda) drivers cover enough miles annually to circle the globe • Switching to electric can reduce fuel costs by 50-75% Comprehensive Ecosystem Approach: • 100-200cc equivalent electric motorbike • Flexible multimodal charging: swapping, fast charging, home charging • Innovative battery-as-a-service subscription model Exceptional Team: • Michael Spencer (CEO): Ex-Tesla leadership, 15 years in East Africa • Rob Newberry (VP Software): Former Apple & Nest senior engineer • Swaroop Bhushan (VP Engineering): Powertrain expert from Lucid and Harley's LiveWire • Plus ex-engineers from Gogoro, Ola Electric, and Ather Zeno's vision goes beyond transportation. They aim to transform customers' relationship with energy, potentially powering homes, businesses, and supporting the grid in emerging markets. We're excited to partner with Zeno on this journey to electrify the world's fastest-growing vehicle segment. As emerging markets continue to develop and urbanize, Zeno is well-positioned to become a cornerstone of sustainable transportation infrastructure. Read why we invested in Zeno in the 1st comment! Alok Bishoyi Rahul Rajvanshi #CleanTech #ImpactInvesting #ElectricVehicles #EmergingMarkets

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Chicago needs to get ready to house 30M people by 2075. Climates are changing. We are lucky that the US has a geographic advantage (diversity of geographies, resources, capacity, relatively new infrastructure). We are even luckier that Chicago is the best-positioned city in a well-positioned country: in-land location, access to fresh water, moderate climate, and central hub physically and socio-economically. Last year, we ranked 45th out of the 50 largest metropolitan areas in 2023 in new apartment construction on a per-capita basis. But, just 8 years ago, we set a record of building 56 new high rises. We are capable of building a city like NYC at 1/3 of the price. Let's get back to thinking bigger. We need 8-lane highways, twice the supply of housing, an upgraded ORD, and better public infrastructure. We'll need to house 30 million Americans.

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Autonomous Vehicle (AV) funding is surging, according to PitchBook with Q2 2024 seeing $2.9 billion invested in AV startups - the highest since Q3 2021. While self-driving cars grab headlines, innovative startups are finding unique applications beyond passenger vehicles. Key developments: - Supply chain optimization: Outrider is revolutionizing yard operations with autonomous electric vehicles, addressing a $60 billion market. - Specialized transport: Pyka's autonomous planes for cargo and Gatik's local distribution trucks are gaining traction. - Safety & efficiency: Evitado Technologies automates airside operations, mitigating airport collision risks. Of course, more established companies such as Lyft & Uber are working on AV rideshare integration via partnerships with Waymo, BYD, Zoox, and others. The AV sector is focusing on gradual integration and specific use cases. While concerns about job displacement exist, proponents argue that automation could shift human capital to higher-value roles. What those roles are remains to be seen. As the AV landscape evolves, it's clear that the future of transportation extends far beyond just self-driving cars on city streets. Check out the full article by Nadine Manske here: https://lnkd.in/g3HJXZHc? And access the PitchBook Mobility Tech Report here: https://lnkd.in/g4_xP5pr #VentureCapital #AutonomousDriving #FrontierTech #FutureMobility

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The Ohio VC community is growing! Added 5 more funds to the graphics for my fellow founders. As you can see, there's a massive opportunity in Ohio for more Pre-Seed and Seed Funds. Early investing is riskier, but you also get more equity stake for your investment. What other trends do you notice in the space? Check out the added funds - The O.H.I.O. Fund, Sidecut Ventures, 1809 Capital, Interstate Fusion Ventures, and Fireroad #venturecapital #fundraising #startup

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Fun session with Silas Mähner 🔍🌎 Hopefully non controversial takes on how we think about adaptation and resilience Third Sphere. Also weighed in on thinking about engagement with Big Oil. Absolutely not possible to generalize here. TLDR on one end of the spectrum is Norway, generating substantial GDP from oil, but leading the way across multiple climate efforts, like EVs and heatpumps. On the other end are some state actors that have worked to undermine organizations like COP and sew broader chaos, very, very likely as a way to shift resources away from energy transition (likely very, very hard to spend on defense and green transition at the same time in the US and EU, for example).

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🎉 BIG NEWS 🎉 : Happy to share that JustAir is one of 20 startups selected by Google to receive strategic funding from Google for Startups Black+Latino Founders Fund! Founding JustAir has been a journey inspired by my mom's advice to "just give it your all." I confess that I've only been able to manage this commitment thanks to the love and support around me. In my lowest moments, someone has always been there to encourage me or provide the chance I needed to keep moving forward. I look forward to a future without headlines like "Black founders receive <1% of VC funding" or "Air pollution disproportionately impacts Black communities." Today, I am hopeful because of the individuals who are working every day to create a more just future and have encouraged me to stay committed. Grateful for this team: Sarah, Britney, Kristy, Nate, Phillip and Derrick Grateful for my community: Black Tech Saturdays TL;DR: Sometimes, all it takes is a simple "keep going" to help someone get through today. Let's create the future we deserve! 🙏

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Bessemer Venture Partners is excited to lead an investment in The Exploration Company's $160m series B financing. At Bessemer Venture Partners, we have a long history of investing in space-technology, including successes in companies like Rocket Lab (NASDAQ: RKLB), Skybox Imaging (Aqc. by Google) and others. These companies were/are playing in the initial market opportunity that Space offered of 1.) launching commercial satellites to Lower Earth Orbit and 2.) using these satellites to deliver business value to organizations on Earth. Along the way, SpaceX and other heavy launcher (rocket) companies have changed the Space game. They have made the cost per launch exponentially cheaper as well as payload capacity per launch exponentially higher. This is now opening up Space exploration to commercial players that want to have manned space stations in various parts of Space (Lower Earth Orbit, Lunar Orbit & Lunar Surface) similar to the International Space Station (ISS). Over the next decade, there will be 5-10 new space stations - both private & public. These space stations will be manned by astronauts 24x7x365 and hence will need constant logistical supply for 1.) providing food & beverage to astronauts, 2.) maintaining the space stations, 3.) conducting complex research and ultimately 4.) ferrying astronauts with greater frequency. This is where TEC comes in.  The Munich, Germany based company is building a private space transportation services business, initially for moving cargo to and from space stations, and eventually for ferrying human astronauts. To deliver this service, TEC is developing its own proprietary spacecraft (the Nyx capsule) which when launched will be the global leader in 1.) overall payload capacity and 2.) cost to transport per unit of weight to space. We at Bessemer are thrilled to be in business with Hélène Huby, an entrepreneur who has first-hand led the development of the only other functional European spacecraft at Airbus.  With all the domain expertise, she and her team have now set out to establish Europe as a contender vying to lead the Space race.  All the best to Hélène and team.

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Two encouraging developments for Group14 Technologies and electrification efforts more broadly last week. 🔋⚡   Lightrock partnered with Group14, led by Rick (Eric) Luebbe, in 2022, recognising the groundbreaking nature of its SCC55™ material. Compared to conventional lithium-ion batteries, SCC55™ offers up to 50% more energy density and extremely fast charging. Moreover, it can seamlessly integrate into existing lithium-ion manufacturing lines without the need for retooling. 1) 100 battery manufacturing customers, representing over 95% of the world’s battery production for both electric vehicles and consumer electronics, have received their first shipments of SCC55™. This follows the establishment of the initial production factory in Woodinville, Washington, and a joint venture with SK Inc. in South Korea. 2) The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded Group14 up to $200 million to build a factory capable of producing 7,200 metric tons of silane, addressing a critical bottleneck in the US battery manufacturing industry. This grant will also create 300 new jobs for the factory’s construction and an additional 150 roles for commissioning, ramping up, and sustaining production. Group14 is scaling battery production to new heights and accelerating the electrification and sustainability of our society. Their BAM-1 factory in Woodinville has been operational since 2021, and the SCC55™ produced there is already in over two million smartphones. The new JV factory has an initial annual capacity of 2,000 tonnes of SCC55™, enough to power roughly 100,000 to 250,000 electric vehicles per year. Group14’s BAM-2 factory site in Moses Lake, Washington, is expected to add another 4,000 tonnes of capacity in 2025, bringing the combined annual capacity for SCC55™ material to over 30 gigawatt hours. Huge congratulations to the entire Group14 team on this milestone and award. I encourage you to follow Group14 and check out the links in the comments for additional details. #Group14 #Electrification #Sustainability

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For anyone in Chicago on Tuesday October 1st please feel free to come to our Midwest Impact Investing 2024 Showcase Event. RSVP Here: https://lnkd.in/gmYswD8V For the past 10 years, Impact Engine has produced a Chicago Impact Investing Showcase, designed to help impact investors learn from others who deploy capital for impact across asset classes and geographies. Twice during that period, Impact Engine also compiled and shared the results of a landscape study of the Chicago impact investing community. Leveraging the success of the Chicago landscape reports and the Chicago Showcases, Impact Engine is extending the same concept to the broader Midwest, partnering with Cogent Consulting PBC to create a landscape report covering the states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. We are excited to present the Midwest Impact Investing Showcase on Tuesday, October 1st from 5:00 - 8:00 PM. This showcase will highlight the work of impact investors across the Midwest through a series of fireside chats. Confirmed speakers include: - Joe Aguilar, Chief Investment Officer, Illinois State Treasurer Michael W. Frerichs - Jessica Droste Yagan, Chief Executive Officer, Impact Engine - Stephanie Goodrid Lawson, Executive Director, McKinney Family Foundation (MFF) - Marianne Markowitz, Chief Executive Officer, First Women's Bank - Elizabeth McGeveran, Vice President of Investments, McKnight Foundation - Priya Parrish, Chief Investment Officer, Impact Engine - Debra Schwartz, Managing Director, Impact Investments, MacArthur Foundation - Lakota Vogel, Executive Director, Four Bands Community Fund - Andrea Zopp, Managing Partner, Cleveland Avenue

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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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Velocity Catalyst Fund is something I truly believe in and I can't think of anyone more capable and passionate than Desiree Vargas Wrigley to lead it. Please see below for more information on how to get involved! 🚀

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Pear VC Startup Equity Calculator for Early Hires Pear VC head of talent Matt Birnbaum created this calculator to determine the equity for early hires. You can read more here How to structure startup equity for early hires https://lnkd.in/ggmpT5-Y https://lnkd.in/gjsvths6

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Excited to speak at MIT on the intersection of AI, modular architecture, and identity. This conversation isn’t just about where technology is going but about how we make tech that respects and represents individuals. Ethical AI is not optional; it’s the only way forward. #MIT #EthicalTech #AI https://lu.ma/ziqrxjp7

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