AlbionVC’s Post

Data from Forerunner shows that compared to enterprise companies, venture backed consumer companies are more likely to go public and exceed the “rule of 40” at IPO once they reached series B. In his latest post, Eze Vidra reviews the positive signs for Consumer investing recovery and how AI is likely to affect this space At Remagine Ventures, we invest in how consumers spend their time and money as well as the technologies behind the major consumer trends. Learn more on VC Cafe https://lnkd.in/er-rBSMY

Thanks to all the accomplished leaders who reached out to take me up on my challenge to debate at Collision Conf. Amazing to see all the passion on both sides of the topic. It was a tough decision but I have found the formidable opponent I was seeking in Alon Zieve, whom we are flying in from #Israel for the debate. Alon has had an incredible career at the highest ranks of startups, investment media, and even marketplaces. Over the last 15 years he has had significant stints in the C-suites of Bringg, a unicorn in the logistics industry, Seeking Alpha, the world’s largest investing community, and Natural Intelligence, a multi-vertical marketplace comparison platform with half a billion in revenues. One thing that Alon and I can agree on is that founders should have a way to reduce their highly concentrated exposure to their own startup before the company itself achieves an exit. However Alon does not believe that this can or should be achieved by allowing private shares to be sold more freely. Rather, his new startup Aption seeks to provide founders and early employees with the ability to contribute their shares to, and in turn take a stake in, a broader diversified pool of shares created by the contributions of other founders. While this approach does not address the need for near-term liquidity, it could reduce the founder’s personal financial risk by allowing them to diversify away from their own startup (and theoretically get distributions over time as companies in the pool achieve exits). So, each of Alon and I have a deeply vested interest in our respective sides of the debate. Hiive benefits from allowing people to sell their shares, and Aption represents an alternative to trading that at least enables employees to diversify.  While we will not be on stage to debate each other’s business models, I am curious to hear what people think of the Aption’s approach. Alon, see you Wednesday. And may the best founder win. #liquidity #secondarymarket #privatemarket #preipo #stockoptions

ICYMI: Applications to join our SaaStock Europe 2024 Global Pitch Competition are closing TOMORROW! This means it's officially your last chance to throw your name into the ring. This isn't just a competition. It's your launchpad to competitively compete in the global SaaS market and: 🤑 Secure game-changing capital 🎙️ Pitch to top-tier VCs and funds 👏 Spotlight your brand as the next big thing 💬 Connect with early adopters and validate your market fit Backed by our VC and launch partner powerhouses: 2100 Ventures, BackFuture, Beacon Capital, Pearls Capital, Quadri Ventures, Startup Wise Guys, Venteri Capital, HSBC Innovation Banking, Landscape, and Mountside Ventures. The clock is ticking and your competitors are moving. If you want to get your SaaS in front of judges from companies like Ascension, Salica Investments, Nauta, Northzone, Project A, Blue Lake VC, Project A, Frog Capital, unbundled vc, Cherry Ventures, AppSumo, J.P. Morgan, London Venture Capital Network, Plug and Play Tech Center, InMotion Ventures, TempoCap, Breega, CMS, Cornerstone VC and more, now's the time. So - you ready to disrupt B2B SaaS and make your mark at #SaaStock2024? Apply now: https://buff.ly/4gkFLbF #SaaS #pitchcompetition #prize #investment #founder #CEO #SaaSstartup #B2BSaaS #globalpitchcompetition #capital

And again. First-check investor. Volta. Proud. Grateful. We love these guys. We love founders. You know that feeling at a party when you scan the room and just know who you’ll end up at the bar with later? That was Paul Guillemin. Lorenzo Franzi, the legend, hosted a dinner in Milan (LùBar). Paul and I kept pouring wine into each other’s glasses—five hours of stories. Then partying. The next day, we met again at Mag Cafe (picture attached). More drinks. I loved him. I love his co-founder, Mario Parteli. We made a deal: board meetings in Thailand (Muay Thai included). They came to our AGM in Austria—drove all the way. Hustlers. Resilient. Scrappy. Hardworking. Glass-eating, hardcore founders. The real deal. Not for everyone, but for me. For Robin Capital. With a vision like theirs, saying yes was easy. And with incredible co-investors, including the legendary lead, Emblem (Guillaume Durao and Bénédicte de Raphélis Soissan), it feels even better. LFG! We at Robin Capital are proud to invest in Volta, a company on a mission to fix B2B with AI. B2B is stuck. Paper catalogs, manual orders, outdated workflows. Meanwhile, B2C left them behind 15 years ago. Volta is here to change that. Founded by Paul Guillemin and Mario Parteli, Volta is an AI-powered platform modernizing how distributors, brands, and wholesalers work. It automates the back office, streamlines orders, and gives teams actionable data. Their vision just got a significant boost: €6M in pre-seed funding led by EMBLEM, alongside 40 investors across Europe and beyond. The plan? Grow in France and Italy, then scale across Europe. Paul says it best: "B2B deserves better tools. We're here to build them." This isn’t just about fixing inefficiencies—it’s about transforming an entire industry. Emblem, Robin Capital, Founders Future, Ithaca, Exor Ventures, B Heroes , Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Better Angle, Pareto Holdings 20, Eden Venture, Josef Bovet, Jean Canzoneri, Cosimo Pulli, Matteo Fabbrini, Investinit, Enrico Pandian, Alessandro Petazzi, Luca La Mesa, Alessandro Panerai, Guillaume ALABERT, Pierandrea Reale, Riccardo Pozzoli, Luciano Seveso, Emanuele Preve, Francesco Coletti, Alberto Carraro Baido, Edoardo Calvi Musini, Benjamin Barnathan, Frederico Bradford da Câmara, Carolina Montagna, etc.

"Unicorns Ruled for a Decade. Tech Needs a New Beast. The era of obsessing over lofty valuations needs to end. It’s time to refocus on revenue." - Parmy Olson in Bloomberg At #LondonTechWeek earlier this week, Phoenix Court and Dealroom.co published new insights about startup fundamentals in Europe and beyond. In the UK alone, 118 startups are bringing in more than $100 million in revenue! 785 do more than $25 million in revenues. One of the key things we discovered is also that the number of new startups with $100M+ revenues and the number of new unicorns moved pretty much in synchronous in recent years, apart 2021 when valuations went nuts! This new research marks a further step in Dealroom's mission to help unleash the potential of startup ecosystems with intelligence. At Dealroom.co we now cover financial regulatory data on 80% of the European startup ecosystem. Outside Europe, we are also making strides, although the financial disclosers are more limited. We believe this is the start of a new era with much more focus on fundamentals. This matters hugely not only for investors but also for employees and all stakeholders. #venturecapital #unicorns #revenues

Excited to announce Anvaya Ventures' most recent investment in Spyne, an innovative deep-tech AI firm backed by Accel. Spyne is pioneering a transformative approach to business catalog creation, ensuring businesses can sell online with enhanced efficiency and confidence. Their innovative solutions are streamlining the process for used-car dealerships and marketplaces, enabling them to create engaging vehicle display pages brimming with immersive 360° views and enticing images. Their trajectory has been phenomenal. In just a year, they have acquired multiple customers across the US, leading to revenue running to seven figures through their SaaS solutions for sales enablement. We were very impressed with not just how well Spyne’s solution addressed the gap with the right product-market fit, but equally importantly, how quickly, they were able to acquire customers and scale the business. Sanjay Varnwal, the Co-founder and CEO of Spyne, shares, "We were fortunate in building a product that found immediate acceptance in the US Auto dealership market. This new raise from Accel, Storm Ventures, Anvaya Ventures, Inc, AngelList, and others will enable us to robustly invigorate our growth through reinvestments in a dynamic sales engine." This milestone marks another significant addition to the Anvaya Ventures family, which closely focuses on pre-Series A B2B SaaS companies, typically in the Health tech or Retail space. We look forward to our journey with Spyne and are eager to support their brilliant team in further disrupting the industry norms. #AnvayaVentures #Investment #StartupGrowth #AI #SalesEnablement #SaaS

🚀 Top 5 funding rounds of the week: ⭐Swypex - Offers smart corporate cards, expense management, and business banking services.  Founders: Ahmad Mokhtar, Tarek Mokhtar, Sasan Hezarkhani Raised: $4 million from Accel  ⭐ YonedaLabs - Helps chemists optimize reactions by determining the best parameters.  Founders: Michał Mgeładze-Arciuch, Jan Oboril, Daniel Vlasits Raised: $4 million seed round from Khosla Ventures  ⭐ InHouse Health - Developing an AI-powered scheduling platform to address the nurse shortage crisis.  Founders: Ari Brenner, Sergey Vasilenko, CCRN, MPH, MHA and Shachar Har Zvi Raised: $4 million from NEA, TMV, Vine Ventures, and Longevity Ventures  ⭐ Nivoda - Operates an online marketplace for diamonds and gemstones.  Founders: David Sutton and Andre Woons Raised $30 million in a Series A round from Avenir Growth, Headline, Abstract Ventures, and Canaan Ventures  ⭐ Privateer Space - Develop software to track satellites. Founders: Steve Wozniak, Alex Fielding Raised $56.5 million in a Series A round from Aero X Ventures, Luxe Capital, Boca, Starburst, and the Winklevii Source by PIN (Power in Numbers) 📍Check out this and other information in the best founders and investors networking group. Comment 👋 to receive the link and apply to join our exclusive space!

This Week in VC 🚀 1️⃣ CHAOS Industries raised a $145M Series B to advance its high-performance detection and communication tools for defense and national security. The LA startup attracted investment from Accel, with additional support from 8VC, Overmatch Ventures, and Lerner Enterprises, bringing its total funding to $215M. 2️⃣ Metsera, a New York startup developing treatments for obesity and metabolic diseases, closed a $215M Series B. Wellington Management and Venrock co-led the round, with major participation from Fidelity Investments, Janus Henderson Investors, T. Rowe Price, Viking Global Investors, and more. 3️⃣ Recogni, based in San Jose, raised $102M in a Series C to enhance its computer chips and software that optimize AI inference processes. Celesta Capital and GreatPoint Ventures co-led the round, with participation from Juniper Networks. 4️⃣ Satispay, a Milan-based mobile payment app, secured $63.4M in new funding. Prior investors Addition, Greyhound Capital, and Lightrock joined this latest round, bringing the company’s total funding to over $525M. 💡 Follow VC Stack for weekly updates on the latest venture capital trends and top deals!

Deep Tech Hardware Seed raise of $5M against $25 Valuation with lab demonstration and before a Lab Proof of Concept (and requiring up to $3M in pre-seed funding). All before revenue. Try doing a PoC with zero funding and still delivering 200% better performance over the industry's best data switch. We'll get there - Deep Tech transforming Consumers First

🚨 Positioning Your Solution for Investors: A Game Changer! Winning over customers with a better mousetrap is fantastic in sales. But fundraising? That's a whole new ballgame. Investors are tomorrow’s visionaries. They hold significant capital in their hands and seek the next big game-changer that can redefine entire sectors. Here’s how to hype your disruptive potential: > 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. Don't just tweak existing solutions—demonstrate how your startup will transform the game entirely. > 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆. Investors crave boldness. Talk disrupting markets, forging new pathways, and achieving explosive growth. > 𝗤𝘂𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺. Define your ambition with data and credible projections. Craft a clear roadmap to your revolutionary vision. Keep this in mind: Investors aren’t just purchasing your product; they are investing in your future vision. What are your thoughts? Share them below! #VisionaryStartup #InvestmentPositioning #ExponentialGrowth #DisruptiveInnovation #MoonshotGoals #StartupVisio