Tech Funding News ’s Post

As an angel investor, I’ve made over 50 early-stage investments across the UK, US, and beyond. Now, as a Partner at Antler in Australia, I’ve experienced firsthand the shifts between angel and VC investing - and these findings have transformed my approach to supporting founders. I share 5 surprising lessons I learned that about angel vs. VC funding that I wish every founder knew in the article below. From the unexpected empathy VCs have (yes, we pitch too!) to why VCs reserve capital for follow-on funding and how market size can make or break a venture-backed business. Thinking about joining our February '25 residency and/or raising your first round? This is an inside look at the mindsets and strategies VCs use when investing, offering takeaways to help you get funded. 👉 Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/g_jStAWS

Summary: Early-stage VC firm Kearny Jackson has secured $65 million in capital commitments for its third fund. The bi-coastal firm primarily invests in B2B SaaS and fintech infrastructure. Key takeaways: Kearny Jackson emphasizes time to value for its portfolio companies and has a mix of LPs from various backgrounds including Sequoia and Marc Andreessen. The larger fund size gives the duo more leverage to execute their strategy of gaining more ownership in their portfolio companies. The firm has made notable investments in companies like Motherduck, Cortex, and Comulate with its first two funds. Counter arguments: Some may argue that the smaller ownership stake targeted by Kearny Jackson may not be as favorable to founders. The firm's reliance on LPs for funding may limit their ability to make riskier investments.

Norwest Venture Partners is breaking records as it raises $3 billion for his 17th vehicle! Norwest Venture Partners is making headlines once again as they raise a staggering $3 billion for their 17th fund, maintaining their fund size despite the current market downturn. Founded 65 years ago and backed solely by Wells Fargo, #Norwest Venture Partners has been a powerhouse in the #VC space. With a legacy of success and innovation, Norwest is led by senior managing partner Jeff Crowe, who has played a pivotal role in the firm's growth and impact. Backed solely by Wells Fargo, Norwest's latest fundraise of $3 billion is a testament to their continued strength and resilience in the face of market challenges. Despite the downturn, Norwest remains committed to staying competitive in the dealmaking environment, focusing on growth equity, healthcare, and investments in regions like India. Norwest's diversified approach sets them apart, allowing them to navigate market fluctuations with agility and foresight. Operating globally with investments in North America, India, and Israel, Norwest's multi-strategy fund encompasses early-stage and growth equity businesses, with a recent addition of a biotech team to enhance their healthcare practice. The article on TechCrunch in the first comment. Want to stay up to date with the market? Here my newsletter: - Linkedin: https://t.ly/s541W   - Substack: https://lnkd.in/dzfGJzmW

Founders have all manner of support to help them get up and running with their businesses. VCs, less so — until now.  Early next year, advisory firm Mountside Ventures is launching Europe’s first VC fundraising accelerator. It’ll take on 15 emerging managers and “help them become better fundraisers”, says Jonathan Hollis, the firm’s managing partner. “It’s not to help investors become better investors; it’s to identify and connect them with relevant LPs.” There are, according to data platform Dealroom, around 2,500 active VCs in Europe; only 275 of those have raised their third fund. #emergingmanagers #investment #VentureCapitalists ##VentureCapitalists #limitedpartners #generalpartners #LPs #GPs

The gold rush into venture by 'tourist VC's' from 2018-2021 has created a massive liquidity mismatch between fund sponsors and their LPs. The managers are focused on vanity metrics such as MOIC while investors are hoping for liquidity. When your fees are a percentage of AUM, this creates a powerful incentive to push your head in the sand and hope fair value eventually catches up. I think Sara Ledterman is spot-on here. Accounting firms all over the world will be FORCING managers to take write downs over the next 12 to 18 months. Opportunistic buyers of these assets should be in a fantastic position to acquire early-stage equity in future unicorns at fire sale prices!

Excited to share my first blog post inspired by my experience and learnings while at Exceptional Capital. Huge amount of gratitude for Marell E., Andrew Van Nest, Melissa Morano Aurigemma, and Graham Stoddard for making these last few months so impactful. You opened my eyes to the other side of the table! A couple of questions that are core to my reflections: - How can LPs and emerging early stage venture funds learn from our sometimes overlooked similarities? - Could emerging VCs approach fundraising at different stages of their firm journey similar to founders raising different financing rounds? Would this make transparency from the LP side easier and fundraising less opaque for GPs? - How can E&Fs be more value-additive to emerging GPs? Would emerging VCs find value in that? - How can junior LPs learn from VCs younger in their careers? #LPs #EmergingManagers #VC #EmergingAllocatorAssociation #EmergingAllocators #Venture #Fundraising

When to sell? Venture capital isn’t just about picking the right horses. It’s also about helping them jump over dozens of hurdles, watching them win a bunch of races — and knowing when to stop betting on them and cash in the winnings. How exactly to do that last part is a matter of some debate among Europe’s seed funds these days. Oliver Holle, managing partner of Vienna-based seed investor Speedinvest told Amy Lewin earlier this year he wished his firm had “sold more” when up rounds were bountiful. (His portfolio includes unicorns like wefox and GoStudent.) “We’d settle on selling 20 or 30% of our shares, or say ‘Let’s make sure we at least have our money back’. In hindsight, that’s not good enough,” Holle said. How do you get more value from your investment? Follow a successful #businesstransformation recipe, focus on building disruptive #digitalbusinessmodels. #designsmarterbusiness #transformyourbiz https://lnkd.in/ekuyJsv9

Discover how Grwth Club's new €5.8M Grwth Ventures fund is reshaping Seed and Series A investments in sustainable consumer tech. #VentureCapital #SustainableGrowth GRWTH Club.

Summary: Harlem Capital, a venture capital firm focused on backing diverse founders, is raising its largest fund to date of $150 million. This would be its third fund and is a testament to the industry's continued support for diverse communities. Key takeaways: Harlem Capital was founded in 2015 with the goal of supporting diverse founders. The firm has $174 million in assets under management and has made investments in over 80 companies. The successful raising of the $150 million fund would be a show of success for both Harlem Capital and the industry's continued focus on diversity and inclusion. #venturecapital #vc #venture #diversity #dei

This is a great piece by Jeff Becker for any founders who are in the early stages of building their company and experiencing the challenges of raising capital. Jeff writes about an "inception phase" that can last up to three years before companies close a priced Seed round, a figure which is certainly longer for companies operating in less mature Venture markets than the US. It's important to take stock of how long this period will last if you're just getting building and consider how it will impact your capital strategy over the coming years.