VC Daily Digest - 05/09/2023

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📢 Top Venture Capital News

Future Fund was meant to save British startups. Now it risks bankrupting them: The UK government's £1.14bn Future Fund, designed to aid startups during the pandemic, is now causing distress for many of these companies. With a looming three-year conversion deadline, startups are required to repay their loans in full plus a 100% "redemption premium" if they fail to raise a priced round. This has resulted in a potential financial crisis for hundreds of startups, with some facing bankruptcy. The British Business Bank, which runs the scheme, is willing to extend the deadline for well-functioning businesses, but the conditions for this extension remain unclear. More Here

Nordic-based Unconventional Ventures nears €30M fund close to back diverse European teams: In a tech startup landscape often criticized for its lack of diversity, Unconventional Ventures (UV) is making a difference. Launched in 2018 by Thea Messel and Nora Bavey, UV is a VC fund investing in diverse founding teams across the Nordics in sectors like healthtech, femtech, and fintech. With a portfolio that includes standout companies like Climate X, Ocean Oasis, SciFree, and Meela Health, UV is over halfway to its €30 million fund target, backed by investors like Atomico and the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark. More Here

Pentathlon Ventures Raising Second VC Fund To Bet On SaaS Startups: Venture capital firm Pentathlon Ventures is on the move, announcing its plans to raise a second fund with a target corpus of around $54.4 million. Specializing in early-stage B2B SaaS companies, Pentathlon aims to deploy this fund across 25 startups, focusing on areas like enterprise digital transformation, e-commerce enablement, fintech, and healthtech. More Here

Crypto veteran VC predicts 10-20x Bitcoin growth fueled by utility surge: Jason Fang, founder of Sora Ventures, shares his insightful perspective on Bitcoin's untapped potential and the rapid pace of crypto market trends. Despite experiencing an 80% drop in his fund during past bear markets, Fang's conviction in Bitcoin's resilience remains unshaken. He sees a future where Bitcoin moves beyond being a store of value to a thriving ecosystem for new blockchain-based applications. Fang's journey, marked by strategic pivots and proactive investments, serves as a testament to the grit required to drive innovation in emerging technologies like Bitcoin. More Here

Venture capital still haunted by crypto chaos: For venture capitalists, the scars of bitcoin's disastrous 2022 run deep. While breezy bitcoin has bounced back, leaping by about 55% this year, investments in crypto startups have dropped for the fifth straight quarter. VC crypto bets totaled just under $2.3 billion in April-July this year, the lowest quarterly level for over three years, according to data firm PitchBook. In the first half of 2023, investments were down by almost three-quarters from a year ago to $5 billion. More Here

📢 Top Startups News

Elon Musk Revealed To Be ‘Quietly’ Funding Crypto Rival To Bitcoin Amid Price Crash: Elon Musk, the Tesla billionaire, has been "quietly" funding the development of Dogecoin, a meme-based cryptocurrency, even as its price has fallen 90% from its peak. Musk, who previously considered creating a blockchain-based social media platform with a payment system using Dogecoin, has been speculated to be working on transforming Twitter into an "updated version of PayPal." Despite a slump in venture capital funding for crypto companies, Musk's involvement in Dogecoin and his potential plans for Twitter could be a game-changer for the crypto market. Amidst these developments, the crypto market is bracing for a turbulent September. More Here

4 founders give us their take on what’s ahead for construction tech:The future of work is a hot topic across all sectors, but what does it mean for industries where remote work isn't feasible, like construction? Despite its traditional ways, the construction industry is not immune to innovation. From drones for site surveying to AI for design optimization, and even robots for tasks like bricklaying or concrete pouring, the industry is gradually embracing the digital revolution. As we look towards 2030, we anticipate a significant shift with the adoption of augmented reality for real-time project visualization and advanced 3D printing for rapid prototyping and full-scale building components production. More Here

HNWIs Are Convinced that Alternative Investments like Venture Capital, Digital Currencies, Structured Products Will Provide Long-Term Returns: Despite a wider slowdown of inflows into the alternative investments sector, high-net-worth investors remain steadfast in their conviction. According to Nigel Green, CEO of deVere Group, these investors see value in less familiar, return-enhancing asset classes such as venture capital, cryptocurrencies, structured products, and hedge funds. More Here

Women-led startups have more than doubled since COVID as women take their work-life balance into their own hands: The pandemic has led to a significant rise in women starting their own businesses in the UK, with nearly 40% citing the desire for better work-life balance as the main catalyst, according to Small Business Britain. The shift towards entrepreneurship has also been driven by the need for flexibility in managing career and family responsibilities, and the opportunity to escape workplace sexism and potentially earn more. However, experts caution that owning a business comes with its own pressures and doesn't automatically guarantee a better work-life balance. More Here

📢 Featured: Today’s Featured Tweet

How To Cold Email VCs & Angel Investors?

Recently we shared a tweet on - how to cold email VC. I have been working with VCs from long time and found most of the cold email are not well prepared which lead to > 50% not even opening the pitch deck. So thought to share the best way to write a cold email. Check this out this. 👇

📢 Top AI News

Are AI models doomed to always hallucinate?: Large language models (LLMs) like OpenAI’s ChatGPT have a tendency to generate false information, a phenomenon known as 'hallucination'. This occurs due to their statistical training methods, where they predict data based on patterns and context, often leading to nonsensical or inaccurate outputs. While some argue that this issue can't be fully resolved, others believe that methods like reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF) can help reduce hallucinations. However, the utility of these models may still outweigh the occasional inaccuracies, especially in creative fields where unexpected outputs can spark novel ideas. More Here

The AI Hype Has Subsided, But the Revolution Continues: While the initial hype around AI, particularly generative AI and large-language models (LLMs), may have subsided, the revolution continues unabated. As with any transformative technology, there's often a period of seeming stagnation, reminiscent of the dot-com crash or the slow adoption of electricity in the 19th century. However, the reality is that AI continues to advance, with Google's Gemini and OpenAI's new commercial services just a few examples. Despite a lack of public excitement, the transformative power of AI continues to grow, with open-source AI models driving innovation and LLMs being increasingly used in academia. The lull in AI hype may just be a healthy pause, allowing us to process and understand these advances. More Here

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📢 Top Startup’s Fundraising News

Butternut Box wolfs down $354M for subscription canine cuisine: U.K.-based startup, Butternut Box, is making waves in the pet food industry. Having already raised over $110 million in funding, the company is now set to secure a further £280 million ($354 million) from General Atlantic and L Catterton. Butternut Box's mission is to tackle the issue of canine obesity, which affects an estimated 65% of dogs in the U.K. alone, by providing "human-quality" meals, snacks, and supplements for dogs. More Here

Kotani gets $2M pre-seed to help African workers send money home via crypto — without the internet: Nairobi-based crypto payments startup, Kotani Pay, is leveraging the power of blockchain to make cross-border remittances more accessible and affordable for Africa's underbanked populations. Having recently secured $2 million in pre-seed funding, the startup plans to expand its services across the continent, addressing a use case that impacts the livelihood of hundreds of millions. Kotani Pay's innovative approach uses stablecoins to facilitate international money transfers at a fraction of traditional costs, and has already processed $23 million in inbound payments. More Here

myZoi wants to make remittances less costly for migrant workers raised $14M: MyZoi, a startup aimed at reducing remittance fees for migrant workers, has raised $14 million in funding from SC Ventures and SBI Holdings. With two regulatory licenses from the Central Bank of the UAE, MyZoi plans to cut remittance fees by more than half for the five million low-income migrant workers in the UAE. The startup offers a digital remittance service and a payroll system specifically designed for companies employing migrant workers. Co-founder Christian Buchholz incubated the idea at SC Ventures, where he discovered that migrant workers often remit up to 80% of their income to their families, leaving little for personal use or savings. More Here

Hero MotoCorp to increase stake in Ather with fresh $66.5 million investment: Hero MotoCorp, the world's leading two-wheeler manufacturer, is set to increase its investment in Ather Energy, an Indian electric vehicle startup, with an additional $66.5 million. This comes amidst a challenging time for Ather, which has been significantly impacted by recent subsidy cuts for two-wheelers by the Ministry of Heavy Industries. More Here

Akur8 raises another $25M and introduces new investor Fintlv: Akur8, the AI-powered insurance pricing solution, has raised $25m in a new funding round, bringing its total funding to over $60m. This round introduces a new investor, FinTLV, a global Insurtech and fintech VC fund, joining Guidewire Software, Inc. and historical investor BlackFin Capital Partners. This partnership will be inaugurated with a joint event at the Insurtech Israel 2023 Global Summit, aiming to foster the new relationship. More Here

🗞️ Interesting Weekday Reading On: Startups, Technology & VC

• 📮How Much Should You Raise For Your Startup? Read More

• 📜 Decoding Startup Valuations with the Venture Capital (VC) Valuation Method Read More

• 📪Hidden Trap Of Convertible Note and Liquidation Preference Multiples Read More

• 📑 Decoding Sequoia Capital: How Do They Dominate the VC Landscape? Read Here

• 📰 Why it's Better To Raise Less Capital In The First Round? Read More

• 📮 The Game-Changing Clause For Entrepreneur Read More

• 📑 How To Convince Investors That Your Startup Can Give Maximum Return To Them? Read Here

• 🗃️ How Do Investors Protect Themselves from Down rounds ? Read Here

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✍️Written By The Venture Crew Team

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