VC Daily Digest - 26/08/2023

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📢 Top Venture Capital News

How founders raised money so far in 2023: In the ever-evolving world of startups, recent trends indicate a shift in investor focus. The "why now" factor is gaining importance, with investors keen to understand why they should invest at a particular moment. Pitch decks are becoming more concise, with the average successful deck now containing 16 slides, down from 19 last year. Amid financial uncertainties, investors are increasingly interested in startups that demonstrate a clear path to profitability. This is reflected in the 60% increase in time spent on the financials section of a pitch deck compared to a year ago. More Here

Tri Ri Asset Management Announces Final Close Of Oversubscribed VC Fund At $142m: Tri Ri Asset Management (TRAM) has successfully closed its flagship $142m TRAM Venture Fund, a testament to its robust strategy and resilient investors. The fund, with contributions from pension funds, a sovereign wealth fund, and leading family offices, plans to invest in startups within the MENA region, particularly Pakistan. More Here

Mendoza Ventures announces Mendoza Impact, a nonprofit dedicated to closing the diverse founder funding gap: Mendoza Ventures, a Fintech, AI, and Cybersecurity VC firm, has launched Mendoza Impact, a non-profit aimed at fostering the next generation of diverse founders, funders, and VC/PE fund employees. Led by Executive Director Jen Hartnett-Bullen, Mendoza Impact will utilize donated funds to invest in and develop diverse talent, with the inaugural cohort featuring Latino-led Straylight Systems, Black-led Goodfynd, Latina-led Wealthbuild, and Female-led EKOS. AI. "Capital investment should match the make-up of its community to start creating impact for those communities," says Senofer Mendoza, Founder of Mendoza Impact. More Here

How Rocketship.vc’s Data-Driven Approach Helps It Secure Quality Startup Deals Even During Slowdowns: Rocketship.vc, a Silicon Valley-based VC firm, is leveraging extensive data sets and computational algorithms to identify high-potential startups for investment. Despite a 70% YoY decline in funding for Indian startups, Rocketship.vc's managing partner, Madhu Shalini Iyer, remains optimistic, attributing the firm's success to its data-rich methodology and focus on Series A investments. More Here

Fireroad Ventures, Cincinnati's newest venture fund, to invest in early-stage startups raised $20M Fund: A trio of local startup veterans has launched a new venture fund to target companies in the region and beyond. It’s the next phase, they said, in a “pay-it-forward” approach they hope will catapult the Cincinnati ecosystem to bigger wins. Tim Metzner, formerly of Coterie, has teamed up with Astronomer co-founder Ry Walker and Ocean Accelerator’s Christy Johnson to create Fireroad Ventures, an early-stage venture fund. The team is raising $20 million and has already made a few investments to start. More Here

📢 Top Startups News

Bitcoin startups remain undercapitalized as funding drought drags on: The crypto industry's recent downturn has left many startups, particularly those focused on Bitcoin, struggling to raise funds. Erik Svenson, co-founder and CFO of Blockstream, a blockchain infrastructure firm, shared on TechCrunch's Chain Reaction podcast that investment in crypto peaked early last year, and Bitcoin-focused companies are now falling behind due to fewer investments. More Here

Five takeaways from Instacart’s S-1 filing: On-demand grocery delivery titan, Instacart, has finally unveiled its much-anticipated S-1, marking a significant event for 2023. Since its inception in 2012, Instacart has raised a staggering $2.9 billion in funding, and in March 2021, it secured a $265 million funding round at a $39 billion valuation. The company's growth has been impressive, with orders climbing 18% in 2022 to 262.6 million and gross transaction volume increasing by 16% to $28.8 billion. More Here

The 6 most important things to know about SaaS+ product architecture: Building a successful SaaS+ company, whether from scratch or by transforming an existing business, requires a deep understanding of six key concepts that blend technical implications with business logic. A shared perspective on these issues among the founding team is crucial as it drives the product roadmap, core technical architecture, pricing strategy, and product marketing. One of the most critical areas to focus on is the transaction technology, particularly the shopping cart functionality and flexibility at the transaction level. More Here

OnlyFans’ profitability proves the creator economy boom was real enough: In the second half of 2022, the creator-focused startup sector experienced a significant slowdown in venture capital investment, dropping from 42 rounds worth $336 million in Q2 to just 19 rounds worth $110.2 million in Q3. As Nate O’Brien of Roadrunner VC aptly put it, "The creator bubble is popping." The decline was largely due to the return to normalcy post-COVID and the e-commerce boom slowing down, according to Coventure partner Brian Harwitt. More Here

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📢 Top AI News

Ex-Meta Researchers Have Raised $40 Million From Lux Capital For An AI Biotech Startup: Former Meta AI researchers have launched a startup, EvolutionaryScale, to advance AI in biology, specifically in predicting protein structures - a key component in drug development. The team, led by Alexander Rives, has raised $40 million in seed financing led by Lux Capital, valuing the company at $200 million. The startup's AI model, similar to OpenAI's GPT-4 or Google's Bard, is trained on data about protein molecules and has already created a database of 700 million potential 3D structures. More Here

The One Generative AI Risk That No One Is Talking About: The debate over open-source vs proprietary AI is heating up, with industry giants taking sides. Supporters of open-source AI argue it democratizes access to AI tools, encouraging innovation and making it easier for researchers and entrepreneurs to develop new products. However, Wall Street analysts fear it could commoditize AI technology, impacting the value of proprietary models like Microsoft's ChatGPT. More Here 

If AI Is a Gold Rush, Nvidia Is Selling Shovels: In the public consciousness, OpenAI is the obvious winner of the meteoric AI boom. For a runner-up, you might consider Midjourney or Anthropic's Claude, a high-performing competitor to ChatGPT. Whether any of those players will figure out how to effectively monetize that buzz is widely debated. But in the meantime, someone has to supply the hardware to run all that viral generative AI — and for now, that's where the money is. Enter the Nvidia Corporation, a newly trillion dollar company that's making so much dough off its gangbusters AI chips that its revenue has more than doubled from last year, quickly becoming the undisputed backbone of the AI industry. More Here

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📢 Top Startup’s Fundraising News

Zepto becomes India’s first 2023 unicorn with $200 million fresh funding: In a significant turn of events, Indian instant grocery delivery startup Zepto has secured $200 million in a new funding round, valuing the firm at $1.4 billion and making it the first Indian unicorn of the year. Led by StepStone Group, this Series E funding marks the U.S. firm's first direct investment in India, with participation from Goodwater Capital and existing backers. More Here

Cypago, which aims to automate compliance and governance for companies, raises $13M: In 2022, over 40 U.S. states introduced 250 cybersecurity bills, prompting 63% of companies to increase spending on compliance and risk. To help businesses navigate these evolving standards, startups like Cypago are automating cybersecurity processes around governance, risk, and compliance. Cypago, founded by former EY executive Arik Solomon and ex-IDF officer Yahav Peri, has raised $15 million to further develop its AI-powered platform. The solution offers easy implementation, fast adoption, and API-based integrations, aiming to provide full cybersecurity visibility and enforcement. More Here

Luxury Presence, which builds marketing tools for realtors, raises $19.2M: Navigating the challenges of real estate marketing, Luxury Presence, a startup founded by Malte Kramer, is providing innovative solutions to real estate agents, teams, and brokerages. Despite market volatility and the recent slowdown in tech and real estate, Luxury Presence has continued to grow, recently raising $19.2 million in a Series B1 round. More Here

Pi-xcels secures US$1.7M in funding to revolutionise retail transactions with interactive e-receipt technology: In a significant stride towards transforming the retail landscape, Singapore-based tech firm Pi-xcels has successfully raised $1.7M in a Seed funding round led by Wavemaker Partners. The company's innovative Near Field Communication (NFC) technology enables the issuance of interactive digital receipts, eliminating paper waste and providing valuable data-driven insights for retailers. More Here

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Read The Venture Crew’s VC Newsletter 🗞️

• 🪧 Discussion Over Cash Efficiency in SaaS Read Here

• 🗈 How a Convertible Note Converts During Priced Round (e.g- Series A, B) ? Read Here

• 🚀 Decoding Liquidation Preference, Particiaption & Non-Participation Rights? | YC Startup Index Gives 176% Return Read Here

• 🗈 Don’t Waste Time Chasing Investors. Do This Instead Read Here

• 🚀 Making a financial model for your early-stage startup?
   Read Here

• 🗈 Why Brand Building Is So Important For Startups? Read Here

• 🪧Hidden Trap Of Convertible Note and Liquidation Preference Multiples Read Here

• 🚀 How to Start A Startup By Paul Graham? Read Here

• 🪧The Secrets Behind Market Sizing! Read Here

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✍️Written By The Venture Crew Team

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