Jasper Graf von Hardenberg

5 key takeaways in the VC market from my trip to the UAE 🇦🇪 I recently returned from an engaging trip to the United Arab Emirates, a journey filled with client meetings, strategic partnerships, and groundwork for our upcoming launch in the DIFC. This visit has been nothing short of enlightening, offering a deeper understanding of the burgeoning VC and private equity landscape in the region. Here are my 5 key takeaways: 1. Investor Queries One prevalent question among investors is why seek funding in the UAE when markets like the UK and US are well-established? The answer lies in the unique strategic opportunities the UAE market offers, particularly in bridging Eastern and Western economic corridors. 2. Value to the Region UAE investors are particularly interested in how foreign businesses plan to integrate locally. Questions arise about setting up physical offices, serving regional customers, engaging in local M&A activities, and the broader impact these companies aim to have within the UAE. 3. Investment Dynamics There's a cautious approach among local investors who prefer not to lead investment rounds initially. They often seek reassurance through the presence of a lead investor, reflecting a risk-averse attitude typical of emerging markets. 4. Sustainability and Innovation Post-COP28, there's a noticeable increase in the emphasis on sustainability, supported by new regulations from entities like the Dubai Development Authority to ensure new developments adhere to stringent energy efficiency and sustainability standards. 5. Emerging Trends Alongside sustainability, sectors like AI and FinTech have seen significant interest and growth. These areas are rapidly becoming central to the UAE's economic diversification plans. While the UAE's economy and market are relatively nascent, the rapid development, entrepreneurial spirit, and favorable business regulations are positioning it as a formidable force in the VC and PE arenas. The UAE is not just a place to invest, but a thriving hub for initiating and scaling innovative businesses. As we plan our expansion into this vibrant region, we're excited about partnering with local investors and founders who share our vision for groundbreaking ventures. The UAE's dynamic market is ripe with opportunities, and we are committed to being a part of its growth story. If you’re an investor, entrepreneur, or industry stakeholder interested in the UAE market, I would love to connect and explore potential collaborations. #VCUAE #PrivateEquity #Innovation #Sustainability

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🔔 In today's HealthTech of the Week series, I'm presenting something special. Instead of showing you another exciting startup, I will share an insightful interview with Olivia BLANCHARD, Managing Director at Health Venture Lab (HVL), an international accelerator supported by GE HealthCare. 🔥🔥 🔍 Discover how HVL is empowering startups to redefine healthcare through innovation and technology. Highlights from our conversation include: 🔹HVL’s role in accelerating medical innovations without equity participation. 🔹Benefits for startups include access to a robust international network and strategic development opportunities. 💡 Dive into the full interview to see how HVL is shaping the future of healthcare! The article is available in two language versions. 👉 EN: https://lnkd.in/dvvThsBA 👉 PL: https://lnkd.in/dfGTfyuF Olivia BLANCHARD, Thank you very much for sharing your amazing experience with us! 💙 PS. If you are interested in the HealthTech of the Week series, you can find more interesting materials on my blog! #HealthTech #Innovation #HealthVentureLab #HealthTechOfTheWeek #MedTech #HVL

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If you want to know more about the angel landscape in the MEA region, join us on June 24th (registration in the link). See you there, with Maha Mandour (COREangels MEA) and Ayman El Tanbouly (Exits MENA) #angelinvesting #mea #middleeast #africa #startups #investing

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Welcome to the Korelya Capital family Ifeel - Humanising Growth! Glad to co-lead this $20m Series B investment that will help building a category leading player in the B2B Mental Health industry. What convinced us about this opportunity: - Mental health issues are unfortunately one these massive secular trends that can be heavily supported by tech to address people in genuine need. - ifeel is actually democratising access to mental health for everyone thanks to a unique and scalable value proposition for all stakeholders: -> for patients: 100% coverage (for low-medium-high risk patients and their family) thanks to a broad suite of AI tech solutions, curated specialised therapists, leading to minutes vs weeks to be supported. -> for corporates: affordable solution (in direct or as part of you insurance health package), with a clear ROI case reducing turnover and absenteism while improving your employer brand. -> for insurers: a scalable business development offering to address new corporates needs while keeping control on their books and collecting insights for smart underwriting. - Finally, we are pleased to see the company is already present in 30+ countries including in Asia where we will do our best to support the team. Kudos Amir Kaplan, Martin Villanueva, Gabriele Murrone and the whole Ifeel - Humanising Growth team for building such an inspiring company. Looking forward to working with you! https://lnkd.in/e3mdb5b4

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 MENA startup funding overview: April's major deals amid a decline Turkey and Kenya saw major funding rounds, and Saudi Arabia continued to be a frontrunner in the region thanks to its investment in large-scale funding. Key takeaways: — Funding in MENA declined by 60% year-over-year in Q1 2024. — Turkey and Kenya saw major funding rounds: $65 mln and $47.5 mln with fintech and agriculture projects. — Saudi Arabia remains a frontrunner in the region thanks to its investment in large-scale funding. — The Egyptian government has partnered with Italy to create an AI center in Cairo and launch a GovTech innovation lab to support startup development and digitalize government services. I believe that the decline in funding is a temporary setback and that the region is still poised for significant growth in the coming years. The strong fundamentals of the region, including its young and growing population, increasing internet penetration, and government support for innovation, will continue to attract investors and drive the growth of the startup ecosystem.

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Roosh Ventures is uniquely tailored to suit startup needs 🚀 I was delighted to contribute a piece to Maddyness UK’s #QVCS series recently about what separates Roosh Ventures from the VC pack — from our R&D and operational support to our access to a global network and partners. We have designed a comprehensive support system to address all facets of a startup’s growth. I shared what we look for in entrepreneurs at Roosh Ventures in the article linked below 👇What piece of advice would you give founders?

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A terrific conversation between our own Bill Cilluffo and Alexandra Piedrahita about the venture-backed fintech ecosystem in the UK, France and Germany, trends that we're seeing in B2B business models, and how QED thinks about building relationships with founders that are built to last. Listen to it on your afternoon commute or during your next workout and let me know what you think about Europe's fintech outlook. https://lnkd.in/dqiY37KR

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AGRICOLTURE : PILLAR OF THE ECONOMY AND GUARDIAN OF THE PLANET In the context of global finance, agriculture represents a key sector for market stability, influencing investment dynamics, international trade, and economic policies...

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Here's the MENA VC news you missed out on this week 👇 🇶🇦 Rasmal Ventures , a Doha-based VC firm, has launched its debut $100 million fund to invest in startups in Qatar, MENA, and beyond. Rasmal Innovation Fund I has secured over $30 million in its first close, with backing from various institutions, family offices, and high-net-worth individuals. Claiming to be the first home-grown Qatari VC fund, it is sector-agnostic, focusing on supply chain logistics, climate-tech, fintech, B2B SaaS, and AI. The fund will invest across seed to Series B stages. Alexander Wiedmer | Dr. Shaikha Al-Jabir | Angus Paterson | Soumaya Ben Beya Dridje | Marc Bourland 🤖 UAE-based Polynome has announced a $100 million fund for AI startups, launching in Q1 2025, at the AI Retreat. The fund will invest $500,000 to $5 million in seed to growth-stage startups in technology, AI software, and robotics. CEO Alexander Khanin emphasized their "Founders for Founders" approach and the fund's support for up to 40 companies over five years. 🇪🇬 HSBC Egypt has initiated procedures to launch a $31.5 million fund to invest in SMEs and startups, particularly in the fintech sector. Managed by EFG Holding, the fund is expected to launch in the third quarter of this year. The Suez Canal Bank and other financial institutions are also contributing to the fund, which has received approval from the Central Bank. 🇯🇴 Jordan’s ISSFJO - Innovative Startups and SMEs Fund and SMEs Fund has invested $2 million in VentureSouq Fund II, managed by UAE-based VC firm VentureSouq, to support the Jordanian startup ecosystem, particularly the fintech sector. MOHAMMED ALMUHTASEB | Sonia Gokhale | Maan Eshgi 🇲🇦 The IFC - International Finance Corporation plans to invest up to $4 million in EmergingTech Ventures Fund II (Emtech II), an early-stage Moroccan VC fund targeting an initial close of $40 million. Emtech II will invest in companies operating in Morocco, Tunisia, and Francophone West Africa. Meriem Zairi | Abdelouahid Benlamlih | Sidi Mohammed Zakraoui 🐢 And while you're here, do yourself a favour and sign-up to get more MENA start-up, VC and tech stories, interviews and deep-dives, direct to your inbox twice a week: https://lnkd.in/eVbWNJNp 📥 #mena #startup #vcfunding #uae #jordan #egypt #qatar #morocco

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"Growth at all costs is dead" was a great session at Kickstart Fund's CEO summit led by Mark Newman (who, by the way, came straight to speak at the summit from the airport after being in the Middle East!). My main takeaway from the session was that operating efficiency shouldn't be a season but core to a company's DNA. Focus on building an efficient, profitable business over chasing hypergrowth trends. And a founder should shape a company's operating model based on their personal values, priorities and non-negotiables in life (e.g. being present for family). This shapes how you run the business day-to-day. 

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Slow down in Venture across the board in Emerging Markets! As predicted, VC funding and deal flow continues to decline across the Middle East, Arica and South East Asia. If you haven’t yet had the chance to access MAGNiTT's latest report on Q1 figures, then this article might just be for you: https://lnkd.in/duwpEqf7 My two cents based on MAGNiTT’s data: 1. Venture funding to remain flat until the US FED decreases interest rates (which I don't see happening before Q4 if at all) 2. Dry powder is available as funds make announcements regionally...but raising funds and deploying takes time. Unlikely to translate into active investments before Q4’24-Q1’25 3. Deal activity in SEA and MENA likely to converge at some point in line with global trends (CB Insights 8th consecutive decline in funding globally!) 4. Underdog industries might see some investment with healthcare, and energy, to report increases in YoY deal flow while star industries like FinTech and e-commerce may decline With VC funding looking more and more baron, and a continued focus on early stage over late stage, start up founders will need to remain vigilant and frugal. Interesting to see how Emerging Ecosystems will develop in the coming quarters with seasonal lulls and international interest. You can forecast and benchmark quarterly investment activities across countries and regions using our analytics tool accessible via subscription: https://lnkd.in/d2J6TdYQ #VentureCapital #EmergingMarkets #MENA #InvestmentTrends #Entrepreneurship

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Many have asked me if I am founding an AI startup. And the answer is, yes, kind of, but different. Rana el Kaliouby, Ph.D. and I are starting a venture firm that will invest in AI startups. We are just a few months into this, so it’s very early days and it will be some time before we are ready to deploy capital, but we are moving fast. We are starting Blue Tulip Ventures, a venture firm that will invest in early stage startups building Human Centric AI – AI that is good for you, good for the planet and ethical. So why this move into venture capital? I have worked as an operator in 8 different startups and have been a CMO and head of product for a long time. I am ready to do something different. I like to innovate and build technologies, products, teams, ecosystems, markets. I have always mentored startups and recently also invested as an angel and as Core LP Underscore VC. I have been doing advisory work for BY Venture Partners, one of the awesome investors of Affectiva, and we are now exploring ways Blue Tulip can collaborate with BY and complement their new fund’s core strategy. I realize that as an investor I can build at scale, by backing a lot of startups and supporting them in their growth.  In speaking with Rana about her track record as an investor, it became clear that we wanted to do the same thing and had an opportunity to work together again. We are truly thought partners and complement each other, but above all we are aligned on the future we see for AI. • We believe AI will be transformative and offer massive economic opportunity, but it has to be done right. • We believe AI needs to be in service of humanity, supporting us to be healthier, happier, more productive and connected, enhancing what it means to be human in the age of AI.  • We believe AI can help protect our planet, through food innovation and sustainable food systems, address the impact of climate change and power scientific discovery. • We believe AI needs to be developed and used ethically, ensuring it does not cause harm to humans or the planet, and that it is transparent and safe with proper governance. We have conviction that the answer is human-centric AI. AI that puts people and the planet we live on first.  And, we want to invest in and build diverse teams and ideas, as we fundamentally believe that diversity fosters innovation and mitigates bias and injustice. So why the Blue Tulip? The extraordinary blue tulip is rare and elusive in nature – a unicorn. It signifies creativity and uniqueness. At Blue Tulip Ventures, we invest in hard-to-find early-stage startups that build human-centric #AI, and we celebrate them with the blue tulip because they are unlike anyone else and inspire us. I am excited to embark on another AI adventure with Rana. And, with many others. Success in VC is all about networks and ecosystems. We know we will have so many supporters among you who will join us on this journey. Stay tuned, we will share more as we progress.

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I’m pleased to have contributed to Arianee’s position paper, "From A Production-Based to A Service-Based Economy: The Role of Tokenization in Decoupling Growth." This insightful paper tackles a topic close to my heart. This paper outlines numerous practical strategies for companies to progress on tackling overproduction while creating new economic opportunities. Thank you Arianee, Pierre-Nicolas Hurstel and of course my friend Francois Souchet for the opportunity to collaborate. #circulareconomy #technology #circularbusinessmodels #sustainability

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🎙⚡️ Excited to share Episode 48, our latest podcast with Kareem Saleh, Founder and CEO of FairPlay AI, the world's first Fairness-as-a-Service company backed by leading venture investors Nyca Partners, Fin Capital, TTV Capital. Financial institutions use FairPlay AI’s APIs to embed fairness considerations into their marketing, underwriting, pricing, and collections algorithms as well as to automate their fair lending compliance. 🎧 Listen to the entire episode here: https://lnkd.in/diAJsUk4 🎙⚡️In this insightful conversation, we discuss the challenges and triumphs of building a technology-driven solution to one of today's most pressing issues in financial services. Tune in as we cover Kareem’s journey from growing up in the vibrant and diverse city of Chicago, to helping negotiate the Paris Climate Agreement serving in the Obama Administration, and before diving into AI and machine learning. 🎙⚡️Kareem's story is a compelling blend of personal experience and professional achievement. Background and Early Influences Raised in Chicago by North African immigrant parents, Kareem was deeply influenced by the city's academic and political environment. His early exposure to international events and technology sparked his interest in economic development and civil rights. Early Career and Ventures Kareem's initial foray into technology included working on an AI startup aimed at preemptive search queries. This experience, combined with his work at the U.S. State Department on the Paris Climate Agreement, solidified his belief in AI's potential to drive social change. Commitment to Fair Lending Witnessing his mother's challenges in securing a loan as an immigrant inspired Kareem to address financial disparities. He discovered that many lending models were biased against minorities and women, which motivated him to seek fairer credit underwriting solutions. Founding Fairplay AI Kareem co-founded FairPlay AI to eliminate biases in credit underwriting using advanced algorithmic fairness techniques. A notable success included helping a major mortgage originator increase approval rates for applicants without increasing risk. Vision and Team Building Kareem stresses the importance of a diverse and high-performing team, hiring for potential and fostering trust. His vision for FairPlay AI is to create inclusive financial systems, ensuring fair credit decisions and promoting social progress. I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did! 🙏🏼🎧💡

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Paris-based VC Breega hits first close of $75M Africa fund to back pre-seed and seed startups #paris-based-vc-breega-75m-africa-fund

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Ever wondered how to get more involved in your local startup ecosystem? Look no further! Join Techstars virtually on April 18th to learn from the Early Childhood Authority of Abu Dhabi and Stanley Black & Decker on how they've built resilient, sustainable niche tech ecosystems. This is the perfect opportunity to gain insight and knowledge on how to build a successful startup ecosystem. Register now using the link below! #techstars #ecodev #ecosystem #preseed #startups Link to register: https://lnkd.in/gUuSgvC3

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A great insight for those interested in learning more about our secondaries activities and venture secondaries in Europe generally.

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I was very disappointed when I read this post. It’s an example of a core problem with raising from VCs——bullsh*t criteria filters. It’s lazy and arrogant investing at its finest. 1- Passing because of a “signal”. This is just a weak excuse to not speak with a founder. If there is one thing I’ve learned as an investor, it’s that decks rarely tell the story well. With all the dynamics of early stage company building, relying solely on “minor flags” to pass is just a cheap excuse to not speak with someone. 2- Founder not “paying attention to detail”. Attention to the correct details is important. This type of “detail” is ridiculous. As an outsider, you have no idea what their document management is like. They may have updated the document that very day. You’re getting upset about naming conventions like it means that they can’t possibly build a billion dollar company. It doesn’t matter. 3- Being butt hurt when you realize you weren’t the top of their list. This one makes me laugh the most. What an arrogant stance to take. “Oh, I wasn’t your first call? Go jump off a cliff.” It doesn’t strike people like this that it may have taken months to network their way into the person that he knew so they would get an introduction so this investor would take it seriously? Note, “I was sent a fund deck the other day” means that it was a referral, presumably from someone they know and trust. 4- Fundraising must be tough because you’ve been in market for at least two months. Cut me a break. It’s hard for every company in this environment. Most of the best performing VC investments in history struggled to raise money in their first few rounds. And most of the company who raised huge amounts with no friction end up Hindenberging. This is so lazy and biased. These investors also tend to be logo investors—eg who else is committed to the raise. 5- Saving time by not taking the meeting. A VC cannot possibly take a call with every deck that comes across their desk. However, especially when it comes from a referral, and things sound “pretty good”, give it the benefit of the doubt. Especially when it’s so hard to tell a story to hundreds of investors who all have different expectations for “the perfect deck”. Your obligation to your fund LPs means you turn over every rock. Make the time. Pass it to an analyst to hear the full story. Don’t look for weak excuses like this to pass. If you’ve experienced at fundraising, I’m sure none of this is a surprise to you. Fundraising is extraordinarily difficult. If you’re new to venture fundraising, this is just one example in a sea of irrational behavior exuded by VCs and the analysts that filter deals for them. Buckle up. **Thanks to Alex Dunsdon for sharing this investor screenshot with his network first.

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Corporate Venture Capital has become a crucial component of the global innovation ecosystem. A recent study highlighted that CVC-backed startups tend to innovate at higher rates, with a 29% increase in patent filings over their non-CVC-backed peers Our first session, "Unlocking Innovation and Growth via CVC," promises to provide valuable strategies for leveraging corporate venture capital to foster significant technological advancements and corporate growth. Details below 👇🏻 Absa Group FNB South Africa WeBuyCars Atterbury Property The Shoprite Group of Companies Tiger Brands Ford Motor Company Vodacom MTN Discovery Limited Sanlam Bidvest Bank Limited Woolworths Clicks Group Old Mutual South Africa MultiChoice Group Netcare

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