Dinis Guarda

French politics shake the tech landscape 🇫🇷 while... Mistral AI: Paris-based AI startup Mistral has secured €600m in new funding at a €5.8bn valuation. The round was co-led by DST Global and General Catalyst. ZELIQ: Paris-based sales engagement platform Zeliq raised $10m in seed funding. The round was led by Exor Ventures with participation from Resonance. kelvin: Paris-based kelvin, specializing in home energy renovation software, raised €5m. The round was led by Racine, with Seedcamp, Kima Ventures, and Motier Ventures also participating. Macron's tenure saw significant growth in the tech sector with increased funding and support for startups. However, the RN’s policies focus on digital sovereignty and protectionism, potentially impacting global talent and investment flows. 💥 There's a debate on whether the RN's approach can maintain the current momentum and ambition in the French and European tech landscape. Additionally, other countries like Germany and Austria have seen similar election results, indicating that this might not only be the case in France but across Europe, which has already been leaning towards a protectionist stance. #FrenchTech #Startups #AI #Investment #Politics #Innovation #Mistral #LaFrenchTech

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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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Tomorrow I’m lucky to be hosting a panel with three exceptional founders: - Gilles Gaillard - Co-founder of Animaj, raised 100m EUR (in equity and debt) in 2023 to build an AI-powered animation studio that counts 𝗮 stunning 15 billion (!) YouTube views per year. Animaj acquires animation and cartoon franchises to turn them into digital-first content and amplifies their distribution using AI. - Baptiste Jamin - Co-founder of Crisp IM, 42 alumni, also can be called the “King of Bootstrap”. He started building chatbots in 2015, 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗼𝗹. Crisp centralises all customer interactions through live chat, chatbots, and a shared inbox. Today Crisp serves over 600,000 companies without raising any funds. - Vincent SIMON - Co-founder of Relationchips and founder of Simundia. Vincent is a serial entrepreneur & investor who founded a coaching platform that raised over 15m EUR & is currently working on a no-code sales workflow platform. What do they have in common? They started their career as freelancers and worked their way up to become highly successful entrepreneurs. 👉 Join us at Le Wagon tomorrow at 7pm to hear their story. We’ll also host a networking session for you to meet people from our community who are working on projects that might interest you. 🔗Link to register in the comments.

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I hear a lot of hype about #EU's own #blockchain, Europeum which people celebrate by "being the first" on something. But all these celebrations and announcements beg the questions, when was the last time a government created product was popular and widely used by their citizens? When was the last time a private actor did not need to be involved to make things better? Why would Europeum have a better history and future to those products? Especially since its the first of its kind and governments have no one to copy or get inspired by? 🤔 #technology #blockchain #web3

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I couldn’t be prouder to be a Venture Partner at Isomer Capital (aka the best European FoF - at least for me) as we just announced the launch of our pioneering £100m secondaries fund. This fund is dedicated to acquiring stakes from LPs in various VC funds, tapping into a massive and largely unexplored market. 🌟 Key Highlights: - Focused Investment: Primarily targeting stakes in VC funds, with selective investments in private companies. - Robust Funding: Already over 20% funded, thanks to strong support from Nordic family offices and a German foundation. - Market Potential: With a growing number of private tech companies and a VC liquidity crunch, Europe's VC secondaries market is poised for rapid growth. - Track Record: This isn’t Isomer’s first foray into the secondaries market. As a firm we’ve done several secondaries deals with portfolio companies and VC firms, including early-stage VC Seedcamp (in 2021) and mobility giant Bolt (in 2023). - Expert Team: Welcoming the amazing Omolade (Rachel) A., formerly of Coller Capital, as a principal to lead this initiative. 💡 Investment Strategy: - 65-75% of the fund will buy "LP interest" stakes in VC funds. - 15-25% will be directed towards stakes in companies. - Up to 15% reserved for flexible investment opportunities. 📈 Looking Ahead: We're targeting returns of 2-3x, with significant distributions expected in the next 4-7 years. As one of the few players in this space, we're not just participating in the market—we're driving it forward. Read all about it here: https://lnkd.in/dc7sbC3G #VentureCapital #SecondariesFund #EuropeanVC

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Join our masterclass 🚀🚀🚀

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A must read for every founder (and investor) in B2B marketplaces. ⤵️ All credits to Fabrice Grinda + FJ Labs 👏🏽 https://lnkd.in/eB7uGzyH #firstdegree #founders #investors #whyrelationshipsmatter
#alwaysbelearning #sharingknowledge

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To all my network members who are running a #sustainability #startup or know someone with a mission, you folks are the true heroes, and I want to ensure your hard work is recognised not just on #EarthDay, but far beyond. That's why, at ETA Technologies, we're dedicated to contributing to your efforts by assisting those who are actively doing so in securing more funding. As a former VC, I understand the landscape inside and out. Amidst all the complexities, one truth consistently emerges: investors invest in people. This is where ETA comes in. We produce sophisticated and quantitative reports for investors, helping them identify the teams with the greatest potential. Let's change the game for now! Over the next week, all sustainability start-ups can receive a free report from us. This will provide insights into how investors perceive your team and what areas can be improved before you begin #fundraising. And if you've already opened your round, feel free to incorporate it into your outreach.

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Watching VCs start to talk about defence investments, (the way they should be talking about healthcare, education, climate change, etc), simply because it looks very profitable/opportunistic in the short-term fills me with so much cringe. The need for short term wins in EU VC sees topic/conviction hopping every 2-4y. Praying for the moonshot outliers. Fearful of being left behind with en vogue topics. Meanwhile core, painful, (often regulated) societal topics… which have so much need for disruption, well these will simply take too long or are too hard. We really need more VCs with a deeper, conviction driven, longer-term view (and suitable fund cycles / LP expectations) to invest in the massive mid-long term topics that will create the very biggest businesses & positive impact.

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Founders: you should aim to have one of these angels on board, but if that’s not possible, at least find an angel who knows some of these angels. Many of them were in the room at #FoundersAngelsForum in London by Founders Forum Group, a day of insights, discussions, and raising the bar for almost everybody! #AreteIndex

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And this time, it's VIRITECH on the Crowdcube platform. Will I make an #investment? https://lnkd.in/eFvUnmjM Well - again - no :( This is #deeptech. And deeptech requires a few additional considerations. Watch the video to see what I thought at least. But what went wrong is pretty simple. Despite two super reputable and ultra-impressive-sounding founders, I couldn't work out if I could get a return on my investment. Not because my computer/calculator decided to take early retirement—no, no, but because the founders were not transparent with the terms. Yet again - and I urge Crowdcube to advise all projects to consider this - always put the terms of the investment front and center! Be proud of them. Investors should feel it is a privilege to invest in a hot #startup. Sure - in the 'cooling-off' period that happens at the end of each #crowdfund, you get to see the official documents, which will likely detail the terms. But that's only helpful if you already knew you were going to #invest. When you're 'browsing' a #crowdfunding site, the terms should be up front and centre otherwise, like I have just done, the #investor will move on. If I missed it, which I checked again afterwards, then I'm an idiot! But in general, I hope this video helps #founders and investors alike create and review crowdfunding projects. Big love,

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Last month, we at World Fund announced our investment in Faircado. I’ve written a ‘why we invested in’ blogpost, looking at why we led the deal - and what excites me about this startup. Founded by the brilliant Evoléna de Wilde d'Estmael 🌱and Ali Nezamolmaleki, Faircado is an AI-powered browser extension that makes sustainable choices more accessible and mainstream for millions of consumers online. Our collective closets overflow with items we no longer need but that others could use. We need to embrace a circular economy, and Faircado can help us break this ineffective cycle - perpetuated by awful brands like SHEIN - by helping us make better buying decisions online. You can read the full piece here: https://bit.ly/4coXxYy

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Bitcoin vs Memecoins : A traditional investor asked, "What makes Bitcoin different from the rest of all meme coins in crypto ?" A savvy fund manager responded: "Think of Bitcoin as the Louis Vuitton of crypto; rest all Memecoins is just a basic (un-know or less know) bag in crypto" What’s your take on this? Share your views as comments! #CryptoDebate #BitcoinVsMemeCoins #memecoins Coinbase Binance Kraken Digital Asset Exchange Uphold

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🇩🇪 The German economy is weakening, which is also due to the self-imposed austerity measures; harming the whole of Europe. What we need is exactly the opposite, namely an investment plan the likes of which Germany has never seen before: 1,000 billion euros by 2030. This would enable us to create the industry of the future and even help to overcome the climate crisis. My guest article in Capital Magazin: https://lnkd.in/eu5fX4MC (in German)

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📣 Major Update for French Founders and VC Firms! 🚀 Versible eu We have built a full database of all the private funds investing in #Seed, #SeriesA, and #SeriesB across nearly every sector in the #French ecosystem. As part of our mission, we are developing the next generation of venture capital management software. Our goal is to streamline the fundraising process and enhance investor relations for founders and investors throughout Europe. Each of our initiatives aims to shine a spotlight on the hardworking individuals who are shaping the future of the world. Stay tuned for Monday 27th. #Venturecapital #Seed #Lafrenchtech #LegalTech #Agriculture #Mobility #Deeptech #FoodTech #InsurTech #BioTech #HealthTech #Realestate #Web3

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Some good coverage about our #DePIN fund. We see a lot of potential in the intersection of #Crypto+#AI, #mobility, #mapping, wireless networks and digital resources, where DePIN has a competitive advantage in terms of efficiency that translates into better and cheaper services being built for the end consumer. We believe projects having clear demand will win over "build and they will come" approach. Strong #DePIN projects abstract the use of blockchain for end-users and can generate economic moat by balancing token supply and demand much earlier in the token life cycle Coindesk: https://lnkd.in/dJXU7ZAU

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When I founded Hexa (eFounders) with Thibaud Elziere back in 2011, the term Startup Studio hadn't been coined yet; it emerged around 2014. In 2019, #TeamEntrepreneurship was termed to showcase how we operate as a studio amidst the growing number of Studios. At Hexa, we've established 14 core principles, our "Hexa Cheat Sheet," reflecting our values and mission for the next decade. Fueled with Ambition and Driven by Purpose Discover more in the full article & pdf in the first comment.

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https://lnkd.in/epFgH79T You’ve probably read tons of articles about the different rounds of VC funding and all the associated terms, but how often do you come across something that really breaks down the numbers? Ever wondered how to keep track of your startup’s equity as you grow? Dive into our hands-on guide to cap tables, where I break down everything from your first seed round to that exciting exit moment.  By walking you through various scenarios and terms with comprehensive examples and visual aids, I offer a solid foundation for managing equity financing in startups. While real-world cap tables can be intricate, this primer ensures fair ownership and proceeds distribution, helping you maintain investor confidence and support your startup’s long-term growth.Let’s get your cap table game on point!