Aliya Itzkowitz

Max Welling and Alyn Chad Edwards started work on CuspAI two months ago, and have just secured $30m from a roll call of well-known VCs from Europe and the US. Hoxton led the seed round, with Lightspeed, Basis Set, Northzone, Giant Ventures, FJ labs, Zero Prime Ventures and Tiferes Ventures also participating — plus Google Deepmind operators Mehdi Ghissassi and Dorothy Chou. CuspAI is a search engine for materials. Users can input the properties they want materials to have, and Cusp will generate the chemical composition needed to achieve it. Cusp’s team says its tech can help produce new materials needed for climate technologies, particularly in carbon capture. More: https://lnkd.in/eraB7234

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London has always been the runaway leader for VC funding in UK tech. In 2023, tech companies in the city picked up $12.6bn, according to Dealroom — two-thirds of the total funding for the whole of the UK and more than any other European country. One of the UK’s 10 largest ever raises has been for a startup outside of the capital — Cambridge-based CMR Surgical’s $600m Series D in 2021. So far in 2024, the capital has seen autonomous driving startup Wayve raise $1bn, neobank Monzo pick up $623m across two rounds and fintech Abound bring in £400m. But which London-based startups have VCs got their eyes on at the moment? To find out, Sifted asked VCs from Seedcamp, Episode 1 Ventures, Northzone, Creandum and Atomico to nominate the non-portfolio startups they think could be set for big things. Featuring Kate McGinn, Adam Shuaib, PhD, Deepka Rana, Hanel Baveja and Irina Elena Haivas https://lnkd.in/eK7CeYjh

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France’s political upheaval has led Paris to lose its spot as Europe’s biggest equity market to London, less than two years after winning that title from the UK. Stocks in the country are now collectively worth about $3.13 trillion, narrowly losing out to the UK at $3.18 trillion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s been fueled by volatility linked to President Emmanuel Macron’s shock announcement of a snap election, which sparked a rout that wiped off about $258 billion from the market capitalization of French firms last week.

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The UK Conservative Party’s plans to reduce the number of visas available to migrants each year — should it win the upcoming general election — could damage UK startups’ growth ambitions, say lobby groups, investors and founders. Late last night, the party, which has been in power for 14 years, laid out plans to reduce net migration to the UK if it’s re-elected on July 4. While the Conservatives have not set out precise figures for the cap on visas, the policy has drawn criticism from the UK startup sector, with some concerned that talent shortages could worsen, hamstringing tech companies’ hiring plans. What do you think? Is a migration cap going to harm UK tech? https://lnkd.in/eJxKHxaQ

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Beyond the hype. There has been a lot of buzz around interoperability but we're starting to see real adoption and benefits of workflow automation across sell side, buy side and vendors in capital markets. There is nothing like hearing first hand from those who have been there and done it and can share what worked and more importantly, what didnt! Join us at TradingTech Buy AND Build: The Future of Capital Markets Technology, London - Sept 19th and gain practical insights on the latest interop adoption trends. Panel: Implementing interoperability and low code no code development frameworks Moderator: Reena Raichura, Founder, Finergise Louis Blackburn, Lead Product Designer, Lloyds Colin Duggin, Global Head of Equities Product, TP ICAP Case study: Transforming the equity trader’s workflow with Interoperability Dan Schleifer, President and Co-Founder, Interop.io Dan Green, Group VP - Global Trading, T. Rowe Price Book here (free for financial institutions: https://lnkd.in/dPxNzNgc) #TTSLDN #interoperability #buyandbuild #tradingtech

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ID Bridging has divided the ad-tech community for months. Now, the IAB Tech Lab has introduced specs that should it more transparent to buyers when publishers are ID bridging (a method of identifying users that can link a user in a cookieless environment like Safari with who they are in Chrome). Of course, some on the buy-side feel the specs should declare all ID Bridging fraudulent and publishers aren't thrilled that these changes could impact revenue (if buyers choose to ignore ID briged inventory). With insights from Anthony Katsur, Paul Bannister, Mike O'Sullivan https://lnkd.in/eVSde237

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Striking: Zenobē, a UK climate tech startup, raised £600m from KKR and £270m from Infracapital, bypassing VC entirely. Zenobe captures excess energy from wind farms to stabilize the grid and reduce gas power reliance. This means: Zenobe secured one of 2023's biggest startup fundraises — without any venture capital. #battery #fundraising #venturecapital #energystorage #infrastructure #growthinflection Sifted: https://lnkd.in/g8wF-xA5

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NEWS: Graphcore employees have had the value of their shares wiped, as a “conditional agreement” to sell the company has been reached, sources tell Sifted. One former employee says that CEO and founder Nigel Toon told staff on a team call that Japanese investor SoftBank is the acquirer, confirming previous reporting by The Telegraph newspaper. Four former employees, holding either stock options or restricted stock units (RSUs), tell Sifted they’ve been informed that their shares are now worthless. This is because the expected sale price for the company — reported to be around $500m — equates to less the total amount invested in the company to date (more than $600m), one source explains. It means that only holders of preference shares (likely to be the company’s larger investors) who get any payout from the sale, while employees who hold ordinary shares get nothing. https://lnkd.in/eWYxWvZU

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New: Over the last year, publishers with extensive climate change coverage have shifted how they monetize that reporting. The evolution in strategy has been prompted by a number of factors, including ongoing economic uncertainty and shifting brand attitudes toward advocacy marketing in the wake of the fallout Bud Light and Target experienced last year. In response, many publishers have sought to focus on premium subscriptions, business-to-business audiences, targeted events and campaign results, rather than corporate responsibility messaging. Thanks to Jacquelyn L. Cameron at Axios, Alexis Schwartz at The Guardian, Nico Lauricella and Randy Siegel at Heatmap News and the team at Bloomberg Green for the insights. My latest for ADWEEK: https://lnkd.in/eTe4U6ZX #media #advertising #climatechange

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The #media industry has been struggling since the digital era and VC-led initiatives like BuzzFeed and Vice failed. Yet, betting on independent outlets can reap decent financial rewards. After meeting Harlan Mandel, who runs the Media Development Investment Fund, at the International Journalism Festival in #Perugia, I decided to interview him for the Reuters Breakingviews' podcast The Exchange to discuss how investing in news is vital for our society and can make financial sense. Listen to the interview below and let me know if you have feedback. https://lnkd.in/dJgJusBT

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In my interview with Lucy Sarret for Daily Express I discuss the relationship between UK and #France, and PM Starmer and President Macron after the #elections2024 in both countries, and what the change in the makeup of their Parliaments means for this relationship. I also talk about Starmer's plan to bring UK closer to the EU, and the impact of far-right parties at the EU Parliament on this outlook. Needless to say, a significant gridlock is to be expected on all levels. #elections #politics #EuropeanUnion #Europe #extremism #radicalism #polarization #foreignpolicy #foreignaffairs #diplomacy #geopolitics #military #security #defense #Ukraine #Russia #RuiaUkraine #RusiaUkraineWar #RussiaUkraineCrisis #RussiaUkraineConflict #RussiaInvadedUkraine #RussianAggression #RussianInvasion

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Since Sony-Universal-BMG && AT&T (more accurately State Street, BlackRock and Vanguard) are obviously silencing RFK - We at least need to give this guy an opportunity to debate. He is the only one who can answer questions, which speaks volumes to why certain people are literally raping Americans of our freedom. If the mainstream media no longer supports what the people want then that is even more reason that we need to make this guy go viral, and choose the best option. #presidentialcandidate #bestchoice #potus https://lnkd.in/ebS2j32J

Last year, FT Alphaville wrote a detailed, subjective ranking of sellside research note graphic design. The impact was swift: after a bottom-half ranking, Credit Suisse collapsed within six weeks. Whispers have also reached FT Alphaville that our review (which, let’s be honest, was mainly just grousing about Arial) caused a stir — prompting discussions in some research departments over how to improve the presentation of their output. Which is good, because several of the notes were poorly-designed to the point of actually reducing usability. But we’ve also been plagued by doubts. As most readers know, Chamath Palihapitiya is FTAV’s north star. Rather than being afraid of our own shadows, was it time for us to enter the arena? Was it time for us to try to design the perfect sellside note? In the name of content, yes it was.

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My latest exclusive: For the first time in years, sentiment toward the top 100 asset management brands is getting worse. I spoke to Peregrine Communications co-CEO Josh Cole about why and what firms are doing about it. More in Institutional Investor: https://lnkd.in/edUBvH_Q #assetmanagement #marketing #alternativeinvestments

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Meta reported first-quarter results on Wednesday that beat analysts' estimates, but shares plunged in extended trading on a weaker-than-expected forecast. The company has raised investor expectations due to its improved financial performance in recent quarters, leaving little room for error. The stock is up about 40% this year after almost tripling last year. Revenue increased 27% from $28.65 billion in the same period a year earlier, the fastest rate of expansion for any quarter since 2021. Net income more than doubled to $12.37 billion, or $4.71 per share, from $5.71 billion, or $2.20 per share, a year ago. Meta said it expects sales in the second quarter of $36.5 billion to $39 billion. The midpoint of the range, $37.75 billion, would represent 18% year-over-year growth and is below analysts’ average estimate of $38.3 billion. The company's quarterly call with investors is about to kick off.

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At the recent TOKEN2049 event in Dubai, Polkadot's inventor Dr Gavin Wood announced the Grey Paper to Jam which is seen in some ways as a successor to Polkadot. In the article below I go over his conversation with the Kusamarian and talk about: - What Jam's Grey Paper is all about - Going beyond Polkadot's current constrains by implementing Jam in the future - The advantages of Jam Core - The Exploration of New Economic Models for Polkadot I will soon do a deep dive article on Jam. If you want to receive The Unchained Web's news articles, opinions and other content, then subscribe to the publication! #technology #finance #economics #polkadot #blockchain

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📈 Spotify stock rose as much as 4% in early trading on Monday after the streaming giant announced another round of price hikes for its US subscription plans. 💸 Prices will rise between $1 to $3 beginning in July, the company confirmed in a blog post. 🎧 Spotify boosted the cost of certain subscription plans last summer. It previously hinted at plans to raise prices after last year's various price hikes "had minimal impacts on growth." Check out the full story on Yahoo Finance ⤵ #spotify #music #audio #streaming #money #pricehikes #business

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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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