Hylton Irons

Prime Coalition has long taken a different tack to climate finance compared to its for-profit brethren. It makes the usual venture-style investments in startups through Azolla Ventures and also helps philanthropists direct their money to climate-related projects that it deems high impact. Trellis Climate follows the latter model with a focus on middle stages, where capital has grown scarce. #climatetech #climateVC #climatefinance

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Fin Capital’s Fintech CEO Pulse Report is out! We surveyed over 50 CEOs and C-suite leaders of private companies from our portfolio and the broader fintech industry during June and July 2024 to get a quick pulse on what’s top of mind for fintech’s leaders. Here are some key takeaways: Optimism in the Air: More than 60% of CEOs reported being bullish or highly bullish on the fintech industry for the second half of 2024. Regulatory Changes on the Horizon: CEOs identified Cryptocurrency, Open Banking, and Buy Now Pay Later as the top three sectors likely to see increased regulation by the end of 2024. CEOs Want Business Development Support: Beyond capital and fundraising, business development support emerged as the top area where CEOs seek investor assistance.For more insights, including comments from my colleagues Ren Riley, Logan Allin, Matthew D. Mann, CFA, and Stephanie Perez, check out the full report here: https://lnkd.in/euHK8-9B

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I’m coming out of June hibernation to talk about two of my favorite things, Moby Dick, and venture capital. Hope y’all enjoy! https://lnkd.in/dCsncPAn #venturecapital #investing #startups

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Kareem Zaki joined Thrive Capital in 2014, where he primarily focuses on healthcare and financial services companies. Forbes recognized Kareem Zaki in their 30 Under 30 Venture Capital list in 2018, highlighting his achievements and impact in the industry. Like every investor, Kareem Zaki focuses on businesses that are expected to grow and have attracted attention due to their decent services or products. Startup leaders will need to attend events or network with Kareem Zaki to get their startup recognized and confirm an investor meeting. Kareem Zaki's investment range lies between €20,000 and €150,000.

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In the world of startups, a fascinating trend is emerging from Y Combinator (YC) cohorts: smaller rounds with higher valuations. Loren Straub of Bowery Capital noticed this shift while engaging with recent YC grads. These startups seek modest investments but aim for hefty post-money valuations, typically around $15 million. This departure from the norm reflects a nuanced understanding of market conditions. YC's stamp of approval holds weight, but founders are recalibrating their strategies. While some outliers like Leya and Yoneda Labs reel in substantial funding, many tread a leaner path, testing the waters with angel investors. Yet, this shift isn't without its complexities. This evolving narrative underscores the dynamic interplay between startup culture and investor sentiment. As the startup ecosystem continues to adapt, one thing remains clear: YC's influence reverberates far beyond Silicon Valley, shaping the contours of innovation. To delve deeper into this captivating narrative, check out the original article on TechCrunch.com 🚀 #StartupInsights #VCtrends #Cre8tiveCapital https://lnkd.in/g5aSS9gX

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⛳ Emerging fund managers pulse check. PitchBook tracks over 10,000 funds that are raising money, with 45% being emerging fund managers (defined as firms with less than 3 funds). Despite a dip in available capital—down to 16% from the pre-pandemic 23%—these managers are finding creative ways to stay competitive, like partnering with larger firms. 💼 Joanna Drake (founder turned investor) shared how "wildly different" it is raising a fund versus for a startup. One key datapoint she shared on the fund side was how little feedback you get along the way (and the years you can wait for it). The “long-winded and challenging process to raise capital” inspired Drake and Ben Black to create RAISE Global, a community for emerging fund managers and the “forward-thinking LPs” who back them. (A decade later, several hundred emerging managers with AUM under $200m are on the platform) They've found the newest emerging managers are more diverse and geographically dispersed than Silicon valley, and more were able to crack the ceiling and raise larger $100m funds (although this is still a small % of the market, requiring partnership with larger funds at the late stage). ▶ And not a hugely surprising datapoint: A lot of action is in the sub $49 million range, where roughly 50% of emerging managers are raising. Theresa Sorrentino Hajer, Head of U.S. venture capital research at Cambridge Associates warns that past success isn't actually a strong indicator on it's own to assess emerging managers. We've had a valuation reset. And newer managers with investments during the 2019-2021 "party days", need to build relevant track record and play to their strengths. A lot of emerging managers are specializing (70% who applied for Raise had a thematic focus), and betting on getting in as early as possible in the startup's lifecycle (Raise: 31% at accelerator/ pre-seed stages, and 47% at seed stage). “Emerging managers have to compete on a different dimension,” Nick Moran from New Stack Ventures. You're no longer just dealing with capital. Emerging VC's need to be as innovative and nimble as the startups they invest in, having a unique thesis and insights. They also play a role at the top of the deal-flow funnel: helping larger firms find promising companies, so finding a thesis, sector or philosophy aligned partner at a larger firm is helpful. Onwards! #EmergingManager #Startups #VC

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Big things on the horizon, we are motivated and blessed to be at the dawn of a new age for the internet. Read more about our journey below or listen to the podcast: https://lnkd.in/eJeNhvVa

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#fundingalert 💼Company: HyLight (YC S23) 💰Funding: €3.7 Million ⚡Round: New Round 👥Investors: Y Combinator, Ring Capital, Kima Ventures, Collaborative Fund, and Marc Tarpenning. HyLight aspires to improve our societies’ ability to withstand the consequences of climate change by focusing on the critical process of observation and inspection for a deeper comprehension of their surroundings. The money will also enable the business to hire additional specialists in a number of domains, including software development, industrialization, mechanical engineering, embedded systems, hydrogen systems, and aviation regulation. Martin Bocken, Myriam Maestroni, Gaspard Martin, Sibylle Behaghel Read more - https://lnkd.in/gybezwAF To share your startup story write us on - contact@startuprise.co.uk #HyLight #climatetech #industrialization #mechanicalengineering #softwaredevelopment #funding #startupnews #fundingnews #news #startuprise

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Pleased to share that Fin Capital’s Fintech CEO Pulse Report is out! Fin Capital surveyed over 50 CEOs and C-suite leaders of private companies from our portfolio and the broader fintech industry during June and July 2024 to get a quick pulse on what’s top of mind for fintech’s leaders. Here are some key takeaways: - Optimism in the Air: More than 60% of CEOs reported being bullish or highly bullish on the fintech industry for the second half of 2024. - Regulatory Changes on the Horizon: CEOs identified Cryptocurrency, Open Banking, and Buy Now Pay Later as the top three sectors likely to see increased regulation by the end of 2024. - Headwinds persist. Despite overall bullishness on fintech, CEOs report a weak IPO environment and flag that macroeconomic volatility, regulation, and high interest rates remain top challenges for their companies. However, with abating inflation, CEO’s believe we could see rate cuts begin in September, which could positively affect asset values and market buoyancy, including the IPO window. For more insights, including comments from Logan Allin, Christian Ostberg, Matthew D. Mann, CFA, and Stephanie Perez, check out the full report here: https://lnkd.in/gK6usfwM

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Summary: The article discusses the current venture firm fundraising market and the success of emerging VC firm A* in raising $315 million for its oversubscribed Fund II. It highlights the firm's focus on early-stage investments and its experienced founding partners. Key takeaways: Venture firms raised $9.3 billion in Q1 and it is unlikely that 2023's record-breaking total of $81.8 billion will be surpassed. A* has been successful in fundraising due to its focus on seed rounds and backing breakout companies in its portfolio. The firm's founding partners have a strong track record and diverse experience in different industries. Counter arguments: The article mentions that emerging managers are feeling the frost in the fundraising market, suggesting that not all emerging VCs may be as successful as A*. While A* has found success in raising institutional investors for Fund II, this may not be the case for all emerging VCs. #venturecapital #vc #fundraising #startups #innovation

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Super helpful article and accompanying doc with a #Startup #Equity Calculator to determine the equity for early hires, thanks to Pear VC head of talent Matt Birnbaum! Thanks for sharing Pejman Nozad! 🙏🏼 You can read more here How to structure startup equity for early hires: https://lnkd.in/ggmpT5-Y Google Doc: https://lnkd.in/gjsvths6

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Ever wonder what the inspiration behind compelling startups is? I’m excited to share the first entry in our portfolio spotlight series: HopSkipDrive. At its core, HopSkipDrive is driven by the mission to create opportunities for all by ensuring equitable access to education through reliable transportation. Of her entrepreneurial journey, Joanna says, “No matter how many obstacles you face, how many people tell you ‘no’, every day is a new opportunity to do better, be courageous, and do what it takes to get a ‘yes.’” You can read the full story at the link in the comments. #entrepreneurship #caretech #schooltransportation

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The second update that I wanted to share was an investment that we've been working on for quite some time. Excited that the announcement has finally gone out. Citi Ventures has invested in Lakera, to build the next-generation of security tools to protect the next-generation of applications (those powered by LLMs). We got to meet David Haber and his co-founders, Matthias Kraft and Mateo Rojas-Carulla, just as the year started and were blown away by their vision of the future. Humans use LLMs today but in the not too distant future LLM-agents will talk to LLM-agents at rapid speed. Lakera's Guard product protects LLM-based applications from malicious prompts (made by bad actors trying to steal data) by inserting a layer of trust where bad prompts are detected and only valid/safe prompts reach your applications. The term in vogue today is an "LLM Firewall". We conducted an exhaustive search of the category and came away believing Lakera had built the most robust and scalable product in the market. Can't wait to get started with the team and work with them on this journey! Matt Carbonara ✅, Vibhor Rastogi, Arvind Purushotham, Blaze O'Byrne, Avi Arnon, Çağla Kaymaz, Olivia Zhang, Max R. Mailman https://lnkd.in/ewMmennJ

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#fundingalert 💼Company: Lamini 💰Funding: $25Million ⚡Round: Seed and Series A 👥Investors: AMD VENTURES, LLC, Andrew Ng, Andrej Karpathy, Bernard Arnault, Pierre Lamond, Sarah Guo, Dylan Field, Lip-Bu Tan, Drew Houston, and Amplify Partners, Lamini, the Enterprise AI platform, makes it possible for software teams within enterprises to develop new LLM capabilities that reduce hallucinations on proprietary data, run their LLMs securely from cloud VPCs to on premise, and scale their infrastructure with model evaluatioins that prioritize ROI and business outcomes over hype. With the additional investment, the team will grow faster and pursue deeper technological optimisations, providing corporations with the large-scale strategic assistance they require. Sharon Zhou, PhD, Gregory Diamos, Saksham Consul, Tamir Kedmi, Sharon Zhou, PhD, Collin Weitzman, James W., Nina W. Read more - https://lnkd.in/gVsR3dRi To share your startup story write us on - contact@startuprise.io #Lamini #AI #hallucinations #infrastructure #corporations #optimisations #technological #funding #fundingnews #news #startupnews #startuprise

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Just touched down in Miami for the VC Platform Summit Here’s what I’m most interesting in discussing with peers (and press!)… - hybrid VC service models & the Dragonfly SLA - platform’s role in the future of fractional work - a16z sizing themselves out of the early stage game (and the opportunity that creates) - the marginalization of crypto founders in the startup vendor ecosystem - the difference between platform in APAC and the US Reply or DM to link up!

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I echo and a firm believer of Laurel Mintz take on Diversity - "Diversity in thought, diversity in boards, diversity in public companies, diversity in all of this is what creates a better culture. It's what creates better outcomes, both financially and emotionally. Ultimately, it's just a better approach to creating a more well-rounded society.” #ImpactInvesting #VentureCapital #PurposeDrivenInvestors

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Let’s talk about exits in fintech. Although recent memory has been defined more by the lack of exits, we wanted to go back and look at the data from the most recent class of fintech exits to provide better context for founders and investors. The big takeaway: fintech as an industry has been defined by relatively consistent, large M&A transactions (approaching 20 per year) at an average value of $403M, and a few IPOs per year (2021 aside) at an average current market cap of $5.1B (as of March 2024). While it’s important to be ambitious and aim for those $1B+ outcomes, we also believe that founders and investors should take advantage of these unique M&A dynamics. For example, fintech represented about 1/3 of the top 100 IT software acquisitions. What does this mean? Practice valuation discipline. As companies approach $300M- $400M in company valuation, they risk (potentially unintentionally) getting cut off from the M&A market. Similarly, valuations over $2B should be for exceptional companies where the underlying fundamentals line up with public comps. The math around valuation can be the difference between a successful exit and one that is underwater. Fintech funds should not rely on IPOs alone to drive returns. This consistent and robust M&A cycle is a compelling aspect of the fintech market, and one where funds can get liquidity earlier for LPs. We expect the M&A path to become even more attractive to lean teams that don’t need to take on much outside capital, can grow efficiently, and achieve an outsized return. Much more is covered in the full report linked in the comments! And thanks to Axios for previewing the data in this Saturday’s newsletter. #venturecapital #fintech

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