Wiz’s Post

I started my first company in 2007, and we raised $120k for our #PreSeed round. Yes, that "small" amount of money was very real to us and our goals. It enabled us to relocate to LA from Michigan, develop an MVP, meet a multitude of investors and potential clients, and devote 100% of our attention to the company's mission. Although it didn't work out for us in the end, at least we didn't raise $1-2M and take 2 years to discover that the timing for our product was off, and the market wasn't ready for it. Fast forward to today (and the wonder VC years of yesterday), with Pre-Seed rounds exhibiting wild variance in total amounts of capital raised. We observe an influx of capital pouring into Pre-Seed deals, and at times, to the tune of tens of millions for AI and crypto deals. Now that we're clearly in a #venturecapitalrecession (LP commitments are down 68% this year), VCs are becoming exceedingly careful about which deals to invest in and how much capital to commit. Concurrently, valuations have significantly decreased in later rounds, sometimes even to the detriment of founders. Now, more than ever, founders are tasked with building products, acquiring paying customers, articulating their journey to product-market fit, all while discussing potential deals with investors. There are many #exceptionalfounders who simply aren't receiving funding. There are investors who aren't taking risks, companies deserving of funding that are overlooked, and companies that get funded despite being undeserving. Such is life in the entrepreneurial world, where the best storyteller often prevails. In #NewZealand, it is somewhat unusual for investors to partner on deals. Generally, a fund tends to take the ENTIRE round, become the sole director alongside the founders, and then syndicate a portion of capital to angel investors, LPs, and advisors. This often inflates the total amount of capital invested into a round, which can be detrimental to both founders and investors. They might not need the amount of capital they're raising, may not know how to spend it wisely, make numerous mistakes in their early stages, and generally require 2-3 times more time than anticipated to validate the market and refine their products. These are realities we understand as investors. We must decide if the problem is significant enough for us to tackle, and if the founder and team are the right ones to do it. To the crazy ones, the smart ones, the bold ones - I'd like to see the resurgence of the $500k+ pre-seed round, with multiple funds participating, to introduce ideas and products into the market for genuine market testing. For CEO testing. For Co-Founder testing. To iron out the wrinkles and understand the actual product need, to establish a sales engine. As I always say, it only takes one customer to say yes for your entire world to change. You can always raise more capital and pour the proverbial #gasolineonthefire. Hillfarrance Venture Capital | Rob Vickery | Alex Dam

Another week, another Top 10 News Stories compiled for you. Here’s what we got this week: ✅ In Q1 2024, US-listed #privateequity firms expanded assets and anticipated increased deal activity due to stabilized interest rates and inflation, with significant growth in #realassets, #privatewealth, and #privatecredit, PitchBook reports. - https://lnkd.in/dQYBs4hY ✅ In April 2024, eleven companies, primarily in #AI, #Web3, and #e-commerce sectors, joined The Crunchbase Unicorn Board, with notable new unicorns like Xaira Therapeutics and Cognition achieving significant valuations. - https://lnkd.in/dVvX588P ✅ Monroe Capital LLC arranged a senior credit facility to support the refinancing of The Black Tux, a men's formalwear provider, which is an existing portfolio company of TZP Group and Stripes Group. - https://tinyurl.com/329md6 ✅ SLR Business Credit granted a $28 million credit facility to a North American distributor of mobile air compressors, generators, and air tools, backing its growth and focus on energy-efficient products. - https://lnkd.in/daDPYUzV ✅ A trio of #privatecreditlenders will supply a $2.65 billion credit facility for Permira's $6.9 billion acquisition of Squarespace, with Blackstone holding half of the loan and Blue Owl Capital and Ares Management Corporation each taking a quarter, expected to close by Q4 2024. - https://lnkd.in/dZuTj6Dv ✅ TrueBridge Capital Partners has raised $1.6 billion across five investment vehicles, attracting support from various investors, and managing over $7.5 billion in assets, with its latest funds focusing on top-performing venture capital firms, seed investments, mid- to late-stage #technology companies, #venturesecondaries, and blockchain-focused ventures. - https://lnkd.in/dh-bErMR ✅ Accel has raised a $650 million fund to invest in early-stage AI and #cybersecurity startups in Europe and Israel, marking its eighth fund since establishing its London office in 2000. - https://lnkd.in/dcvUA4d6 ✅ Aequum Capital furnished a manufacturing firm with a $5 million revolving credit facility and a $4.3 million term loan, aiding in Main Street Loan refinancing and overcoming operational challenges. - https://lnkd.in/d_C7he3X ✅ First Citizens Bank's Energy Finance division spearheaded financing exceeding $150 million for two Apex Clean Energy battery storage projects in Texas, with both projects set to be operational by the third quarter of 2024. - https://lnkd.in/d2_CmGjn ✅ Private equity firms are increasingly using risky #NAVloans to leverage their investment funds, sparking debate over their short-term benefits versus long-term risks amid a slowdown in dealmaking. - https://lnkd.in/dHnpSu_t Follow us for more updates. — At AXIS Capital Markets, we specialize in global #debtplacement and private market #secondaries for VC- and PE-backed companies.

Vestwell, the leading employer and individual savings platform, has raised its Series D round, totaling $125 million. The large preempted equity financing is a testament to the conviction these investors have in Vestwell’s trajectory and its future; the funding round also firmly establishes Vestwell as one of the biggest US funding success stories of 2023 in the fintech and SaaS sectors. Moreover, as Vestwell was already poised to reach profitability, the new funding allows for further accelerated growth opportunity focus and ensures the company is fully capitalized for the future. Read more: https://lnkd.in/dv2xFEQX Aaron Schumm #funding #fundraising #fintech #finance #FinancialIT

Great event yesterday at IDEALondon with the founders of three fintechs recounting their journeys to fundraising success. Thanks to Karen Rudich from ELEMENTARYb, Pedram Parhizkari, CAIA of Beurzbyte and Ben Schuldenfrei and David Rabee from Factored for sharing their insights with the audience from the Barclays Eagle Labs funding readiness programme. One of the questions we posed was whether they deliberately sought out ‘smart money’, aka investors with deep expertise who can double as advisors. As David explained, the investors who give the best advice don’t always write the biggest checks. It’s often angels who have the most valuable expertise and prove most willing to engage. When asked how they found their investors, everyone had an anecdote to share. Karen underlined that it’s a numbers game, and for certain types of founders – for instance, women and underrepresented founders – the odds are further stacked against them. The key seems to be leaving no stone unturned, attending pitch events, asking for introductions, finding out what an investor’s angle is and tailoring the pitch for each new meeting. Another question that sparked good discussion was around what level of detail investors are looking for. Pedram explained that, particularly at pre-seed, many investors will be less interested in your business plan and financial projections than understanding your team’s background and expertise and why you’re right for this challenge. They’ll also want to understand what exactly you need from them – is it just money or expertise as well? But every investor is different, and others will expect a much deeper dive into metrics like TAM, SAM, customer acquisition costs and the unit economics behind the business. We wrapped up with a question about meeting co-founders. Ben and David go way back, Pedram met his co-founder through a friend, and Karen shared the methodical process she adopted to work out what areas of expertise she needed to complement her own before combing through her contacts. All in all, it was a great discussion – thank you again to the panellists, and to everyone who attended and asked some great questions afterwards. Jonny Clark Denise Elena Androne Natalia Loza Bertany Berty Mounkela Vadim Heritier #startups #seedfunding #preseed #fundraising #fintech #proptech #founders #cofounders #founderstories

In 2021, founders basked in adoration, but now, they’re grappling with the harsh reality of valuation markdowns on the secondary market. The once-prevailing practice of founders selling shares for liquidity has almost disappeared as investors now hold the reins with unprecedented leverage. The case of Johnny Boufarhat, founder of Hopin, exemplifies this shift. When Hopin courted major names like Andreessen Horowitz and Tiger Global, Boufarhat sold nearly $200 million in company shares. Such a move would be implausible today. Presently, founders are content to secure rounds with suitable investors, highlighting the transformed landscape. #venturecapital #vc #privateequity

𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗘 𝗜𝗡𝗩𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗦 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗻. 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲, a holding company, that buys small, profitable businesses with annual revenue of $1 million to $10 million and whose owners are retiring. It has brought employee ownership to more than 80 small businesses in the U.S., which makes Teamshares a kind of investment company. The model allows for each company to become 80% employee owned within 20 years. Thus, Teamshares believes that if a significant portion of a company is owned by its employees, it makes the business more sustainable. Started in January 2021, Teamshares has grown from 4 similar companies. As of July 2023, the startup had over $400 million in revenue. On August 18, the Company announced that it raised $245 million in Series D venture capital. The funding round was led by QED Investors, which focuses its investments on fintech companies. #investment #stockmarket #stockbroker #makemoney #exchange #ipo #join_ipo_deals_and_make_money #atranicapital #momentum #etf #portfolio

Stop scrolling... Announcement time! 🎉 I am proud to announce that NineID has recently secured an additional $1.2 million, successfully concluding our seed round with a total of $2.6 million. We’re going to use this injection of capital to double down on internationalization and product expansion. Want to learn why PSA BDP, Alpro (Danone), A.S. Watson Group and more chose us to optimize their access flows? Check out the link in the comments below the article! 🚀

AngelList, a US-based company, ventures into private equity through the acquisition of fintech startup Nova. AngelList's acquisition of Nova, a startup specializing in investor management software for institutional private funds, marks a strategic move to broaden its offerings. Nova will operate as a business unit under the company and be integrated into the Investor Management suite, aiding the company's expansion into the broader private markets industry. Additionally, Nova's digital subscriptions will be rebranded as AngelList Transact, and its data room and investor portal will now be offered as part of the product lineup. This acquisition enhances the company's position and strengthens its presence in the private equity domain. Click on the link to explore further-https://lnkd.in/gGk6BjGU #fintech #acquisition #investors #digitalbusiness #markets #data #technology #privateequity

OIF team members David Shein Jerry S. Laurence Schwartz ,Geoff Levy AO Isabella Rich David Cohen Oliver Darwin , @Anna Isipov and Keren Dorfan are raising another fund ! Founders from previous investments - including Go1 and Instaclustr have backed OIF Ventures in their $75m raise for another opportunity fund. This fund is focussed on investing in technology businesses that have more than $10 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR). OIF investments include Go1 and Advanced Navigation 🎸It’s previous funds have returned more than 3x to investors in cash, net of all fees, with eight major portfolio companies remaining including Go1, Advanced Navigation, Kasada and Enboarder In 2022 their exit from interclustr gave a 20x return, and in 2021 exited XM Cyber, Eftsure (lookout for that legend Daniel Hareb CA and 50 per cent of Assignar Other OIF investments include funeral industry disruptor Bare online bridging loan fintech Bridgit legal tech software provider Josef and large-scale construction program dashboard Mastt About OIF Ventures The mission at OIF is simple: to partner with exceptional founders, add material value to them and their businesses and to do our best to help them succeed. If they succeed, so too will our investors. They have high-conviction in the power of the founders and they back to build generational teams and businesses that set the standard globally and they strive to be their partner of choice – As long-term partners and investors, they are confident that exceptional founders will continue to launch exceptional businesses and that OIF Ventures will be in their corner every step of the way. Onwards and upwards we say 🚀🧨