Consistency. 'Ecosystem' #26
Your weekly guide on tech news and early stage fundraising - democratizing access to the venture capital for less networked founders and junior VCs.
For access to all monthly events, archive or if you would like to support the project, become an annual subscriber⭐
Hello and welcome to issue #26!
We are already halfway through the first month of 2021! A few weeks back most of us took the time to evaluate the year in passing (I may have gone a bit overboard with a lengthy review of 2020, featuring the highlights from the ‘Ecosystem’ project!) and set objectives for the year ahead. There is a lot of value in writing things down (long-term planning or daily to do lists) - you are 42% more likely to achieve your goals if you write them down on a regular basis (studies have shown about 25% of people will drop the New Year's resolutions in about a week).
Kevin Lee (Former Principal at Pear VC)’s Annual Review Template may be one to check out if you are yet to review the past twelve months and set goals for 2021. And then commit to making them a reality.
"The biggest generator of long term results is learning to do things when you don't feel like doing them." - Shane Parrish, Founder, Farnam Street
Did you notice ‘Ecosystem’ arrived in your mailbox later today? Send me your thoughts on what the optimal time to receive it may be. Until next week! 👋
#EcosystemGiants
Tune in for the first #EcosystemGiants session of the year on Tuesday, 19 January at 5pm GMT. Benjamin Erhart (Partner, UVC Partners) will speak about his journey into venture - becoming a partner at one of the top early stage German-based VC firms investing in Industry 4.0 and his experience as an early employee at High-Tech Gründerfonds, helping the firm build a portfolio of > 480 investments. What are the lessons he learned supporting tens of founders from idea to exit? RSVP here to join the conversation
*Many thanks to top Bulgarian VC firm Eleven Ventures, (an organization that had one of the biggest roles in catalyzing the local ecosystem!) for the kind invite to host #EcosystemGiants from their office! Very excited to have more partners join the ‘Ecosystem’ journey to open up access to the venture industry and exchange knowledge. To find out how to get involved in a future initiative, reach out directly.
Innovation Ecosystem Updates
Whether you are an investor, a founder, an operator, a corporate or a friend. The top news stories this week you may find of interest.
Trending. Microsoft, Salesforce and Oracle back plan to develop a digital Covid vaccination passport (CNBC). Women lost more jobs than men in 2020 overall - with all of the 140K jobs lost in the US economy in December ‘20 held by Black and Latina women (CNN). And some are turning to alternatives (social media subscription platform OnlyFans grew from 120K to 90M users last year-date) that may hinder their ability to get a job in the future (The New York Times). SPACs are booming in New York but not in London, why? (Quartz). Yet, global tech investment continues to increase in London - and a near-record year of investment ($10.5BN in 2020), cements its role as Europe’s leading tech hub (City AM)
More data via Sifted 👇
*Are you a 🇬🇧 pre-seed startup?
If you're raising your 1st round of funding, apply to pitch at Debut Sessions (#DSLive2)! The winner will receive a Term Sheet from leading UK seed VC firm Ascension Ventures for a £100,000 SEIS investment. Find out more here.
Sustainability. Belgium-based Astanor Ventures launches Europe’s largest agriculture and food tech fund at $325M (Sifted). And more capital for food tech startups, Delivery Hero launches DX Ventures, a VC fund of €50 million to drive innovation in food, delivery and beyond (EU Startups). Climate50, a new annual ranking will recognise the most impactful climate VC investors worldwide (an initiative by Contrarian Ventures). Swedish impact investor Norrsken Foundation launches 'Y Combinator for impact’, an accelerator for purpose-driven companies with a focus on food tech (Sited).
IPOs and exits. Plaid’s $5.3BN planned sale to Visa is off (CNN); will the fintech go public via a SPAC? (Barrons). Online publishing platform Medium acquires social book reading company Glose; undisclosed amount (The Verge). After $277M IPO, shares of online clothing reseller Poshmark soared 142% on the first day of trading (pushing a valuation of >$7BN) via Forbes.
Big rounds. A busy week for Germany’s startups. Berlin-based digital freight forwarder Sennder raises $160M at a $1BN+ valuation (Tech.eu). Chinese tech giant Tencent backs Frankfurt-headquartered insurtech startup Clark in a €69 million round (Business Insider, see the deck they used). Enterprise performance management platform Jedox raises $100M+ in funding to expand its financial modeling and analytics software to new verticals (Techcrunch). From the UK, Mobility software platform Gett raises $115M; planning a global expansion (UKTN). Online payments firm Checkout.com becomes Europe’s top tech unicorn, with a new $450M round and tripling valuation to $15BN (CNBC). And more fintech news from London, Curve closes a $95m Series C round as it looks to expand into the US (City AM).
Wins for women. Female-led dating and networking app Bumble files to go public (Techcrunch). 👏 Deepali Nangia (Angel investor and Co-Founder, Alma Angels) joins leading early stage VC firm Speedinvest as a venture partner focusing on female founders 👏
Funder
How to approach fundraising and what has changed in the COVID world? Annalise Dragic (Vice President, Sapphire Ventures) shares practical tips for European female founders looking to raise capital - from preparing a plan of attack to pitching VCs remotely
“Tell me your current ARR and your ARR one year ago, and I’ll tell you when you’ll hit $100M in ARR…?”
Christoph Janz (Co-Founder and Partner, Point Nine Capital) looks into persistence and predictability of SaaS growth, analyzing the data from Public SaaS companies and P9 Family SaaS startups
Founder
Is the future of work not working? Sahil Lavingia (Founder, Gumroad) on (re) building a profitable business (growing 85% YoY) after failing to raise venture capital and implementing a work culture of “freedom (not growth!) at all costs”
Biz Stone (Co-Founder, Twitter and Medium) on turning start-ups into billion-dollar businesses, defining a company purpose (personality) and wealth creation (money is an amplifier that doesn't change you but reveals who you truly are) via 20VC
Twitter Highlight (s)
Fred Destin (Founder, Stride.VC)
Elizabeth Yin (Co-Founder and General Partner, Hustle Fund)
Startup of the week
Plant a tree for free everyday, in less than a minute
Treeapp is a platform that enables marketing to directly fund reforestation projects around the world. The trees are funded by eco-conscious organisations who advertise their products and services on the platform. The planting is performed by global NGO partners, who make sure every tree they plant benefits endemic species and local communities. Founded by LBS alumni and have consistently been top ranked in UK app store. Tweet @treeapp_uk to share they were featured in ‘Ecosystem’!
Startup Go-to Resources
A Guide to the Term Sheet at seed stage - what clauses are viewed as the most important (and why) according to byFounders
An extensive collection of resources for product builders and leaders - covering product-market fit, metrics and growth, hiring and more (done by Deepka Rana, Investment Manager, Northzone)
How to develop an effective fundraising deck? Invaluable advice by Vinod Khosla (Founder, Khosla Ventures) to help you pitch the way VCs think
Want to break into VC? A step-by-step guide
A list of 30 podcasts to help you on your entrepreneurial journey
12 lesson from Sequoia's Don Valentine about venture capital and business. Legend.
Top marketing mistakes founders make - and what early stage startups should avoidMarketing and Demand Generation in B2B SaaS - a must listen interview of Vidya Peters(CMO, Marqeta) on Venture Stories