Equality. 'Ecosystem' #33
A weekly guide on tech news and early stage fundraising. Aiming to open access to the venture industry for less networked founders and junior VCs.
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Hello and welcome back to ‘Ecosystem’, issue #33!
March, Women's History Month. An opportunity to reflect back on past heroes and celebrate the new *female* leaders driving change to build a better future. Ahead of International Women’s Day on 8 March (and the many amazing initiatives organizations within the broader ecosystem have planned!); I’d like to highlight the creative IWD ad campaign by world’s largest flower delivery network, Interflora. When tomorrow, society looks to the florists in search of the best flower arrangements to celebrate the women in their lives, they (we) might see a lot more than beautiful flowers. The campaign visualizes the striking statistics about gender inequality through…well roses. A colorful way to help raise awareness of the issues women still face in striving for gender parity in business and to challenge the status quo by making inequalities visible. Make a statement without saying a word - and you might do that with a Whitney Wolfe Herd inspired bouquet too (my favourite!)
“We cannot change what we are not aware of, and once we are aware, we cannot help but change.” - Sheryl Sandberg, COO, Facebook
Wins for women. Need female role models to look up to? A few lists for you. The ten female pioneers in critical fields like agriculture, finance and technology, changing the landscape of leadership today (The New York Times). Plus nine female trailblazers redefining the world of science (Science Magazine). And to celebrate 8 March, 8 female VCs to watch in 2021 (Forbes). More milestones - Jane Fraser took over as CEO of Citigroup, the third-biggest bank in the U.S, becoming the first woman to run a US megabank(The Wall Street Journal). In addition to that huge achievement, a spotlight on the female leaders in banking and finance who helped pave the way for Fraser’s appointment (The CEO Magazine). Famed former investment banker Mary Meeker’s Bond Capital closed its second fund with $2BN (Techcrunch). Angel investor, former founder and ex top operator (positions held inc Operations Director, Uber and COO at Spotify) Cleo Sham joins Stride.VC as partner.
Thank you for coming back to read ‘Ecosystem’ for yet another week - and for continuing to choose it as your source of information on tech news and fundraising.
“I always find Tzvete's ‘Ecosystem’ newsletter very informative and she manages to always focus on the key snippets of news that I need to read given the plethora of everything out there. Not just the news, I also feel her events touch on the right topics and highlight many topical issues.” - Deepali Nangia, Co-Founder, Alma Angels; Venture Partner, Speedinvest; Atomico Angel 2021, investing in female founders
In light of #IWD, it is an honor to be able to include Deepali’s feedback on the ‘Ecosystem’ newsletter & project. She is going above and beyond in her efforts to level the playing field for female founders and to create more opportunities for female investors to collaborate. It is incredibly hard to choose just one amazing woman to celebrate this IWD but Deepali gets my pick as a leader to watch. Who gets yours?
Wishing you a great week ahead! Until next Sunday! 👋
#EcosystemGiants
Stay tuned for an exciting announcement for female founders :) Insights from the #EcosystemGiants session with Atin Batra (Founder and GP, Twenty Seven Ventures) to be shared next week.
Innovation Ecosystem Updates
Trending. In less than a week in the first month of 2021, one company raised about as much money as what all women will likely raise this year (ref: Robinhood’s new $3.4BN round) via Fortune. A largely unknown Texas software billionaire charged with the biggest tax fraud case in US history (The Wall Street Journal). The US has been hit by a SPAC craze — when will Europe catch up? (Sifted). Twitter’s near ten year dominance as the ‘go-to’ place for news and public discussions under threat with the rise of platforms - Clubhouse, TikTok and the new social media turf war (Bloomberg). Plus welcome to the era of audio creators, the new influencers born out of CH’s meteoric rise. You may still have a chance to claim virtual territory on the buzzy social network - but hurry as the race to become a CH household name is on (and it is fierce!) via Vox. Africa’s population expected to triple by 2100, can the continent industrialize and why humanity’s best bet for eradicating poverty depends on ending it there?
Massive rounds. Have investors been shopping for online grocery startups this week? US-based Grocery delivery service Instacart raises a new round of $265M. Czech online supermarket for groceries Rohlik secures $230M in fresh funding; six weeks after its official launch Flink, the German grocery delivery startup, operating its own 'dark stores' bags $52M in seed funding (Techcrunch). Dutch grocer Crisp raises $36M in fresh capital, planning a UK expansion (UKTN). This week also marked the launch of Dija, a months-old London-based grocery delivery startup; the company disclosed having raised ~ $27M in seed funding in December 2020 (UKTN). While on the topic of food delivery, Deliveroo chooses London for stock market listing and targets a $10BN IPO (Reuters).
More fundraises to note from Europe - Munich-born ‘Flying taxi’ company Volocopter picks up another $241M (Techcrunch). Paris-based second-hand luxury fashion platform Vestiaire Collective bags $216M (Techcrunch). Online events platform Hopin raises $400M (from top US VC firms A16Z and General Catalyst) at a $5.65BN valuation (Sifted). And another investment led by A16Z (Crypto) - a $26M round in Eco, a digital wallet for saving and spending, replacing checking accounts, credit cards. The startup currently has a waitlist of more than 140K people (PR Newswire).
Acquisitions. Identity management firm Okta to buy smaller rival Auth0 in a $6.5BN deal (Reuters). Fintech Square acquires a $297M stake in Jay-Z’s streaming service TIDAL (Fortune). Popular weather forecaster iOS app Weather Line acquired by an unnamed buyer and removed from the App Store with immediate effect (MacRumors). Fortnite-maker Epic Games buys Tonic Games Group (the developer of hit pandemic video game ‘Fall Guys’) for an undisclosed amount (The Verge).
Sustainability. New funds launch to support purpose-driven innovation - The Conduit EIS Impact Fund, managed by UK’s most prolific Social Impact VC (according to Beauhurst) Ascension Ventures in collaboration with Conduit Capital. The Fund will target a portfolio of 8-10 Seed to Series A investments across four impact themes: Climate, Health and Wellbeing, Education and Financial Inclusion and Economic Opportunity. And Motion Ventures, launched by Rainmaking with the backing from the Singaporean government (Techcrunch). The Fund will invest in tech businesses reshaping the maritime industry. Plus An open source database of the world’s impact venture capital funds. From seaweed packaging to self-driving robot delivery cars, the food industry is changing - what are the four trends driving the transformation? (Business Insider). Butterflies are vanishing out West - scientists say climate change is to blame (The Washington Post).
Funder
“Pop culture expressed through media and social networks are fascinating social constructs. In my 25+ years of investing, I have taken a great liking to the media space, specifically what shapes culture and gets people talking. In today’s fast-moving, dynamic media landscape, a number of interesting cultural phenomena are born and amplified, but one platform has recently taken things to the next level: TikTok.”
Pär-Jörgen Pärson (General Partner, Northzone) looks into the features making TikTok ‘tick’ and the platform’s keys to success
On pop culture, what are NFTs? *over $300M in NFT sales in the last month* Chris Dixon (General Partner, A16Z) explains; sharing how the blockchain-based digital collectables are changing creator economics
Beezer Clarkson (Managing Director, Sapphire Ventures) shares how she evaluates emerging managers, the best career advice she got as an LP and tips for GPs pitching her for the first time
Founder/ Operator
Following the GameStop Saga, Vlad Tenev (Founder and CEO, Robinhood) reflects on what took place, managing a large-scale crisis as a founder and raising $2.4BN in five days
How to create a two-way knowledge exchange in a community? Katelyn Gillum (Community Success Manager, Commsor) on building a space for members to directly learn from one another
Twitter highlight (s)
Micah Rosenbloom, Partner, Founder Collective
Julie Zhuo, Co-Founder, Inspirit
Startup of the week
America's first climate-positive credit card
Carbon Zero is a credit card that tracks and neutralizes a cardholder’s carbon footprint every time a purchase is made. Upon spending, the startup funds certified sustainability projects that eliminate, reduce, and remove carbon emissions. Get it here (referral) or tweet @ClimateCard to share they were featured in ‘Ecosystem’!
Do reach out to me if working on a product advancing one or more of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. I’m also particularly interested in the Creator Economy - and would love to hear from you if building something in the space.
Startup Go-to Resources
Cap tables, share structures and valuations - Christian Gabriel (Co-founder and CEO, Capdesk) on managing startup equity
The board meeting guide for SaaS startups
How to Prioritize Your Time by YC Partner Adora Cheung
The Community Playbook Cheat Sheet by The Community Fund
A curated collection of investment memos and investor essays - gold!
Building a personal monopoly through writing online - an interview with Jack Butcher(Founder, Visualize Value)
What does data (30,000 data points to be exact!) reveal about billion-dollar startups? Pre-order the book by Ali Tamaseb or see the thread with insights
A visual communication planner : getting from idea to results
The must-read guide for remote teams - frameworks on (a)synchronous meetings and more
The "Eisenhower Box" - how to be more productive and eliminate time wasting activities?Thank you for reading another ‘Ecosystem’ newsletter! What feedback do you have for me (likes/dislikes)? I would greatly appreciate if you share this with contacts (founders, tech operators & investors) who may find the content helpful🖤 Connect with me on Twitter