Uplift. 'Ecosystem' #40
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 #40! 40 is quite the number, isn’t it? What is a side project you have worked on for a few weeks? What about for half a year?
Every weekend of mine in the past nine (+) months, has to an extent been dedicated to this newsletter and to growing out the ‘Ecosystem’ project - with the aim to create a resource of real value to the ‘outsiders’ in the VC industry. One that in the long-term will hopefully contribute to making the industry more diverse - in respect to both capital allocators and the teams where funding flows to. Of course (as most of you have probably found out by now!), I do have a strong passion to help more women get into entrepreneurship and ahead in venture. Not because of my experience/seniority in the industry but because I know how important it is to have that someone who can lend you a helping hand, guide you when you are at the very start or even be the person to look up to for inspiration. Or even better, to have the opportunity to be part of a community of like-minded people, who can support each other.
To those who have been reading the newsletter for the past 40+ consecutive weeks, and have become a regular participant in the #EcosystemGiants series, thank you for joining the journey from the start! To the ones who have discovered the project more recently, excited to have you on board - do drop me a line to introduce yourself :) If you want to see ‘Ecosystem’ grow, you may further support it here.
In this newsletter, you will learn:
The story of Romanian unicorn UiPath - and the incredible journey of its founder from communist Bucharest to becoming the first bot billionaire
Dos and don'ts of building a personal brand (in venture)
How to create the perfect headlines in your deck?
Who are the Gen Z women changing the face of VC
See you next week! ☀️
#EcosystemGiants
The topic of breaking into/succeeding in a new industry and building long-term business relationships (in venture and not only!) has been touched upon in previous #EcosystemGiants sessions. Never before though have we had the opportunity to hear from someone who is a real expert in this - and according to many has one of the strongest networks in venture capital. It is an honour to have Soraya Darabi (Co-Founder and General Partner, TMV) join #EcosystemGiants at 8pm CET on Tuesday, 27 April 2021! She is an incredible entrepreneur and investor, and at TMV leads impact investments across the future of work, health-care and education technology. Prior to VC, she worked in media and after this went into entrepreneurship (exited her first startup Foodspotting to OpenTable, then Priceline). Over the years, Soraya has been named one of Fast Company’s “100 Most Creative People in Business”, Inc. Magazine "30 Under 30" (2012), Fortune Magazine’s "40 Under 40: Women to Watch" (2015). Her drive to support diversity in the ecosystem led her to create Transact Global, the fastest-growing community of emerging fund managers in the world, who collectively manage 1 billion+ AUM. We’ll chat about the transition from media to venture capital, raising a first time VC fund and what can we collectively do to bridge the gender gap in VC?
Tune in at 20:00 CET (14:00 EST) on Tuesday 27 April 2021.
Supported by community partners:
FemGems, Kaiku, ParlayMe, Startups Magazine
Have you missed on the previous #EcosystemGiants sessions? Read the highlights from the chats with Elmar Broscheit (Managing Director, Macquarie Capital and angel investor), Laura Thompson (Partner, Sapphire Partners, the LP arm of Sapphire Ventures) and Atin Batra (Founder and GP, Twenty Seven Ventures)
Innovation Ecosystem Updates
Trending. From Bucharest to the moon, UiPath went public in one of the largest US software IPOs in history (and climbed 23% on first day of trading!) via CNBC. How did CEO Daniel Dines become the first bot billionaire here and his path from growing up in communist Romania to building a $30BN+ market cap company here (both profiled by Alex Konrad, Forbes). The German Chamath Palihapitiya? After investing in cannabis, psychedelics* and crypto, billionaire investor Christian Angermayer is eyeing SPACs (Bloomberg). *Investor interest in psychedelic-based medicine has ballooned over the last years - again in Germany, Berlin-based psychedelic drug startup Atai Sciences (backed by Peter Thiel) plans to raise $100M in an IPO (Pitchbook). The battle for podcast dominance is on - Apple launches paid podcast subscriptions, while Facebook announces a new partnership with Spotify, allowing users to listen to music hosted on the music company while browsing through its apps (Techcrunch). EU attempts to set global standards for AI (draft rules include a ban on most surveillance) via Reuters. The new status symbol for the super rich? Trophy trees (WSJ). Journalist legend Steve O'Hear quits TechCrunch to join grocery startup Zapp as VP of Strategy (Sifted). And it’s never too early to monetize on talent - how 9-year-old YouTube millionaire Ryan Kaji is building a kids’ media empire (Fast Company).
Massive rounds. Healthcare insurtech Alan** raises a $220M Series D round at a $1.67BN valuation; becoming France’s newest unicorn (Techcrunch). Another French success story - carpooling platform BlaBlaCar secures $115M to build an all-in-one travel app and fuel expansion outside of Europe; suggesting the next financing round could be an IPO (Sifted). London-based Checkout.com (and Europe’s most valuable fintech!) leads MENA’s largest round - a $100M debt/equity Series A in Saudi Arabian buy now, pay later startup Tamara (Finextra). Out of Amsterdam, Europe’s largest neo-broker Bux (and a Robinhood rival) bags $80M in a round co-led by Prosus Ventures and Tencent (Silicon Canals). Czech-born product management startup Productboard raises $72M in Series C funding led by Tiger Global (and joined by top VC firms Index Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia Capital, and Bessemer Venture Partners) via Silicon Republic. The company plans to open a Dublin office and expand its team by 100+ people (check their open roles if looking to join a rocket ship company!). And Swedish investor Kinnevik makes another bet in the online grocery delivery space as it backs local independent online food retailer MatHem with about ~$18M in the startup’s latest ~$131M+ round (Pitchbook).
Acquisitions. London-based online flower delivery and gifting platform Bloom & Wild buys Dutch rival bloomon for an undisclosed sum (UKTN). DC-based Arcadia acquires Nanogrid, a startup which developed an energy-optimization API (Washington Business Journal). The purchase is the company’s second acquisition within about a month; in a bid to continue expanding its impact in the clean energy sector. Disney-backed content technology company EX.CO snaps video monetization startup Cedato (Techcrunch).
Sustainability. Which country has made the biggest climate commitment? The US, EU and UK leading the race to cut emissions targets among the world’s biggest economies (The Guardian). All about ESG in the real estate industry - how can large corporations best engage with PropTech startups and more about the multi-billion challenge that represents an opportunity of a century (PropTech1 Ventures). From tacos to textile - are mushrooms the next big thing in Foodtech and beyond (Foodhack)? Are you building a startup that can help the European economy transition towards a green and digital future? Apply for the European Social Innovation Competition and win one of three prizes (each €50K). Deadline: 12 May 2021.
Wins for women. Meet Meagan Loyst (Lerer Hippeau), Katherine Wu (Notation Capital) and Gaby Goldberg (Bessemer Venture Partners), the Gen Z women taking a lead to break into the venture-capital boys club (The Washington Post). 👏 Congrats to Romi Savova (Founder and CEO, Pension Bee) for taking her company public this week - online pension management app Pensionbee joined the London Stock Exchange in an IPO that values the business at £365M (AltFi). 👏 Jen Rubio, Co-founder of billion-dollar luggage brand Away, named CEO ahead of potential IPO (Bloomberg). 👏 She takes the role while pregnant (you may have heard about her husband, Slack Co-Founder and CEO, Stewart Butterfield ;)) and uses her voice to normalize similar appointments/promotions. 👏
“It's not lost on me that our board and investors who have nearly $200M invested in this company, encouraged me to take on the CEO role at 8 months pregnant. I know this kind of support is not common in many companies—we need to change that.” - Jen Rubio, Co-Founder and CEO, Away
**See the ‘Funder’ section below for a piece on how Alan’s journey began and why VC firm Partech backed the founding team at pre-seed.
Funder
“There was something prophetic about the vision of JC and Charles, something absurdly clear and surgically precise (pun intended) in how Alan was going to be built and successful.”
Romain Lavault (General Partner, Partech) looks back at how France’s new unicorn, health insurance company, Alan, got started, why it took Partech just 48 hours to commit investing in their €2.5M pre-seed round (no pitch deck, no traction/product and no founder experience in Healthcare or Insurance) and the journey ahead of the team
Soraya Darabi (Co-Founder and GP, TMV) on serendipity in business/life, building self-confidence and developing long-term relationships across industries
“It’s easy to get lost in the chatter on social media, so it is important to ask yourself, ‘What do I want to be known for?’ What you tell people about yourself and your opinions are crucial elements of building your story and your personal brand.”
Beata Klein (Associate, Creandum) gives tips on the what, why, and how of personal branding (in venture)
Founder
Kristo Käärmann (Co-founder and CEO, Wise) on integrating customers as shareholders and future company development
Nikolay Storonsky (Founder and CEO, Revolut) reflects on the transition from IB to becoming a founder, time and team management
Twitter highlight (s)
David Frankel, Partner, Founder Collective
Startup of the week
The easiest way of splitting subscription costs with friends
Slash enables users to create shared virtual cards and save money on Netflix, Spotify, and other subscription services by auto-splitting the cost with groups of (up to 10!) friends. No more password share to access content behind paywalls - and an easier way to manage auto-occurring expenses.
Tweet @joinslashh 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.
Startup Go-to Resources
How to hire an independent board director
Creating effective slide headlines for your deck - a guide by Hustle Fund Co-Founder, Eric Bahn
What is a pre-seed round and how to raise one?
The Three Rules of Freemium by Christoph Janz (Co-Founder and Partner, Point Nine Capital)
All about PR - a launch checklist and the 10 rules of media relations to follow as a founder - as advised by Lightspeed Venture Partners
Top 10 mistakes first-time SaaS founders make - and how to avoid them
50 Best Pitch Deck Examples from YC & 500 Startups
How should a bottom up company think about B2B pricing and packaging? via A16Z
The perfect series A deck - a template by Creandum
Simple yet efficient - the financial plan for Series A fundraise
All about valuations
Not all startups become unicorns. Sahil Lavingia (Founder and CEO, Gumroad) on the failure to build a billion-dollar companyThank 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