Daniel Kennedy

Interesting data and good work from Carta in their inaugural VC fund performance report analyzing benchmarks for more than 1800 funds across six recent vintages - https://lnkd.in/e5R_dhXp Take a look at the pace of investments. As expected, capital deployment has slowed since the 2020 peak, with 2022 funds only using 43% of their capital after 24 months, down from 60% in 2020. This trend seems broadly consistent across private company and fund investing, with GPs and their LPs being more cautious and selective with capital allocation. Raising capital is tough today. Full stop. It's easy to focus on that, but I'd encourage us all to instead consider and focus on what is less talked about - that this cautious approach has created a large amount of available capital aka "dry powder," dedicated and ready to support special founders. The best founders are aware of private market dynamics, which impact the time needed to raise rounds and the milestones they must hit to successfully do that, but their primary focus is always the mission and the customers they serve. They are committed to building products to solve their customers' problems regardless of what us investors think. Building generational companies is never easy, but many have been and will continue to be built in tough markets. I try to take a similar approach in supporting founders. That doesn't mean ignoring market conditions, which can greatly impact my investment decisions and outcomes, but like focused founders, I know it makes more sense to dedicate my limited daily energy to what I can control. That means finding and supporting founders who are transforming or creating markets and doing everything I can to help them win, no matter what the market is doing. I hope to collaborate with many doing the same. Have a great week and see you out there! Note: These thoughts and opinions are solely mine and and mine alone. They do not reflect and are not associated with any company I am part of.

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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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Great analysis by the AGC team on SaaS public company comps. It's worth a look as we recalibrate mid-way through earnings season. The analysis aligns with the broader Nasdaq equity performance, where the Mag 7 (or fab 4 now :-)) have shown more resilience than the rest of the market. #AGC #SaaS #EarningsSeason #Nasdaq #EquityPerformance

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🔋 #TodayinVC - All of the biggest deal announcements in venture capital - July 17th, 2024. Sourced from Litquidity's Exec Sum. 💰 Fundraising Announcements: - Botrista, Inc., a data-driven automated beverage platform, raised a $120M Series C led by JFC (PRN) - OCN (onecarnow.com), a fintech providing financial services for gig workers, raised an $86M round led by Caravela Capital, Collide Capital, and Great North Ventures (PRN) - Healthcare AI startup Huma raised an $80M Series D from AstraZeneca, Hitachi Ventures, and more (EU) - DreamBig Semiconductor Inc., a chiplet platform for AI inference and training, raised a $75M Series B led by Samsung Catalyst Fund and the Sutardja Family (PRN) - Energy transition transaction infrastructure provider LevelTen Energy raised a $65M Series D led by B Capital (FN) - DataCore, an edge data management platform, raised $60M in funding led by Vistara Growth (BW) - Data management startup One Data raised a $36.7M Series B extension led by Vsquared Ventures, Molten Ventures, and HV Capital (EU) - Infinitum, a creator of sustainable air-core motors, extended its Series E with $35M from Marunouchi Innovation Partners and Rice Investment Group (BW) - Vectara, a GenAI product platform, raised a $25M Series A led by FPV Ventures and Race Capital (BW) - Heimdall Power, a startup enabling power grid optimization for utilities, raised a $25M Series B led by Orlen and NRP Zero AS (BW) - Geo-distributed cloud storage startup Cubbit raised a $12.5M round led by LocalGlobe and ETF Partners (EU) - Indian ridesharing startup Namma Yatri raised an $11M pre-Series A led by Blume Ventures and Antler (TC) - Mira, a decentralized infrastructure platform for AI, raised a $9M seed round led by BITKRAFT Ventures and Framework Ventures (PRN)  - itselectric, an EV curbside charging startup, raised a $6.5M seed round led by Failup Ventures and Uber (PRN) Congrats to all - what #startups do you have your eyes on? 👀 Follow @Today in VC for daily #venturecapital news! 📆

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Recently spoke with Assia Grazioli-Venier & Rachel Springate of Muse Capital on the NeuralZen VC🎙️ We discuss the founding story of Muse Capital, their thoughts on what they like to see in founders, Healthcare AI, and more https://lnkd.in/ew6JYAjA

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🚀 Scaling New Heights: Cribl's Strategic Growth 🚀 In a remarkable stride within the competitive market of data infrastructure, San Francisco-based startup Cribl has recently clinched a substantial $319 million in its latest Series E funding. This momentous investment spearheaded by GV (Alphabet’s venture arm) pushes Cribl to a towering valuation of $3.5 billion. 🌟 🔍 Here's Why This Matters for Startups and Small Businesses: 🔹 Innovation and Expansion: Cribl's trajectory illuminates the potent impact of innovative solutions in data management amidst an ever-expanding corporate data environment. 🔹 Significant Growth Potential: With the company boasting an impressive portfolio including 25% of the Fortune 500, the journey reflects significant growth potential and scalability that startups can aspire to. 🔹 Strategic Partnerships: The involvement of heavyweight investors like GV and others underscores the importance of strategic partnerships in accelerating business growth. Key Takeaways: - 🌐 Adapting advanced data solutions is crucial in leveraging the voluminous data generated today. - 📈 Embrace growth by seeking impactful investments and forming strategic partnerships. - 🚀 Aim for scalability by continuously innovating and expanding your solution offerings. Stay updated, engage with current trends, and continuously seek to innovate. The path Cribl is carving out highlights the robust possibilities within tech and data management sectors. For a deeper dive into Cribl’s funding news: https://lnkd.in/gQhmrYUK #DataManagement #StartupGrowth #Innovation This post was generated by an AI. Please contact us for more information.

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Great episode for early stage VC's and capital allocators to check out. https://lnkd.in/ekz7JHJd #vc #fundraising #venturecapital

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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 excited to be leading my third YC demo day fund for the S24 batch! I've been involved with YC since 2015, first going through YC myself, staying closely involved with the community for 7+ years, and culminating in working there as a Visiting Partner, where I invested in over 120 companies and helped them raise over $200M in capital. Over all this time, one thing is clear to me: YC founders are only getting better and better, and YC companies remain the cream of the crop for early stage founders. And it's not because companies come out of YC "fully baked" -- many of the best companies went through Demo Day with no revenue, or even pivoting just a few months afterwards. Yet, over 5% of this batch will likely become unicorns. This batch is appears to be the biggest one since 2021, which will make for the most interesting (and more competitive) cycle in a long time. I have opened this fund up to friends and connections who would like to join me. If you are interested in participating, click the link below for special friends-only terms! https://lnkd.in/eSKEbqQJ

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