A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

JANUARY 19, 2022

Six years ago this month Julie Samuels got together with a group of technology leaders in NYC and we decided to form an industry group for the growing tech sector in NYC. I agreed to co-chair the organization and have been in the chair role since then. We called it Tech:NYC and I first wrote about it here at AVC in March of 2016. Last year, after more than five years at the helm, Julie decided it was time to pass the baton to a new leader and she and I and a group of board members spent the fall

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The Seraf Compass

JANUARY 19, 2022

This profile is the third in a series of interviews highlighting the work of interesting female investors. Liz Leahy is the Founding Partner of Purple Sage Ventures, Board Member of the Columbia Business School Lang Entrepreneurship Center and Chairperson of the Georgetown Angel Investor Network (GAIN).

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StartupNation

JANUARY 19, 2022

The startup life is built on the notion that anyone has the power to make it big with the right idea and a lot of hard work. Technology continues to level the playing field for innovators and creatives, providing new opportunities for ambitious entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs must be able to communicate their stories quickly and effectively to investors and consumers alike.

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TechCrunch

JANUARY 19, 2022

Working remotely has become the norm for a lot of desk-based employees, and there have been a number of tech companies that have seen their business explode in catering to that shift. But today comes news of a different kind of startup called Turing Labs , which is addressing the same challenges, but as they apply to people who work in laboratories.

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Lack of digitalization decreases business competitiveness. To thrive, embracing modern solutions becomes essential. The approach to digitalization often aligns with a company's business model. This shift not only boosts productivity but also automates processes and improves security. The tech market offers a wealth of technologies tailored for management, planning, and forecasting, replacing outdated pen-and-paper methods.

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StartupNation

JANUARY 19, 2022

Are you the one-person show behind a thriving virtual business? If so, you likely handle all of your company’s sales outreach, customer service inquiries, order fulfillment, social media marketing, budgeting … and the list goes on. Are you overwhelmed by all of the daily tasks you need to do to keep your enterprise running smoothly? Would you really like others to take some of your daily duties off your plate?

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StartupNation

JANUARY 19, 2022

As an entrepreneur, you likely have a set monthly budget that consists of all of the overhead costs needed to keep your enterprise running smoothly. For example, your budget may include payroll for employees and freelancers, payments for Internet service and cloud-based project management software, rent for an office space, etc. It is paramount that you stick to this monthly budget in order to maximize your business’s financial health — if you spend way too much money in a month, it can really h

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TechCrunch

JANUARY 19, 2022

Password management platform 1Password has closed a massive $620 million Series C funding round that raises the company’s valuation to $6.8 billion. The investment was led by Iconiq Growth, with participation from Tiger Global, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Backbone Angels and Accel, which led the company’s $200 million Series A and $100 million Series B rounds.

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Impact Hub

JANUARY 19, 2022

When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, the global economy experienced its worst crisis in decades and the Nigerian and Ghanaian economies were not exempt from its negative effects. With businesses closing down and jobs shrinking, may investing in small businesses be the key to economic recovery in these countries? The goal of the New Economy Booster accelerator program was to support the regrowth of the Nigerian and Ghanaian economies by supporting impact-driven ventures and businesses in the key areas

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TechCrunch

JANUARY 19, 2022

Big banks are under a lot of pressure to modernize their services to meet demands of consumers who now view things like mobile apps that identify who and where you are; or instant, on-demand products, as table stakes — consumers that are in turn increasingly looking at neobanks to give them a better level of service when it comes to their money and managing it.

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Outdated or absent analytics won’t cut it in today’s data-driven applications – not for your end users, your development team, or your business. That’s what drove the five companies in this e-book to change their approach to analytics. Download this e-book to learn about the unique problems each company faced and how they achieved huge returns beyond expectation by embedding analytics into applications.

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OurCrowd

JANUARY 19, 2022

Babson Diagnostics, a science-first healthcare technology company, today announced that it has expanded its leadership team with key senior hires who will advance the development and commercialization of its unique blood-testing system that unites innovations in collection, sample handling, and analysis. Read more here. The post [Babson Diagnostics in Business Wire] Babson Diagnostics grows leadership team with key executive hires appeared first on OurCrowd Blog.

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TechCrunch

JANUARY 19, 2022

Wrangle raised $2 million in an oversubscribed pre-seed funding to advance its technology that automates workflows, approvals and tickets so that a company can track work and provide call-to-action tasks within chat platforms like Slack. Bloomberg Beta and Eniac Ventures co-led the investment, with participation from Liquid 2 Ventures, Hustle Fund, TDF Ventures and more than 20 founder angel investors.

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OurCrowd

JANUARY 19, 2022

Two major players in the logistics industry are leading a group of companies investing millions in Phantom Auto, a fast-rising Silicon Valley company that has developed software enabling remote operation of forklifts and other material moving vehicles. Read more here. The post [Phantom Auto in Forbes] Phantom Auto scores millions to produce, sell remote-operated forklifts appeared first on OurCrowd Blog.

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TechCrunch

JANUARY 19, 2022

Prashant Fonseka. Contributor. Share on Twitter. Prashant Fonseka is a partner at Tuesday Capital , where he invests in early-stage technology companies. In nine years as a VC, I have seen many founders misinterpret the standard advice to ask potential investors questions during pitch meetings. Frequently, these questions can derail, distract, and make investors feel defensive.

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CAPTARGET presents a masterclass in M&A deal sourcing. Learn to cast a wide net, embracing seller self-identification. Consistency is the linchpin: keep the origination process steady for a reliable flow of opportunities. Diversify your tactics, employing various tools and vendors. Tech matters! Understand DNS settings, domain authority, and brand presence for optimal outreach.

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OurCrowd

JANUARY 19, 2022

Plenty Unlimited Inc., an indoor, vertical farming technology company that can grow clean produce year round, anywhere in the world, today announced the appointment of Arama Kukutai as Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Kukutai is a seasoned entrepreneur and visionary leader in the agritech industry, currently serving as co-founder and partner at Finistere Ventures, a pioneering venture firm dedicated to identifying and nurturing promising agribusiness and food tech companies.

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TechCrunch

JANUARY 19, 2022

Mantra Health , a digital mental health startup focused on young adults, has raised $22 million in Series A funding led by VMG Partners. The round includes new investors New Market Venture Partners, Elements Health Ventures, 14W and Alumni Ventures. Returning investors include Canaan Partners, Global Founders Capital, Baleon Capital, Western Tech Investments and City Light Capital.

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Entrepreneurs' Organization

JANUARY 19, 2022

Contributed by Robert Young, an EO Nashville member, who is the founder and CEO of Covert Results , a private investigation and security firm. He’s also the founder of Operation Rose , a non-profit focused on solutions to prevent and combat human trafficking. Robert’s sister, Angela Proffitt , is an EO Nashville member who encouraged him to start his own company.

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TechCrunch

JANUARY 19, 2022

In a move rarely made by Western venture capitalists, QED Investors announced today that it has hired an African partner, Gbenga Ajayi. He will focus on Africa investments as part of QED’s international team. Last September, the fintech-focused venture capital firm announced closing $1.05 billion for its oversubscribed seventh fund. TechCrunch reported that Fund VII, made up of a $550 million early-stage fund and a $500 million growth-stage fund, will be used to back “fintech companies primarily

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Think your customers will pay more for data visualizations in your application? Five years ago, they may have. But today, dashboards and visualizations have become table stakes. Turning analytics into a source of revenue means integrating advanced features in unique, hard-to-steal ways. Download this white paper to discover which features will differentiate your application and maximize the ROI of your analytics.

OurCrowd

JANUARY 19, 2022

Morphisec, the world’s leading provider of breach prevention solutions for midsize enterprises, today announced it has been recognized as a Sample Vendor in the recently published Gartner report Emerging Technology: Critical Insights on Moving Target Defense (MTD) for Application Security. Gartner Emerging Technologies and Trends reports highlight the technologies and trends that have the most potential to disrupt a broad cross-section of markets.

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TechCrunch

JANUARY 19, 2022

If there was ever a rubber-meets-road moment for six-year-old app Gale Healthcare Solutions, it’s probably right now. . Gale Healthcare Solutions, founded in 2016, matches nurses with available work shifts. A hospital or clinic posts available shifts, then nurses can peruse opportunities, claim open spots and be paid the same day through the platform.

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OurCrowd

JANUARY 19, 2022

Ordergroove, the leader in Relationship Commerce, announced today that Chemical Guys, the leading lifestyle brand for automotive detailing enthusiasts and professionals, has partnered with Ordergroove to offer a subscription experience for its customers. Since launching its subscription experience, Chemical Guys has grown the program rapidly, with a monthly subscriber conversion rate of 20%, indicating a strong subscription experience.

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TechCrunch

JANUARY 19, 2022

Carry1st , a South African publisher of social games and interactive content across Africa, has raised a $20 million Series A extension led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). This is a16z’s first investment in an Africa-headquartered company (the firm has previously invested in Branch and Zipline, companies with some of its operations in Africa but headquartered in the U.S).

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Advertiser: ZoomInfo

Marketing technology is essential for B2B marketers to stay competitive in a rapidly changing digital landscape — and with 53% of marketers experiencing legacy technology issues and limitations, they’re researching innovations to expand and refine their technology stacks. To help practitioners keep up with the rapidly evolving martech landscape, this special report will discuss: How practitioners are integrating technologies and systems to encourage information-sharing between departments and pr

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OurCrowd

JANUARY 19, 2022

McDonald’s is expanding its test of the plant-based McPlant burger, created as part of its partnership with Beyond Meat. Starting Feb. 14, the fast-food giant will roll out the burger at roughly 600 locations in the San Francisco Bay and Dallas-Fort Worth areas to learn more about consumer demand for the potential menu item. The test began in November with just eight restaurants, so the chain could get a sense of how the change would impact its operations.

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TechCrunch

JANUARY 19, 2022

A few years back there was debate in the tech market concerning the growth of low- and no-code apps and services. A global shortage in developer talent was part of the impetus behind building software that made creating software simpler, but there were some who viewed no- and low-code tools as merely very good ways to create more, newly exciting technical debt.

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OurCrowd

JANUARY 19, 2022

The on-demand pay benefit allows employees access to their earned pay at any time, boosting personal savings and overall financial wellness. Read more here. The post [DailyPay in PR Newswire] Behavior Frontiers partners with DailyPay to support its employees’ financial health appeared first on OurCrowd Blog.

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TechCrunch

JANUARY 19, 2022

Multinationals like Amazon and Alibaba have leveraged logistics infrastructure such as UPS and FedEx to create large businesses. It’s not the same in Africa, where few third-party infrastructure players exist to provide end-to-end logistics to e-commerce companies. PAPS , a Senegal-based logistics and delivery company, is filling this gap in its region by offering customers various logistics services.

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Just by embedding analytics, app owners can charge 24% more for their product. How much value could you add? This framework from Software Pricing Partners explains how application enhancements can extend your product offerings. You’ll learn: How to take a disciplined approach to pricing The three elements of the Packaging Decision Framework Ways to structure your new embedded analytics offering Download the White Paper to learn about How To Package & Price Embedded Analytics.

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