The VC Stack Makeover: What Today's Funds Need - Webinar
The Seraf Compass
JULY 21, 2025
For an industry built on innovation, our infrastructure has lagged behind.
financing VC venture capital 
Why Seed Rounds Are Growing as Startups Shrink
Tomasz Tunguz
JULY 27, 2025
A decade ago, these smaller rounds formed the backbone of startup financing, comprising over 70% of all seed deals. percentage point drop fundamentally reshaped how startups raise their first institutional capital. VC fundraising dynamics represent the largest driver, accounting for 46% of the decline. in 2015 to 37.5%
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Seraf Toolbox: Portfolio Snapshot Checklist
The Seraf Compass
AUGUST 6, 2025
Jump to navigation home Show Menu Features Deal Flow Portfolio Management LP Portal Solutions Family Offices Venture Capital Funds University Funds Impact Funds Corporate Venture Capital Angel Groups Individual Investors Services Onboarding Managed Data Services Pricing Individual Angels Angel Groups Funds and Family Offices Learn Blog Webinars × (..)
Lioncrest Ventures Launches $100M Equity and Credit Fund Platform for Growth-Stage Tech Startups
American Entrepreneurship
JUNE 19, 2025
Filling a Critical Capital Gap for Growth-Stage Companies Lioncrest Ventures’ multi-strategy platform launches at a pivotal moment, offering alternatives as growth-stage startups face tighter capital markets and limited access to equity and credit financing.
A Startup Financial Playbook: Budgeting, Funding and Risk Management
StartupNation
JULY 17, 2025
Building Business Credit: Your Roadmap to Financing Success Here are some ways to keep your budget in check while still giving your business room to grow. 8 Finance Tips to Manage Side Hustle Cash Flow Cash Flow Management If cash flow dries up, so does your startup. Startup Financ ing: From Traditional Loans to Innovative Solutions 4.
15 Innovative Pitch Deck Designs That Drove Investor Engagement
StartupNation
JUNE 4, 2025
I’ll never forget presenting to a particularly skeptical VC who kept questioning our projections. They could then see for themselves how the AI-powered web scraping solution would affect their finances. It sparked more meaningful conversations and helped investors visualize our potential growth paths.
The Constitution for Your New Fund: Strategy, Culture, Decision-Making, Budget, and Data
David Teten VC
FEBRUARY 17, 2025
At Coolwater Capital , the Y Combinator for VC funds, we assess this as part of our diligence process. If you are launching your own investment management firm, we recommend designing a constitution: a set of documents covering the firms goals, legal obligations, and principles for handling disagreement.
Warnings about investor limitations!
Berkonomics
NOVEMBER 27, 2024
Some businesses just can’t fit within the angel capital or friends and family model for raising funds. Sooner or later, you may need to seek venture capital and accommodate the needs of the venture community in negotiating the terms of an investment.
Snowcap Compute Launches with $23M in Seed Funding to Power the Future of AI, Quantum, and HPC
American Entrepreneurship
JUNE 24, 2025
Playground Global Leads Strategic Investment The seed round was led by Playground Global , a deep tech venture capital firm known for backing disruptive technologies across computing, automation, and biotechnology.
It’s Morning in Venture Capital
Both Sides of the Table
MAY 23, 2012
Many observers of the venture capital industry have questioned whether its best days are behind it. I can’t help feel a bit of rear-view mirror analysis in all of “VC model is broken” bears in our industry. They are, in fact, great news for traditional venture capitalists. This article originally ran on PEHub.
Playing the Long Game in Venture Capital
Both Sides of the Table
MAY 24, 2021
This “overnight success” was first financed in 2004. Of the first four investments I made as a VC in 2009, two have exited and two (Invoca & GumGum) still are independent and likely to produce $billion++ outcomes . The abundance of late-stage capital is good for us all. My first ever investment as a VC was Invoca.
What I Would Look for When Choosing a VC – Knowing What I Know Now?
Both Sides of the Table
JANUARY 22, 2014
Picking a VC is hard. So I thought I’d write about out with what I would look for in a VC knowing what I know now and why. Most VCs are book smart. VCs should be more of a coach than proscriptively telling you what to do. You want a VC who will spar with you but then STFU and let you get on with things.
Is @AngelList Syndicates Really Such a Big Deal?
Both Sides of the Table
SEPTEMBER 29, 2013
If you track the venture capital industry it would be hard to miss the conversation going on this week over AngelList “Syndicates.” My favorite new VC blogger, Hunter Walk, weighed in with some thoughtful comments about how Syndicates might actually pit, “ angel vs. angel.” Bowery Capital).
How to Win Consulting, Board, and Deal Roles with Private Equity and Venture Capital Funds
David Teten VC
JUNE 9, 2021
Would you like to work with private equity and venture capital funds? There are relatively few jobs directly inside private equity and venture capital funds, and those jobs are highly competitive. See How to negotiate a partner role at a VC or private equity firm.) At Versatile VC , we’ve used all these models.
The Venture Capital Diversity Gap and Why It Matters
StartupNation
OCTOBER 4, 2021
Despite the growth in awarded venture capital (VC) funds, a staggering disparity remains between the amount of total VC funds invested in entrepreneurs and the portion of those funds invested in ventures founded and/or led by women—particularly women of color. Acknowledging the VC industry’s diversity gap.
60 Top Women-led Venture Capital Firms
American Entrepreneurship
MARCH 7, 2024
billion of total venture capital. of all VC funds raised in 2022 to 17.2%—seen as part of a decade-long trend. List of 60 Top Women-led Venture Capital Firms The following includes venture funds founded by women or those that have a focus on funding women-founded or gender-mixed startups and early-stage companies.
What Would it Look Like if Elon Musk Pitched a VC Today?
Both Sides of the Table
MAY 30, 2013
His imagination of what is wrong with VC has captured perfectly in satirical format what ails our industry. It is Nikolas Tesla pitching a VC firm. The back-and-forth between Andy & me if anything I hope just raised the issue a bit more about entrepreneur & VC relationships. He knew me then. They are also sad.
How to Find a Job as a VC Scout: Compensation and Which Firms Are Recruiting
David Teten VC
MARCH 1, 2022
The easiest way to work with and for VC funds is to become a part-time scout, getting paid for sourcing investments. How to win consulting, board, operating, and investment roles with private equity and venture capital funds (video). How to find a job as a VC scout. How to get a job in venture capital.
Venture capital funding may have slowed, but VC firms have no problems raising new funds
TechCrunch
JULY 12, 2022
As the market swoons, venture capital firms continue to announce new funds. Haris Khurshid, general partner at Chalo Ventures , launched a $50 million second fund focused on investing in Pakistani startups and a smaller percentage in Latin American startups. Venture capital slowed in Q2 (but it’s evolving).
Nigerian proptech Spleet gets $2.6M led by MaC VC to scale its property management products
TechCrunch
OCTOBER 4, 2022
So instead of going out and raising venture capital, we decided that we were going to bootstrap because we could convince some landlords to list their homes on this platform that we had built and derisk some of their problems.”. million seed funding led by Los Angeles–based early-stage VC firm MaC Venture Capital.
How to Kick Start Your Community’s Startup Scene
Both Sides of the Table
JUNE 8, 2014
Changes in the Software World & in Venture Capital. But notably you had the following changes: Horizontally scalable computing & storage systems, which meant you required less capital up front for hardware. Venture Capital. And then the world changed. Changes in the Startup Ecosystem. We have invested $17.3
From VC to DeFi: 6 Realistic Ways to Fund Your Startup in 2022
StartupNation
JANUARY 6, 2022
Business models are evolving, and the future of finance has never been more promising. Venture capital or VC. They also provide a method of helping new companies find investors before they’re ready for traditional venture capital investment. Venture capital is always an option.
How to Fix a Racially Biased Venture Capital Model and Commit to Diversity in Entrepreneurship
StartupNation
OCTOBER 3, 2021
In the wake of the murder of George Floyd and nationwide protests, venture capital firms are making newfound commitments to invest in, or at least evaluate, potential investments that are led by diverse founders. ” It is important to note in this statement that this is not just a moral imperative, but an economic one, as well.
How DogVacay Literally Saved my Thanksgiving
Both Sides of the Table
DECEMBER 6, 2013
He wanted to work in venture capital and I was new to the industry and in no position to hire anybody. Monitor had a little internal VC group so he got some experience there. More like a temporary VC just to get some experience and of course we’d pay him. I’ll leave the year out. I saw it as win-win.
“Putting adVenture back into Venture Capital!”- Jeshua Soh’s Unique Approach to Investing
AsiaTechDaily
NOVEMBER 16, 2023
Invest only what you are willing to lose completely; don’t double down on failing companies Fundraising Strategies for Founders: Balancing Need and Needy Energy Jeshua challenges the very decision to start fundraising, cautioning that not all businesses need venture capital.
7 Creative Financing Options for New Businesses and Startups
StartupNation
AUGUST 8, 2021
But financing isn’t always easy — especially if you’re the proud founder of a brand new business. You still have plenty of creative financing options to fund your business. You’ll need to think outside the box, but you’re bound to come across your “aha” financing moment in this article. Bootstrapping.
Moonshots, Momentum, and Legislative Tailwinds Beyond Silicon Valley
Revolution
MAY 11, 2023
Our findings confirmed a significant shift away from the traditional tech hubs of the Bay Area, New York City, and Boston, with the proportion of seed- and early-stage VC dollars funneling into the Bay Area falling below 30% for the first time in more than a decade. Galileo did it first in 1609, and we’re doing it again now.”
Pachamama Ventures’ Karen Sheffield On The Journey From Operator to VC Investor
Jason Malki
MARCH 9, 2023
I had the pleasure of interviewing Karen Sheffield, the Founder & Managing Partner of Pachamama Ventures, a venture capital firm investing in US early-stage climate tech companies. She is also a Finance Director at Visa and has previously worked for PepsiCo and American Airlines. How did you break into tech investing?
Paul Graham and The World Out There
This is going to be BIG.
DECEMBER 28, 2013
However, in this moment, I think one''s career in venture capital depends on changing your perspective. The biggest question I think VC''s face right now is whether or not, in the future, the best founders will look and act like the best founders of the past. Venture Capital & Technology' That''s less than 10%.
Free Money for Student Tech Founders
David Teten VC
JULY 27, 2021
We have collected a wide range of freebies, contests, accelerators, online communities, and VCs designed for student tech founders. I have been researching this both to support Versatile VC ’s portfolio companies and also as part of research for my new book, To University and Beyond: Launch Your Career in High Gear. 1) Your school.
Why Governments Should Invest in Their Diaspora Founders
David Teten VC
AUGUST 30, 2021
I co-wrote this essay with Prabhat Gusain , currently the Chief of Staff at Caffeinated Capital; formerly an intern with Versatile VC ; and a 2021 MBA from UVA Darden. VC firms looking for fundable founders. In a very small number of geographies, there is no shortage of VC funds (NY, CA, Boston, Israel, Beijing).
Why Has Seed Investing Declined? And What Does this Mean for the Future?
Both Sides of the Table
FEBRUARY 12, 2019
Over the past month a colleague ( Chang Xu ) and I sifted through data on the venture capital industry (as we do every year) and made a bunch of calls to VCs and LPs to confirm our hypotheses. why the hell has seed financing declined so much in the past 3 years?? This begs the question … Why Has Seed Investing Stagnated?
Superbank and Genesis Join Forces to Inject $40 Million into Indonesian Startups
AsiaTechDaily
AUGUST 31, 2023
Register Indonesian digital bank Superbank , supported by Grab, Singtel, and Emtek Group, is collaborating with Singapore’s Genesis Alternative Ventures to offer a financing package of $40 million for startups in Indonesia. This initiative will primarily focus on startups in the series B and series C funding stages.
African tech took center stage in 2021
TechCrunch
DECEMBER 30, 2021
Two years ago, the African tech ecosystem saw newfound attention from global players that translated to the continent’s best year of receiving venture capital. Venture capital investment in Africa predicted to reach a record high this year. The European VC also led the pre-seed rounds of Kippa and Edukoya.
5 tips for scaling your green startup during a funding drought
TechCrunch
AUGUST 1, 2022
CB Insights forecasts a roughly 20% drop in total VC investments from Q1 to Q2, leaving ambitious young companies scrambling to fight for scraps. Whether it’s dedicated impact funds or value-based venture capital firms, funders tend to back companies that have demonstrated their ability to scale.
New report examines Africa’s growth in the digital economy and VC investment landscape
TechCrunch
JUNE 8, 2022
The dynamics that play into this forecast, aside from the impact of COVID, include a youthful population (the youngest globally), rising smartphone adoption and internet penetration that has led to a burgeoning tech ecosystem backed by local and international VC dollars. million jobs due to Google’s $1 billion investment in the continent.
Excited to be the Least Stylish Investor in the Most Stylish Company: Backing Bradford and Bezar
This is going to be BIG.
JANUARY 8, 2015
But Fab fell into the trap that many companies who go down the VC route fall into--too much money, too soon, and growing too fast. Small world, it turns out I also knew his husband from the finance world having met him over 10 years ago. Venture Capital & Technology' It was built around his design sense.
Maniv ‘s third Venture Fund focuses on Decarbonization and Digitalization of Transportation
American Entrepreneurship
APRIL 9, 2024
Venture capital firm made an early commitment to mobility, transportation and energy Global venture capital firm Maniv, based in Tel Aviv and NYC, is advancing solutions to climate change via its recently announced early-stage venture fund of $140 million.
Capital is a commodity
TechCrunch
DECEMBER 23, 2021
He leads the group’s venture capital fund, Seedstars International, which invests in seed-stage startups across emerging markets. Even after the unprecedented year that we had in 2020, the VC markets picked up in 2021 and founders raised 157% more capital in the second quarter of 2021 compared to the previous year.
How to Leverage Micro VC Funds to Build an Angel Portfolio
This is going to be BIG.
DECEMBER 3, 2020
The partner at the fund, the VC, gets to do the fun part—the meeting with founders, vetting deals, negotiating, helping, etc. Having a better overall portfolio of venture capital by adding funds into the mix. In fact, that number is probably even more than the average VC fund has the bandwidth to make.
NeuroFlow Closes $7.5M Series A Financing to Advance Behavioral Health Integration and Engagement
Dream It
DECEMBER 19, 2019
million Series A financing round led by San Francisco-based Builders VC. Also participating in the round are Dreamit Ventures , Spring Point Partners, Red & Blue Ventures, and AWT Private Investments. The deal was led by Builders VC partner Mark H Goldstein, who is also the Chairman of the UCSF HealthHub. “In
Google’s Africa Investment Fund makes first investment in Uganda’s SafeBoda
TechCrunch
DECEMBER 16, 2021
Collectively , they have raised over $100 million in venture capital. Fintech startups and those from Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt and South Africa get looked at the most by venture capitalists. The accelerator program has supported more than 80 startups in seed to Series A stages with equity-free mentorship and resources.
Multiplayer fintech, and the muddled world of startup data
TechCrunch
FEBRUARY 13, 2021
This week, I covered Zeta, a new startup working on joint finances for modern couples. Here’s what I learned : The success of Zeta hinges on the idea that people want to share their finances in an ongoing and meaningful way, and that the world of finance is ready to shift from individualism to collectivism earlier and louder.
rali_cap gets backing from global VCs and launches $30M fintech fund for emerging markets
TechCrunch
MAY 5, 2022
Rali_cap , an early-stage venture capital firm focused on emerging markets fintech, has launched a $30 million fund. Last month, the firm, formerly known as Rally Cap Ventures, reached its first close of $20 million (its initial target) before increasing the fund size, signaling a strong LP appetite.
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