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Surging homegrown talent and VC spark Italy’s tech renaissance

TechCrunch

However, while many startups exist in cities like Turin, Bologna, Naples and Rome, Milan is generally seen as a bigger ecosystem because of its mercantile culture and a significant share of VC funds. The good news: VC funding in Italy has grown. It has an estimated 67 VC funds, with 18 of them started since 2015. More than 50%?

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Extra Crunch roundup: Build a founding team, choose a VC and recruit your board

TechCrunch

Choosing the right mix of people can impact everything from fundraising to hiring: “Investors often ask founders about their board [because] it says a lot about their character, their judgment and their willingness to be challenged,” he writes. Use discount code ECFriday to save 20% off a one- or two-year subscription. Not today.”.

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Anatomy of an Innovation-friendly School

This is going to be BIG.

I've been thinking a lot about what an innovation-friendly school looks like and have a few thoughts--and it doesn't just mean building labs or creating more flexible IP licensing schemes. More and more startups are getting built without relying on University research--because hard technology is rarely the barrier to innovation these days.

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Deep tech startups in need of funding should consider federal grants

TechCrunch

The VC world is attracted to the low-investment/high-returns model deep tech tends to offer, but it can also be impatient with the time it takes to get there. According to PitchBook, the VC world is also trending toward the megadeal ($100 million+), which doesn’t generally apply to early-stage startups with a handful of employees.

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Free Money for Student Tech Founders

David Teten VC

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.

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Varjo, an early mover in building XR headsets and software for enterprises, taps $40M

TechCrunch

Applications in the metaverse often feel like more of a marketing gimmick than something that a critical mass of consumers would use, let alone pay for. To meet these expectations, both technology that is easy to use and accurate as well as high-quality software and content are needed. “There are great benefits to independence.

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Afriex raises $1.2M seed to scale its payments and remittances platform across Africa

TechCrunch

This is in contrast to better-known platforms like Western Union and Wise that use traditional banking systems. Last year while the startup graduated from YC, it claimed to be processing about $500,000 per month in transaction fees and is used in more than 30 countries. Pan-African VC firm Launch Africa led the seed round.

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