|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
How Limited Partner Scrutiny Has Changed Since 2021
|
|
By Marc Vartabedian, WSJ Pro
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Good day. A record 428 first-time venture funds were raised in the U.S. in 2021, according to analytics firm PitchBook Data. The typical pace of capital deployment means many of the firms behind those funds are now back in the market. They are entering a very different fundraising arena where limited partners, which invest in venture funds, are making more demands before agreeing to invest.
Boston and New York-based 186 Ventures is one such firm. After launching in 2021 with a $37 million pre-seed and seed-focused fund, 186 Ventures is setting out to raise again, targeting a $50 million vehicle to target startup sectors including artificial intelligence and financial technology. LPs are playing a tougher game, co-founder and Managing Partner Giuseppe Stuto said in an interview with WSJ Pro Venture Capital. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
WSJ Pro: How has limited partner scrutiny changed from when you raised your first fund in 2021?
Stuto: LPs, justifiably and understandably, are digging in more. LPs are focusing more on the fundamentals of the VCs they are investing in. I’m seeing more attention on whether you are actually leading rounds. Are founders actually calling you first before others? Why are you the ones seeing these companies before everyone else is? We’re seeing more LPs care about process and discipline and LPs are asking for more case studies of how a VC originated a deal. That includes how a deal was sourced, how we diligence deals and what we saw that was unique and nonobvious.
WSJ Pro: How are you responding to these additional asks from LPs?
Stuto: We’re coming in much more prepared and more proactive since these case studies are top of mind. I recall in 2021, LPs would pry these things out of you and ask those questions. But this time around, because it’s so competitive on the fundraising side of things and because LPs are expecting that much more, we are more vigilant about making sure these thoughts and case studies are top of mind.
See the full interview here.
|
|
|
And now on to the news...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Joaquin Phoenix in the movie ‘Her,’ about a man who falls in love with a voice assistant. The 2013 film inspired OpenAI’s new product. PHOTO: WARNER BROS/EVERETT COLLECTION
|
|
|
|
|
|
OpenAI launches voice assistant. OpenAI unveiled a less expensive version of its flagship artificial-intelligence system that includes a new voice assistant to make it easier to use, as it races other tech companies to roll out products and features to attract users, The Wall Street Journal reports. The new AI model, dubbed GPT-4o, can better digest images and video in addition to text, and can interact with people by voice in real time, said Mira Murati, OpenAI’s chief technology officer, on Monday. People can interrupt the new voice feature while talking to it, unlike current voice assistants, and the model is capable of responding close to instantaneously, the company said.
|
|
|
|
A Famed Car Designer’s Doomed Attempt to Challenge Tesla
|
|
|
Electric-vehicle startup Fisker is winding down its operations, having burned through nearly all its cash and defaulting on a debt agreement that leaves it on the hook to repay around $180 million. Fisker faces an ever tighter timeline to negotiate a rescue package, with a key agreement protecting it from creditors due to expire on May 17, WSJ reports.
-
On Monday, it announced it had raised a few more million dollars, in a convertible debt deal that matures on June 24. Fisker’s collapse would add to the pileup of troubled and failed automotive startups that rode the wave of investor zeal for EVs during the pandemic.
|
|
Investment Advisers Face Customer Vetting Requirements
|
|
|
U.S. regulators took another step on Monday toward bolstering anti-money-laundering safeguards with a proposal to require that certain investment advisers verify identities of their customers, WSJ reports. The proposal, which would extend identification requirements that already exist for broker-dealers and mutual funds, was issued jointly by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
|
|
Colorado Wants to Become U.S.’s Quantum Hub. So Does Chicago.
|
|
|
Colorado is working to become a national hub for quantum computing, WSJ reports. Calling itself the “Mountain West” hub, Colorado along with New Mexico and Wyoming is seeking $70 million in federal funding under the $53 billion Chips Act to support quantum companies, hardware manufacturing and a talent pipeline. If the group gets the federal money, Colorado will match it with a $74 million tax credit from the state government.
-
Colorado’s rival is the “Bloch Tech Hub,” a business, academic and government group that includes the entire state of Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin and is led by the research-focused Chicago Quantum Exchange.
|
|
|
|
WSJ Future of Everything Festival
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Actress Awkwafina, billionaire Ray Dalio and FTC Chair Lina Khan will speak at The Wall Street Journal’s 2024 Future of Everything Festival. ILLUSTRATION: THE WALL STREET JOURNAL; AP, BLOOMBERG NEWS (2), ISTOCK
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Wall Street Journal’s Future of Everything Festival opens Tuesday, featuring top innovators, executives and policymakers weighing in on what lies ahead for the workplace, tech regulation, entertainment, acquisitions, groceries, dating, debt and more. Online access to the festival, which takes place on two stages in New York City, is complimentary for Journal subscribers. Subscribers can register to watch virtually here. The full agenda for the event can be found here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Funds
New York-based 97212 Ventures closed a $20 million fund to invest in Israeli pre-seed and seed startups.
People
Iconiq Growth named former Johnson & Johnson Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Alex Gorsky as a general partner at the firm.
S2G Ventures, an investor focused on sectors including food and agriculture, oceans and energy, appointed Vikram Sharma as operating partner. He was previously at Baird Capital, and served as president of Baird portfolio business Crisp.
|
|
|
|
|
DatologyAI, a Redwood City, Calif.-based automated data curation platform, scored $46 million in Series A funding led by Felicis Ventures.
Aplazo, a Mexico-based omni-channel payment platform, added $70 million in new equity funding led by QED Investors, including a $45 million Series B round.
Pepper, a New York-based e-commerce platform for the food distribution sector, closed a $30 million Series B round. Iconiq Growth led the investment, with Principal Richa Mehta joining the company’s board.
Nfinite Nanotech, a Canada-based sustainable food packaging technology startup, was seeded with a $6.5 million investment led by Collateral Good.
Active Surfaces, a Woburn, Mass.-based flexible solar panel startup, secured $5.6 million in pre-seed financing led by Safar Partners.
Zest Protocol, a bitcoin lending protocol, raised $3.5 million in seed funding led by Draper Associates.
Anthropos, an employee upskill platform based in Switzerland and San Francisco, picked up a $2.7 million investment led by Founderful.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Squarespace said its shareholders will receive $44 a share in cash, a 15% premium to Friday’s closing price. PHOTO: MARK LENNIHAN/ASSOCIATED PRESS
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
