Marc Cohen

Great to see shipshape.vc data in FF News | Fintech Finance. Thank you Hannah Duncan for the shout-out. Early this year we analysed what investors were searching for on shipshape.vc, and what companies seeking capital were looking for. Read more about it 👉 https://lnkd.in/ewXaRpQf #capitalraising #startups #fundraising #founders #venturecapital #investors #vc #vcfunding #technology #startup #tech 

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We had the pleasure of speaking to the inimitable Gordon Sanghera, co-founder and CEO of Oxford Nanopore Technologies, valued at around $6.8bn in 2021. Gordon somewhat accidentally ended up as an entrepreneur, breaking the conventional VC wisdom around 'born founders'. The technology is wild - democratising access to genomic sequencing giving us a new understanding of living organisms. In the episode of Riding Unicorns, we cover: 00:00 Defining Entrepreneurship 00:55 Understanding Oxford Nanopore's Technology 06:10 Gordon's Journey to Founding Oxford Nanopore 12:09 Commercialization Challenges and Strategies 16:27 Building a Strong Founding Team 20:55 Navigating the Ups and Downs of Deep Tech 25:54 Innovative Applications of Nanopore Technology 28:57 Company Culture and Operational Insights 35:05 Attracting Talent in a Competitive Market 37:22 The IPO Experience and Future Outlook https://lnkd.in/eQZVSGeK

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In the value of the venture studio model: interesting short article about how a venture studio built up its activities and how they approached financing. https://lnkd.in/e2iWH52K

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🚀 Investment Criteria and Fundraising Success 🚀 🔍 Techstar’s Marting Schilling delved into the success of 58 companies in the Tech Start DeepTech Berlin portfolio (2022-2024), analyzing 17 investment criteria to identify the strongest signals for early-stage fundraising success. 💡 💰 Top Indicators of Success: Monetisation Potential (0.61) Domain Expertise (0.59) Speed of Execution (0.57) Market & Timing (0.55) ❌ Least Correlated with Success: Role Clarity (0.12) Team Co-Location (0.08) Number of Cofounders (0.02) 🌟 To attract investors, founders should emphasize the top 4 categories and spend less time optimizing for less impactful factors like role clarity or co-location. While these might have other benefits, they don’t significantly boost fundraising success. 📈 #Investment #Fundraising #Techstars #DeepTech #StartupSuccess #VC #EarlyStage #Monetisation #DomainExpertise #MarketTiming #ExecutionSpeed

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āltitude: 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐞-𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐝 We're excited to learn more about remote work from co-founder Matteo Benedetti from our portfolio company Debtist in our SME Tech Leaders webinar "Scaling your Startup Remotely" 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲: https://lu.ma/mqgwi5p0 When Marc, Ingo, and I started āltitude last year, we did it remotely from Berlin, London, and Zurich, meeting monthly in person. Our team has since expanded to include Torge, our Chief of Staff, and Fernanda, our visiting analyst, currently based in Luxembourg and Munich. Post-pandemic, we believed against the consensus that building a firm apart was possible—we just had to prove it. Remote work naturally sharpens our focus on priorities, which is crucial for any business but also comes with challenges. Here’s how we’ve approached remote work: 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆: We utilise tools like Notion, Asana, Google Docs, Shared Google Calendars and Folk. We also streamline our financial operations by using our own portfolio company cleverlohn for payroll. 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: We hold daily check-ins—morning for strategic decisions and afternoons for operational priorities. If needed, we schedule dedicated calls for deeper discussions on strategic topics. Regular in-person meetings in different cities keep us connected without the overhead of a permanent office. 𝗖𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗧𝗮𝘀𝗸𝘀, 𝗥𝗼𝗹𝗲𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁: Remote work demands trust as you cannot see what people are doing, which we build through clearly defined tasks, deadlines and roles. This clarity ensures that everyone is aligned. 𝗗𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗞𝗣𝗜𝘀: Understanding what outcomes need to be achieved every quarter is key. Especially as we continue fundraising and deploying capital. 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲: Our culture is built on radical candor and transparency, ensuring everyone is working towards the same goals. Open discussions and quick feedback loops allow us to address issues openly. This environment encourages accountability and continuous improvement. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲: We meticulously discuss and document our processes via Loom recordings, google docs or notion so everyone understands how things are done. Regular iteration on these processes helps us stay disciplined and efficient. This is particularly important in a remote setup where discipline is key to consistency. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴: We anticipate predictable workload:, such as attending events (booking travel/meetings) and LP updates, by planning and working ahead of time. This allows us to be proactive rather than reactive, a necessity in remote work where spontaneous problem-solving isn’t as easy. These strategies have enabled us to build and scale our venture capital firm remotely, proving that it’s possible. #scaleup #venturecapital #remotework

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This founder bootstrapped his business to a €2.5 BILLION valuation. Jouk Pleiter is the CEO & Founder of Backbase, a global fintech that’s modernizing software and infrastructure for banks worldwide. Founded in 2003, Backbase was bootstrapped to €200M ARR until they raised a single Private Equity round from Motive Partners in 2022, valuing the company at €2.5B. They have now grown to €300M ARR, work with 150 banks, and continue to expand across the world. In this Fintech Leaders episode, we discuss: - Bootstrapping the company - Why they eventually decided to raise external capital - Successful strategies for selling software to banks - Why company leaders should think in five-year chapters - International expansion - Amsterdam as a tech and fintech hub… lots more!

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✨ Breaking: Bek Ventures Announces New Fund.- Bek Ventures Fund III: Launched in November 2024, Fund III from Bek Ventures focuses on investing in founding teams from Central and Eastern Europe with potential for billion-dollar outcomes. Despite not specifying the exact fund size in the article, it is confirmed to be over €235 million. The fund, which was oversubscribed, primarily invests in technology sectors, from seed to growth-stage startups. https://lnkd.in/dAX6WFEQ Please share to let other #Founders know For the ❤️ of Startups #Fusion42 #Startups #Venturecapital

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Europe's tech market has some catching up to do. #eu #techmarket #technology #techcompanies #marketvalue #financing #growthcapital #scaleups #commercialisation

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I sat down with Rakefet Russak-Aminoach, Managing Partner at Team8, a global Venture-Creation and VC Fund with over $1 billion in AUM, that creates and invests in companies focusing on Fintech, Cybersecurity, Data & AI, and Digital Health. Since launching in 2014, Team8 has built 20 companies and achieved over two billion dollars in exits. Prior to Team8, Rakefet was the CEO of Bank Leumi בנק לאומי, which she drove to become the largest company by market cap in all of Israel. In this Fintech Leaders episode, we discuss: - Team8’s process to incubate and launch massive companies   - Why embedded fintech will drive the future of financial services   - Transforming and building a company’s culture   - How great talent is the most important ingredient behind achieving great results… and a lot more! Full Story -> https://bit.ly/4f6ClsC

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Pleased to share some insights into our latest fund SSV II 🛰 🌌 Following the same strategy as its original SpaceTech-focused venture fund, a top-performing fund for its vintage, SSV II aims to build a portfolio of c.30 companies. The Fund has already made nine investments. The 9 companies currently making up the SSV II portfolio are: 💫 Hubble Network – Internet of Things satellite constellation for connecting directly to billions of Bluetooth-enabled devices Delos Insurance Solutions – Space data-powered wildfire home insurance provider ATMOS Space Cargo – Space cargo return service for life sciences Auriga Space – Novel electromagnetic launch system Array Labs- 3D satellite imagery on a global scale Privateer Space - constellation of small SATs for in-Space Situational Awareness (SSA) Ubotica Technologies - Live Earth Intelligence (Space: AI) Renoster - Deep Transparency for nature-based carbon projects constellr - Space data-powered high-precision smart farming services Find out more👀 https://lnkd.in/eS_9w7c3

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If you're curious about how we think about Web3 and Fintech investments, and how we evaluate deals in general, please join our upcoming webinar: Register: https://lnkd.in/dbv3Wih2 Ray W. Jack Statza, CFA Alumni Ventures #web3 #blockchain #crypto #venturecapital #VC #startups

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2024 LAVCA Trends in Tech - LAVCA https://buff.ly/4dfL6Qf by @LAVCA sector and country-specific breakdowns, average round sizes across investment stages and the current role of global investors co-investing alongside local fund managers! #rafAIgual #vc #trends #investment #latam

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🚀 Calling all institutional investors who are interested in Pre-seed to Seed stage startups! You might have heard about London’s Largest Demo Day we hosted in April, where we had 100 pre-selected Pre-Seed to Series A stage #startups  #pitching to hundreds of #investors . We managed to gather high-quality startups to pitch on the day with the help of our 40+ investor partners. 🙌 We’re doing it again on the 14th of October and are expanding our investor partner list. This will help us rate the applicants and raise event awareness. In return, each investor partner gets early access to the deal flow and a couple of complimentary tickets for the event! 🎟️ If you’d like to join other investors and support us, please fill in the form (link in the comments). The form also includes more details on the process, expectations, and timeline. 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿: • VCs • CVCs • Family Offices • Angel Syndicates 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲? • 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗦𝗽𝗹𝗶𝘁: Driven mainly by applications and ratings, but we are aiming for full representation in hardtech, deeptech, and fintech. • 𝗣𝘀𝘆𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘁: All applicants will take a psychometric test designed by ETA Technologies to assess their team’s potential for survival. The results will be available to investors post-event. • 𝗦𝗣𝗩 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: We plan to create an SPV to invest in the top 2-3 companies, decided by the investor committee. • 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗡𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴: We will host “The First Money In” pitching event for pre-selected founders who have undergone due diligence. Individual angels can commit up to £100k with a £1k ticket. We hope to have you on board with us. We will be announcing our investor partners next week. 𝗣𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝗺𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 (𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀). Looking forward to your applications! 🚀 Each application will be manually reviewed before it is approved.

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"Is the UK a hard place for DeepTech funding?" I always love answering this question. The UK and Europe is one of the best places for DeepTech funding! 🤘 We have some of the best DeepTech funds based right here in Cambridge with Cambridge Innovation Capital, IQ Capital, Martlet Capital and Amadeus Capital Partners. Last year, The 2023 European DeepTech Report reported the UK was one of the top three countries to receive the most DeepTech funding across Europe seeing a total $3.4 billion raised. 💥 DeepTech is one of the most resilient funding sectors to be in right now. 🚀🚀🚀 Cambridge Future Tech Lucie Polakova #venturebuilding #deeptech #deeptechfunding #cambridge Pic: Talking careers in tech at University of Cambridge 🤘

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Seraphim Space Ventures II (SSV II): Meet the companies 🛰 🌌 Following the same strategy as its original SpaceTech-focused venture fund, a top-performing fund for its vintage, SSV II aims to build a portfolio of c.30 companies. The Fund has already made nine investments aligned with some of our key themes via a warehouse portfolio. Hubble Network – Internet of Things satellite constellation for connecting directly to billions of Bluetooth-enabled devices Delos Insurance Solutions – Space data-powered wildfire home insurance provider ATMOS Space Cargo – Space cargo return service for life sciences Auriga Space – Novel electromagnetic launch system Array Labs - 3D satellite imagery on a global scale Privateer Space - constellation of small SATs for in-Space Situational Awareness (SSA) Ubotica Technologies - Live Earth Intelligence (Space: AI) Renoster - Deep Transparency for nature-based carbon projects constellr - Space data-powered high-precision smart farming services Take a look at our new page to find out more - https://lnkd.in/dau2tw2d

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Another year, another State of European Tech report published by Atomico. https://lnkd.in/gUkXTYEY Europe is going strong - capital invested into startups 2005-2015 is less than capital invested to startups in 2024. This is 10x growth! 🚀 🚀 🚀 If we could continue the pace, imagine what the next decade will bring us... #vc #startups #europe

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Its's a deal flow time! We are about to share the details of 637 start-ups who joined Rare Founders London's largest #demoday 2 weeks ago with all the investors (only verified ones) in our community. If you are a #founder who is #fundraising and want to get more exposure to investors (IT'S FREE) - submit your details following the link in comments. If you are an #investor interested in pre-seed to series A start-ups join our community (link in comments) to get access access to the monthly deal flow. Please tag #investors and #founders who this might be applicable for.

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Out of the $100 billion total in Web3 VC funding, Israel accounts for approximately 4.5%. Given Israel's small population (9.3 million in 2024), Web3 funding in Israel is disproportionately high per capita, which underscores the country's importance in Web3. In this new ecosystem map of the Israeli Web3 sector, you will find over 100 startups categorized into 12 sectors: https://lnkd.in/dUftH4KM #web3 #crypto #blockchain #vc #startups

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🚨 EGYM attracts nearly $200 million in primary funding from L Catterton and Meritech at a valuation of over $1 billion 🚨 I'm excited to announce that EGYM / EGYM | DACH / EGYM Wellpass has recently secured nearly $200 million in primary funding from L Catterton and Meritech Capital, valuing the company at over $1 billion. The fundraise last year with Affinity Partners marked a significant achievement for EGYM: we were profitable, debt-free, and maintained a big chunk of the fundraise in the bank, all while experiencing rapid growth. That meant that we no longer relied on investor funds for survival; instead, we could take the time to focus on building relationships with the best possible investors to support EGYM's mission. Phew 😅 that was quite a relief as a founder, and the next round ended up happening much faster than expected. We are a fitness technology company: In my research, I identified L Catterton as the ideal partner for EGYM on the fitness and health side, given that they are the world's largest fitness investor. For the technology piece, Meritech Capital stood out as the best fit, given its deep understanding of SaaS and its success stories with leading companies like Facebook and Salesforce. Therefore, I started reaching out to both firms with the intent of building a long-term relationship, which has turned into a round of funding. I had the pleasure of meeting Marc Magliacano, a Managing Partner in the L Catterton Flagship Fund, and was impressed by his extensive experience in fitness investing. His deep industry knowledge will be invaluable as he joins our board. On the Meritech side, I was equally impressed by Paul Madera, a co-founder of the firm. His sharp questions and focus on the important elements of our business convinced me that he is the right fit for EGYM. The EGYM team has earned the trust of what I consider to be the best possible investor partners for our mission to get to where we are today, and we are much more capitalized than we were planning. However, this trust now comes with even greater responsibility. Our mission to build the leading global platform at the intersection of fitness and health is not just a business goal but a commitment to driving sustainability into the world's largest market—healthcare. We are 120% dedicated to making it happen and are grateful to our existing investors for their continued support. 👋🏻 Welcome aboard, Marc and Paul. 🚀 Let's go, EGYM team!

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