Michael Klein

The Seraphim Space Accelerator Investor Showcase platform is live! ⚡ 📺 Don’t miss the opportunity to view pitches from the Mission 14 cohort companies, access direct introductions to their teams, explore the new Insights Service, and learn more about applications for Mission 15. → Register here: https://lnkd.in/enXc27Py 💧 Acquora: Tackling the $1 trillion water management market with sustainable solutions for global access. 🌱 Artemis Earth: Scaling biodiversity monitoring with satellites to support ESG goals and sustainable decisions. 📡 Constellation Technologies & Operations: Revolutionising telecom with a satellite broadband constellation for affordable, sustainable internet. 🤖 ROVIAL Space: Advancing orbital assembly and repair with AI-driven robotics. 🌍 FlyPix.AI: Providing Earth insights through satellite and drone imagery via an AI-powered SaaS platform. 🛰️ Planetary Systems AI: Using AI, digital twins, and machine learning to optimise decision-making in planetary operations. 🌐 SARsatX: Delivering customisable, near-real-time Earth observation insights through an integrated SAR-optical satellite network. 🔧 FORG3D: Transforming metal manufacturing with 3D printed forgings for Earth and space applications. 🔋 SPACELIS (NATO DIANA): Innovating ultra-light flexible solar cells for sustainable energy in space exploration. 📶 Tiami Networks: Creating secure, 5G-enabled systems with ISAC capabilities for critical data and communications. Huge thank you to our Accelerator partners for their continuous support throughout the program: European Space Agency - ESA, UK Space Agency, Dentons, Airbus, JSAT INTERNATIONAL, INC., Telespazio, Thales Alenia Space, Leidos, NEC Corporation, Department for Business and Trade Rob Desborough, Alexander Holt, Ellie Gyaurova, Alessandro Braglia, Aida Khalil #SeraphimSpace #SSA #SpaceEconomy #SpaceTech #SSAM14 #InvestInSpace #InvestorShowcase

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Black Book's 2025 survey highlights trends and investment priorities in healthcare IT, based on insights from over 1160 key figures in... #venturecapital #veteranventures

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Today the government announced the launch of a new Regulatory Innovation Office. Am all for innovation and, as you probably will have gathered, really love droning on about regulation... Unfortunately, what's set out in the announcement falls very short of what is required. A serious exercise in regulatory innovation office needs to grapple with some key fundamentals. My check list would be as follows: 💰 How do we close the funding gap that currently has left UK regulators toothless? What is the mix of £ sources that should be considered? Given the massive constraints on public finances, are there ways of making system self-financing (e.g. what role could industry levies play? do fines create perverse incentives or they the most effective deterrent? what about the mixed record of licensing schemes ?) 🦹🏻 How to we ensure that you and I have greater influence over the regulatory system? Are there ways of balancing what is currently pretty much a private sector monopoly over regulatory questions? Would giving civil society a bigger voice ensure that the regulatory system is effective when it come to delivering social and environmental goals? 💡 Where is the evidence that deregulation encourages genuine innovation (of the kind that generates wealth, fixes social and environmental problems and ultimately makes our lives better)? What can we learn from systems that use the parameters of regulation to channel the best minds and enterprises to generate real solutions (not just unleash quick profit / create problems down the line)? Unchecked UK would love to hear from those of you who are keen to engage in that kind of thinking! Aveek Bhattacharya Marcial Boo Matt Bevington Matthew Gill Andy Agathangelou Maia Kirby Marc Stears Harry Quilter-Pinner Marley Morris Hannah Slaughter Luke Raikes Vince Cable https://lnkd.in/e9VtD4aW

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Cambridge Future Tech builds DeepTech ventures and last week we hit another milestone; we're co-founding our 15th venture 🤘 It's awesome building new ventures from the ground up. It's why we started CFT in the first place. It always feels great to be at the start of the build phase, helping founders articulate a new venture’s tech and potential, building a strong narrative. We’re collaborating closely with founders to transform groundbreaking ideas into companies. 🚀🚀🚀 More to come on this. I'm hyped to share what we're building 🤘 #venturebuilder #deeptech #startups #cambridge

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See you there tomorrow? ​"The Network State Conference is for people interested in founding, funding, and finding new communities. This year's speakers include Naval, Vitalik, Bryan Johnson, Raj Gokal, Brian Armstrong, Pieter Levels, Ranveer Allahbadia, Niall Ferguson, and Ayaan Hirsi Ali. ​Topics include startup societies, network states, digital nomadism, competitive government, legalizing innovation, and internet first institutions. Watch presentations by startup society founders from around the world, invest in them, and find the community that fits you." https://lu.ma/ns2024

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Cathie Wood says she invests for a ‘5-year horizon' ... but ARKK has lost ground over that time However, she may not want to check her track record over that time. An investor buying Ark’s flagship ARK Innovation ETF (NYSEARCA:ARKK), which targets game-changing innovation, five years ago would have lost 2.9% of that initial investment. DIA +46.5% SPY +77.8% QQQ +135.6% ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW) +49.8%. ARK Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF (ARKQ) +49.2%. ARK Genomic Revolution ETF (ARKG) -18.9%. ARK Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF) +30.1%. https://lnkd.in/eWp_DEaP

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Big deal report out this week on the fusion energy supply chain. Over $600 million spent by fusion energy companies last year, and projected to grow by 24% this year. Make sure to join the Fusion Industry Association to take part in this booming industry!

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A closer look at why DaaS and Space 🛰 are back on the radar for investors. Learn more in the latest from Thomas Wesseldine on why these sectors are seeing a resurgence.

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It's been a busy week for emerging managers. As we start paying more attention to emerging funds in VC, I'm making it my mission to keep track. Want a more detailed analysis? Click on the link at the bottom of the post. I'll be posting every week. Did I miss your fund launch or close? Comment FEATURE in the comment box and send me a invitation request. 🚀 🇫🇷 & 🇬🇧 Noteus Partners Fund I- launching Former Eurazeo partners Yann du Rusquec and Nathalie Kornoff Brüls have announced they are launching Noteus Partners a EUR 600M pan-European Tech Growth fund. 🚀🇫🇷 Deepbright Ventures Fund I (aka Hello Tomorrow)- launching  The France-founded global #deeptech ecosystem is preparing to launch it’s own venture fund. The fund will focus on early-stage deeptech startups, scouting from it’s own deep network of 5,000+ startups 🎉 🇭🇺 Impact Ventures Fund III- closed European Investment Fund (EIF) and Hungary’s state-backed National Capital Holding (NCH) invested EUR 40M into Impact Fund III. This latest fund is 10x in size from it’s previous 2018 vintage (EUR 4M). 🎉🇪🇸 Acurio Ventures Fund III- closed Bilbao-based Acurio Ventures has not only rebranded from All Iron Ventures, but just closed a EUR 150M continuation fund. The fund will invest across 50 follow-on deals in EU-based seed and Series A tech startups, taking between 3%-10% stakes. 🔊🇪🇪 Estonia Defense Fund- extended In May 2024, the government of Estonia announced a EUR 50 million fund that will invest in defense-related or dual-use technologies, managed by SmartCap. It announced yesterday it would double the fund size to EUR 100M. 🎉 🇺🇸 Cerulean Ventures Fund I- closed This USD 10M climate-focused micro-fund founded by Jahed Momand and Matthew Stotts 🌐 has just announced it’s final close. The fund will invest in approximately 40 pre-seed software startups devoted to reducing the human impact on climate change. 🎉 🇺🇸 Avid Ventures Fund II- closed Avid Ventures led by Addie Lerner, a former Principal at General Catalyst has just announced a USD 87M close for it’s second Fund.  Fund II has already completed 5 investments and will back Seed through Series A software and fintech plays, with check sizes starting from USD 500K to USD 2M- with double-down follow-on for select Series B portfolio companies. #venturecapital #emergingmanagers #investmentmanagent #technology Adam Sah Dan Engel Kim Pochon Bob Mason Mohammed AhmedAbduljabar Totonji Myrto Lalacos VC Lab

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🚨Boom! 8090 Industries portfolio company Armada led by Dan Wright and Jon Runyan lands another $40M led by Microsoft marking $100M raised to date after announcing its Series A and coming out of stealth in 2023 just 7 months ago and shares new customer partnerships with Haliburton and Skydio. 🌪 “Extreme situations like hurricanes reinforce the need for “edge” computing, the practice of processing data locally rather than sending it back to the cloud. “Lots of oil and gas companies are really very concerned about these types of disasters. You can’t have any latency. You have to be able to respond in real time.” Dan Wright, cofounder and CEO of Armada, While disaster response is the obvious application, Armada’s edge technology also has a big role to play in all sorts of remote environments where uninterrupted data access is critical. Think real-time safety monitoring at high-risk worksites, real-time emissions tracking for oil rigs, and automated operations for mines. In regards to the newly inked partnership with Microsoft: It’s a natural fit, says Pradeep Nair Armada’s founding CTO and a 10-year veteran of Microsoft’s Azure business. “If you look at all of these customers we’re hitting—oil, gas, and mining—these guys are legacy, traditional customers and Microsoft is their biggest vendor,” he says. The partnership with Microsoft “opens up the whole pipeline, without us needing to go through the whole procurement process.” Cc Kerem Ozmen Garuth A. Wes Mendenhall Filip Vurdelja Haluk Sabanci Dincer Grant Brown Ishan Meswani Andrew Irwin Shilpa Patel

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🚀 Join Us at AI Forge Incubator: Meet Solo Founders Seeking Co-Founders! 📅 When: Wednesday, 29th May 📍 Where: The Old Street Gallery, 62 Paul Street, London, EC2A 4DQ 🕒 Time: 5pm-9pm Are you a visionary CTO, CPO, or commercial expert ready to make your mark in the AI start-up space? Here's your golden opportunity! ✨ What's Happening? Our solo founders are in week 5 of a 12-week intensive incubator program. They are actively seeking co-founders to join them as CTOs, CPOs, or in commercial roles. These companies will be pitching to 450+ investors during the week commencing 8th July, with a high probability of securing funding. 🌟 Why You Should Attend: Dive into the world of promising AI start-ups. Contribute your skills immediately by joining an existing business. Be part of the prestigious AI Forge incubator program. Potentially integrate your own business ideas into an evolving proposition. Network with talented individuals and successful entrepreneurs. Gain invaluable insights and advice from seasoned founders and mentors. 🔎 Types of Businesses Seeking Co-Founders: Our 9 solo founders are leading ventures in: EdTech SalesTech LegalTech FemTech MedTech MarTech 🎉 Event Highlights: 💬 Speed Dating Sessions: Quick, focused interactions to maximize connections. 🔍 Pre-Matchmaking: Initial meetings set up to streamline the matchmaking process. 🤝 Networking Opportunities: Explore collaboration possibilities with like-minded entrepreneurs. Don't miss out on this unique chance to partner with innovative AI start-ups and accelerate your career in the tech industry. Register at Seeking AI Co-Founders · Luma - https://lu.ma/f22d1ih9 #AIStartups #CoFounders #TechInnovation #Entrepreneurship #Networking #AIForge

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🔬 The transition towards biomanufacturing, and the move away from traditional, energy-intensive processes in industry is creating unprecedented opportunities for start-ups. Understanding the investor's perspective in this space can help founders prepare more effectively for their fundraise. Investment Manager, Dr Marina Fuentes, details the most critical aspects Mercia Ventures and other investors look for at the Series A stage. Read more ⏬ #BioManufacturing #Blog #Investor #VentureCapital #Investment #SeriesA #Founders #Opportunity #Learning

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Industry experts call for tailored AI rules in post-election UK

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3 unique pro-rata stories... #1 → Pre-Seed to Sideline We met a company pre-seed that we really liked and co-syndicated the deal with another syndicate lead we work with on occasion. There was no institutional capital in this round as it was a small pre-seed. Since that pre-seed round, the company has gone on to raise 3 new funding rounds at significant markups and from top tier VC’s. Unfortunately we have not been able to participate in any of those funding rounds despite having pro rata rights. We were able to do an uncapped note after a previous round but that was it. Yes, I’m extremely frustrated to have been a very early investor without the opportunity to re-invest at the follow on rounds given the company seems to be executing on all cylinders. To my point, you need to ensure the founder wants you in the follow on rounds as they are the decision maker and unfortunately in this one, we’ve been sidelined since the pre-seed where we were (I think) the second largest investor. Side note → most founders would be more communicative than these ones, so it does show character, but one could also argue we did not add any value besides capital here and therefore did not earn our pro-rata position. #2 → YC SPV grind to sitting on the sidelines A GP friend put together an SPV for a YC company while they were in YC. He liked the company and the opportunity but it really had no signal at the time and presented a very tough SPV raise to ultimately get ~$80k committed to invest. The round itself was a tough one for the founders as they did not generate enough visible traction to help move the round along. Since that raise, the company found tier footing and has gone on to raise major up-rounds in both series A and series B in which they were unable to participate in. Their Seed investment is likely already diluted 30%+ from a lack of pro-rata participation. #3 → No allocation left but let’s get creative I invested personally in a pre-seed round in 2019 and became pretty friendly with the founder. 1 year or so later, the company pivoted and raised a solid seed round. Fast forward a bit later ( I also introduced them to a key exec hire ahead of series A), they ended up getting a $25m term sheet for series A from a top firm. This was a ~20x markup before dilution from my angel check. To no surprise, the round was competitive and pretty much all investors wanted to take their pro-rata in this priced round. I think some institutional VC’s got pro-rata and some did not, which is how it goes in these rounds. The founder really wanted to get us some allocation and was also really appreciative of our support and intro to key hire, so he was able to allow us to get a few hundred thousand in secondary to squeeze us into the fundraise despite us having no formal pro-rata. Again, this is not typical, but an example here of how founders will go to bat for you if they feel the need to. I was very appreciative here!

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Checkout this insightful article from Christopher Burns and Shachee Doshi Embracing the AI in International Aid. "AI is going to become a central part of what we do whether or not we engage." https://lnkd.in/ecfH9snT

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We know Black startups receive less than 1% of venture capital funding in most quarters of the year, but does it matter what city you're in? There isn't a clear indication of which city has the highest funding for Black-founded startups. However, we can draw some insights about funding trends in major startup hubs: Major Startup Hubs 1️⃣ San Francisco Bay Area:    - Historically the top region for funding Black-founded startups.    - However, funding plunged 78% in 2023, reaching its lowest total since 2017.    - The Bay Area saw funding drop from $895 million in 2022 to $198 million in 2023, an 88% decline since 2021. 2️⃣ New York:    - Experienced a 51% drop in funding to Black-founded startups.    - Funding fell from $375 million in 2022 to $185 million in 2023. 3️⃣ Los Angeles:    - Saw a 43% decline in funding to Black-founded startups.    - Funding decreased from $301 million in 2022 to $173 million in 2023. 4️⃣ Atlanta:    - Historically strong for minority-led companies.    - However, funding for Black-founded startups declined by 79% in 2023.    - Only $23 million was invested, the lowest amount since 2017. 5️⃣ Boston:    - Experienced a 72% decline in venture dollars going to Black-founded startups.    - The 2023 total of $23 million represented 2.6% of the region's venture market, which was the highest percentage share among these cities, despite the significant drop. While no city stands out as having the highest funding for Black-founded startups in 2023, it's clear that all major startup hubs experienced significant declines. The San Francisco Bay Area, despite its sharp decline, still appears to have allocated the largest amount of funding to Black founders in absolute terms. However, Boston had the highest percentage of its venture market going to Black founders at 2.6%, even though the total amount was relatively small. These figures reflect a broader trend of declining funding for Black founders across the United States, with total funding dropping to $705 million in 2023, the lowest figure since 2016. How do you think Black startup founders can get more VC dollars to flow their way? Subscribe to my newsletter below to receive more insights on diverse founders, my business and VC learnings and well as well the Emerging world around us. https://lnkd.in/g85xKDxj 📸 : Google Black Founders Fund #venturecapital #startup #funding #black #founders

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Stop this removal-only obsession in the carbon markets. What kind of hare-brained approach is that? We need avoidance even more than we need removals. This article reminds me of the analogy I made a few months ago about a sinking boat. No amount of bailing water with buckets will save you if the hole in the hull is getting bigger. Remember, if deforestation was a country, it would be the world's third largest emitter. And no, you cannot just demand/legislate that poor rural people stop deforesting without providing alternative income. That is why forest carbon exists. It takes some form of totalitarian mindset (and/or total lack of understanding of rural economies)to think one can just ban things they do not like. https://lnkd.in/eCddBRwt

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My shout-out for this week is a different one. Not a startup, but a book. The Fundraising Field Guide was written by Carlos Eduardo Espinal MBE. Here is why I think it is a kick-ass book helping founders decipher fundraising. 👉 Is designed specifically for early-stage, high-growth tech startup founders. 👉 Is a guide that explains fundraising through practical advice. 👉 Lays a good foundation on all things fundraising-related. 👉 Adds both the soft and hard challenges encountered. So, here is my thank you note to Carlos! For launching an updated version of this guide. Get the book here 👉 https://buff.ly/4byUywn #venturecapital #startupfunding #fundraising #europe

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