Geoff Mamlet

Congrats to Christopher Robson, Kurtis Broda and Kristen Cote at Wyvern on bringing on fantastic new investors Guy Filippelli, Dan Madden and Isaac Carp, CFA at Squadra Ventures. I'm a broken record at this point, but we're in the early innings of the Earth Observation market, and as we're seeing with Wyvern there is more demand for hyperspectral data than supply. As we will see in the coming years, there will be all kinds of problems that can be addressed by understanding our world beyond what our eyes can see. https://lnkd.in/gEzTjYks

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Wonderful article about Emily Knight and the whole The Engine Accelerator team on the amazing work their doing changing the world with #ToughTech!

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It's interesting to see how valuation trends have shifted, especially the decline in up rounds this year. This data is crucial for founders and investors to set realistic expectations in a tougher fundraising climate. Understanding these trends can really help in planning for the future! 👏

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Given we've already received hundreds of applications, it's probably irrational for me to post that the Cohort 7 application deadline is approaching - but transparency and accessibility are so important to our work at Laconia and the Venture Cooperative that I have to! ICYMI, Jeffrey Silverman, David Arcara, Mirit Lugassi and I have been running a fellowship program called the Venture Cooperative for the past few years. It is a deep dive into how we operate at Laconia, covering our investment strategy, sourcing channels, approach to due diligence, portfolio support style, fund operations, fundraising approach, and everything in between. We tell you everything we know, answer your burning questions, bring in the most interesting experts we can find, connect you with each other, and then mostly get out of your way. We've had fellows make LP investments without prohibitively high investment minimums, participate in hundreds of pitch meetings and diligence sessions, earn upside in our fund after sourcing new investments, and lead sector deep dives. We are happiest when we see fellows start funds, launch venture studios, run syndicates, found companies, and meet lifelong collaborators and friends in the community. The application cutoff for Cohort 7 is September 22. If you're interested in VC, you don't want to miss it 💗 Apply here: https://lnkd.in/eWug-bpv

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Building on the success of Rocket Studio with Simon Kirby and Pivotal with Dominic Joseph we decided to merge with Impact Counsel, led by the awesomely talented John D., Erim Jones and Robert Fok earlier this year. We’ve combined our significant and complimentary skills, experience and passion for growing amazing businesses to create a new breed of VC - Creative Capital Ventures Group (CCV). Fund 1 is focused on Sports, Media & Entertainment. Joining us on this exciting journey is media titan Tom Rogers (ex CEO Tivo & CNBC). We have also assembled a mighty team of Venture Partners bringing their expertise into our team, with the legendary Harvey Goldsmith leading our Immersive Entertainment category, and Cam Blackwood (Platinum award winning record producer) and his team at Rezonate heading up Music Rights acquisition. Creative Capital Ventures is designed to disrupt traditional VC models and accelerate the growth of innovative start-ups. We’ve already secured €18 million in commitments and are raising €35 million in total to fuel the next generation of game-changing businesses. What makes CCV different? •⁠ ⁠Founder-Led Expertise: Our team comprises serial entrepreneurs and operators who have built, scaled, and exited successful companies. We know what it takes to drive rapid growth. •⁠ ⁠Speed Scaler: Through our unique venture studio model, we’re not just funding companies—we’re actively accelerating their growth, shrinking the timeline from seed to exit. •⁠ ⁠Industry Focus: CCV focuses on high-growth sectors like Sports, Media, Entertainment, and Lifestyle, with a unique emphasis on IP acquisition to drive returns in stable asset classes. If you're interested in learning more about how CCV is reshaping the venture capital landscape, let’s connect!  More updates to follow! #VentureCapital #Innovation #Entrepreneurship #Startups #ScalingFast #CreativeCapitalVentures https://lnkd.in/eiuWVtvT

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Prime Coalition has long taken a different tack to climate finance compared to its for-profit brethren. It makes the usual venture-style investments in startups through Azolla Ventures and also helps philanthropists direct their money to climate-related projects that it deems high impact. Trellis Climate follows the latter model with a focus on middle stages, where capital has grown scarce. #climatetech #climateVC #climatefinance

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Apply now to get a coveted spot for the Venture Lane B2B Pitch Night Event! 🚀 🥇 On November 19th, Venture Lane | Startup Hub is hosting our exclusive Pitch Night 👉 - a rare opportunity for Boston's B2B tech founders to tune their pitch and get in front of awesome mentors, investors, and industry leaders. ⏰ Apply by November 1st to secure your spot! 📲 Find the application link in the comments below. #B2BTech #Startups #Fundraising #BostonStartups #PitchNight #VentureLaneStudio

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Interesting piece from Marc Andreessen on how startups are not getting the regulatory support they need to sustain America's technological leadership. "Regulatory agencies have been green lit to use brute force investigations, prosecutions, intimidation, and threats to hobble new industries, such as Blockchain. Regulatory agencies are being green lit in real time to do the same to Artificial Intelligence." While many investors themselves (both in the US and Europe) are worried how AI will change our lives, our jobs and social interactions, the top VC opinion leader thinks regulation is already too restrictive. #techstartups #techleadership #strategicgrowth

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RETHINKING RETIREMENT We've been investing in the Future of Work since we launched BBG Ventures, targeting underserved segments like deskless workers (Anthill, OX) and solopreneurs (Topline Pro). Over the summer we spent time digging into another deeply underserved segment of the workforce: Boomers. By the end of this decade, the entire generation will have hit retirement age and, for the first time, Americans 65+ will outnumber those under 18. This has huge implications for every aspect of society, and it mandates that we start thinking differently about retirement. The question for all of us is this: Can we re-focus healthy Americans 60+ on a new phase of productivity, a “third act” that enables them to keep learning, keep earning, keep socially-engaged and contributing to the nation’s economic growth? And what role can AI play in helping every senior identify their unique skill set and personal priorities — and connect them with the right opportunities? We have some thoughts on how to make this happen, and we'd love you to give it a read, add your feedback, forward it to a founder who's working in this arena (or who you think might be intrigued), and share it! AgeTech has been too focused on death and decay; it's time we embrace longevity and give older Americans a way to keep working -- on their terms. cc: Carol Magalhães Isaacs, CFA Nisha Dua, Claire Biernacki, Drew Silverman Fennessy

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Last month, founders and funders convened at Founder Collective's: Future Collective Boston 2024 Summit to discuss the evolving digital health landscape. It was a joy to have a candid conversation with many including co-facilitators: Giuseppe Stuto and Steven Lee. The conversation spanned key challenges and opportunities in the sector, with a focus on value-based care, AI integration, and market dynamics. VBC: A Long Complex Transition The shift towards value-based care (VBC) emerged as a central theme. Participants highlighted the difficulties in defining metrics for innovative care models. The lack of established benchmarks and slow adoption rates too often hinder progress. Many comments emphasized the misalignment of incentives in VBC and the gnarly complexities of attribution. We covered the impact of lengthy sales cycles, often spanning years, add another layer of challenge for startups in this space. AI It didn’t take too long for us to use our favorite vowels:AI. We discussed Thatch’s recent Series A funding round as an example of a company that is detangling some of the broken incentives in healthcare. Thatch is leveraging AI-powered tools, fintech infrastructure, and deep integrations to make shopping for healthcare as easy as possible. Investment Strategies in Digital Health The discussion also touched on investment dynamics in the sector. Healthcare is largely a service-based business, which correlates to missing out on the higher margins of a typical SaaS business. Given how challenging this space is, we discussed a tactic that is counter to most VC investing: back companies focusing on incremental improvements in healthcare delivery, not revolutionary paradigm-shifting plays. For the near term, the group recognized significant ROI potential in models that enable existing practices and known technology, rather than creating new standalone entities selling into difficult-to-scale and expensive customer bases. Looking Ahead: Policy Outlook Shifts The summit concluded with a debate on the future of healthcare systems. This conversation happened before we understood which White House Administration to plan for. While acknowledging that the current system fails to effectively incentivize long-term health outcomes, opinions were divided on whether policy changes or new business models would drive future improvements. There was a consensus on the need for innovation within existing reimbursement frameworks to catalyze meaningful change. The digital health landscape continues to evolve, it's clear that collaboration between founders, funders, and policymakers will be crucial as the regulatory environment shifts under the next administration. Drop links, reports, or predictions below on any early thoughts on how you think the sector will shift. Source: https://lnkd.in/ePfsv9iT

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Not all of the investments that Kindred Capital VC makes can be a 13 year sourcing process.... but... this is one of those very fortunate moments in which a relationship that started over a decade ago in the Bay Area where the brilliant A-H. Hleileh and I overlapped has now turned into an incredibly exciting opportunity for Kindred to lead his and Ron Holifield's first institutional round at Civic Marketplace. We believe: 1. Local government procurement is one of the most underserved areas in technology today, and has failed to keep pace with the private sector. They deserve better. 2. This is a huge opportunity, with US local governments spending alone amounting to over $1.5 trillion in annual spend, which is only going in one direction... 3. As the brilliant Kip Harkness shared with me in our diligence phase, "this industry moves at the speed of trust." And this is a unique founding team with A-H. Hleileh and Ron Holifield at the helm who bring together two critical ingredients: 1) decades of trust-building within this domain, and 2) a team who can build beautiful and scalable technology platforms. Onwards!! 🚀

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Over the years, we at GFR Fund have solidified our investment thesis, which is that we invest in "emerging digitally native communities." These communities can be built around games, social media, and any consumer applications. Now, founders have many easy-to-use tools to build user communities, such as Discord, X/twitter, Instagram, etc, and we believe the founders should start building communities even before they launch a product. The communities can help founders: - reach PMF faster - acquire users cheaper - retain and engage users longer - build better UX/UI, and - hire early employees Below, you can see how RTFKT and Omeda Studios built the community and then worked with them to create a product the users really wanted. We would love to talk to the founders who think the community is essential in building a product!

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The (Healthcare) Ground Beneath Our Feet… This year it is likely that over $10 billion will be invested in the digital health sector – a robust amount, no doubt, but inconsequential when compared to the amount of capital tied up in healthcare real estate assets, which is estimated to be $1.2 trillion by Jones Lang Lasalle. Of that amount, approximately $790 billion is in the hospital sector while the remaining $490 billion is in medical office assets. It is estimated that there are 48.6k facilities with 3.4 billion square feet of healthcare real estate, 42% of which are owned by REITs and another 33% held by other private investment vehicles. Much of the digital health investment is meant to make the physical healthcare infrastructure more productive: greater operating efficiencies, greater patient throughput, more relevant personalized care models with better outcomes. As the healthcare system is being pushed to be more distributed to lower cost sites of care, accelerated now by the rapid proliferation of automation and AI capabilities, the potential impact on healthcare infrastructure assets will be profound. Thoughts on what that might look like... https://lnkd.in/eTfAdUbS #digitalhealth Flare Capital Partners

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NY Climate Tech Founders! 1) YES PLEASE save the date to join us at #techweek (6/3!), and 2) YES PLEASE share your top NY resources to complete our NY INSIDER GUIDE, in collab with NYCEDC!

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🗽🌳 Exciting News for NYC Tech Community! 🚀 Join us for an invigorating Venture Walk & Talk, proudly part of NY Tech Week! Scheduled for June 4th from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM at the scenic Maine Monument in Central Park, this unique event is hosted by Founders Committee Ventures. 🌟 Why Join Us? Imagine a relaxed stroll through the beautiful pathways of Central Park, where you can disconnect from the digital world and engage with NYC’s finest founders, angel investors, and venture capitalists. This is more than just a walk; it’s an opportunity to forge meaningful connections, share innovative ideas, and enjoy the great outdoors—all within the heart of Manhattan. ✨ Event Highlights: - Network with industry leaders and peers - Brainstorm new ideas in a refreshing setting - Enjoy the vibrant atmosphere of Central Park Whether you’re looking to collaborate on new projects, explore potential investments, or simply enjoy a break from the office routine, the Venture Walk & Talk is the perfect occasion. 👉 Registration is open but spots are limited and approval is required. Don’t miss out on this chance to be part of something special during #TechWeek. Lace up your walking shoes, grab a coffee, and let’s make strides together in the tech ecosystem! 🔗 https://lu.ma/wj9o67iy See you there for a breath of fresh innovation! #NYTechWeek #TechNetworking #StartupLife #VentureCapital

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Proud to have supported Wander in securing their recent $1M extension seed round! 🚀 This achievement underscores a crucial lesson in startup growth: success in follow-on funding rounds demands strategic thinking and unwavering dedication to hitting key milestones. Wander's team, led by the visionary AJ Brau, has exemplified this perfectly. Their journey from concept to a global, AI-enhanced interactive mapping platform is a testament to the power of customer-centric innovation and persistent execution. It's been a privilege to guide them through our Value Creation program, helping translate potential into a robust, actionable strategy. To aspiring entrepreneurs: remember, each funding round presents unique challenges. While initial rounds often focus on your idea, vision, and promises, follow-on rounds require solid achievements and compelling arguments supporting your actual execution. Key points to consider: 1. Expect your initial plan to evolve; investors understand that perfect 1:1 execution is rare. 2. Be prepared to showcase your decision-making process and how you've adapted to challenges. 3. Governance and operational mechanics will be scrutinized more closely in later rounds. 4. Focus on creating tangible value, hitting your targets, and effectively communicating your progress and learnings. Remember, each round is an opportunity to prove your ability to execute and adapt. The capital will follow well-executed strategies and demonstrated results. Congratulations to AJ and the entire Wander team! Your hard work is paying off, and I'm excited to see where this new funding takes you. Read more about Wander's journey and innovative approach here: https://lnkd.in/dE-9n8_2 #StartupSuccess #VentureCapital #TravelTech #Innovation #ValueCreation #Utah #Advisor

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Having read Donella Meadows in collegue and studied with students of hers at Rocky Mountain Institute, I have always sought to identify leverage points for change in a system before building out frameworks to track progress in shifting those points. And I agree with Ivo Degn here, I have found through my professional experience that if you only focus on impact metrics, you end up with huge teams collecting data (and there is somehow never enough data on this track) and costly verifications all of which take time and resources away from the real work of implimenting the change. Having quality indicators that provide insight into directionality -towards or away from -the key levers that you have identified and tracking those is important. Unless you are a scientist doing research, everything else is bean counting.

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