Mario Alejandro Rojas

Taavet Hinrikus and I made the Financial Times Due Diligence email. https://lnkd.in/ez2AuGQx One 'unintended consequence' is that if there is a 45% tax on carry and CGT (raising £40m per year, remember) it for all intents and purposes closes the door on new VCs in the UK. Especially started by teams from non-traditional backgrounds. To meet the GP commit, you need to be already part of the 'wealthy' as you cannot rely on the value you create - nearly half of it will disappear - to fund it. We have both had extremely successful startups which are few and far between. The smaller number of new VCs will therefore more likely increasingly be for people who have inherited the capital or can draw it from their already rich family. Probably not want they have in mind with this policy.

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VC world can be cruel and unforgiving. With LPs more and more pushing for distribution and liquidity, fund managers in the mid-tenure of their fund with zero DPI and TVPI around 1.0 would have much more difficulty to raise new fund. The ability to fundraise is one of the crucial indications and validation of the job for VCs. Key highlights from the article below: Thirteen percent of venture General Partners (GPs) no longer plan to raise another fund due to LP pullback. This rate has doubled since H1 2023 when only 6% of GPs had no plans for another fund. Nearly 44% of venture firms surveyed in mid-2023 had previously postponed their fundraising plans due to concerns about overexposure to the asset class. Many emerging managers entered venture capital in 2019 or 2020 when the LP market supported more funds. However, slow exits in the first half of 2024 have led to challenges in raising second funds without significant cash distributions to LPs. Some venture GPs are now actively participating in the secondaries market to demonstrate returns. Despite the challenges, GPs who secured fresh capital remain optimistic. They expect the 2023 and 2024 vintages to be the strongest return years since 2019. 🚀📈 #VC #VentureCapital #Fundraising #LPs #EmergingManagers #TechInvestment #MarketTrends #CountdownCapital #IndustryInsights #JetVentures #JetInvestment‍‍‍‍‍‍

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What should investors expect from the VC industry over the next 3-5 years when it comes to exits and performance? Rick Zullo, on X, has argued that there will be a greater divergence between VC funds, with the most successful ones producing even stronger performance, while the median fund return will reduce. I would agree with this as we are likely to see fewer, but typically larger, exits. It will become more important than ever to have meaningful exposure to the small number of winners that drive VC performance. We saw this divergence in VC fund performance very clearly after the 2008/09 financial crisis. As you can see from the chart below, it was the top-tier, established managers who make up our Core Manager cohort that massively outperformed as the market recovered. We have identified three key factors that we believe materially contributed to this outperformance: 1. Quality of portfolio companies. We know that VC is a power law asset class, but the distribution of returns is even more concentrated after a correction. The number of successful exits falls significantly and the small number of VCs able to back these companies will materially outperform. We usually see the best companies actually improve their competitive positioning during a correction. They become more capital efficient, increase market share and benefit from many of their competitors being unable to survive. 2. Availability of capital. In a downturn, even the very best companies will usually need to raise additional capital. As a VC, if you don't have the capital to support these companies and protect your ownership, then you are in trouble. The best VCs can still raise new funds even in the worst of markets and will have the capital to ensure their best companies survive. 3. Willingness to continue to invest during the most challenging periods. The best managers have the experience of managing through prior downturns as well as the confidence (and the capital) to take advantage of the opportunities that a correction creates. This means that they can double down on their best companies, often at attractive valuations, and also access market leaders they may have missed in prior rounds. We have seen a major flight to quality from LPs to date in 2024, with a small number of VCs responsible for the vast majority of capital raised. Unfortunately, this is shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted. Venture capital is a cyclical asset class - corrections are a feature, not a bug. This means that LPs need to construct a portfolio that not only captures the upside as the market rises, but is also resilient during a downturn.

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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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Congratulations to Surojit Chatterjee, Souvik Sen and Ema Unlimited team on a successful fundraising! SCB 10X is thrilled to announce our investment in Ema as part of the $36M Series A extension funding round, which brings their total raise since inception to $61M. This round, led by Accel and S32, included participation from other notable investors such as Prosus Ventures, Hitachi Ventures, Sozo Ventures, Wipro Ventures, COLLE CAPITAL and Frontier Ventures B.V. Ema's innovative approach to enterprise workflow automation through Generative AI strongly aligns with our investment thesis in the Deep Tech space. Their platform, which combines a proprietary Generative Workflow Engine™, Knowledge Graph, and EmaFusion™ Model, addresses critical challenges in enterprise AI adoption while ensuring the highest levels of security and compliance. Founded in 2023, EMA has shown impressive rapid tractions within their first year. Their ability to create customizable "AI employees" or "Personas" for specific business functions promises to revolutionize enterprise productivity across multiple industries. The founding team's exceptional track record in scaling products and technologies at companies like Google, Flipkart, Coinbase and Okta, gives us confidence in Ema's ability to capitalize on the fast-growing autonomous AI and agents market, projected to reach $41 billion by 2029. As SCBX Group aims to increase our AI-enabled revenue to 75% by 2028, we believe this partnership will provide valuable insights into deploying efficient, reliable, and compliant AI solutions. We're excited to support Ema's vision of transforming the future of work with Universal AI Employees and look forward to the innovations that lie ahead. Press release of Ema’s fundraising: https://lnkd.in/gpe-FV26 #artificialintelligence #generativeai #ai #startups #venturecapital

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Nigel Morris knows what it takes to run a great board. He is the Chairman of ClearScore and Mission Lane and serves on the boards of Remitly, Bitso, Current, Amount, and is a board observer for QuintoAndar. He previously worked on the boards of Capital One, The Economist, The Brookings Institution, National Geographic, Klarna, Braintree, TransUnion, London Business School, AvidXchange, Inc. and Scotiabank’s Digital Advisory Council. What makes an effective board meeting? Effective board meetings hinge on meticulous preparation and transparent communication from CEOs. Nigel advocates for a concise one-page summary outlining what's going well, what's not going well, what's keeping the CEO up at night—which might differ from immediate problems—and what critical decisions need to be made. The result of this simple 2x2, can not only demonstrate the CEO's command over their business, but also sets the agenda for discussion. It’s also important for company leaders to engage board members individually before meetings to discuss potentially controversial topics – the more surprises you can reduce, the more constructive conversation you’ll have during the actual meeting. Nigel also warns that as companies mature and get bigger, board meetings can often devolve into mere formalities, becoming box-ticking exercises rather than strategic discussions. This is dangerous and management should not avoid key issues to simply keep the board "out of the way,". Once this happens, it can lead to ineffective governance and bad consequences. Full Fintech Leaders episode ⤵⤵⤵ Substack: https://bit.ly/3OhkyCU Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3AKlD2T Apple: https://apple.co/4hWXiaU Youtube: https://lnkd.in/ekXu8U_q QED Investors

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#CVC is not just about financial gains but also about driving innovation, enhancing supply chains, and aligning with broader corporate strategies. We discussed these insights at our recent webinar where expert panellists shared their experiences on what makes a successful CVC fund and why now is the perfect time for corporates to dive into the VC world. Join the conversation and share your thoughts on the strategic impact of CVC. 2nd webinar coming soon! Is your organization leveraging CVC to stay competitive and innovative? 💡 #CorporateVentureCapital #CVC #Innovation #VentureCapital #BusinessGrowth #CorporateStrategy #R&D #SupplyChain #FinancialReturns Anza Capital Audrey Verhaeghe Buntu Majaja Davis Cook USAID Clen Cook

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Omega Files Episode 2 has arrived! Public vs. Private IRR—how do early-stage VC returns really compare to public markets? Even during the record-setting bull market of the century, Blume Fund I+IA managed to deliver alpha, outperforming most public market assets, including large-cap funds and gold. If you're curious about how early-stage venture investments fare against traditional public assets, Omega Files Episode 2 breaks down the data in detail. See the full analysis here: https://lnkd.in/gZq3H7sp Karthik B. Reddy @Aditya Santosh Rohit Kaul Blume Ventures

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KIBOW's Impact Report was featured in Impact Alpha, the world's leading media for impact investing! インパクト投資の世界的メディアImpact AlphaにKIBOWのインパクトレポート（英語版）を取り上げていただきました！ ＞The latest impact report from KIBOW, in Japan, is also notable in that each portfolio company snapshot has a well-articulated theory of change that goes at least to the level of outcomes. These take a different form for each portfolio company, providing a spectrum of interesting examples for others to learn from. Five impact performance reports that go beyond the basics to give investors needed insights https://lnkd.in/gcNg5eRg

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Focal powered by HSBC Innovation Banking, is back! Applications for Focal’s S24 demo day are open to startups raising in the next 6 months. It takes 7 minutes to apply at gofocal.vc, and even those who don’t make it to demo day can get introductions to over 250 leading VC fund partners, including VentureFriends. Last demo day alone, applicants received over 1600 introductions from investors; it's one of the highest leverage activities you can do for your fundraise. #focal #startup #fundraising #vc #demoday

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The next 3-5 years in venture capital will be a Hunger Games-style showdown between the mega funds and emerging managers. The rich get richer, and the rest get crushed. The biggest funds will hoard capital, scoop up the best deals, and keep the gates locked. VC is evolving into an oligopoly where a few behemoths control the game. The rest? They fight for scraps or die quietly. For LPs, it means one thing: if you’re not in with the biggest players, you’re out. Top-tier VCs get the money, deals, and returns, while newer, smaller players are left behind. This means fewer exits, more stagnation, and less excitement. The romantic vision of venture capital—backing scrappy founders in a garage—is being replaced by institutional checks and thinking. Risk aversion is at an all-time high, and innovation is dictated by the big dogs, not driven from the bottom up. But the role of emerging managers isn’t dead—it’s just getting harder. While the big guys stick to safe bets, as emerging managers we dig into niches, find overlooked founders, and chase moonshots. We must be creative, flexible, and aggressive because we play without a safety net. That hunger often leads to spotting opportunities the mega funds miss, keeping the spirit of venture alive. Downturns? They’re a crucible for us as emerging managers. With valuations down and competition clearing out, we can shine. Historically, some of today’s most iconic venture firms were forged in the fires of a downturn because they had the guts to invest when others didn’t. For LPs, it’s about guts too. Sure, follow the herd into the largest players, but if you want asymmetric returns, emerging managers have the upside. You just have to take the risk. The future of venture is a two-speed game. On one side, mega funds—stable, rich, and playing it safe. On the other, emerging managers—scrappy, driven, taking risks that move the needle. The smartest LPs will do both: park capital with the big dogs for steady returns and also back emerging managers with fresh perspectives. Because if VC turns into a sanitized, predictable machine run by a few firms, we all lose. Innovation dies, entrepreneurship becomes a monopoly, and venture’s whole purpose evaporates. The dream of democratizing innovation is under threat, but it doesn’t have to die. Venture’s future depends on supporting both mega funds and bold emerging managers still willing to take risks. We all need to keep pushing boundaries and reminding ourselves why venture capital was exciting in the first place. It always takes a village. Together, we rise!

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It has been a crazy news week for M&A and IPO announcements. We haven't seen activity like this since 2021. Hopefully a strong sign of things to come in 2025 with a lot of pent up demand. The FirstPartyCapital team is joined on The FPC Podcast this week by Andrew Buckman, VP Marketing & Investor Relations, Azerion, to discuss latest announcements. Omnicom is buying Interpublic Group (IPG) Interpublic Group (IPG) is buying Intelligence Node Experian is buying Audigent Interpublic Group (IPG), Omnicom and WPP announce a strategic investment into Mediaocean Channel Factory has appointed Canaccord Genuity - Global Capital Markets to explore strategic options Vivendi is spinning out key media assets like Havas and CANAL+ Group which will IPO as standalone companies. We also discussed Azerion's M&A strategy and recent purchase of Goldbach Group AG Tune in and get up to speed! Links below 👇 #adtech #media #martech #data #mergersandacquisitions #IPO

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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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As we approach the end of 2024, I’d like to reflect on the incredible milestones we’ve achieved at Blockwall this year, complementing the great summary my team has already shared: https://lnkd.in/eQEsvN4c Being part of an exceptional #VC fund that continuously pushes the boundaries of what’s possible is just amazing. We’re not just fostering innovation in Germany, but also working to elevate Europe’s position in the global innovation landscape by supporting founders who are making our region competitive once more. This year, we’ve refreshed our brand at Blockwall VC as a testament to our commitment to growth and evolution. I invite you to explore our renewed vision and insights: https://lnkd.in/e-ZVi59m We’re committed to giving investors the opportunity to be part of this journey, proudly supporting founders who are building our tomorrow’s world—because there is no innovation without investment. Thanks to all the great discussions, ideas, and connections I’ve made this year and I look forward to topping this even more in the next year. To continue this journey, we are excited to welcome outstanding talent to our team. We’re currently looking for an Visiting Investment Analyst to join us in early 2025. Here's to the year 2025! #ConfidenceShapesTheFuture #Blockwall2025 #Web3 #Crypto #Blockchain #VentureCapital #Bitcoin

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✨ Breaking: Nodem Capital Continuation Fund Announces New Fund.- Nodem Capital Continuation Fund A continuation fund by Nodem Capital focused on secondary liquidity for assets in Emerging Europe, Turkey, LATAM, SEA, and India. https://nodem.com/ Please share to let other #Founders know For the ❤️ of Startups #Fusion42 #Startups#Venturecapital

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Today, we shared our 2023 Impact Report at Valo Ventures! Investing in climate solutions is hard, but I am very proud of the positive, longer-term impact our portfolio companies are having on future generations. Click below to read more about our exceptional entrepreneurs.

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📣 Focal powered by HSBC Innovation Banking, is back!   🚨 Applications for Focal’s S24 demo day are open to startups raising in the next 6 months.    It takes 7 minutes to apply at gofocal.vc, and even those who don’t make it to demo day can get introductions to over 250 leading VC fund partners, including Techstart Ventures LLP.   Last demo day alone, applicants received over 1600 introductions from investors🤘   #focal #startup #fundraising #vc #demoday

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A useful read if you are exploring a #MBO #Managementbuyout

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Where is the transparency and the good governance expected from the IMF program. What is the point of passing laws if these highly suspicious deals still take place. Why is IMF silent about this? Without good governance, there is no hope for the future and we will never reach our full potential as a country.

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