Joshua Frank

🌱 Seed & Pre-Seed Venture Benchmarks: Navigating SAFE and Priced Rounds 👉  Startups often navigate through different types of fundraising rounds—SAFE and Priced. The mix can lead to confusion in terms of valuation, dilution, and capital raised. Recent data from Carta highlights some clear differences between these rounds, and here’s what you need to know. ✅ Key Takeaways: 👉 Gap in Valuation: SAFE rounds at Seed stage reach a median valuation of $18M, while Priced Seed rounds come in at $13.7M. Why the gap? SAFE rounds often offer faster, simpler deals but can sometimes lead to a higher cap, potentially setting higher valuation expectations for future rounds. 👉 Dilution Differences: Dilution ranges vary significantly, with SAFE Seed rounds ranging from 17%-20% compared to 20.7% for Priced Seed rounds. Lower dilution in SAFE rounds may attract founders looking to retain control, but it’s essential to balance this against potential investor expectations down the line. 👉 Post-Seed Bridge Round Gaps: At the bridge round, the SAFE vs. Priced valuation gap is even wider, with SAFE Bridge rounds at $21M vs. Priced at $17M. Actionable Insights for Founders & Investors: 📣  For Founders: Consider your long-term strategy. SAFE rounds can help you raise quickly without setting a fixed valuation, but Priced rounds might offer more predictability as you move forward. 📣  For Investors: Be mindful of these valuation gaps. Higher SAFE valuations can affect future funding dynamics, especially when transitioning into Priced rounds. 💡  Conclusion: Understanding these nuances can guide better decision-making and align growth expectations. For more startup data and insights, explore . @Carta’s resources. 📊 -------------- ✅ 👉 Fundraising? Try KAARIA 🚀 Industry-leading valuation methodologies. 🚀 Reliable market data with PitchBook 🚀 Simple & transparent startup valuation 🚀 Accessible for founders and investors 🚀 Free Trial available here: https://lnkd.in/gvwD7SrF #valuations #startups #fundraising #founders #Startup #innovation #entrepreneurship #kaaria #sustainability #kaariastartupvaluation #investing #networking #venturecapital #kaariagetfunded #exits #valuations #startups #fundraising #founders #Startup #innovation #entrepreneurship #kaaria #sustainability #kaariastartupvaluation #investing #networking #venturecapital #kaariagetfunded #exits #StartupFunding #VentureCapital #SAFEvsPricedRounds #Valuation #Dilution #Startups ---------- Thanks Credit & Kudos to Peter Walker over at Carta

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Lume (YC W23), co-founded by Nebyou Zewde, Robert Ross, and Nicolas Machado, has raised $4.2M in a Seed round led by General Catalyst, with participation from Khosla Ventures, Floodgate, Y Combinator, and Soma Capital. Lume (YC W23)’s AI-powered platform automates data mapping and integration, helping companies in industries like e-commerce, insurance, and finance streamline onboarding, data normalization, and complex data workflows. By leveraging large language models, Lume enables faster, more efficient data mapping and management across unique systems. The new funding will allow Lume to make strategic hires in AI research and data infrastructure to handle the growing data needs of its customers and tackle the industry’s long-standing challenges in data integration. Collin Montag Puneet Kumar Brad Flora Quentin Clark Max Rimpel Vinod Khosla Mike Maples, Jr Nikhita Jaaswal Fouad Farhat Sabrina Hahn Devvret Rishi Sam Stone Ana Clara Martins Sigalit Perelson Scharfstein John Bautista

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📣 Venture fund managers looking for a fundraising deck that'll impress LPs... Below is an ultimate VC fund deck template you can download and customize from M'idea Hub with tips on making your next fundraising deck more impactful, which slides to include, and how to design your layout best to convey your message and highlight the key numbers. This PowerPoint Template includes: 👉 Over 20 pre-made slide designs with proven layouts 👉 A variety of assets (charts and icons) ⬇ Download here or below: https://lnkd.in/gZEKEdkB #FundraisingDeck #OpenLP #Fundraising

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𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 - 𝐕𝐂 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐐𝟑 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒 Few key insights for Q3 ’24: ‣ 📈 Valuation continue to rise in pre-seed and seed. The median valuation in pre-seed is up +51% and up +15,7% for seed round since 2023. ‣ 💸 Surprisingly in early stage, Fintech start-ups continue to have higher average valuation (11.9M€) than their AI peers (5.8M€) ‣ 🦄 37 unicorns deals have be done so far in 2024, counting rounds with existing unicor

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Benchmark (YC W23) is the fastest way to screen deals and analyze investment data. Each year, investment teams spend thousands of hours reviewing investment opportunities that die. Not only are those hours lost, but so is all of the valuable data that is tied to those opportunities. As a result, investment teams spend way too much time focusing on low-probability opportunities, digging through old files for comps, and redoing old analyses. Founded by Alec Dunn, Connor J., and Joshua Kerber, Benchmark allows investment teams to screen deals in minutes while automatically aggregating all of the valuable deal data for future analysis. With it, investors can focus on high-probability opportunities and build permanent institutional knowledge that gives them a significant edge over their competitors.

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Pikndel Secures $1 Million in Seed Funding. Same-day delivery platform Pikndel has successfully raised $1 million in its seed funding round, led by VC Grid. The round also saw strong participation from D2C Insider Angels, Breathe Capital, Venture Catalysts, and notable industry leaders like Akash Gupta (Zypp Electric), Keshav Bhajanka & Sanjay Agarwal (Century Plywood), and Kanishka Sethia (Western Carriers), alongside family offices from Kolkata. Pikndel, co-founded in 2022 by Teja Vadlamani, Siddharth Batra, and Tullika Batra, offers an innovative approach to same-day delivery for e-commerce brands, optimizing operations with flexible delivery timelines ranging from 1 hour to next-day services. With dark stores in Delhi NCR, Mumbai, and Bengaluru, the company is redefining customer experience and enhancing operational efficiency in the fast-growing D2C sector. This follows their pre-seed funding of $285K from 100X.VC in December 2023. Stay tuned for more updates as Pikndel continues to scale its operations and transform the logistics landscape! Read More: https://lnkd.in/gCapUSJG #Pikndel #SeedFunding #SameDayDelivery #Ecommerce #StartupNews #VCGrid #TechStartups #Innovation #Logistics #FundingNews #D2C #CustomerExperience #DeliveryInnovation

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🚨 Applications for Focal's W24 demo day are open to startups raising in the next 6 months. It takes 7 minutes to apply on their website (in comment), and even those who don’t make it to demo day can get introductions to over 250 leading VC fund partners, including ZAKA VC. 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 within Europe. This biannual "VC demo day" is for pre-seed, seed and Series A start-ups. #focal #startup #fundraising #vc #demoday

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As the Shasta Ventures approval deadline approaches, we're presented with a unique opportunity to observe the complexities and inherent conflicts in GP-led secondary transactions. This scenario sheds light on the considerable leverage GPs hold within the private equity infrastructure. According to the article, proposed continuation fund requires LPs to approve the transaction if they wish to roll their interests into the new structure—a stipulation that could be seen as putting undue pressure on LPs. This raises critical questions about the balance of power in private equity deals and the alignment of interests between GPs and LPs. What are your thoughts? Is it appropriate for GPs to demand such conditions for LPs to participate in a continuation fund? How do you see this impacting the broader private equity landscape and the perception of GP-led secondary transactions? Looking forward to hearing your insights and perspectives on this pivotal issue. #PrivateEquity #VentureCapital #InvestmentTrends #ShastaVentures #GPledSecondaries

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Venture capital had a challenging start to 2024. The latest "Venture Capital Q1 2024: Preqin Quarterly Update" shows weak exit activity and fundraising struggles, with 235 exits totaling $14.6bn in Q1. Although there were some successful IPOs, fundraising remains difficult, with VC funds raising $20.7bn in the first quarter. Get insights into the state of venture capital, including deal activity, regional trends, and why investors are making smaller commitments. Download the full report for more details: https://okt.to/oK2XLN #VentureCapital #InvestmentTrends #Q12024Update #MarketInsights

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A new flood of fresh funds is reshaping the venture capital landscape! 🚀 Recent highlights include TVM Capital Healthcare’s $250M Afiyah Fund LP, SVC's $30M investment into General Atlantic’s private equity fund, Golden Gate Ventures' $100M MENA-focused fund launch, and Investcorp's $570M fund closure. These announcements signal a broader trend of escalating financial commitments within the industry. MEA funds are heating up! 🌡️ Our data reveals a 74% YoY increase in the number of MEA-based funds being financed as of May 20th, 2024. Since Q4’23, there has been a notable surge in regional funds securing capital, with international investors also establishing localized funds. Stay informed with the latest trends in VC activity: https://lnkd.in/dP6ZkmCd By MAGNiTT Repost by : Salem Bagami Chief Executive Officer Digital Transformation Company & Managing Director 2080 Ventures Email: salem@2080.ventures Website: www.2080.ventures #VC #Funds #Investing

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Know Your Numbers: Why Cash Burn, Runway, and Capital Efficiency Matter to Investors Seed investors don’t just want to hear about your vision—they want to see the numbers. To build confidence, founders must prove they’re using funds efficiently and have a solid understanding of key metrics like cash burn, runway, and revenue growth. ✅ Cash Burn: How much money are you spending, and how fast? This tells investors how efficiently you're using capital. ✅ Runway: How long can your company survive with its current resources? Investors typically look for at least 12-18 months of runway pre-funding. ✅ Revenue Metrics: Are customers actually buying your product? Proving revenue growth or market traction can be a game-changer for securing investment. Investors want to see capital efficiency—how far can you go with the money you’ve raised? Financial forecasting, cash runway management, and tracking these metrics are key to standing out. Founders who truly "know their numbers" are far more likely to secure funding. At Element CPA, we help you get these metrics in top shape, ensuring you're ready to pitch with confidence and demonstrate capital efficiency to investors.

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Block, the parent company of Square and Cash App, aims to leverage its dual ownership to create synergy between its point-of-sale software and peer-to-peer payments app. Jack Dorsey, Block's founder, highlighted the advantage of having relationships with both merchants and consumers, stating it's a rare position in commerce and payments. Ryan Budd, Cash App's head of financial products, hinted at plans to integrate a small business experience into Square and incentivize Cash App users to engage with Square merchants. Block is focused on connecting Cash App's consumer base with Square's merchant network, aiming to transform Cash App into a consumer app for interacting with Square merchants. This move aligns with Block's strategy to dominate various aspects of the consumer ecosystem and potentially monetize consumer spending data for advertising purposes. Read More Here: https://lnkd.in/eh-8KS9V Eugene Tsay Wade Robison John O'Beirne Emily C. Chiu Eileen Wiens Jim McKelvey Branded Hospitality Ventures #innovation #venturecapital #hospitality #technology Owen Jennings (OBJ) Brooke Ellis Jamie (Russo) HicksMing-Tai Huh

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✨ Breaking: Cadenza Announces New Fund.- Cadenza Cadenza AI Venture Fund, an early-stage venture capital firm, closed a $50 million fund on December 3, 2024. The fund targets pre-seed and seed investments in the artificial intelligence sector, focusing on infrastructure and enterprise applications. Cadenza aims to invest in companies that enhance workforce efficiencies and disrupt incumbent enterprise software providers. https://cadenza.vc Please share to let other #Founders know For the ❤️ of Startups #Fusion42 #Startups #Venturecapital

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✨ Breaking: Category Ventures Announces New Fund.- Category Ventures Category Ventures is a $160 million venture capital fund launched by Villi Iltchev. The fund focuses on pre-seed and seed-stage startups in enterprise software applications, infrastructure, developer tools, and artificial intelligence, with investment checks ranging from $1.5 million to $5 million. https://lnkd.in/dbw8mY6h Please share to let other #Founders know For the ❤️ of Startups #Fusion42 #Startups #Venturecapital

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✨ Breaking: BS2 Ventures Announces New Fund.- Banco BS2 Ventures BS2 Ventures, the new corporate venture capital arm of Banco BS2, has launched with nearly $17 million (R$100 million) to invest in startups addressing challenges in the corporate finance market. The fund focuses on disruptive technologies in areas such as credit, payments, foreign exchange, and insurance. BS2 Ventures plans to invest in 12 to 15 companies (R$5 million each on average) and serve as a limited partner in 3 to 4 strategically relevant VC funds. https://www.bs2.com/ Please share to let other #Founders know For the ❤️ of Startups #Fusion42 #Startups #Venturecapital

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I closely monitor the performances of 50 private fintech companies. In this article, I compare the performance of the profitable (18 companies) vs. the unprofitable companies (32 companies), and some of the findings are surprising. Below are the data and the key observations.   - Profitable companies are larger.  On median, profitable companies did £111m of revenue in 2023 versus $22mm for unprofitable companies. That’s a >400% difference which is very material. It does make sense that larger companies would be more likely to be profitable as they enjoy greater economies of scale. - The profitability is high.  The median operating margin for profitable companies in 2023 was 19%, whereas unprofitable companies had a margin of -83%. That is a huge difference and while the unprofitable companies are arguably too unprofitable, the profitable companies are not giving up growth at the expenses of margins. - The premium of profitability The profitable companies had median growth rate of 67% in 2023, which is pretty good, while the unprofitable companies grew at just 29% on median (that’s over 2x difference!). The unprofitable companies in the panel seems in trouble because the current cash losses don’t seem covered by an excellent growth rate. Corrections are required, and while cost cutting initiatives have been brutal in the last 18 months, the avenues for growth are still often unclear.

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