Start-up
Many senior venture capitalists are leaving big firms. Insiders boil it down to a few reasons
“Big firms have gotten much, much bigger,” said Alexandre Lazarow, managing partner of Fluent Ventures. “At the same time, there’s been an explosion of [small] venture capital firms … so I think we’ve seen the rise of specialization and the rise of regionalization in tech.” Johnnygreig | E+ | Getty Images The venture capital industry […]
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French fintech Pennylane doubles valuation to $2.2 billion as Alphabet’s venture capital arm takes stake
Seksan Mongkhonkhamsao | Moment | Getty Images French accounting software firm Pennylane has doubled its valuation to 2 billion euros ($2.16 billion) in a new 75 million euro funding round. Pennylane told CNBC that it raised the fresh funds from a host of venture funds, with Sequoia Capital leading the round and Alphabet’s CapitalG, Meritech […]
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Trump’s tariffs could mean big business for supply chain software startup LightSource
LightSource cofounders: CTO Idan Mintz and CEO Spencer Penn Courtesy: LightSource With President Donald Trump set to impose sweeping tariffs on a wide swath of U.S. trading partners this week, corporate America is awash in uncertainty. LightSource, a San Francisco startup whose software helps companies manage their procurement process, costs and vendor relationships, didn’t know […]
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Silicon Valley bubble risks heighten as investors pile into funds that bet on a single buzzy startup
One of the most popular acronyms in Silicon Valley these days is SPV. It stands for special purpose vehicle. In tech startup land, it’s a type of investment fund that typically involves concentrating all of its assets in one company. SPVs have blown up in recent years as investors clamor to get a piece of […]
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Meet the investor behind billionaire Melinda French Gates’ bets on women-led funds and startups
A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox. Melinda French Gates has committed $2 billion to promote women’s rights and economic mobility. In 2015, she set up her family […]
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Obvious Ventures, co-founded by Twitter’s Evan Williams, plans to raise $400 million fund
Medium Founder & CEO Ev Williams speaks during the Web Summit 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal on November 8, 2018. Pedro Fiúza | Nurphoto | Getty Images Obvious Ventures, the venture capital firm co-founded by Twitter’s Evan Williams, has filed to raise $400 million for its latest fund, according to a regulatory filing. The filing for […]
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Startup founders are turning to ‘seed-strapping’ in a difficult funding environment
“I think what most founders are also realizing is what you need is not just money, but time. You need time to explore … You need space. You can’t have someone breathing down your neck for updates [while you’re] trying to figure out your product market fit at the start,” says Jx Lye, founder and […]
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This millennial’s startup raised $120 million. He reveals what helped him succeed — and says it’s ‘more crucial’ than hard work
Desmond Lim, co-founder and CEO of Workstream. Courtesy of Desmond Lim Desmond Lim is no stranger to hard work. At the age of seven, he fell in love with basketball, but when his family couldn’t afford to buy him his own ball, he came up with the money by himself. “Money was always tight,” Lim […]
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Eight years after selling AppDynamics to Cisco, Jyoti Bansal is pursuing an unusual merger
Jyoti Bansal, co-founder and CEO of startup Harness. Harness Jyoti Bansal knows about weird acquisitions. Eight years ago, his software company, AppDynamics, was on the doorstep of a blockbuster IPO. A day before the offering, Cisco swooped in and bought the company for $2.7 billion Now Bansal is at the center of an equally unconventional […]
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30-year-old takes on loneliness crisis with a social networking app that’s already raised $646,000
Nicola Gunby, co-founder of Cliq. Nicola Gunby Nicola Gunby, a 30-year-old entrepreneur, longed for a community of friends when she moved to London after the pandemic, but was shocked to find herself isolated in one of the biggest cities in the world. Gunby, the co-founder of social and community networking app Cliq, hails from Nottingham […]
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