Tristan Sigerson

George Atkins and Davis Clifford share how to establish a strong market research function and outline three methods to gather insights in LLR Partners’ new #GrowthBit. Read it here: https://lnkd.in/eRVjjsSQ

19

What can the private markets industry learn from perspectives of creating bespoke investment solutions for over 43 years? HarbourVest Partners CEO John Toomey has seen it all in private markets. He is at the helm of a global firm with over $160B in AUM that has provided bespoke investment solutions to institutional and wealth investors across primary funds, secondary transactions, direct co-investments, and building customized programs for LPs. There are few better to dive into the nuances of where private markets has been and where it's going than John. We had such a fun and fascinating discussion, covering: ➡️ The biggest differences between private markets in the 1990s and private markets today. ➡️ How private markets has evolved over the past 30 years. ➡️ What LPs are looking for today in their manager relationships. ➡️ Do LPs want more choice or less? ➡️ Why LPs, both institutions and wealth investors, might outsource private markets capabilities. ➡️ How the institutionalization of private wealth platforms is shaping how alternative asset managers partner with the wealth channel. ➡️ Where scale matters for alternative asset managers. ➡️ Where allocators should be “narrow and limited” with their GP relationships and where allocators should be diversified. ➡️ What is required for managers that launch and manage evergreen vehicles. ➡️ The why and the how behind launching a private wealth solutions business. Thanks Thanks John for coming on Alt Goes Mainstream to share your wisdom, expertise, and passion for private markets. Thanks Ultimus Fund Solutions for your support of Alt Goes Mainstream. https://lnkd.in/edHj7eE5

32

2 Comments

🚀 Early-Stage VC Is Shifting: Bigger Seed Rounds, But Fewer Graduates 🚀 I've been following the latest Aumni data closely, and the trends in early-stage venture capital are becoming increasingly pronounced: Seed deal sizes are climbing—the top quartile is now surpassing $7M. The number of deals is contracting: We're seeing fewer seed rounds, and an even steeper drop in the number of startups progressing to Series A. Graduation rates from Seed to Series A have sharply fallen—from 41% for companies seeded in Q3 2020 to just 12% in Q1 2023. There’s been a slight uptick, but it’s still far below historic norms. It's clear to me: the environment is more selective and demanding than ever. Startups may secure bigger funding rounds, but only if they meet increasingly high benchmarks. Progressing to the next stage is taking longer, and the “spray and pray” approach is quickly becoming a thing of the past. 🔮 My Prediction: In this environment, founders who can balance bold vision with operational excellence will pull ahead. At Jet Ventures, we're betting on teams who leverage knowledge, data, and AI in their respective domains and laser-focused on execution—especially those building innovative solutions in industrial and tech-heavy sectors. Going forward: Demonstrable product-market fit and clear, tangible progress will set the top startups apart. VCs with real operator experience and industry expertise—like our team at Jet Ventures—are in the best position to support and guide the next generation of champions, particularly in Central Europe. For both founders and investors, it’s a time for disciplined execution and outsized ambition. #VentureCapital #Startups #SeedStage #SeriesA #InvestmentTrends #JetVentures #VCInsights https://lnkd.in/eHHcXyUi

8

“Small, independent firms with excellent people focused on a well-defined market segment provide the highest likelihood of achieving excellent results.” That’s David Swensen — who seeded Hillhouse with $25M, a fund that went on to return $1.3B to Yale. Emerging managers are sticking around. Their share of capital has risen to 39% (from 29% in 2024). Most of that capital I've seen is going to teams spun out of established firms. The advantages are: – Grit, no Plan B, point to prove. – Smaller funds, tighter alignment, competitive pricing. The broader fundraising market is still brutal. Still concentrated. But as ever, the strongest emerging managers are breaking through. Swensen had it right. Back the ones with alignment, hunger, and a point to prove. #VC #venturecapital

93

2 Comments

Congratulations to the Stablecore team! A partnership with Q2 enables hundreds of banks and credit unions, including institutions like Bank of Utah and Amarillo National Bank, to quickly implement digital asset capabilities through a single integration. This partnership comes at a time when many institutions are facing infrastructure hurdles as they evaluate how they can support stablecoin adoption compliantly and at-scale. Stablecore is powering the next wave of fintech and we’re proud to be in Alex Treece and Nick E.'s corner.

17

Huge value inflection for DCVC portfolio company Fervo Energy, as the company IPOs on Nasdaq—and an important milestone for the field of commercial geothermal energy. Congratulations to the whole Fervo team, and to Rachel Slaybaugh, the DCVC General Partner who has supported Fervo from our first investment. DCVC blog post at the link.

7

This week in #AmTech: Heron Power raised $140 million in Series B funding co-led by Andreessen Horowitz's American Dynamism Fund and Breakthrough Energy Ventures, with participation from Capricorn Investment Group, Energy Impact Partners, Gigascale Capital, and Valor Atreides AI Fund. Heron Power develops solid-state transformers that replace legacy grid infrastructure, consolidating inverters, rectifiers, and transformers into a single software-regulated system capable of handling up to five megawatts per unit. By removing one of the biggest bottlenecks in connecting AI data centers, solar farms, and battery storage to the grid, Heron Power is helping America accelerate in the AI race and do it sustainably. Founder: Drew Baglino. CryoBio raised $1.3 million in pre-seed funding from Marble, AgVenture Alliance, New York Ventures, Launch NY, FuzeHub, Klessig Trust, and Jade Cove Partners. CryoBio uses precision fermentation to produce antifreeze molecules inspired by cold-adapted animals, delivering them to farmers as a sprayable treatment that shields high-value crops like apples and grapes from frost damage for up to two weeks. By giving growers a scalable biological tool to protect against unpredictable freezes, CryoBio reduces costly crop losses. Founder: Murli Manohar. Seasats raised $20 million in Series A funding led by Konvoy, with participation from Shield Capital, DNS Capital, Techstars, Tanis Venture Management, Crumpton Ventures, Dorado Group, and other strategic investors. Seasats builds small, solar-electric uncrewed surface vessels for defense, commercial, and scientific maritime missions. giving the United States affordable, persistent ocean surveillance and reconnaissance capability without putting sailors at risk. Founders: Mike Flanigan, Dylan Rodriguez, and Max Kramers. #VC #Startups #VentureCapital #AI #Energy #DataCenters #AgTech #DefenseTech #Drones

26

1 Comment

Procode is at the forefront of pairing AI with services businesses to transform legacy industries. We're incredibly excited to back Jeff Cripe, Kameron Rezzadeh, James Baez-Silva, and the whole Procode AI team. The speed with which Procode has entered the market, transformed the margin of the underlying operating company, AND created a better customer-facing product is special. As the son of a surgeon, I am grateful to the Procode team for creating a product that finally gives doctors visibility into how they're paid. Looking forward to a great journey together.

41

6 Comments

Many LPs still don’t understand one of the biggest advantages of seed-focused funds. It’s much easier for us to sell secondaries compared to large multistage funds. We’ve returned entire funds to LPs solely from selling secondaries in rounds where the larger funds who followed us couldn’t sell for signaling reasons. When a multistage fund sells, the market notices. When a seed fund takes chips off the table alongside the founders, it’s expected. Real returns to LPs, not just markups on paper.

191

13 Comments

Loved chatting with Kelli Fontaine about how LPs like Cendana Capital manage risk when investing in solo GPs. It's an interesting time to raise a fund: • Some LPs will not invest in dual GPs after seeing so many breakups in the past two years 💔 • Yet others will not invest in solo GPs as they or their peers have had the unthinkable happen (solo GP becomes incapacitated and firm is in limbo). Kelli's advice for GPs was spot on – there are ways to manage this in both situations. Focus on the LPs that believe in your model; don't waste time on those that will never be comfortable with it. Thank you David Zhou for hosting me on Superclusters!

16

3 Comments

I don't (nor does DCVC) do a lot of fintech or crypto - what my partners and I do in the "day job" or as angel investors tends to have a very sharp focus on economic liberty, privacy and security, and democratization of financial access (e.g., Tala, Chainlink Labs, StarkWare, BlueTape, Mesh, a few others). Fun, rapidly approaching $20 billion GPV, fits that model -- their $72m Series A and unicorn status is well deserved, and I couldn't be happier to have been on the journey with them since the beginning.

27

🚨NEW EPISODE: Recorded live at FUTURE TITANS 2026 - Jeff Perry of Carta sat down with the iconic Seth Levine, co-founder of Foundry. Seth has been in venture for 25 years, built Foundry from scratch as an emerging manager himself, and has backed about 50 emerging manager funds through his fund of funds. He has genuinely seen every side of this table. They went deep on building Foundry, why VCs are in the influence business, not the decision business, and why the concentration problem in venture is not only bad for LPs, but also for the innovation ecosystem overall. And why Seth's new book, Capital Evolution, is so important for the future of America. 🎧 Links to listen... Apple: https://lnkd.in/ehQUQ2EM Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eU4FExpg

19

1 Comment

Institutional capital is no longer observing - it’s underwriting. In 2025, institutional investors increasingly stepped directly into venture deals, bringing tighter diligence, sharper governance expectations, and little patience for narrative‑only pitches. If that momentum carries into 2026, traction alone won’t convert. Institutional fluency will. At the ASVLP 2026 Masterclass (Feb 11), Muriel Bayeli Mosango leads: “From Signal to Commitment: Institutional Investment Readiness for African Startups in 2026.” This session goes straight to the real gap - why interest doesn’t translate into capital. We’ll unpack: • What institutional investors actually underwrite • The governance and reporting signals that build conviction • Why strong startups stall during diligence • How to meet global capital standards without losing strategic control Muriel brings a decade of institutional portfolio management experience across pension funds, insurers, and family offices - now bridging disciplined global capital with emerging market growth. If you’re serious about raising institutional capital in 2026, this is preparation - not theory. To receive a special access link: Repost this announcement and comment your thought why you think this is interesting. You will receive a private registration link via DM. #ASVLP2026 #InstitutionalCapital #AfricaVC #VentureDiscipline

69

5 Comments

Revolutionizing Art Stewardship: Strobe Ventures portco Winston Artory Group (WAG) is using blockchain and unique data to redefine trust in a $3 trillion industry A core Strobe thesis is that specialized vertical marketplaces (particularly those underpinned by blockchain rails) will serve to 'unbundle Sothebys' and provide better user experiences for cheaper, as compared to the expensive, gated and inefficient generalized incumbents WAG is a technology platform operating at the forefront of intelligent art and collectibles stewardship. They count 30% of the world’s top billionaire art collectors as clients, and have a legacy of appraising over $100 billion in art and have tokenized another $2 billion With new collection management software and a right-to-win in the art-lending space, WAG is just getting started -- read our full piece here: https://lnkd.in/ez4r9Gxc

65

2 Comments

**Grammarly’s ‘Expert Review’ Lacks True Expertise** Grammarly’s new feature aims to elevate user writing through insights from notable thinkers. However, the effectiveness may hinge on whether the available feedback genuinely reflects expert-level scrutiny. At ElevenX Capital, we advocate for a blend of data-driven insights and genuine expertise in both product development and investment strategies. As investors, identifying authentic value in offerings is key. How do you assess the quality of resources when making investment decisions? #investing #innovation #venturecapital #entrepreneurship

1

Big milestone for Doppler Finance: Doppler just raised a $3M seed round led by Reforge, with participation from DCG, Maven 11, HashKey Capital, GSR, CMCC Global and others. Their goal? Unlock institutional-grade yield infrastructure on the XRP Ledger, something that’s been missing since day one. Here’s the opportunity: -> XRP’s ~$200B market cap has less than 0.1% in DeFi. -> Ethereum, by comparison, has ~20% of its market cap active on-chain. That’s hundreds of billions in idle XRP and Doppler is building the rails to activate it. With custody integrations (Fireblocks, Copper, Bitgo), verifiable proof-of-reserves, and plug-and-play APIs for wallets/custodians, they’re building for regulated capital but with open access. Their $500M+ capital pipeline speaks volumes. This is a major unlock for #XRPFi and one of the most promising attempts to bridge compliant yield infra with an underserved but globally significant asset. Excited to see how this one plays out.

96

5 Comments

San Diego-based Manifold (AI Detection and Response platform) has raised $8 million in seed funding; lead backer Costanoa Ventures, along with several institutional investors including Cherry Ventures, Rain Capital, Modern Technical Fund, and angel investors.

4

1 Comment

SWKS (EW, reporting after the market close on Tuesday, February 3rd): Focus on Apple content commentary and memory pricing impact. We believe it is likely that management will provide an update on Apple content during the call, which remains the primary investor focus, particularly following reports of share losses at Qorvo last week. There is some risk for Skyworks, as the company lost share in the DRx socket to Broadcom during the last iPhone cycle, and we believe it may take time to rebuild technology leadership after several years of content losses. There is also a narrative that Apple (covered by Erik Woodring) approved the Qorvo transaction to ensure healthy suppliers in an increasingly concentrated RF landscape, which could imply incremental content pressure for Skyworks. Management did not comment on content at CES, which some investors interpreted negatively. While we would not necessarily draw that conclusion, it likely contributed to the recent stock move and negative sentiment.

1

Santa Barbara Venture Partners has raised a $25M second fund to invest into software and AI, as covered in The Wall Street Journal Pro, Axios Pro Rata, and here in Pacific Coast Business Times. Fund II builds on the success of six successful exits (full and partial) in five years, Fund I’s top quartile performance, and a major competitive advantage in offering extensive customer acquisition and marketing expertise to SBVP portfolio companies. Fund II extends the firm’s unique strategy of generating continuous returns for investors in an asset class otherwise plagued by illiquidity challenges. Five years in, all fourteen SBVP portfolio companies are performing well. SBVP generally invests in companies with $2M to $50M in recurring revenue which are growing 75-200%+ that have outstanding client retention metrics. The firm typically participates in Series A through C rounds, or SBVP buys stock directly from existing founders or other shareholders. Many of SBVP’s 150+ fund investors (from across two funds and fourteen SPVs) are top marketing and sales executives from leading tech firms. They provide the portfolio with expertise in over 25 different marketing and customer acquisition channels and methods to accelerate revenue growth. Limited Partners include leaders from Adobe, Google, Procore Technologies, AppFolio, Snowflake, Salesforce, Zoom, RingCentral, CBS, Pinterest, and various other top firms. LPs work with portfolio companies on demand generation, sales, and marketing, and accelerate product marketing, revops, audio/TV marketing, content, social media, SEM, media buying, account-based marketing, customer success, sales enablement, branding, strategic alliances, trade show marketing, and other areas. https://lnkd.in/gkwaxivz

202

29 Comments