Aurelia Setton

This week marks the first anniversary of ESH. While many of you already heard about it earlier, the first “official” ESH check was written on June 27, 2023. A total of 14 investments were sourced so far by the great ESHer community. The last year wasn’t short of challenges on almost every front, but early-stage deals backed by repeat founders have demonstrated surprising resilience. Maybe it isn’t really surprising: the combination of talent density, market expertise, and platform shifts has historically provided new opportunities to shine in product and GTM, yielding abnormal returns. We saw it in the past with mobile, cloud, and microservices, and we are experiencing it again with AI. As the enabling platform becomes a “tech commodity,” founder and investor experience becomes a key differentiator. An anniversary is just a number, but it is also an opportunity to thank the repeat founders and industry experts in the ESH network, and the founders they backed, for allowing us to work together - and all the great women and men who helped me refine the ESH model since the get-go. Thanks Adi, Dan, Ron, Ron, Pramod, Noa, Eynat, Ziv, Gil, Shuly, Nadav, Roni, Idan, Guy, Mani, Omer, Alon, Michal, Tal, Sergey, Dov and everyone else who supported ESH along this first year.

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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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"Embracing the Pivot: How Investors Support Startups in Transition" Exploring the crucial role of adaptability in startups As investors, our role extends beyond funding—we must provide strategic guidance during these pivotal moments. Read more about navigating pivots in today's dynamic startup ecosystem: lool ventures Yaniv Golan Maya Azoulay Dina Walker Lena Young Roy Katzenelson Yair Kfir Maria Osipov

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Analysis: Key technical leader departs OpenAI Ilya Sutskever, really is the brains behind the whole operation. Chief Scientist, board member and co-founder.. This happened two days after, the hype announcement of GPT-4o. With both Andrej Karpathy & Ilya Sutskever leaving within the last few months, this leaves a rather large technical gap in the leadership team of the Research Lab. The GPT-4o announcement happening 1 day before 'Google I/O 2024', largely overshadowing the event. Personally I think this is good for Microsoft, its stock is up 8% this month, to put that in perspective - 250 billion USD, or 5 and half Twitters!! Previously OpenAI actively attempted to remove all emotions from their AI, recent audio demos of the new speech model seems to be going in the other direction using science fiction as a product roadmap. The curious change is rather sudden and may be explained by Mustafa Suleyman recently becoming the CEO of Microsoft AI Mustafa Suleyman previously CEO of Inflection AI was creating an emotionally aware chatbot called 'Pi'. 1 day ago 'John Schulman' one of the remaining technical co-founders of OpenAI, was the guest of a well known AI podcast, this appearance seems genuine and not a PR effort - https://lnkd.in/gEcrvmvU Big changes in the AI world, remember OpenAI is a Research Lab first and foremost - with many of the founding researchers departing within a few months, sending an interesting market signal. All in all this is good news for Microsoft Corp, edging closer to the previous 52 week high. Guardian article in the comments.

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In order to survive challenging times, companies need to look beyond their current products and embrace a culture of innovation. A powerful tool for achieving this is through the creation of a Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) arm. A shining example of this, which I am incredibly proud of is ICL PLANET Startup Hub Startup Hub, the corporate investments arm and accelerator of ICL Group. Here's how ICL Planet Startup Hub exemplifies the benefits of a CVC arm for our stakeholders: 💪 Early Access to Cutting-Edge Solutions: By partnering with innovative AgTech, FoodTech, and Climate Tech startups, we gain access to groundbreaking technologies before they hit the mainstream market. This allows us to stay ahead of the curve and identify solutions that align with our long-term sustainability goals. 💪 Risk Diversification and Growth Catalyst: To drive future growth, we invest in promising ventures aligned with ICL's strategic directions. This diversification mitigates risk and positions us to capitalize on emerging markets. 💪 Attracting Top Talent: We are fostering a company-wide culture of innovation. It encourages employees to think outside the box and embrace new ideas, ultimately making us a magnet for the brightest minds in the industry. (🌟We are currently looking for our next Corporate Investments Manager: https://lnkd.in/eDuTTYFJ ) 💪 Adaptability and Long-Term Vision: Startups are nimble and can change course quickly as the market shifts. ICL Planet Startup Hub allows us to leverage this agility to adapt and pivot our strategies for long-term success. The success of ICL Planet Startup Hub serves as a blueprint for how established companies can embrace a culture of innovation. It's not just about funding; it's about creating an environment where new ideas flourish. #CVC #innovation #diversification #enterprise #riskmanagement #growth

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Rolling into another day of the Primary Summit. Hit me up if we should connect onsite. Kudos to the Primary Ventures team so far, as yesterday’s Pre-Seed Summit was on point. Mar Hershenson, Benjamin Sun, Chris Douvos, Zach Weinberg, and Graham Pingree all dropping helpful nuggets for fund managers. Some paraphrased highlights: - Chris Douvos (AHOY Capital) - Most fund decks are terrible. Start with your people (not your strategy) and know you have about 6 slides of his attention. - Zach Weinberg (Curie.Bio ) - beleives SF’s AI talent is a significant advantage over NY, wouldn’t build AI in NY. Also questions if VC exits can keep up with VC expansion (generally hilarious and smart Twitter follow) - Mar Hershenson (Pear VC) - VC is so much more competitive now. It’s not enough to be an ex-founder with a great network and domain expertise. Have a better “why you are different” or do something else! - Benjamin Sun (Primary Venture Partners)- still sees arbitrage in going long NY venture (vs. SF). Do the work to keep various influential networking nodes aware of what you’re doing and how you think.

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A huge thank you to Merrit S. for an outstanding presentation! As our students dig further into their real-world deep tech innovation projects from Berkeley Lab, NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and Sahlgrenska Science Park they are tasked with performing "Expert Discovery" interviews with various stakeholders to explore their technology's potential for commercialization. Key objectives for these interviews: 1. Verify assumptions about technology performance and applications 2. Assess the technology's unique value proposition 3. Understand market needs and willingness to pay 4. Identify potential pain points and areas for improvement Merrit's insights on personalized outreach strategies, crafting concise, impactful messages, and the art of thoughtful persistence will significantly boost our student's success in expert interviews propelling their deep tech innovation projects forward! #DeepTech #Innovation #NetworkingTips #StudentSuccess #ExpertDiscovery

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New Investment Announcement - HealNow Navigate Ventures is delighted to announce our investment in HealNow, the leading enterprise platform for customer management and payment processing for pharmacies. HealNow serves the leading and innovative pharmacies that seek to provide their customers with a unique online checkout experience, aiming to boost revenue, enhance medication adherence, and alleviate the administrative burden on their pharmacy staff. HealNow removes all the complexity and streamlines the process to help pharmacies begin accepting online payments in days, not years. They enable pharmacies to provide their patients a modern online checkout experience for scheduling delivery, curb-side/express pickup, purchasing over-the-counter items or health products, and paying for prescriptions online. The platform allows pharmacies to customize their brand's online experience for their patients. HealNow has streamlined the entire underwriting process for pharmacies, collaborates with credit card brands, regulators, payment networks, and banks, eliminating the need for pharmacies to do so. HealNow is founded and led by an industry veteran with deep sector knowledge Halston Prox “We are so excited to partner with Navigate Ventures. Specifically, we believe Ivan's years of experience and immense knowledge helping SaaS startups scale is a tremendous value add to HealNow's quest to getting to our growth round and beyond.” Halston Prox, Founder & CEO. Co-investors include Walkabout Ventures and Bonfire Ventures. I am pleased to welcome HealNow to our family of portfolio companies. Ivan Nikkhoo Managing Partner Navigate Ventures

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