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5 Lessons From Super Venture And Its Impact On The VC & Fintech Ecosystem - Forbes: Here are five key takeaways from the Super Venture conference that are poised to shape the venture and fintech landscape.

News (article): “We should’ve sold more” says head of Speedinvest, as VC closes fourth fund. VC isn't all about investing capital. It's also about returning capital #speedinvest #vc #capital === ➡️ Proactive exits In the boom years, VCs didn’t need to think too hard about getting exits. Startups were raising big rounds, often giving earlier investors plenty of opportunities to sell at least some of their shares to incoming investors at a tidy markup. “The whole industry — including ourselves — has been a bit naive about this topic,” says Holle, whose portfolio includes unicorns like wefox, GoStudent and Bitpanda. “We had these conversations two years ago when there were lots of up rounds [about how much to sell]. We’d settle on selling 20 or 30% of our shares, or say ‘Let’s make sure we at least have our money back’. In hindsight, that’s not good enough.” “We are all learning that we should have been much more diligent, had a look at hardcore revenue multiples, taken more of an investment banker mindset. We should’ve sold more.” That exit path is now “gone, pretty much” — leaving inbound or outbound M&A as the primary way for VCs to get exits. “VCs rarely have enough energy to proactively manufacture a sale,” says Holle, including finding M&A advisors, building a pipeline of potential buyers, having conversations with founders and coinvestors about whether they’re ready to sell and then running the process. Instead, they wait for a buyer to come along. “That’s where a lot of VC peers fail.” Speedinvest’s two-person M&A team (Werner Zahnt and Lawrence Kilian) “can’t run 100 M&A processes in parallel” either, says Holle — but the goal is to be more proactive than its competitors. Continuation funds — which are currently uncommon in Europe — could be another good option for VCs struggling to get liquidity. For new LPs, “it’s a very attractive proposition”, says Holle. “If you have 10 companies doing well but they each need another 4-5 years until exit, and you’re getting a decent discount on these companies.” “For old investors, it’s a combination of creating some liquidity but being able to reinvest, potentially at better terms than the old fund.” ==== ➡️ Deal readiness New State Ventures operates as an independent deal maker for software and technology-led businesses. We collaborate with high-growth companies, their founders and investors to drive deal readiness and transaction value in preparation for and execution of investments, acquisitions and exits. 👉 Contact: https://lnkd.in/eZKu6K_N #newstateventures #founders #investors #venturecapital #privateequity #dealreadiness https://lnkd.in/ekVByv8G

News (article): “We should’ve sold more” says head of Speedinvest, as VC closes fourth fund. VC isn't all about investing capital. It's also about returning capital #speedinvest #vc #capital === ➡️ Proactive exits In the boom years, VCs didn’t need to think too hard about getting exits. Startups were raising big rounds, often giving earlier investors plenty of opportunities to sell at least some of their shares to incoming investors at a tidy markup. “The whole industry — including ourselves — has been a bit naive about this topic,” says Holle, whose portfolio includes unicorns like wefox, GoStudent and Bitpanda. “We had these conversations two years ago when there were lots of up rounds [about how much to sell]. We’d settle on selling 20 or 30% of our shares, or say ‘Let’s make sure we at least have our money back’. In hindsight, that’s not good enough.” “We are all learning that we should have been much more diligent, had a look at hardcore revenue multiples, taken more of an investment banker mindset. We should’ve sold more.” That exit path is now “gone, pretty much” — leaving inbound or outbound M&A as the primary way for VCs to get exits. “VCs rarely have enough energy to proactively manufacture a sale,” says Holle, including finding M&A advisors, building a pipeline of potential buyers, having conversations with founders and coinvestors about whether they’re ready to sell and then running the process. Instead, they wait for a buyer to come along. “That’s where a lot of VC peers fail.” Speedinvest’s two-person M&A team (Werner Zahnt and Lawrence Kilian) “can’t run 100 M&A processes in parallel” either, says Holle — but the goal is to be more proactive than its competitors. Continuation funds — which are currently uncommon in Europe — could be another good option for VCs struggling to get liquidity. For new LPs, “it’s a very attractive proposition”, says Holle. “If you have 10 companies doing well but they each need another 4-5 years until exit, and you’re getting a decent discount on these companies.” “For old investors, it’s a combination of creating some liquidity but being able to reinvest, potentially at better terms than the old fund.” ==== ➡️ Deal readiness New State Ventures operates as an independent deal maker for software and technology-led businesses. We collaborate with high-growth companies, their founders and investors to drive deal readiness and transaction value in preparation for and execution of investments, acquisitions and exits. 👉 Contact: DM (or https://lnkd.in/eFAxZ9W) #newstateventures #founders #investors #venturecapital #privateequity #dealreadiness https://lnkd.in/ecz8Ukzv

Investors in VC funds and sponsors essentially have the same problem as crypto locked staking rewards investors had during the last crypto bull run. They saw a 30% IRR over the last 5 years and they so badly want it to be real. Continuation funds are a great idea, but they are working well for private equity (PE) funds because many PE fund investments are not underwater; they just can't exit because the IPO market is closed. Many VC investments are underwater and unless involves some crazy derivative equity swap, somebody in the capital structure is going to have to take a hit and the fantasy of the 30% IRR over the last 5 years becomes a nightmare. Even if the IPO market was open tomorrow morning, many startups wouldn't be able to exit because the last valuation is way above what the public markets would accept. What the startup investors need is a real financial genius who can find a way for late stage investors to take a haircut without taking a haircut. A way for later stage investors to let go of their early stage hostages while letting them still live the dream.

Summary: Early-stage VC firm Kearny Jackson has secured $65 million in capital commitments for its third fund. The bi-coastal firm primarily invests in B2B SaaS and fintech infrastructure. Key takeaways: Kearny Jackson emphasizes time to value for its portfolio companies and has a mix of LPs from various backgrounds including Sequoia and Marc Andreessen. The larger fund size gives the duo more leverage to execute their strategy of gaining more ownership in their portfolio companies. The firm has made notable investments in companies like Motherduck, Cortex, and Comulate with its first two funds. Counter arguments: Some may argue that the smaller ownership stake targeted by Kearny Jackson may not be as favorable to founders. The firm's reliance on LPs for funding may limit their ability to make riskier investments.

Investors want cash returns not "funny money" IRRs. What's HOT: DPI, or distribution to paid-in capital, which measures the return multiple on the money paid into a VC or PE fund. What NOT: Unrealized "value" in equity investments that are likely underwater if marked to market. Most VCs are lamenting that they didn't sell more of their stakes in 2020 through 2022. They are now offloading investments at steep discounts in an attempt to keep their LPs from jumping ship permanently. “We are all learning that we should have been much more diligent, had a look at hardcore revenue multiples, taken more of an investment banker mindset. We should’ve sold more.” The exit path [of selling into a subsequent round at a much higher valuation] is now “gone, pretty much” — leaving inbound or outbound M&A as the primary way for VCs to get exits. Thoughts? #VC #venturecapital #startups #innovation #technology

Lots of really interesting insights from our Investment Trends to Watch panel at the Innovate Finance Global Summit earlier this week. I was joined by Tim Levene CEO at Augmentum Fintech, Steve Gibson from 13books Capital, Sophie Winwood, Partner at Foxe Capital and Kevin Chong Co-Founder of Outward VC Key takeaways: 📈 the panel were positive about 2024, with Q1 showing an improved volume and quality of deal flow ⌛️ for fintech startups, having a VC that understands the fintech space and is with you for the long haul is essential 👀 it's just as important for founders to do their due diligence on an investor when seeking investment, and have their eyes wide open when entering this partnership 🏆 2024/2025 are arguably set to be vintage years, as founders with the grit, dedication and diligence to survive these tough periods are often responsible for some of the most successful businesses #fintech #investment #vc #venture #venturecapital #tech #techlawyers #techlawyer #growthcompany #growthcompanies #fundraising

The vast majority of the high-flying ZIRP-era startups are unlikely to deliver great financial outcomes for their investors and employees... QED Investors' Frank Rotman shares how the VC ecosystem is responding: 👉 VCs are re-evaluating their investment theses, focusing on strong unit economics and caring about capital efficiency. 👉Founders are being forced to build businesses that can turn over cards in a disciplined way and survive without the crutch of endless VC funding. 👉 LPs are seeking to re-up with Funds that have great pre-2018 track records and have a true competitive edge in today’s new normal environment. Read more from Frank on X: https://lnkd.in/gKWfDRza #MarketTrends #VentureCapital