Daniel Fetner’s Post

Ever been invited to a billionaire's island in the Caribbean to expand your network? Me neither. But I know some who have. Imagine a call, just two weeks' notice, a hefty $25,000 price tag, and a long journey – all to connect with a select Tier 1 group from the startup world. This isn't how we break down barriers in the tech ecosystem. That's why today, we launch #FoundersCircle. 🚀 Many bright & ambitious early-stage startup founders aim to open the doors to the German startup ecosystem. Yet many lack the keys to connect with Tier 1 investors, founders, and policymakers relevant to their success. We at Techstars Berlin want to change this with you. What awaits you at the #FoundersCircle? ⚡️ Handpicked panels with top founders, investors, and policymakers. ⚡️ Dedicated office hours at the event so that you can connect 1:1 with these key people from the German tech ecosystem. ⚡️ Networking opportunities in a relaxed environment. I would like to thank Jessica Holzbach (Co-Founder & CEO at Pile) and Christian Miele (President of the Startup-Verband & General Partner at Headline) for kicking this event off with me on the 19th of September. And thanks so much to many others who will contribute to it: Julian Teicke (Founder & CEO at wefox), Anna Alex (Co-Founder at Nala Earth & former Co-Founder of Planetly), Thomas Jarzombek (MdB), Anna Christmann (MdB), Johannes Vogel (MdB), Thomas Heilmann (MdB), Florian Heinemann (Founding Partner Project A Ventures), and Miriam Wohlfarth (Founder & Co-CEO at Banxware). More to be announced soon. ✨ The Founders’ Circle is an invite-only event for early-stage founders (Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A). Limited spots are available - the first edition on September 19th at Factory Berlin - Apply for a spot through the link below in the comments section 👇 Mark your calendars for the next editions on October 12th, November 2nd, and December 7th!

[SaaS Lander] 6 days left until the cohort lands in NY and SF 🚀 Building a program like SaaS Lander is only possible with exceptional partners. We are grateful to be able to count on our sponsors to make the delegation’s experience truly memorable 👇   🛫 Air France, whose continuous support in helping our startups fly throughout the years is highly appreciated.   ⚖️ Tarter Krinsky & Drogin LLP, whose expertise will help our 9 companies understand the ins & outs of the US legal environment.   💰 iii-Financements, whose precious pointers on alternative financing could significantly enhance our delegation’s investment capabilities.   🌆 RSM US LLP, whose detailed breakdown of setting-up costs in the US will be instrumental in shaping the cohort’s business models; and whose stylish offices will provide an ideal setting for our Tech Night in New York.   🌉 Silicon Valley Bank, whose support in hosting our Tech Night in San Francisco has made a significant difference, and whose commitment to the startup community worldwide is truly commendable.   🤝 Chief Outsiders, whose unwavering support on GTM throughout the program has been a game-changer for our cohort, allowing them to fine-tune their US strategy.   Want to learn more about SaaS Lander and to meet this year’s startups Riot, Jus Mundi, Maple Technologies, Flowlity, Pathway, PROMO.DEV, Taqt, SoundCast, and Libertify? 📲 Send a DM to Alexia Blanchard and Arthur de Boisfleury (NY), or to Louis M. and Indira Ouedraogo (SF).   #SaaS #SaaSLander #Tech #TeamWork #Collaboration #Partners

When I speak with leaders of the Montreal tech community one of the topics that comes up often is how can we get more of our seed companies to growth… The next topic (somewhat predictably) becomes how do we get more capital to help our startups ramp up… but before capital you need product-market-fit and then a “predictable product-led or sales-led growth engine”. During that crucial seed to A and then post series A phase a company's culture changes radically. It is not easy to navigate hyper-scale (having tried at Bus.com)… often 5Xing the company's team size and potentially 10Xing ad spend, the sales team and customers to deal with. Outside of capital the key ingredient founders and investors are desperately looking for is talent (i.e. know-how) on how to trigger and navigate this crucial phase in a startup's journey I’m super happy to have 3 product leaders Laura Di Costanzo, Vahid Jozi, and Gabriella Hachem, who have each experienced the realities of going from pre product-market-fit to growth come share some of their know-how July 9th at TechTOgether MTL. The panel will be led by the one-and-only Alex Norman TechTO co-founder and managing partner at N49P Ventures. If you are a product/growth team member, startup exec, or investor in seed, seed-x, and series A startups this is a must-attend.

It's Spring, a time of change. In that spirit, I've got another HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT - especially for those in my startup ecosystem network.👇 After co-founding a market research agency straight out of uni😅, two failed startups😞, then being an operator in the startup ecosystem for the last 3 years🚀, building two communities of over 1,000 people🫂, something new is coming. Last summer I met Vasily Alekseenko - we were both running very different event series for founders and investors and over the next few months, both had our eyes set on tech solutions to make the ecosystem more equitable and innovative.🤔 So I began supporting Vasily's (then just an idea) Investor Conference and Demo Day. And over the months of working together, we decided to put our heads together more formally. We're⚡SO EXCITED⚡to now officially announce I'm coming on as a CO-FOUNDER of Rare Founders 🥳🥳🥳 We're an events company and tech startup that serves the innovation ecosystem with access to incredible people and insightful solutions. We have LOADS coming this year, but for now, the one really incredible opportunity you need to know about issss...📢 📅On April 22nd, we're hosting London's largest in-person #investor conference and demo day for the #startup ecosystem. A huge thanks to sponsors SeedLegals, FieldHouse Associates, and Gridaly as well as smaller sponsors like Google and many more, for helping make this happen. 💹Some ticket types are SOLD OUT, but we have some room for more investors to join us on the day. Expect a few HUNDRED other investors, and even some #LPs along with 100 pitching startups who have all been vetted by fellow investors. We even have investors flying in from other countries. 🎟���You can learn more and grab your ticket here: https://lnkd.in/gy8mAuja (And if you've got any questions, ping me. If you're a part of specific communities, I may be able to get you a small discount.😉) Here's to an incredible 2024 for all our founder and investor friends!⚡

2023 was undeniably a pivotal year for the national startup and venture capital ecosystem. After conversations with local and national VCs, our WBC research team, and local startups its also true, the local landscape experienced significant shifts too. Faced with high inflation, rising interest rates, and geopolitical uncertainties, the year brought downturns in venture funding and valuations, especially in seed and Series A rounds. These shifts presented a reset for startups and investors alike to rethink strategies and adapt their approach to capital raising and capital deployment. A year of lean growth, clear paths to profitability, and bridge rounds, underscored the importance of the need to be resilient and agile in the face of uncertainty. In the midst of these trends, Chicagoland's startup and venture ecosystem charted their own course. We celebrated the emergence of new unicorns, Tempus and Kin Insurances, signaling confidence in the midwest and demonstrating our ecosystem's ability to nurture high-value startups. We also saw a strategic diversification in funding sources, with increases in involvement from angel investors and private equity firms. Looking forward to 2024, the lessons of adaptability and diversification from 2023 only make our region stronger as there is continued focus on expanding funding avenues and supporting emerging sectors such as climate tech, AI, and quantum. Admittedly we are not poised to be the next Silicon Valley, but that's not our goal. Chicagoland doesn't need to emulate another region's model to succeed, because our strength lies in our what sets us apart which is our culture (don't get me started on the food scene here), unique blend of tech talent, economic diversity in emerging tech sectors, local innovation hubs and accelerators, and the collaborations that create connective tissue to drive inclusive economic growth. #StartupEcosystem #Chicagoland #VentureCapital #Innovation

As promised, here's something new from our team for the Midwest Startups annual Midwest Cities Rankings. This year for the first time, we've added national peer cities to the mix to see how the Midwest fares against emerging tech cities like Miami, LA, Austin, Denver, and Atlanta. Get the full scoop (and some solid gifs from me and Ruth Brungard) in this post: https://lnkd.in/gDCiUZwq

Investors and startup founders flocked to Austin during the COVID-19 pandemic due to its lower cost of living, hip lifestyle, and business-friendly environment. Some are now leaving or looking to leave the city. The weather and economy were not as favorable as they'd expected. This article looks at a few of the companies that are leaving and the reasons why.

Great to see Battery General Partner Neeraj Agrawal recognized on the Insider list of the 52 most important VCs in Boston, according to other VCs! Per Melia Russell, the list author, "Data shows that Boston is a place to make it big. According to research by Carta, Boston has a healthy lead on other cities for total capital raised across biotech, health-tech, medical devices, and energy companies so far this year. And the city's enterprise software and hardware startups secured more funding than companies in those verticals in tech hot spots like Austin, Seattle, and Los Angeles... In celebration of this vibrant scene, Insider is recognizing the most important venture capitalists in the greater Boston area. We asked VCs from across the country about the Boston investors to know, and we also referred to our past reporting on the top seed investors to find more picks." See the full list here: https://lnkd.in/gWSjhCpF

I spent some time in Boston this week seeing Melissa Prohaska from M&T Bank and time at Harvard University among other things and got to experience a bit of Boston’s ecosystem. 🧬 Boston taking home the most resilient early-stage startup ecosystem crown isn’t totally surprising after my time here. ⌚️ No hate to my D.C. peeps - I know this chart shows you with a decline of less than 10% in funding YOY, but D.C. is a much smaller ecosystem so Boston still wins out. 🏆 Boston is largely driven by its Biotech industry with nearly 40% of its investment in that space (which is just lacking in NY and the Bay Area, comparatively). 🦠🧫    Hardware, B2B SAAS and HealthCare tech are also pretty strong in Boston, too. 📊 Now, if you look at the chart below you see that FY 2023 has been a dumpster fire compared to even last year (and I would cringe if I saw the numbers for 2021 vs 2023). 😖 Boston just had the tiniest dumpster fire in 2023- A baby dumpster fire, really. 🔥 Loving these insights from Carta and what it proves to us that many of us in the industry have been anecdotally saying for a year. 🗣️ Hang in there, startups! It has to get better at some point. 📈 #startups #vc #venturecapital #funding