Colin McGrady’s Post

In spite of the record levels of capital raised for private market secondaries, transactions in the venture capital segment have been limited, as bid-ask spreads remain disparate and volatile, with valuations often lacking much fundamental reality of the current environment. Seldom have been executed over the past few years, with Insight Partners being one of the more successful in 2023. Perhaps the market is starting to open up, and I highly admire Shasta Ventures' Managing Partner Jason Pressman as a fund manager and friend, and see this potential process materializing successfully for Shasta Ventures limited partners to accelerate the case for Jason Pressman and Team to subsequently raise their next early-stage venture fund. Current investments include Australia-based start-up Canva, Tonal, Cequence Security, Zuora. Jefferies has been retained to manage the process. Looking forward to tracking this situation closely and all the best! #secondaries #venturecapital #limitedpartners #institutionalinvestors #allocators #earlystage #siliconvalley #fundmanagers #capitalmarkets #liquidity #distributions #privatemarkets https://lnkd.in/gCXMgWZT

We're excited to announce the completion of a $15M strategic funding round led by Maven 11 and Balderton Capital! This funding welcomed new investments from Maven 11 and Blue Bay Ventures. Finoa also is grateful for the participation of all its existing investors, namely Balderton Capital, coparion, Signature Ventures and Venture Stars. The completion of the funding round coincides with Finoa's return to profitability. Finoa confirmed its Qualified Custodian status earlier in 2023, marked by the provisioning of three licenses by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin). Finoa has observed four-fold growth in the latter half of 2023, demonstrating the strong trust and reliability we enjoy from both existing and new customers. Finoa's return to profitability can be attributed to both an increase in the assets managed on its platform as well as the expansion of its products and services. In particular, Finoa’s staking unit has attracted EUR >500 million in Assets under Delegation to its validator infrastructure in its first year and a half. 📰 (EN) The Block: https://lnkd.in/dNxt8vZk 📰 (DE) Finance Forward: https://lnkd.in/dTNBuyTZ

Three of the four VCCI funds (from Northleaf Capital Partners , Kensington Capital Partners Limited and Teralys Capital ) have hit their fundraising targets under the latest federal assistance program for venture capital firms to get their maximum allotment from Ottawa. The most interesting development is that high net worth individuals and family offices now represent twice as much of the investor base in the program as in the original VCAP a decade ago. Institutional investor representation including from pension funds and corporates remains a soft spot.

Why SPV Closing Dates Don’t Matter …random thoughts of a syndicate lead I frequently get asked from LPs who are considering investing in a deal when they need to commit to a deal by. That’s a very reasonable question. But also a very tough question for a syndicate lead. Here’s why. Syndicates work backwards from traditional venture funds, meaning we find the capital after we find the deal. It’s a balancing act of guessing what your LPs will commit and communicating that with the founder. You are really managing 2 timelines in parallel: 1) The close of the round w/ the founder 2) The commitment of capital across your LPs When investing in priced rounds the closing date is more punctual versus SAFEs/notes. The challenge → it is unclear when your allocation will fill to be in a position to close out your SPV. This is why I try to provide ballpark figures with founders so they have a good idea, and as soon as I know the allocation is going to be larger or smaller than the original figure I told them (or asked for), I immediately relay the updated info. Us syndicate leads need to play nice with founders because they are providing us some added flexibility. Ideally it’s bonus points when you can move quickly as a syndicate though, which they will certainly appreciate. (I think older angel groups moved at a slower pace, which helps syndicates today in founders eyes) Here’s the reality. If we have a $250k allocation into a company's priced series A, I might know that we need to sign docs in 10 days from today and can tell LP’s that in full transparency. What I don’t know is if this allocation is going to fill in 2 days, or not at all. If it filled in 2 days i.e. way ahead of estimated scheduled, this would require me to do 1 of 2 things: 1) Request additional allocation. Hopefully this works for the founder, but every round is different and it could go either way. 2) Close the deal earlier than expected because capital commitments came in larger and quicker than expected. This of course hurts those LPs that thought they had more time to explore. In scenario 2 above, I might have told an LP we need to narrow in on a final commitment amount by next week, but the next day I could potentially have 2 large LPs commit capital which would close out the allocation. I could keep the vehicle open and oversubscribe the allocation, but I’d prefer to reward those LPs who can move quicker versus oversubscribing and having to scale LPs back. Part of the game. I’m always going to try and do what is right by LP’s but it's also a juggling act. Once an allocation goes live, I want to firm up the allocation asap. Syndicate leads put in a lot of work AFTER securing an allocation. If you want to syndicate deals, get used to the stress & embrace being wrong about estimated allocations :) In summary → closing dates are always subject to change when running SPVs. -- I write Last Money In Media for all things SPVs in Venture Capital.

Issue 18 of The Up Round is out! Check this bi-weekly summary of relevant news and firm-building resources for VCs. Some highlights from the issue: 🌱 Congrats to Overture on the announcement of their debut $60M fund 🏠 Apparently Homebrew might be raising a new opportunity fund? 🟰 Congrats to our friends Equal Ventures on their second seed fund and first opportunity fund! 🏦 A recent survey of 75 family office CIOs by KKR suggests that the allocation to alts will increase from 42% in 2022 to 52% this year 😶 PitchBook estimates that nearly 40% of first time funds won't be able to raise a sophomore fund (this was >60% over the prior decade Read it for yourself and subscribe- https://lnkd.in/e9qXKutY

Picking up on a previous comment, the general underperformance of the VC asset class is what has prompted government support in the forms of the VCAP,VCCI-1 and VCCI-2. So, understanding the reasons behind that longstanding returns record becomes important unless Canada resigns itself to providing that support into infinity. This private-public business model itself bears scrutiny given its decade-plus existence mixed with ongoing disappointing VC industry returns. It is interesting that this situation appears to be another instance of garbled messaging on the part of the federal government when taken together with its 2024 Budget measures on capital gains. Finally, the Conservative opposition has come out in favor of embarking on major tax system reform should it assume power in the next election - including the substantial preferential measures employed by business in Canada. It is difficult, almost impossible even, to forecast where this tax and tax expenditure revamp might go although the Conservatives appear to be in favor of lower marginal rates for all, while taking an axe to the forest of tax preferences that have sprung up over the decades. So, the VCAP to VCCI-2 model future may be uncertain under a Conservative regime.

New year, new SEIS fund!! To kickstart 2024, we've teamed up with early stage investor Fuel Ventures 🚀 to help further democratise access to SEIS investing and to provide retail investors with tax-efficient diversification in early-stage businesses. Fuel’s mission is to back disruptive and ambitious founders. It has an established track record and across all its funds, as at May 2023, had deployed £130 million+ into over 100 companies. Notable recent exits include ContentCal to Adobe and Capdesk from Carta to Carta. Now, thanks to this partnership and our commitment to bring more people into private market investing , you can participate in Fuel's SEIS fund from £2,000, down from the typical entry point of £20,000. 📈 We continue to work with the best SEIS fund managers in the UK. SEIS funds are part of the government-backed SEIS scheme. This means they offer a generous 50% income tax relief on investments up to £200,000 and 0% capital gains. Please note that the tax benefits of SEIS depend on the individual circumstances of each investor and may be subject to change in future. The waitlist to invest is now open and you can follow the link in the comments to register. 😎

#fundingalert 💼Company: Palm Beach Capital 💰Funding: $350Million ⚡Round: Sixth Fund 👥Investors: Palm Beach Capital Founded in 2001, Palm Beach Capital is a middle market private equity investment firm based in West Palm Beach, Florida. Currently investing out of its sixth committed fund, the firm focuses on high growth investment opportunities and partners with founders, business owners, and management teams in management buyouts, recapitalizations and growth equity investments. Fund VI’s broad and global investor base includes diversified financial institutions, insurance companies, pension funds, foundations, endowments, consultants, funds of funds, and institutional family offices. Shaun McGruder, Juan C. Tagle, Nate Ward, Mike Schmickle, Michael Chalhub, Christopher Felder, CPA, Dylan Nugent, Dylan Sloane Read more - https://lnkd.in/gnwfbX3D To share your startup story write us on - [email protected] #PalmBeachCapital #privateequityfirm #venturecapital #investment #funding #fundingnews #startup #startupnews #news #startuprise

Why would you go and start your own venture fund when there are already so many other great ones out there? The TL;DR is: Kicking my IRA into High Gear & keeping me honest as an entrepreneur. The first order of business was to correct the lackluster performance of my existing IRA which had been missing out on all of the wonderful alpha which is generated by early-stage venture. Let's face it. Most IRAs are based on public market performance and are often exposed more than they should be to macroeconomic volatility. So I linked up with my fellow Venture University Alumni GP Greco in order to traverse the regulatory landscape and fund administration complexities. Neither of us would be able to do this if it weren't for the guidance and mentorship from VU Venture Partners, so no: I won't be leaving VU. This is just my side hustle. "You can try to take away my side hustle, but you can't take away my hustle." Love, -- Asher Bond

At Connectd we’ve raised from three angel syndicates, creating SPVs through Vauban from Carta. One of those syndicates invested as little as $85k, with the largest ticket being $330k as part of our seed funding of $8m Getting investment from an angel syndicate can be a game-changer for the following reasons: 💵 Streamlined Capital Flow Angel syndicates offer a streamlined way to bring in capital from numerous shareholders without having a messy cap table. This not only eases admin burdens but also ensures that the ownership structure remains agile and adaptable as the startup evolves. 🤝 Simplified Investor Engagement: Unlike the potentially arduous process of pitching to multiple individual investors, engaging with an angel syndicate often involves presenting your venture to a single entity. This efficiency saves valuable time and resources, allowing founders to focus more on building and growing their business. 🫂 Access to an Extended Network of Capital: The benefits of angel syndicates extend beyond their investment. Many reputable syndicates boast extensive networks and relationships with other types of investors, enhancing the startup's credibility but also opens doors to additional funding sources, creating a ripple effect that can fuel sustained growth. Would you agree that getting investment this way is the best? I’d love to know your thoughts - let’s talk in the comments below 👇🏻 #Investors #AngelSyndicate