Venture

Husband-and-wife former Olympians target $50M for new fund to invest in influencer-led consumer brands

Samyr Laine and his wife, Ayanna Alexander-Laine, started Freedom Trail Capital in 2023 and are working their way toward a $50 million fund. Both are former Olympians who competed for Haiti and Trinidad and Tobago, respectively, in the triple jump. Now they put their grit and determination to work for founders wanting to launch and […]

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Defense tech and ‘resilience’ get global funding sources: Here are some top funders

We live in a very different world since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel. With global military expenditure reaching $2.4 trillion last year, startups are hoping to get a share of the pie, and formerly reluctant investors are keen to help them do so. The U.S. budget

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Matrix rebrands India, China units for ‘organizational independence’

Matrix is rebranding its India and China affiliates, becoming the latest venture firm to distance its international franchises. The U.S.-headquartered venture capital firm will retain its name, while Matrix Partners India will rebrand to Z47 and Matrix Partners China will rename itself MPC. Matrix began operating the India affiliated fund in 2006 and the China

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Kleiner Perkins announces $2 billion in fresh capital, showing that established firms can still raise large sums

Many VC firms are struggling to attract new capital from their own backers amid a tepid IPO environment. But established, brand-name firms are still able to raise large funds. On Friday, Kleiner Perkins announced that it closed on more than $2 billion in fresh capital across two funds, a slight increase from the 52-year-old firm’s

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All VCs say they are founder friendly; Detroit’s Ludlow Ventures takes that to another level

VCs Jonathan Triest and Brett deMarrais see their ability to read people and create longstanding relationships with founders as the primary reason their Detroit-based venture firm, Ludlow Ventures, is celebrating its 15th year in business. It sounds silly, attributing their longevity to what’s sometimes called “Midwestern nice.” But is it crazy? Maybe not. Before Ludlow,

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Elevate your 2025 fundraising strategy at Disrupt 2024

Get ready to unlock the secrets of successful fundraising in the upcoming year at Disrupt 2024. Our featured session, “How to Raise in 2025 if You’ve Taken a Flat, Down, or Extension Round,” is designed to equip startups with the knowledge and strategies needed to navigate the evolving investment landscape. This session will challenge outdated

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As Spain gets its latest VC fund, Southern Europe appears to be on a roll

While startup valuations have plummeted since the bull run of 2021-2022, a factor that’s hit the European startup ecosystem particularly hard, there’s one region of Europe where the correction has slightly worked in its favor: the South. Evidence for this was apparent during Mobile World Congress in Barcelona earlier this year, as time and time

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Why Tecovas sought out physical sales first despite its DTC dreams

When Paul Hedrick left his private equity career to launch Tecovas in 2015, he knew he wanted to sell the brand’s signature cowboy boots a little differently than other traditional Western wear companies. He wanted to sell the boots direct to consumers online — but unlike many other DTC brands, he wasn’t going to wait around

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Backed by Deutsche Telekom and SoftBank, DTCP raises $450M for its growth and early-stage funds

There aren’t many growth funds in Europe, but one of them now has fresh capital to invest in enterprise companies: German investment management firm DTCP held the final close of its third growth fund and an initial closing of its new early-stage fund, Incharge Capital, a joint venture with Porsche focusing on mobility startups, at

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