@0xelton
@PropelVC
Elton and the propel team are the partners you want as a founder, always available and looking to provide valuable feedback. The past year and a half working with them as a founder has been awesome ♾️
🚨I'd like to do another venture investment this year, $500k to $5M, ❌something exciting in technology that could be relevant to financial services 🧪💱💫
If that’s your startup, please email me as many details as possible 🫶
Let’s see if this works 💡
I’d like to do another venture investment by June 30, $750k to $4M - preferably @ intersection of AI & financial services 🏦 🧠
If that’s you, please email me as many details as possible 🫶
Excited to partner with the team at
@truora
as they announce a $15M Series A round co-led by
@PropelVC
and
@Accel
. Looking forward to working with
@ddbilbao
, Maite, and the team!
We've partnered with 3 strong founding teams this summer at the intersection of AI + financial services.
@ParchaHQ
(announced today), and two with stealth fundraises.
I’d like to make another venture investment by August 31, $500k to $4M - preferably at the intersection of AI +
Let’s see if this works 💡
I’d like to do another venture investment by June 30, $750k to $4M - preferably @ intersection of AI & financial services 🏦 🧠
If that’s you, please email me as many details as possible 🫶
I aim to respond to all thoughtful cold emails, but >95% are copy/paste to 100s or 1000s of investors. Founders are now sending ChatGPT-assisted cold emails that utilize Crunchbase data and scripts. Genuine/thoughtful outreach stands out 👀
If you write a good cold email, it will stand out in the sea of AI-assisted cold inbound we are receiving. Standing by, waiting to read your thoughtful, cold email. Preferably in software at all relevant to the future of financial services. Thx
What happened to VC funding in Q3 2022? TLDR: Funding levels remain elevated despite the narrative that VCs are sitting on their hands. VC $ peaked in Q4 2021, and there's enough excess to keep putting up lofty funding levels. Let's take a look (source: Pitchbook data,
@PropelVC
)
Had an incredible week in NYC meeting ambitious founders and thoughtful investors. Good to hang with
@0xelton
who represents
@PropelVC
in the city. Reach out and let’s meet up next time.
Hiring for 2 roles
@PropelVC
1) LatAm VC Investor (CDMX, São Paulo, Bogotá, Buenos Aires) - accelerate efforts & allow us to better support port cos
2) Chief of Staff (Remote) - balance betw/ ops & supporting investment team scale
DMs open!
@JayReinemann
@claremckee123
@0xelton
In Miami Beach 🌴🌞 Santa Monica 🏄 🧑💻 and San Francisco 🌉 🚎 over the next two weeks. Reach out if you want to meet up 🍵🤝
Investing in the new financial economy from Seed to Series A. Thinking about ways to accelerate, enable, and deliver the future of financial services.
Update: This works 📑✅
@PropelVC
’s second investment at the intersection of financial services x AI this month 🧠 🏦
🎤 What’s next?! Would love to explore what you’re working on or please introduce your friends 🤝
Let’s see if this works 💡
I’d like to do another venture investment by June 30, $750k to $4M - preferably @ intersection of AI & financial services 🏦 🧠
If that’s you, please email me as many details as possible 🫶
What are the best mission statements in financial technology?
Two I've always loved:
1. "Increase the GDP of the internet" -
@stripe
2. "Transforming risk into opportunity" -
@NewfrontHQ
Heading to Las Vegas for
@money2020
next week!
Are any entrepreneurs building whatever comes next? Are any talent magnets thinking about Starting Something New? Any visionaries that see the world differently? Let's connect.
it's an
#SFsummer
at
@PropelVC
🏙️
if you're building solutions for:
🔒anti-fraud / cybersecurity
🎯compliance
⚙️workflow automation
i want to meet you IRL. dms are open!
We're looking to grow the Helius team.
Looking for a range of positions ranging from:
- dev relations
- BD
- senior infra or data engineers
*the main requirement is that you must be self-motivated and possess high-agency*
DM if interested
Offering referral bonuses as well
San Francisco has been lovely this week. First time it was clean / safe enough to show my kids the office. Poop outside was cleaned within an hour of the request. And the city is literally vacuuming the streets 🌉🤩
#APEC2023
There's something so satisfying about a company growing 10% MoM, every month, with a highly repeatable biz model, that will grow into their 2021 valuation by a known date (2024/2025) - with cash to get them there and beyond. It beats the ones that just aren't going to make it.
The
@PropelVC
team needs a place to work in San Francisco the week of June 26. Any ideas? Just need a dining room table but not a lot of Airbnb options.
@SullyCNBC
SF has problems that cell phone data can’t reveal. Small businesses have been gutted. Those that remain open are one break in away from closing. The lawlessness is wild. And yet, the future is build here.
Which early-stage companies will have the biggest impact on the "new financial economy" but are not consensus "fintech" companies? That's what I'm looking for. Reach out [david @ ]
@pitdesi
So many learnings - got knocked around in 2015 during the emergence of alt lending as a category, funding several players. Since shortly after, have not understood how VC $ continues to flow to balance sheet lenders.
Boom! Proud to have
@PropelVC
join
@ParchaHQ
's Seed round announced today. Parcha is building AI Agents to instantly automate compliance and operations. You can read more about what they're building here:
Thanks to
@_aj
and
@MiguelriosEN
for partnering
We're excited to share that we have raised $5M in seed funding led by
@KindredVentures
and
@Initialized
to instantly automate compliance and operations with AI. Learn more about how our first customers are using Parcha here:
Honored to have been on the journey with the
@ease
team - thanks
@courtstarr
and David for your partnership with
@PropelVC
. Thankful for the friendship as well 🫶🎊
🎉 Ease & Employee Navigator unite!
It's been 10+ years of relentless dedication & persistence.
Huge thanks to our amazing team, customers & investors – you made it happen.
Proud of our achievements & excited for the next decade of joint innovation.
@Altimor
Yes, I had my not as expensive commuter bike stolen in SF. Police called a few months later and had it at the station. It was left at the end of an alley near someone who had passed out.
@Bfaviero
It's more about a natural interest in having as many data points as possible. Until there's a line in the sand, you can always digest new information, have other options that become more attractive, etc.
@matt_haf
Requiring a warm intro isn’t helpful. There’s massive space to improve the tens of cold emails we get a day. Most are copy/paste, not targeted. When someone takes the time and is clear on the ask - it JUMPS out.
The innovation economy has been in a bear market for over a year. Timeline of risk asset peaks beginning in Feb 2021, from ARK to housing and many in between.
1/ 🚨
@OndoFinance
is bringing US Treasuries and institutional-grade bonds on-chain 🚨
We are making it possible for stablecoin holders to invest in US Treasuries through a daily liquid, bankruptcy-remote, tokenized fund with regulated service providers.
"Government censorship as a backdoor substitute for the legislative process has no place in finance—or any industry."
Powerful words today from
@katie_haun
in a
@WSJ
op-ed titled: How U.S. Regulators Are Choking Crypto
The
@PropelVC
team is growing. Thankful to work with an incredible team. We are now six full-time + a rockstar intern. In the Chief of Staff role, Jaclyn will help us deliver more value to Propel's entrepreneurs and partners.
Legendary -
@parkerconrad
on another level and Greenoaks with a clear mind to make an epic call.
A $500 million term sheet in 12 hours: How Rippling struck a deal as SVB was melting down via
@techcrunch
The overnight unicorn founders taking millions in secondary from retail investment platforms... how is this working out? The bad behavior of the last two years is wild.
There were 96 VC rounds of $100M+ in Q3 2022, down 42% from the ATH. Despite the decline, Q3 2022 levels are 2.5x 2019 levels and 2x 2020 levels. Despite the longest IPO drought in 20 years, $100M+ financing rounds remain elevated.
I heard SF is the place to be. Helping a friend/VC/25yo find a roommate for a 2 or 3 bedroom. Open to the neighborhood. Happy to play matchmaker if anyone is looking.
#roommate
#sf
At my daughters’ dance class. An older sister in crowd usually brings dolls - major distraction for the 3-4yo class. Today she brought a live bird 🦜👜 🙄
US VC investment in Q3 2022 totaled $44B, down 48% YoY. However, Q3 2022 would have been the highest of any quarter prior to Q1 2021. The funding levels of Q3 2022 are approximately 2x 2019 levels. We can't use 2021 as a baseline for "normal" -> still elevated.
Casually chatting with the guy next to me at Enriqueta's Sandwich Shop in Miami during the pandemic. With a mask, no one else recognized him - he said it’s easier to go out. Would you have recognized the neck tattoo?
Exclusive: Westfield stopped paying its $558 million mortgage and is surrendering its namesake SF mall, the biggest in the city, to lenders in the wake of Nordstrom's planned closure and plunging foot traffic (down ~42% from 2019) and sales (down ~1/3)
Lets take a look at early stage (Seed + Series A rounds <$25M, US HQ'd) FinTech investment activity. Despite the decline, the FinTech ecosystem remains well-capitalized. Q3 investment fell to $0.9B, down 44% from the ATH in Q4 21. However, funding is 2x 2019 and early 2020 levels
Finally, lets talk about early stage (Seed + Series A rounds <$25M, US HQ'd) Web3 investment activity. Q3 funding levels fell 13% from the ATH in Q2 2022, however, this level is 7x over 2019 and 2020 levels.
@VivekKri
@jbahrdestefano
These takeouts are all pretty straightforward mature businesses, whereas I don't think incumbents want to get into regulatory uncertainty or past indiscretions, even at depressed prices
The toughest conversations right now are with founders who you'd actually love to work with - but raised their seed round at $50m+ valuations last year.
Bull market valuations make future rounds incredibly hard for both founders & investors when the market changes.
What happened to VC funding in Q3 2022? TLDR: Funding levels remain elevated despite the narrative that VCs are sitting on their hands. VC $ peaked in Q4 2021, and there's enough excess to keep putting up lofty funding levels. Let's take a look (source: Pitchbook data,
@PropelVC
)
Applicants so far:
- Led a Crypto forward project: 65
- Founded and Sold Companies: 56
- Developed a large social media audience: 43
- Won chess tournaments, coding or video game competitions: 37
- Researched and Discovered Breakthroughs: 24
- Elite Armed Forces Experience: 22
-
@rexsalisbury
and brokerages! It's wild that Schwab can't do recurring buys in 2022. The last customer agent I spoke with tried to tell me I wouldn't be happy with the execution price so shouldn't use those features at fintechs 😏
@zachcoelius
The challenge is identifying companies that will A) never need to raise again or B) avoid future structure. How many of the 1,200 unicorns could you say this for - that's the insider knowledge... buying 70% off prior to a bunch of liquidation preferences coming in is 🤮