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☆ How startup Hilma raised a $3 million seed round from backers, including a former Nike exec and a Bonobos cofounder, to make running shoes more inclusive for women
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Matthew Kish | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The problem: Running shoes historically have been based off the shape of a man's foot. Hilma's shoes are made in varying shapes and widths in order to provide the perfect fit for every runner, regardless of foot shape or ability. Woman in Hilma running shoes. Hilma's launch follows Lululemon's footwear launch, which similarly prioritized female consumers and continues to exceed the company's expectations. Hilma's shoes are made in China and warehoused in the US before shipping to consumers.

☆ Startup Parrots is using 5G to develop a bird-shaped, AI-powered machine that helps people with disabilities communicate
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Karen Fischer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Polly, a hardware and software service, helps people with disabilities live more independently. Parrots' founder is in talks with the VA to give Polly to veterans with neurological disorders. This article is part of "How 5G Is Changing Everything," a series about transformational 5G tech across industries. Hojah acknowledged that Parrots could have taken flight without 5G but said the timeline would have been much slower: "5G is expanding our growth rapidly." In 2019, Parrots won Verizon's Built on 5G Challenge, and Hojah got mentorship and technological assistance from the wireless-telecommunications giant.

☆ The 4 'essential' relationships that helped this 32-year-old grow her business to bring in 7 figures
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Ashton Jackson | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Running a successful business is hard – and building a successful business as a Black woman is even harder. Black women are the fastest growing group of entrepreneurs in the U.S., according to JP Morgan, yet they face disproportionate financial barriers. However, Black women founders only average $24,000 in profits. According to Williams, these are the four essential relationships every business owner should have to "scale their impact." I have a trifecta of successful [women] business owners and we meet weekly sharing resources with each other," Williams shares.

☆ Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer invests $400 million to support Black entrepreneurs
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

In this videoShare Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailFormer Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer invests $400 million to support Black entrepreneursFormer Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Balmer Group co-founder, joins CNBC's 'Squawk Box' to discuss his new $400 million investment in a venture capital fund focused on Black entrepreneurs.

☆ Vista's Robert Smith says investing in DEI businesses vitally important in a bear market
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Sarah Min | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Robert F. Smith, chairman and CEO at Vista Equity Partners, said investing in businesses and managers that emphasize diversity, equity and inclusion remains vital, especially in a bear market. The billionaire investor, who spoke with CNBC's Frank Holland at the Disruptor 50 Summit, said that venture capital and private equity funding should continue to expand to minority-owned businesses. The recent drop in venture capital funding, due to growing recession fears, has disproportionately hit African American, Latinx business owners and founders, he said. They're seeing some outsized reductions in their funding," Smith said. Some venture capital firms that he said are effectively identifying opportunities include the New Voices Fund.

☆ Executives from Google, NBCUniversal, Uber, and others have poured $7 million into a new fund to turn 15 women-led companies into billion dollar businesses
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Princeton classmates Lynda Clarizio and Joy Marcus are aiming to create a new ecosystem for funding women-led businesses. The $7 million fund is still raising money to help 15 women-led businesses have a chance at success. Clarizio and Marcus hope to fund women-led companies around media, advertising, and content — areas that they both know well. The98 also hopes to create even more proof in the market that women-run businesses can be billion dollar companies, said Marcus. In the first half of 2022 start-ups with female founders raised $20.8 billion of venture funding, according to Pitchbook.

☆ Italy's Brembo sets up venture capital arm to invest in tech startups
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MILAN, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Premium brakes maker Brembo (BRBI.MI) said on Wednesday it had set up an internal venture capital unit, called Brembo Ventures, to accelerate the development of technologic solutions to be applied to the automotive industry. A spokesman for the group said Brembo Ventures was a unit and not set up as a proper venture capital fund with an initial financial endowment. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterBrembo Ventures will invest in startups globally, focusing on artificial intelligence, big data, sensors, mechatronics, energy efficiency and sustainability, it said in a statement. "With Brembo Ventures, we are even more structured to seize the market opportunities that can contribute to our goal of redefining future of braking systems and mobility," Brembo's Chief Business Development Officer Roberto Grazioli said. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Giulio Piovaccari; editing by Agnieszka FlakOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Analysis: Mexico's non-bank lenders may now need bank licenses to survive
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Isabel Woodford | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

During the pandemic, the non-bank institutions grew to represent 20% of Mexico's private credit market. Also known as "shadow banks," they offer everything from unsecured credit to payroll lending to Mexico's 4-to-5 million small and medium-sized businesses. Now banks are less willing to finance non-bank lenders. "Non-bank lenders will always play a role. Some nonbank lenders hope to stick with the existing business model, which emerged to tackle the country's reported $160 billion funding gap.

☆ 34 of the most promising women's health startups of 2022, according to VCs
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | Samantha Stokes | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

We asked top venture capitalists to name the most promising women's health startups so far in 2022. The result is a list of 34 companies covering everything from menopause to cardiovascular health. Last year, funding for women's health startups exploded to an impressive $2.5 billion, about a threefold increase from the previous year, according to data from McKinsey and Rock Health. Some think the colloquial label "femtech" for women's health startups prevents investors from seeing the potential of the space. Insider asked top investors to nominate the most promising women's health startups they'd come across, both within and outside their portfolios.

☆ The stock market crash is exposing Wall Street's biggest charlatans
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-16 | by ( Linette Lopez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

In a market bubble, it's easy to confuse opportunity for genius. While many of these new investors invested wisely, a pack of them got swept up in a social-media-driven market mania. For the past decade-plus, the stock market loved this. It's really never a good sign when you see celebrities hanging around the stock market, and during the bubble they were everywhere, pumping crypto and investing in SPACs. Good information about the stock market does not come easy, and Gordon Gekko was right to say that if you want a friend on Wall Street, you should buy a dog.

A helicopter flies over the downtown skyline, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, as seen from the Cleveland Clinic hospital in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, April 20, 2020. ADQ, the smallest of Abu Dhabi's three main sovereign wealth funds, began in 2018 as a vehicle for holding state assets. ADQ and the UAE foreign ministry did not respond to emailed requests for comment. Among recent deals, ADQ launched a $300 million technology fund in March with Turkey's sovereign wealth fund to invest in venture capital funds and opportunities inside Turkey. "They are the ones that promote UAE economic diplomacy, its regional and global influence," he said.

At 27, Pierson has defied the odds that many entrepreneurs, especially Latinas, face. Latina founders run nearly 2 million businesses across the country, but receive less than 2% of venture capital funds. Pierson was one of several Latina entrepreneurs speaking in New York City on Friday at a breakfast for investors and members of the media (disclosure: This reporter was one of the moderators). Focused on funding opportunities for women of color, Pierson and others discussed their trajectories on raising capital, scaling up their businesses and achieving significant revenues. One of the other Latina entrepreneurs who discussed her experience starting a business was Karla Gallardo, the founder of Cuyana, a highly successful lifestyle brand known for its sustainably sourced and premium leather accessories and apparel.

☆ The pitch deck service-tech startup Handly used to raise a $1.5 million pre-seed round from investors like Shutterstock's Jon Oringer
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Georg Räth | Nathan Rennolds | Business Insider Deutschland | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Handly is a service-tech startup that Bastian Meyer and Klaas Krüger founded. It acts as a digital assistant for home-services companies and helps them run more efficiently. Insider has a copy of the pitch deck Handly used to raise a 1.5 million euro pre-seed round. This is an edited, translated version of an article that originally appeared on October 13, 2022Handly is a Berlin-based service-tech startup that Bastian Meyer and Klaas Krüger founded. Insider has an exclusive copy of the pitch deck Handly used to raise the funds.

Oct 13 (Reuters) - Late-stage U.S. startups are scooping up talent unlocked by layoffs and hiring freezes at Big Tech, adding experienced engineers and project managers to their roster despite signs of an economic slowdown. A survey of 581 executives, almost entirely from U.S. tech startups, showed that more than 40% of them boosted their hiring plans in the first half of 2022, according to hiring firm A.Team and startup consultant MassChallenge. Companies are also shortening hiring times and offering higher pay packages to lock in candidates as they compete for talent in a tight labor market, recruiters said. Still, some analysts warn there is only so long until startups can continue the hiring pace amid a weak economic backdrop. "If the economy does indeed go into recession, it will only add to the pressure faced by tech firms as demand dries up," says Dante DeAntonio, director of economics research at Moody's Analytics.

☆ See the 14-slide pitch deck a former Citi banker used to raise $26 million for his Web3 startup
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Ellen Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The idea came after Ceesay helped the basketball player securitize his NBA contract using ethereum. Solo Ceesay, a 27-year-old ex-Citi investment banker, has paired up with the NBA player Spencer Dinwiddie to launch a new Web3 company. Ceesay and Dinwiddie first saw a business opportunity in Web3 after Ceesay used his investment-banking expertise to help Dinwiddie securitize a $34.4 million NBA contract using ethereum. On Calaxy, creators set all the rules and price out what their content is worth in "tokens" that their fans can buy. Ceesay walked Insider through the pitch deck that secured Calaxy $26 million in funding:

☆ One of the investors that agreed to back Elon Musk's Twitter bid says they want out of the deal
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Darius Rafieyan | Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

MVP partner says the VC firm committed to back Musk's Twitter acquisition earlier this year. Musk attorney says "vast majority of equity investors have been spoken to and are all in." With Elon Musk's Twitter acquisition looking like it's barreling towards a close, he will soon have to come up with $44 billion dollars — a lot of money even for the world's richest person. Alex Spiro, Musk's attorney, said "the vast majority of equity investors have been spoken to and are all in." Are you an investor in the Twitter deal, or an employee with insights to share?

☆ Google and Warner execs invested in this adtech startup's $15 million funding round. Here's the exclusive 12-slide pitch deck they used to raise.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Morgan Chittum | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Lunio, an adtech startup, announced a $15 million funding round on Thursday. Check out the 12-slide pitch deck the company used to raise in this Insider exclusive. An adtech startup, dubbed Lunio, announced a $15 million Series A funding round on Thursday. Apart from Google and Warner execs, other investors in the Series A raise include venture capital fund Smedvig Capital Partner. Check out the 12-slide pitch deck the company used to raise in this Insider exclusive.

☆ B2B payments startup Hopscotch aims to be a supercharged 'Venmo for businesses' with a new tool helping SMBs manage invoices
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Ann Gehan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Hopscotch, a B2B payments fintech, aims to be a Venmo-like payment tool for businesses. The result is Hopscotch, a B2B payments platform that adopts the look and feel of a consumer app and offers instant, free payment services. Hopscotch Flow is a way to monetize the startupAccording to Switzer, Hopscotch is built on the belief that businesses shouldn't have to wait to access money they've already earned. "The whole point is to give our users really more control over their cash flow, because for most of them, their cash flow is fairly unpredictable," he said. A rendering of a business user's Hopscotch dashboard.

Eastward Partners characterized the firms as largely growth-stage companies, or companies in the digital space that have taken external private equity or venture capital funding. The compensation data examines median total compensation, which includes base salary and bonus. Within those companies, CMOs’ median total compensation in August 2022 was 9.64% higher than a year earlier. That was a sharper rise than seen for other roles, such as CEOs, whose compensation grew 7.45%, or CFOs, whose compensation rose 1.96%, according to Eastward Partners’ data. And that’s actually impacting business performance, because they can’t find the savvy, smart digital marketing people to fill those gaps,” Mr. Neale-May said.

☆ UAE, Oman to boost trade and investment ties
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DUBAI, Sept 28 (Reuters) - The UAE and Oman are exploring investment opportunities worth 30 billion dirhams and will increase bilateral economic cooperation in strategic sectors, according to a statement released during President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed's visit to the Sultanate. Considered one of the Gulf's weaker economies, increased trade and investment support from a regional heavyweight - the UAE is the Gulf's second biggest economy - will help the Sultanate progress with plans to diversify its economy away from oil. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterADQ and OIA have previously signed a 10 billion dirham investment partnership agreement. The UAE and Oman have committed to long term economic development plans to diversify revenue away from hydrocarbons. The UAE, through funds such as ADQ, has intensified regional investments in sectors seen as strategic to the domestic economy.

☆ Chinese snap up used Rolexes, Birkins to satisfy luxury cravings amid slowdown
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Casey Hall | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"More and more people are now aware they can sell luxury goods for some money and the buyer side is noticing that they can get a great deal," said Zhu, 33. China's second-hand luxury market is tipped to grow to $30 billion in 2025 from $8 billion in 2020, consultancy iResearch said late last year. HANDBAGS, JEWELLERYOffice worker Wang Jianing is exploring buying second-hand luxury products, given the economic climate. China's luxury resale marketplace is expected by analysts to remain dominated by local players for now. Though handbags remain the top-selling category on luxury platforms like ZZER, Zhu said sales of watches and jewellery are also growing fast.

☆ Cathie Wood's new fund gives small investors access to the VC market for just $500
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Cathie Wood, chief executive officer and chief investment officer, Ark Invest, speaks during the Milken Institute Global Conference on May 2, 2022 in Beverly Hills, California. Cathie Wood's Ark Invest launched a new venture capital fund, targeting individual investors with a minimum investment of just $500. "We are doubling down on innovation," Wood said in an interview on CNBC's "Squawk Box" Tuesday. The ARK Venture Fund charges a flat management fee of 2.75%, and does not charge any carried interest or load fees. Ark's flagship Innovation Fund (ARKK) has been under water all year as Wood's disruptive darlings have been some of the biggest victims of rising interest rates.

☆ How Peloton went from a pandemic-era success story worth $50 billion to laying off more than 4,000 workers and losing 4 top execs in a month
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Avery Hartmans | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

Peloton's stock has been trading well below the IPO price of $29 per share, at one point dropping as low as $8.22. Prior to founding Peloton, Foley was president at Barnes & Noble, overseeing its e-commerce business. "I would say that it took about five years for the really smart money to start getting involved," Foley told Insider in 2018. The ad, featuring a woman whose husband gifts her a Peloton bike for Christmas, was viewed as being sexist and playing into outdated standards of beauty. Public outrage over the ad sent Peloton's stock plunging 9%, wiping out $942 million in market value in a single day.

☆ How Peloton went from a pandemic-era success story worth $50 billion to laying off more than 4,000 workers and losing 3 top execs in a month
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Avery Hartmans | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

☆ This chip startup wants machines to see the world the way humans do. Check out the 13-slide pitch deck Prophesee used to raise $50 million.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

French semiconductor startup Prophesee has raised 50 million euros in fresh funds. Check out the 13-slide pitch deck it used to raise the capital from Aramco's venture fund. A startup that uses computer vision technology to mimic the way the human brain and eye work has raised 50 million euros (around $50 million) in a round led by Aramco's venture capital fund. The company has built a significant partnership with Sony that has resulted in a fresh sensor that combines Prophesee's technology with Sony's electronic chip sensor technology. Check out the 13-slide pitch deck used to raise the fresh funds below:

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