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☆ How OneSchema, a Y Combinator-backed data-importing startup, raised $6.3 million from Sequoia and General Catalyst without a pitch deck
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Here's how OneSchema raised $6.3 million from General Catalyst and Sequoia without a pitch deck. Luo's experience inspired him to start OneSchema alongside his cofounder, Christina Gilbert, to try to streamline the data-importing process for companies. The startup recently raised a $6.3 million seed round led by General Catalyst with participation from Sequoia Capital, Y Combinator, Elad Gil, and Contrary Capital. Because of inbound investor interest, OneSchema was able to raise its seed round without a pitch deck, Gilbert told Insider. A decade ago, many might have argued that OneSchema's focus would someday become obsolete because of the development of automated methods to transfer data, Gilbert told Insider.

☆ 3 ways late-stage startups can prevent IPO delays from becoming wasted time, according to a Fidelity senior VP
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A Fidelity SVP tells Insider how founders can use the lull for employee education and readiness checks. Stegman works with startups from the early stage to IPO and helps them with everything from stock-plan administration to employee education. Educate employees on IPO effectsDuring the IPO lull, companies can use the time to create an educational program for employees, Stegman said. These restrictions can be nuanced and require careful planning on the company's part beyond general employee education, according to Stegman. By providing education on these restrictions early, startups can prevent employees from feeling disappointed about what they're allowed to do following an IPO, Stegman said.

A report says Midwest startups took in over $15 billion in funding from July 2021 to June 2022. This list showcases the top investors across the Midwest from cities like Chicago and St. Louis. It hasn't been an easy year for tech startups as valuations have tanked and funding has dried up, resulting in widespread layoffs. For this list, we asked venture capitalists from across the country about the Midwest investors to know. To qualify, an investor needed to be a resident of the Midwest, but their firms and portfolio companies could be anywhere.

☆ A 'magic' new AI tech has become the hottest thing in Silicon Valley, VCs said. Here's why everyone's watching 'generative artificial intelligence.'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The field of generative AI, or AI that can create content, has recently exploded in popularity. Generative AI's rise to popularitySimply put, generative AI refers to artificial intelligence that can create content. Tech advancements over the past few years — specifically transformer and diffusion models — have made generative AI possible. AI models refer to the training and deployment of algorithms on a dataset. "I don't see generative AI today through its early use cases demanding any of those budgets quite yet."

☆ Exclusive: How operating system startup OpenFin landed an investment from the CIA's VC firm and expanded from serving Goldman Sachs to the government sector
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

OpenFin offers an operating system where users can easily interact with apps all on one screen. The startup received $10 million from ING Ventures and an undisclosed investment from In-Q-Tel. OpenFin, a startup that offers a user-friendly operating system, has announced a $10 million investment from corporate VC firm ING Ventures and an undisclosed investment from In-Q-Tel, a VC firm serving the CIA and broader US intelligence community. OpenFin also allows users to easily reorganize their screen to ensure they have access to the most relevant information at any time. In addition to using third party apps on OpenFin, users can also build their own apps on the platform and integrate them with other tools.

☆ 14 cloud companies that could be acquired, as PE giants Thoma Bravo and Sunstone prepare to buy UserTesting for $1.3 billion
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | Paayal Zaveri | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Adobe's $20 billion bid for Figma reopened conversations about what's ahead for software startups. More recently, UserTesting is set to be acquired by PE firms Thoma Bravo and Sunstone for $1.3 billion. These are 14 private and public software companies that analysts think could be acquisition targets. On October 27, 2022 private equity giants Thoma Bravo and Sunstone partners announced they intend to acquire UserTesting for $1.3 billion. Here are 15 private and public software companies that analysts and experts think are likely acquisition targets.

Mark Wu held more than $1 million of Amazon.com Inc. stock when President Biden tapped him to help craft a trade policy that would benefit U.S. technology companies and online retailers. Ethics officials at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said they gave Mr. Wu two options: Get rid of the stock or recuse himself from digital trade issues.

Federal officials working on the government response to Covid-19 made well-timed financial trades when the pandemic began—both as the markets plunged and as they rallied—a Wall Street Journal investigation found. In January 2020, the U.S. public was largely unaware of the threat posed by the virus spreading in China, but health officials were on high alert and girding for a crisis.

☆ Following the fall of Roe v. Wade, telemedicine startup Hey Jane just raised $6.1 million to increase access to abortion pills
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Samantha Stokes | Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Abortion telemedicine startup Hey Jane raised $6.1 million in funding. Reproductive health startups are receiving more attention from VCs following the fall of Roe v. Wade. The fall of Roe v. Wade earlier this year has caused some states to restrict access to abortions and has thrown reproductive rights into the spotlight. Hey Jane raised $6.1 million in Series A funding from female-led Ulu Ventures, The Helm, Amboy Street, Portfolia, and G9. Moving forward, a key area of focus for Hey Jane will be increasing awareness of medication abortion to the general public, as well as access.

☆ Here's how generative-AI startup Jasper raised $125 million in Series A funding from Insight Partners and became a unicorn
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | Emilia David | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Jasper uses artificial intelligence to create content from marketing copy and blog posts to images. The Texas startup has raised $125 million in Series A funding, led by Insight Partners. The startup runs on GPT-3, an AI model from its fellow generative-AI company OpenAI. For instance, in addition to online blog posts and marketing content, Jasper can feed user-generated content back into the model to refine its output over time. The startup also trains its model on content that users "favorite" or copy onto clipboards to improve quality.

☆ 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.

Thousands of officials across the government’s executive branch reported owning or trading stocks that stood to rise or fall with decisions their agencies made, a Wall Street Journal investigation has found. More than 2,600 officials at agencies from the Commerce Department to the Treasury Department, during both Republican and Democratic administrations, disclosed stock investments in companies while those same companies were lobbying their agencies for favorable policies. That amounts to more than one in five senior federal employees across 50 federal agencies reviewed by the Journal.

Buying other companies is one option to help maintain its historical 20%-plus annual revenue growth, a person familiar with Amazon's deal process said. While Amazon doesn't necessarily prey on companies in trouble, the company is extremely price disciplined, the person familiar with Amazon's deal process told Insider. Bertucci has been a part of some of Amazon's largest transactions, including leading the MGM and One Medical deals. According to the person familiar with Amazon's deal process, Amazon only brings in investment banks when acquisitions reach roughly the $1 billion mark. Indeed, the One Medical deal alone could have netted Goldman and Morgan Stanley, which repped One Medical, in the tens of millions in fees.

☆ Exclusive: How Pigment, a business-planning startup, raised $65 million in Series B funding from IVP and Meritech Capital without a pitch deck
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Pigment's cofounder shared how the team raised $65 million in Series B funding without a pitch deck. That inspired her to cofound Pigment, a startup based in France that recently raised $65 million in Series B funding from IVP and Meritech Capital. The capital was an extension of a Series B round in late 2021. Pigment — which competes against software companies like SAP, Oracle, Workday, and Anaplan — raised $73 million in Series B funding led by Greenoaks in November. Crespo told Insider that the company hadn't been planning to raise additional funding but was contacted by IVP and Meritech, which had heard about Pigment from customers.

☆ HBCUvc's operating chief reviews hundreds of applications for the nonprofit's program that offers paid internships at VC firms. Here's what she looks for in a top application.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

HBCUvc offers HBCU alumni and those from underrepresented backgrounds paid VC firm internships. The nonprofit aims to combat issues of diversity and accessibility within the venture industry. The application processHBCUvc's fellowship program aims to combat these issues and offers three opportunities: HBCU, 50 South, and PledgeLA. 50 South offers an internship with Chicago-based investment firm 50 South, and PledgeLA matches applicants to firms in the Los Angeles area. HBCU and 50 South have three application cycles per year, with the upcoming cycle accepting applications until October 2 and finalizing applicant-firm matches by November 11.

☆ Meet Michael Klausner, the Stanford law professor who is the biggest critic of the SPAC deal craze — and believes its crash was 'completely predictable'
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Many SPAC deals announced last year have been having a hard time closing. Now, the dismal fates of dozens of SPAC deals announced during last year's SPAC frenzy seem to vindicate his analysis. And others this year, like men's grooming brand Manscaped, SeatGeek, the live event ticket search engine, and business news outlet, Forbes, have all scrapped their SPAC deals to go public. Klausner has been paying attention to SPAC deals for a few years. Of the 275 deals announced in 2021, 240 have closed, according to Dealogic data.

☆ The 15 cloud-software companies most likely to be acquired after Adobe's $20 billion Figma deal, according to research analysts and Wall Street experts
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | Paayal Zaveri | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Adobe's $20 billion bid for Figma reopens conversations about what's ahead for software startups. These are 15 private and public software companies that analysts think could be acquisition targets. The Wall Street deal expert spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the business dealings. Other options to build out these platforms internally are limited due to their high cost and the tough funding market, the Wall Street deal expert told Insider. Here are 15 private and public software companies that analysts and experts think are likely acquisition targets.

☆ How security questionnaire startup SecurityPal raised $21 million from investors like Craft Ventures and a GP at Andreessen Horowitz without a pitch deck
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

SecurityPal helps companies complete security questionnaires using automation and human analysts. The startup raised a $21 million Series A round from Craft and a16z investors without a pitch deck. Hamal is the founder and CEO of SecurityPal, a security questionnaire startup that recently raised $21 million in Series A funding from Craft Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz general partner Martin Casado, and other angel investors. SecurityPal aids companies in filling out security questionnaires using a combination of automation and human security analysts. Hamal told Insider that the round came together from inbound investor interest and without the use of a pitch deck.

☆ Here's an exclusive look at the 10-slide pitch deck commerce startup Fermat used to raise a $12 million supergiant seed round from Greylock
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Fermat raised a $12 million seed round, led by Greylock and QED with participation from Courtside. With Fermat, brands can collaborate with influencers to embed shopping experiences directly into influencer content on any social media platform. However, with Fermat, influencers can access analytics to understand what types of content drives the most engagement and sales. Fermat's recent $12 million funding round is an example of a "supergiant" seed round, in which startups raise more than $10 million. Here's an exclusive look at the 10-slide pitch deck that influencer-driven commerce startup Fermat used to raise $12 million in seed funding from Greylock and QED.

☆ Check out the 17-slide pitch deck oVice used to raise $32 million to create virtual worlds for remote employees
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-16 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Japan-based oVice provides companies with customizable virtual offices. As businesses faced the new pandemic reality of virtual work in 2020, many organizations struggled with managing employees across hybrid workplaces. oVice, a virtual-office startup based in Japan, has raised $32 million in Series B funding from SBI, a Japanese financial-services company, and an unnamed investor, bringing its total funding raised to $45 million. Sae emphasized that oVice customers use their virtual spaces for more than just office work. Some have questioned the durability of virtual-office startups as employees begin returning to in-person work and other virtual-office and -event startups like Hopin face scrutiny and layoffs.

☆ SPACs are running out of time to close dozens of deals with startups that hoped to go public. Here's why they're being delayed and may not get done.
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-22 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

SPAC mergers announced last year have yet to close and are up against the clock. In 2021 alone, they raised nearly $163 billion, and 275 merger deals were announced, according to data from Dealogic. Several SPAC mergers are now in limbo, among them embattled mortgage startup Better.com, fintech company Aspiration, and crypto startup Bullish, which all announced their SPAC mergers more than a year ago. Those price tags are no longer reliable as they've become outdated, adding an extra challenge to securing financing to close deals during a downturn, experts said. Deadlines to close SPAC mergers can vary depending on the lifespan of the blank-check company in question, but typically range from a year to two years.

☆ Women in venture capital who made partner or higher at firms like Andreessen Horowitz and Lightspeed in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2022-04-06 | by ( Melia Russell | Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Each year, more women barrel through the doors of venture capital's boy's club. However, progress slowed in a tough macro environment. PitchBook data indicates that the share of women in decision-making roles at venture firms held steady year over year, with women representing 16% of general partners at firms with more than $50 million in assets in the US. To toast their success, Insider is recognizing the women in venture capital who made partner or general partner for the first time in 2022. Let us know who we missed — investing partners or general partners only, please — by contacting Melia Russell at mrussell@insider.com

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