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It leaves Kretinsky, who submitted a revised offer over the weekend proposing the equity injection, as the only bidder. The cash injection plan would lead to a 4.7 billion-euro reduction in overall debt, Casino said. Casino is saddled with net debt of 6.4 billion euros and is teetering on the brink of default. The board meeting followed a separate meeting between Casino's creditors and CIRI - France's finance ministry body that helps distressed companies and their creditors draw up restructuring plans. Kretinsky and Ladreit de Lacharriere would control the investment vehicle behind the 1.2 billion-euro equity injection, a source said.

Persons: Daniel Kretinsky, Kretinsky's, Xavier Niel, Jean, Charles Naouri, Kretinsky, Niel, Matthieu Pigasse, Moez, Alexandre Zouari, Casino, Marc Ladreit de, Ladreit, Mathieu Rosemain, Mike Harrison, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: Casino, 3F, Attestor, French, Monde, Fnac, Metro, Forbes, Thomson Locations: Czech, PARIS, French, Paris, Casino, Britain, France, Germany

☆ 'Red-hot upside': This global high-growth tech fund's stock could rise by 180%, says Berenberg
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Ganesh Rao | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Shares of Molten Ventures, a venture capital fund focused on technology, could rise by more than 180%, according to Berenberg. Berenberg said Molten is currently trading at a 67% discount to its last-reported net asset value (NAV). This should, in turn, result in a substantial increase in Molten's share price. Aujla's note said that most of this decrease occurred in the first half of the year when the gross portfolio value (GPV) declined by 17% due to falling valuations. However, the analyst pointed out that Molten's investment strategy should provide protection against significant portfolio value decreases.

Persons: Draper Espirit, Berenberg, Kurran, Goodbody's Gerry Nennigan, Peel Hunt Organizations: Molten Ventures, British, Nasdaq, Numis Securities Locations: Berenberg . London, U.S

July 14 (Reuters) - Wells Fargo (WFC.N) raised its annual forecast for net interest income (NII) after its profit surged 57% in the second quarter, sending its shares modestly higher. Wells Fargo reported profit of $1.25 per share for the three months ended June 30, beating analysts' average estimate of $1.16 per share, according to Refinitiv data. Shares of Wells Fargo rose 1% to $44.17 in midday trading. Wells Fargo is still operating under an asset cap that prevents it from growing until regulators deem that it has fixed problems from a fake accounts scandal. In January, Wells Fargo said it will slim down its home lending business by reducing its mortgage servicing portfolio and exiting the correspondent lending business.

Persons: Wells, NII, Charlie Scharf, CRE, Michael Santomassimo, Wells Fargo, Scharf, We're, JPMorgan Chase, Noor Zainab Hussain, Manya, Saeed Azhar, Lananh Nguyen, Arun Koyyur Organizations: Federal Reserve, U.S, Wells, U.S . Consumer Financial, JPMorgan, First, Bank, Manya Saini, Thomson Locations: U.S, Wells Fargo, Bengaluru, New York

July 14 (Reuters) - Wells Fargo (WFC.N) raised its annual forecast for net interest income (NII) after its profit surged 57% in the second quarter, sending shares up 4% in premarket trading. NII climbed 29% to $13.16 billion, benefiting from higher interest rates as Wells Fargo and other banks raised their borrowing costs following a series of rate hikes by the Federal Reserve to tame inflation. Wells Fargo reported profit of $1.25 per share for the three months ended June 30, beating analysts' average estimate of $1.16 per share, according to Refinitiv data. REAL ESTATE WOESThe provision for credit losses included a $949 million increase in the allowance for potential losses in commercial real estate (CRE) office loans, as well as for higher credit card loan balances. Wells Fargo is still operating under an asset cap that prevents it from growing until regulators deem that it has fixed problems from a fake accounts scandal.

Persons: Wells, NII, Charlie Scharf, CRE, Michael Santomassimo, Wells Fargo, Scharf, JPMorgan Chase, Noor Zainab Hussain, Manya, Saeed Azhar, Lananh Nguyen, Arun Koyyur Organizations: Federal Reserve, U.S, Wells, JPMorgan, First, Bank, Manya Saini, Thomson Locations: U.S, Wells Fargo, Bengaluru, New York

July 14 (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N) reported a bigger-than-expected jump in second-quarter profit as it earned more from borrowers' interest payments and benefited from the purchase of First Republic Bank. The bank bought a majority of failed First Republic Bank's assets in a government-backed deal in May after weeks of industry turbulence. That bolstered its net interest income (NII), which measures the difference between what banks earn on loans and pay out on deposits. The bank's NII, which has also been gaining from high interest rates, was $21.9 billion, up 44%, or up 38% excluding First Republic. JPMorgan plans to cut around 500 jobs across different divisions, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters in May.

Persons: JPMorgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, Octavio Marenzi, Dimon, Niket Nishant, Noor Zainab Hussain, Nupur Anand, Bansari Mayur, Lananh Nguyen, Saumyadeb Organizations: JPMorgan, First Republic Bank, First Republic, Wall, Investment, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Republic, Federal, Bengaluru, New York

☆ Tiger Global pulls back on raising new capital and focuses on returns, amid brutal fundraising environment
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Darius Rafieyan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

At the same time the company continues to raise money for its latest venture capital fund. For years, Tiger Global, Chase Coleman's $50 billion investment fund, went on a fundraising tear, raising billions of dollars in fresh capital and dominating the venture ecosystem in the process. This includes the firm's flagship hedge fund as well its crossover fund, created in 2021, which combines Tiger's public and private investments into a single strategy. Between July 2022 and July 2023 the Tiger Global fund, the Tiger Global Crossover fund, and the Tiger Global Long Opportunities fund, through their US and Cayman Islands feeder funds, raised about $53 million in total. A spokesperson for Tiger Global declined to comment for this story.

Persons: Chase, Carlyle, TCV, Tiger Organizations: Tiger, SEC, Tiger Global, Apollo, TPG, Insight Partners Locations: Cayman Islands, PitchBook

☆ Here's an exclusive look at the pitch deck AI-powered hiring startup RecruitBot used to raise $8.2 million in seed funding led by Slow Ventures
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Recruitbot is a startup that uses AI to analyze and match potential job candidates to open roles. The team has just raised $8.2 million in new seed funding led by Slow Ventures. Some of the features include using AI for automating the search for qualified candidates by scraping data from LinkedIn and with other talent databases. The team got in touch with Sam Lessin, the general partner at Slow Ventures, after many of Lessin's portfolio companies started using RecruitBot for their hiring. Check out the 19-slide pitch deck that Recruitbot used to raise $8.2 million in seed funding: Note: certain proprietary information has been redacted.)

Persons: Jeremy Schiff, Schiff, Recruitbot, Kevin Mahaffey, Sam Lessin Organizations: Slow Ventures, OCA, Freestyle Capital, Parade Ventures Locations: OpenTable

☆ 17 top venture capitalists to know who specialize in education-technology investing
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Edtech funding has seen a slump since its pandemic highs, but deals are still getting done. But the global venture slowdown has affected edtech investing. In 2022, global edtech funding barely cracked $9 billion. Still, deals are still getting done, and behind these chosen companies are the savvy venture capitalists that fund these startups and help them scale to new heights. Insider compiled a list of 17 venture capitalists that specialize in investing in edtech startups based on recommendations from other venture capitalists and a review of their investments in the sector.

Persons: edtech VCs Organizations: . Venture

☆ China sets wide-ranging rules for $2.9 trillion in private investment funds
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, July 9 (Reuters) - China published regulations on Sunday for the country's $2.9 trillion private investment fund sector, seeking to better protect investors and promote innovation. The wide-ranging rules apply to private investment funds with different organisational forms such as contract, company and partnership. Private investment funds in China can invest in private equity or publicly traded securities. Core rules cover the obligations of fund managers and custodians, fund raising, identifying risk levels, supervision of venture capital funds, and overall supervision and management. As of May, 22,000 private investment managers had registered with the Asset Management Association of China, managing around 21 trillion yuan in 153,000 funds, the statement said.

Persons: Premier Li Qiang, Bernard Orr, Qiaoyi Li, William Mallard Organizations: Premier, State, Xinhua, Asset Management Association of China, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, China

SAN FRANCISCO, July 8 (Reuters) - Venture capital firm Headline used to be in one of San Francisco's most eye-catching skyscrapers: the pyramidal Transamerica building that has defined the skyline for decades. Venture capital firms are increasingly joining retailers and other businesses in finding homes outside downtown San Francisco. [1/5]People enjoy the afternoon in Presidio, a former military base-turned-national park in San Francisco California, U.S., July 7, 2023. They're actually really excited," said Eurie Kim, whose venture firm Forerunner left downtown for the Presidio in early 2022. "Mayor Breed continues to implement strategic initiatives to help stabilize existing businesses and recruit new ones as part of her Roadmap to Downtown San Francisco's Future plan.

Persons: Mathias Schilling, Schilling, Rex Salisbury, Carlos Barria, They're, Eurie Kim, CBRE, Lisa Petrie, Jon Rehagen, Molly Martell, San Francisco Mayor London Breed, Breed, Colin Yasukochi, Krystal Hu, Peter Henderson, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: FRANCISCO, Venture, Employees, Presidio, Westfield, San, Felicis Ventures, Forerunner Ventures, Letterman, Cambrian Venture, San Francisco Bay Area, REUTERS, Presidio Trust, Lucasfilm, Walt Disney Family Museum, Catalyst, Brand, San Francisco Mayor London, Downtown San, CBRE's Tech, Thomson Locations: San Francisco, Presidio, San Francisco Bay, San Francisco's, There's, Sand, Silicon Valley, South, downtown San Francisco, San Francisco California, U.S, Marin, San Francisco ., South Park, Downtown

NEW YORK, July 7 (Reuters) - Private equity firms Blackstone Inc (BX.N) and Veritas Capital Fund Management LLC are competing against large defense companies to acquire the aerospace business of Ball Corp (BALL.N), according to people familiar with the matter. The unit, which accounted for 13% of Ball's consolidated net sales in 2022, provides aerospace and national defense hardware, such as sensors and antennas. In June, Ball said it was considering options for its aerospace unit, after Reuters reported on the sale process. Blackstone owns Arka Group, an aerospace and defense technologies firm whose clients include the U.S. military, while Veritas owns companies including CAES Space Systems, which is a supplier of advanced electronic systems for aerospace and defense. Ball could incur a hefty tax bill of over $1 billion if the aerospace unit is sold for $5 billion or more, according to analysts at Jefferies.

Persons: Ball, Blackstone, David Carnevali, Mike Stone, Daniel Wallis Organizations: YORK, Blackstone Inc, Veritas Capital Fund Management, Ball Corp, BAE Systems, General Dynamics Corp, Textron Inc, Reuters, Blackstone, Veritas, Arka Group, U.S ., CAES, Systems, Bae Systems, Textron, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin Corp, Rocketdyne Holdings, L3Harris Technologies, Jefferies, Thomson Locations: New York, Washington

July 6 (Reuters) - Global tech investor Insight Partners has raised $118 million in its second 20/20 Vision Capital fund that aims to invest in venture capital funds led by diverse managers, the firm told Reuters. This new fund expands a strategy Insights first started in 2020, after its own employees pledged $15 million of their personal capital to diverse early-stage fund managers. The environment is especially challenging for first-time fund managers. Funds including Ansa Capital Management, Hannah Grey Ventures, and Wischoff Ventures have already received backing from the Vision Capital II. Richard Wells, Managing Director at Insight Partners, said it's too early to measure fund I returns, as seed investment is a long-term game.

Persons: Dionne Chingkoe, Hannah Grey, Richard Wells, it's, Wells, Krystal Hu, Chizu Organizations: Global, Partners, Vision Capital, Reuters, Vision, Insight Partners, Investment Management Board, Pennsylvania Public School, New, The, Ansa Capital Management, Hannah Grey Ventures, Wischoff Ventures, ”, Thomson Locations: Massachusetts, New York, The U.S

Investors poured more than $40 billion into AI startups in the past six months, the data showed. That includes a $10 billion investment by Microsoft (MSFT.O) in OpenAI and $1.3 billion in funding for rival Inflection AI. "I haven't written any checks in the past 18 months," said Kevin Colleran, a co-founder at early-stage firm Slow Ventures. PitchBook said large investors weren't actively participating in venture funding and outsized deals that had pushed deal values to records were no longer happening. Venture capital funding globally hit an annual record of $745.1 billion in 2021.

Persons: PitchBook, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Kevin Colleran, weren't, Mary D'Onofrio, Krystal Hu, Edwina Gibbs Organizations: Venture, Investors, Microsoft, Slow Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Thomson Locations: OpenAI, America, U.S, Europe, New York

☆ Brookfield to buy annuities provider American Equity in $4.3 bln deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Manya Saini | Thomson Reuters | Manya Saini Reports On Prominent Publicly Listed U.S. Financial Firms Including Wall Street S Biggest Banks | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

July 5 (Reuters) - Canadian investment firm Brookfield (BN.TO) on Wednesday agreed to buy the remaining stake in American Equity Investment Life Holding (AEL.N) that it did not already own, valuing the long-sought-after annuities provider at $4.3 billion. It represents a 35% premium to AEL's last closing price on the New York Stock Exchange before media reports of a possible takeover bid from Brookfield emerged. The deal consists of $38.85 in cash and the rest in shares of Brookfield Asset Management's (BAM.TO). AEL shares had touched a record-high of $53.68 when the bid was announced on June 27 and have been trading around the same levels. If the deal is terminated, AEL has agreed to pay Brookfield Reinsurance a termination fee of $102 million.

Persons: Jon Bayer, Manya Saini, Nivedita Bhattacharjee, Arun Koyyur Organizations: Equity Investment Life, AEL, Elliott Investment Management, Prosperity, Brookfield, New York Stock Exchange, Brookfield Asset, FIA, Athene, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance, Thomson Locations: Brookfield, Athene Holding, Bengaluru

We asked investors at European venture capital funds to pick out rising stars in the industry. Venture capital is in a state of flux right now. Insider has set out to identify some of the rising stars in Europe's venture capital ecosystem who are taking on that challenge. It is London-dominated, with the UK capital once again taking the most VC funding in Europe last year. Read on to see 2023's rising stars of venture capital in Europe, in no particular order.

Persons: Read Organizations: Venture Locations: London, Berlin, Paris, Europe, Stockholm

☆ Exclusive: Video-sharing website BitChute seeks to raise $10 million in new funding round
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( Helen Coster | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"I’m not really raising the money just because we need the money," Wernick said in an interview. Wernick said BitChute was pursuing a combination of high net-worth individuals and venture capital funds. He has an equity stake in BitChute and is also an investor in Parler, Gab, Airbnb (ABNB.O) and Uber (UBER.N). Its investor presentation said BitChute had 218 million unique visitors in 2022, down 15.8% from 2021, with a projection of 247 million unique visitors this year. Their longer-term goal is to “decentralize” BitChute, so that it is blockchain-based and users can decide whether to have content moderation.

Persons: Jeffrey Wernick, I’m, Wernick, BitChute, Patrick Dai, Matthew Branton, cofounders Ray Vahey, Rich Jones, ’, Helen Coster, Krystal Hu, Jane Merriman Organizations: YORK, Reuters, Inc, YouTube, Thomson Locations: BitChute, Parler, New York

☆ US bank stocks rise as lenders sail through Fed's stress test
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Manya Saini | Thomson Reuters | Manya Saini Reports On Prominent Publicly Listed U.S. Financial Firms Including Wall Street S Biggest Banks | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

This year's test, which was devised before the latest banking crisis, checked if banks would stay above the minimum 4.5% capital ratio during economic stress and macroeconomic instability. Banks will disclose their new stress capital buffer in the coming days and Well Fargo expects a reduction in the capital requirements for JP Morgan, BofA and Goldman. Goldman Sachs analysts said market focus will likely return quickly to potential increases to stress capital buffer and tougher regulations against the backdrop of Basel III revision. Citigroup (C.N) rose 0.7%, but trailed its peers as analysts said higher stress capital buffer would hamper its efforts to boost profitability. "Citi will now have the highest CET1 requirement among our banks at 12.3%," J.P. Morgan analysts wrote in a client note.

Persons: Charles Schwab, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Banks, JP Morgan, BofA, Goldman, Wells, J.P, Morgan, It's, Brian Jacobsen, Manya Saini, Niket Nishant, Chuck Mikolajczak, Arun Koyyur Organizations: Big, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Fargo, JP, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Wall Street, Jefferies, Citizens, Citigroup, Citi, Bank of New York Mellon, US Bancorp, RBC Capital Markets, Wealth Management, Reuters, Banks, Thomson Locations: Wells Fargo, Basel, U.S, Menomonee Falls , Wisconsin, Bengaluru

☆ US bank stocks rise as lenders sail through Fed's stress tests
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Manya Saini | Thomson Reuters | Manya Saini Reports On Prominent Publicly Listed U.S. Financial Firms Including Wall Street S Biggest Banks | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Of the six regional lenders that were part of the test, Bank of New York Mellon (BK.N) and US Bancorp (USB.N) added 1.5% and 0.8%, respectively. J.P. Morgan downgraded the bank to 'neutral' in anticipation of an increase in capital requirements hurting its profitability. Citigroup (C.N) rose marginally, but trailed its peers as analysts expect that an increase in its stress capital buffer would hamper its plans to improve profitability. "Citi will now have the highest CET1 requirement among our banks at 12.3%," J.P. Morgan analysts wrote in a client note. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Banks Index (.SPXBK), tracking a basket of large-cap bank stocks, is up 0.9% quarter-to-date, but has fallen 12.2% so far this year.

Persons: Charles Schwab, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Jefferies, J.P, Morgan, Raymond James, Manya Saini, Niket Nishant, Arun Koyyur Organizations: JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Bank of New York Mellon, US Bancorp, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Wall Street, RBC Capital Markets, Citizens, Citigroup, Citi, Silicon Valley Bank, Banks, Thomson Locations: Wells Fargo, U.S, Silicon, Bengaluru

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File PhotoJune 29 (Reuters) - Inflection AI, a startup backed by several Silicon Valley heavyweights, said on Thursday it had raised $1.3 billion from investors including Microsoft and Nvidia, amid a boom in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector. Inflection released its chatbot Pi last month. Pi uses generative AI technology, similar to ChatGPT, to interact with users through dialogues, allowing people to ask questions and share feedback. Palo Alto, California-based Inflection AI has about 35 employees. Nvidia (NVDA.O), which has stepped up its AI investments recently, Hoffman, Bill Gates and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt also participated in the latest round, Inflection said.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Google DeepMind, Mustafa Suleyman, Reid Hoffman, Pi, Suleyman, OpenAI, Hoffman, Bill Gates, Eric Schmidt, Niket, Krystal Hu, Vinay Dwivedi, Conor Humphries Organizations: REUTERS, Microsoft, Nvidia, Google, LinkedIn, Collision, Thomson Locations: Alto , California, Greylock, Bengaluru, Toronto

☆ Startup studio Fractal created 130 companies in 3 years. Founders say the deal structure has led VCs to 'blacklist' them.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Melia Russell | Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +19 min

www.fractalsoftware.comOf the dozens of Fractal startups that have raised a seed round of funding, about half had Bienville Capital lead the deal, according to people familiar with the matter. Others say they knew what they were getting into with a venture studio, where a large ownership position is standard. Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty ImagesThe biggest draw for some Fractal founders was its plug-and-play approach. The founder of one Fractal startup remembered a time when his company was struggling to grow its customer base. That firm is raising a new $325 million fund to provide additional funding to Fractal companies exclusively, according to a person familiar with the effort.

Persons: Fractal's, he'd, they'd, Andreessen Horowitz, Mike Furlong, Nate Baker, Bienville, —, Brendan Smialowski, Founders, Angela Lee, Furlong, Baker, Ezra Shaw, who'd, who's, It's, Lee, She's, 8VC, Bain, Jeff Greenberg, Omri Bloch, who've, didn't, Stephanie Palazzolo, Melia Russell Organizations: Flatiron Health, Bienville, Insight Partners, Bienville Capital, Getty, Columbia Business School, Alpha, Midwest, Science, Olympic Club, Tiger Global, Craft Ventures, Founders, Vertical Venture Partners, Zag, Crew Capital, Bain Capital, Universal, Foundation, Fifth Locations: Bienville Capital, New York, Bienville, Indio, AFP, Santa Monica , California, Miami, San Francisco, GreenSpark, Columbia, Barti, Aktos, Bessemer, 8VC

☆ Smaller valuations and a lack of ego helped Spain's startup scene avoid some of Europe's shocking collapse in VC funding, investors say
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Spain's startup scene has evaded some of the collapse in VC funding that has rocked Europe in 2023. Smaller check sizes and a lack of "ego" has somewhat protected the ecosystem, investors say. Smaller valuations, check sizes, and a distinct lack of ego helped Spain's startup scene evade some of the shocking collapse in venture capital funding that has rocked Europe so far this year. Smaller rounds give Spain's startups an edge in the downturnWhat correction was felt was eased by the fact there is less "ego" in Spain's ecosystem, according to Max Bray, an investor at early-stage firm K Fund. As well as the birth of local growth funds, investors see corporations playing a role in closing the funding gap.

Persons: SoftBank, Catalyst, Pablo Pedrejón, Max Bray, Dalia Silberstein, Pedro Arribas Gridilla, Juliette Simonin, Margarita Albors, Tasmin Lockwood, Bray, Marc Sabas, Fund's Bray, Wallbox cofounders Enric Asunción, Eduard Castañeda, Glovo, Wallbox, Oscar Pierre, Ship2B's Sabas, Danae Vara, Danae Vara Ship2B, hasn't, Sabas, CVCs, There's, Félix Ortega, K Fund's Bray, Sérgio Massano Organizations: Accel, Pedrejón, Venture, Fund, Esade Center, Social, Foundation, Spanish, K Fund, Investors, Danae Vara Ship2B Ventures, Investment, Corporations, Barcelona Activa, Telefónica, BBVA, Proeduca Locations: Europe, Spain, Madrid, France, Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, Seaya, Bray, Vara, Barcelona, Silicon, London

[1/3] Mark Walsh, CEO of Savers Value Village, celebrates his company's IPO on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., June 29, 2023. REUTERS/Brendan McDermidJune 29 (Reuters) - Thrift store operator Savers Value Village (SVV.N) fetched a market capitalization of nearly $4 billion in a strong debut on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, underscoring a resurgence in the IPO market as investors lap up new listings. Savers Value, owned by private equity firm Ares Management (ARES.N), joins a host of companies that have enjoyed a warm reception in recent months, reviving hopes the frosty IPO market has begun to thaw. So really this (an IPO) was the right smart option for us to move forward," said Savers Value CEO Mark Walsh. Savers Value and Ares raised over $401 million in the share sale on Wednesday.

Persons: Mark Walsh, Brendan McDermid, Avery Spear, Johnson, Ares, Niket Nishant, Sri Hari, Echo Wang, Krishna Chandra Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Ares Management, U.S, U.S . Federal, Renaissance, Rivian, Kodiak Gas Services, Fidelis Insurance Holdings, Canada's Healthcare, Ontario, Norway's Norges Bank Investment Management, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, U.S ., Sri, Bengaluru, Echo, New York

☆ There's a big venture capital funding downturn — except for this one set of investors
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Venture capital funding into startups has drastically slowed. Corporate venture capital grew in 2022 and looks to grow again in 2023, bucking the broader downturn. Continuing a pullback in funding activity in 2022, venture capital into European startups fell by 32.1% in Q1 of 2023, per Pitchbook data. Faced with the prospect of raising down rounds at slashed valuations, startups are turning to an alternative mode of funding — corporate venture capitalists. A corporate venture capital firm, or CVC, is the investing arm of a specific business.

Persons: Ekaterina Almasque, Almasque, Sabrina Maniscalco, Luis Valente, Valente, iLoF, Charlie Bullock Organizations: Corporate, GV, Google, Catalyst, Catalyst Fund, Presidio Ventures, Japan's Sumitomo Corporation, Microsoft, OSRAM Ventures

TOKYO, June 27 (Reuters) - State-backed Japan Investment Corp (JIC) sees potential for more mergers and acquisitions in high-end corners of the chipmaking industry following its planned $6.4 billion buyout of materials maker JSR (4185.T), the head of its private equity arm said. "We see potential in some speciality materials markets where JSR can win dominant positions by combining with other materials makers," Ikeuchi said in an interview. "We believe that we can boost Japanese chip materials makers' global competitiveness by spurring industry consolidation," he added. In the chemicals industry, for example, Japan has "too many players making similar products that were once competitive but are now commoditised," Ikeuchi said. JIC, overseen by the powerful trade ministry, was set up in 2018 to invest in Japanese companies to boost the nation's competitiveness.

Persons: Shogo, Ikeuchi, JIC, Makiko Yamazaki, Ritsuko Shimizu, Jamie Freed Organizations: Japan Investment Corp, JIC Capital, Japan, Innovation Network Corp of Japan, Thomson Locations: TOKYO, chipmaking, Japan

☆ Factbox: Japan ramps up efforts to strengthen its chip industry
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Below are investments in Japan announced by chipmakers and measures the government is taking to revive its semiconductor industry. Sony Group (6758.T) and auto parts maker Denso (6902.T), which will use the chips TSMC makes, are also investors. It said it would be the first chipmaker to bring EUV technology to Japan for production. It has offered TSMC a 476 billion yen subsidy, or about half the expected cost of the factory. Rapidus secured an initial 70 billion yen of funding from the government, and local media reported in April that the government was finalising a plan to provide an additional 300 billion yen.

Persons: TW, Rapidus, JIC, Makiko Yamazaki, Sam Nussey, Tim Kelly, Miho Uranaka, Miyoung Kim, Jamie Freed Organizations: Semiconductor, chipmakers, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, Sony Group, Micron Technology, Samsung Electronics, Reuters, Business Machines, IBM, Samsung, Nikon, Tokyo, Japan Investment Corp, Innovation Network Corp of Japan, Toshiba, Japan Industrial Partners, Thomson Locations: TOKYO, Japan, Kyushu, Denso, KS, Yokohama, Japan's, Chitose, Hokkaido, Rapidus, U.S, China, State

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