How Investing In Startups Keeps Corporations At The Cutting Edge Of Technology

Corporations are always looking for cutting-edge technology to keep them more competitive. It’s a challenge because many corporations use traditional technology, yet they need to break out of it to accelerate business growth.

While becoming innovative is possible internally, corporations often struggle with it. They know innovation is critical to getting ahead of the competition, but they also know it is hard to develop innovation in a corporate environment. Let’s learn more about how investing in startups can help corporations find cutting-edge technology and how they can find innovative companies to invest in. READ MORE

The venture bull market is great for founders, but not in the way they might expect

It seems there’s news every day about startup funding reaching record highs, new unicorns being minted and tech firms going public. There’s no question that we are in the middle of a long-running and accelerating venture bull market.

All of this impresses upon us that every indicator in startup funding points up and to the right: Venture firms have more dry powder, deal sizes are growing rapidly, valuations are soaring and investment terms are more founder-friendly than ever. And all that is indeed happening. READ MORE

Venture capitalists are chasing industrial tech start-ups as supply shocks widen

Supply chain disruptions are hitting some of the most powerful companies in the world, pushing venture capitalists to invest in industrial tech start-ups that are offering solutions. 

So far this year, a record $45.1 billion has been raised by industrial start-ups, compared with the $34 billion raised in all of 2020, according to data from PitchBook. READ MORE

VCs invested over $75B in AI startups in 2020

Investments in AI are growing at an accelerated pace, according to a new report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The Paris, France-based group found that the U.S. and China lead the growing wave of funding, taking in a combined 81% of the total amount invested in AI startups last year, while the European Union and U.K. boosted their backing but lag substantially behind. READ MORE

What a community means in the modern world of startups

“We believe that a thriving community is a company’s most valuable asset,” Community-led writes in its Declaration. “Community scales your business, resources and presence in ways that traditional marketing or advertising channels can’t. When done right, community enables and improves customer acquisition, streamlines support and success, bolsters retention, and provides crucial product insights. Community is the beating heart of the business that keeps the rest of the team running.” READ MORE

What investors really look for when investing in a startup

While there are commonalities among their criteria, startup investors don’t take a cookie cutter approach. The key to unlocking investment is understanding the stage of your startup.

“In the race of life, always back self-interest; at least you know it’s trying,” the late former premier of NSW, Jack Lang, once said.

Self-interest is defined as “regard for one’s own interest or advantage, especially with disregard for others… personal interest or advantage”.  READ MORE

Why Corporate-Startup Partnerships Are The Route To Resilience

The world is throwing all sorts of adversity our way, and business hubs—no matter how developed—are not immune to the turbulence. Natural disasters restrict supply chains, political unrest forces companies to close stores, and cybersecurity failure comes with high-cost infrastructural improvements.

These are just a handful of possible crisis scenarios, and they reinforce the need for businesses to make contingency plans now to maintain stability during inevitable future shockwaves. READ MORE