Startups

How to find the right venture investor

Comment

Group of employees photographed from above standing on graph.
Image Credits: Klaus Vedfelt / Getty Images

Venture capitalists aren’t throwing money around like they used to. The funding environment in 2023 was rough, as investors buttoned up their pocketbooks to steel themselves for a recession.


Full TechCrunch+ articles are only available to members.
Use discount code TCPLUSROUNDUP to save 20% off a one- or two-year subscription.


Well, now that we’re in recovery mode, there are new rules to play by when it comes to identifying, pitching and partnering with the right investor. LPs are being more selective, and the bar for deals is higher now, writes Paul Hsu, founder and CEO of Decasonic, a venture and digital assets fund. He shares 12 tips on how to find the right venture partner in this new environment.

Thanks for reading!

Karyne

How to partner with a venture investor who values technology innovators

Pitch Deck Teardown: Pepper Bio’s $6.5M seed deck

Pepper Bio Pitch slide with pepper bio logo
Image Credits: Pepper Bio (opens in a new window)

After reviewing Pepper Bio’s deck that landed the company more than $6 million, resident pitch expert Haje Kamps admits that he doesn’t know much about biotech, which makes him not the target audience. However, even with that in mind, he still has a few ideas on how to make the storytelling in this deck even more compelling.

Pitch Deck Teardown: Pepper Bio’s $6.5M seed deck

As AI becomes standard, watch for these 4 DevSecOps trends

Image of a magnifying glass above balls to represent identifying bias in AI.
Image Credits: Hiroshi Watanabe (opens in a new window) / Getty Images

DevSecOps leaders, listen up: You will need to be more proactive in advocating for effective and responsible uses of AI, writes GitLab chief product officer David DeSanto. “As organizations ramp up their shift toward AI-centric business models, it’s not just about staying competitive — it’s also about survival.”

As AI becomes standard, watch for these 4 DevSecOps trends

Get the TechCrunch+ Roundup newsletter in your inbox!

sign up for the TechCrunch+ roundup newsletterTo receive the TechCrunch+ Roundup as an email each Tuesday and Friday, scroll down to find the “sign up for newsletters” section on this page, select “TechCrunch+ Roundup,” enter your email, and click “subscribe.”

Click here to subscribe

5 steps to ensure startups successfully deploy LLMs

Computer Processor Processing Artificial Intelligence Data. Glowing Chip. Computer And Technology Related 3D Illustration Render.
Image Credits: yucelyilmaz / Getty Images

And speaking of AI, more than 50% of respondents to an Arize survey said they were planning to deploy an LLM within the next year. Before jumping in, follow these five steps to ensure your deployment is successful.

5 steps to ensure startups successfully deploy LLMs

Building a viable pricing model for generative AI features could be challenging

Robot holds a green check mark and red x on a purple background.
Image Credits: tommy / Getty Images

And finally, as generative AI features become more ubiquitous, companies are finding that monetizing these add-ons is hard. “It’s also about finding a balance between providing the kind of features that customers are suddenly demanding, and figuring out a way to price it in a way that provides real customer value, yet allows the company to make money,” writes enterprise reporter Ron Miller.

Building a viable pricing model for generative AI features could be challenging

More TechCrunch

If you’ve ever bought a sofa online, have you thought about the homes you can see in the background of the product shots? When it’s time to release a new…

Presti is using GenAI to replace costly furniture industry photo shoots

Google has become one of the latest investors in Moving Tech, the parent firm of Indian open-source ride-sharing app Namma Yatri that is quickly capturing market share from Uber and…

Google backs Indian open-source Uber rival

These messaging features, announced at WWDC 2024, will have a significant impact on how people communicate every day.

At last, Apple’s Messages app will support RCS and scheduling texts

iOS 18 will be available in the fall as a free software update.

Here are all the devices compatible with iOS 18

The tests indicate there are loopholes in TikTok’s ability to apply its parental controls and policies effectively in a situation where the teen user originally lied about their age, as…

TikTok glitch allows Shop to appear to users under 18, despite adults-only policy

Lhoopa has raised $80 million to address the lack of affordable housing in Southeast Asian markets, starting with the Philippines.

Lhoopa raises $80M to spur more affordable housing in the Philippines

Former President Donald Trump picked Ohio Senator J.D. Vance as his running mate on Monday, as he runs to reclaim the office he lost to President Joe Biden in 2020.…

Trump’s VP candidate JD Vance has long ties to Silicon Valley, and was a VC himself

Hello and welcome back to TechCrunch Space. Is it just me, or is the news cycle only accelerating this summer?!

TechCrunch Space: Space cowboys

Apple Intelligence features are not available in the developer beta, which is out now.

Without Apple Intelligence, iOS 18 beta feels like a TV show that’s waiting for the finale

Apple released the public betas for its next generation of software on the iPhone, Mac, iPad and Apple Watch on Monday. You can now test out iOS 18 and many…

Apple’s public betas for iOS 18 are here to test out

One major dissenter threatens to upend Fisker’s apparent best chance at offloading its unsold EVs, a deal that would keep the startup’s bankruptcy proceeding alive and pave the way for…

Fisker has one major objector to its Ocean SUV fire sale

Payments giant Stripe has delayed going public for so long that its major investor Sequoia Capital is getting creative to offer returns to its limited partners. The venture firm emailed…

Major Stripe investor Sequoia confirms $70B valuation, offers its investors a payday

Alphabet, Google’s parent company, is in advanced talks to acquire Wiz for $23 billion, a person close to the company told TechCrunch. The deal discussions were previously reported by The…

Google’s Kurian approached Wiz, $23B deal could take a week to land, source says

Name That Bird determines individual members of a species by identifying distinguishing characteristics that most humans would be hard-pressed to spot.

Bird Buddy’s new AI feature lets people name and identify individual birds

YouTube Music is introducing two new ways to boost song discovery on its platform. YouTube announced on Monday that it’s experimenting with an AI-generated conversational radio feature, and rolling out…

YouTube Music is testing an AI-generated radio feature and adding a song recognition tool

Tesla had internally planned to build the dedicated robotaxi and the $25,000 car, often referred to as the Model 2, on the same platform.

Elon Musk confirms Tesla ‘robotaxi’ event delayed due to design change

What this means for the space industry is that theory has become reality: The possibility of designing a habitation within a lunar tunnel is a reasonable proposition.

Moon cave! Discovery could redirect lunar colony and startup plays

Get ready for a prime week of savings at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 with the launch of Disrupt Deal Days! From now to July 19 at 11:59 p.m. PT, we’re going…

Disrupt Deal Days are here: Prime savings for TechCrunch Disrupt 2024!

Deezer is the latest music streaming app to introduce an AI playlist feature. The company announced on Monday that a select number of paid users will be able to create…

Deezer chases Spotify and Amazon Music with its own AI playlist generator

Real-time payments are becoming commonplace for individuals and businesses, but not yet for cross-border transactions. That’s what Caliza is hoping to change, starting with Latin America. Founded in 2021 by…

Caliza lands $8.5 million to bring real-time money transfers to Latin America using USDC

Adaptive is a platform that provides tools designed to simplify payments and accounting for general construction contractors.

Adaptive builds automation tools to speed up construction payments

When VanMoof declared bankruptcy last year, it left around 5,000 customers who had preordered e-bikes in the lurch. Now VanMoof is up and running under new management, and the company’s…

How VanMoof’s new owners plan to win over its old customers

Mitti Labs aims to transform rice farming in India and other South Asian markets by reducing methane emissions by 50% and water consumption by 30%.

Mitti Labs aims to make rice farming less harmful to the climate, starting in India

This is a guide on how to check whether someone compromised your online accounts.

How to tell if your online accounts have been hacked

There is a general consensus today that generative AI is going to transform business in a profound way, and companies and individuals who don’t get on board will be quickly…

The AI financial results paradox

Google’s parent company Alphabet might be on the verge of making its biggest acquisition ever. The Wall Street Journal reports that Alphabet is in advanced talks to acquire Wiz for…

Google reportedly in talks to acquire cloud security company Wiz for $23B

Featured Article

Hank Green reckons with the power — and the powerlessness — of the creator

Hank Green has had a while to think about how social media has changed us. He started making YouTube videos in 2007 with his brother, novelist John Green, at a time when the first iPhone was in development, Myspace was still relevant and Instagram didn’t exist. Seventeen years later, posting…

Hank Green reckons with the power — and the powerlessness — of the creator

Here is a timeline of Synapse’s troubles and the ongoing impact it is having on banking consumers. 

Synapse’s collapse has frozen nearly $160M from fintech users — here’s how it happened

Featured Article

Helixx wants to bring fast-food economics and Netflix pricing to EVs

When Helixx co-founder and CEO Steve Pegg looks at Daisy — the startup’s 3D-printed prototype delivery van — he sees a second chance. And he’s pulling inspiration from McDonald’s to get there.  The prototype, which made its global debut this week at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, is an interesting proof…

Helixx wants to bring fast-food economics and Netflix pricing to EVs

Featured Article

India clings to cheap feature phones as brands struggle to tap new smartphone buyers

India is struggling to get new smartphone buyers, as millions of Indians don’t go for an upgrade and continue to be on feature phones.

India clings to cheap feature phones as brands struggle to tap new smartphone buyers