Edward Shenderovich

Freeline and Swan to Spur new AAV Development... I couldn't resist. Syncona announced they are combining Freeline and Swan Bio to create Spur Therapeutics to advance the most viable components of the latter two companies' pipelines. That pipeline will be headlined by Freeline's Gaucher program (on the cusp of starting Ph3), and Swan's candidate in adrenomyeloneuropathy. Syncona previously took Freeline private to create new optionality for the company. This was after AAV headwinds had battered the stock and other candidates reached approval first in their prior lead therapies (hemophilia). This shows there's still interest in AAV and its proven delivery capability to diverse tissues and cells. But there is continuing culling in the industry's pipeline. Want to take a look at that pipeline? or think about how it impacts your own prioritization? Reach out and we can discuss! #venturecapital #genetherapy #pharma https://lnkd.in/g8-ZKp4C

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REDD up by 27% YOY, for 1Q2024. If you read about Carbon crisis, prices crashing, double check the source. Likely the author has an agenda that opposes Voluntary Carbon Markets(VCM) and/or anything that smells of capitalism.

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Mark Carney OpEd: We must stop prevaricating and expand carbon markets. I would add one critical point: Enough with the self-flagellation. Plenty of reason to be optimistic, and there is a lot of work to do! ✅️We have the ICVCM. We have strong science-backed standards. ❌️We allow tabloid journalists (often financed by oil nations) to spread misinformation. They tout "academic articles" attacking carbon, but do not retract even after articles are proven flawed by science.  ❌️We have big NGO executives with 7 figure packages pontificating about more 'equitable distribution'. We have corporate executives with 8 figure salaries finding excuses in those articles to delay fair pricing (imagine the benefits for communities at $50/ton?). ❌️We have Verra (and others) pandering to eco-radicals whose only objective is to derail carbon. You will never appease a fanatic - they do not want 'better carbon markets', they do not believe in markets - they believe in taxes and prohibitions. ❌️We have nationalistic USA and EU politicians opposing nature based credits (e.g. REDD) in compliance markets. Why? Because money  would flow from rich countries to poor countries via private sector, without voter protectionism. Without ability to use them in foreign policy. ❌️We have newcomers, particularly some 'rating agencies' using the old Silicon Valley trick of telling VCs: "This market is broken, but we are going to fix it". Obvious trick. Nothing is broken, Sherlock - except, perhaps, your morals. ✅️Nature Based Solutions like REDD are MILES AHEAD of any industry in nature when it comes to impact.  Find a business operating in remote, rural areas that is better. Logging? Agriculture? Tourism? We invest in some of these sectors, and I can tell you that the best actors in those are miles behind a half-decent REDD developer. 🤷‍♀️There are bad events, as in ANY market. The Financial Times will show 500 audit scandals a year across all industries. And in carbon there will be errors, and bad actors. This does not make the carbon markets any worse than healthcare or education, where these things happen too. 📊Keep high standards. Ensure auditors work. But stop double-guessing the industry's own process. If Barclays has a case of bad accounting,or misconduct in UK, the central bank will not close all their branches - even if they are guilty. They will be fined, they will be forced to improve processes. But they will not be brought to bankrupcy. Why are we more unforgiving with an industry that is inherently more beneficial for the planet than transport, fashion, chemicals, etc? Have we gone mad? ⚡️In all this debate, I can understand (although I despise) the self-serving interests of polluters. But not the number of ideology-fuelled 'naive people' who are being played to keep the status quo. 🔥 The market will be massive, but we have no time to waste.Time to wake up. Time to get going.

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#ProjectForABillion Today, in our regular column, I want to talk about the Cariloop project, which raised $20 million in a Series C round this spring. The lead investor was ABS Capital, which is also known for its investments in PowerReviews (recently exited) and LabConnect. But let's get back to the project in the Mental Health category. By the way, if psychologists ever asked me how to get rich and build a capitalized business, I would recommend working in their specialty and creating projects for corporations in the psychological and mental health category. In 2023, $435.2 billion was directed to this industry (this includes all project investments, not just venture capital). While there are still some managers in Russia (and elsewhere) who don't believe that a depressed employee who sleeps poorly, is torn between caring for children, and walks on the parapet at night is unlikely to create high results and a sustainable team, managers of almost all large corporations around the world are paying just as much attention to mental health as to physical health. Maybe these naive people are indeed investing half a trillion dollars so that employees can more efficiently scold their parents and school teachers? I've heard that silly version too. Cariloop is a platform where each employee is assigned a Care Coach with whom they can share or, in light cases, delegate the search for solutions to problems (although the platform indicates various types of problems, medical issues are most often mentioned in examples) not only for the user but also for their family members: children or even parents. A Care Coach can help navigate the healthcare system, provide educational support (about diseases, care methods), emotional support, and, if needed, legal or financial assistance. Special emphasis is placed on the fact that health coaches interact with each other and exchange information (how they do this without violating confidentiality, I will clarify later). I will not dwell in detail on the business efficiency claimed by the startup. It is clear that there are very beautiful infographics and analytics on the website about how much employee efficiency and, consequently, business efficiency improve when interacting with such a service solution. Check it if you want. I am skeptical about trying to measure the impact of employees' psychological health on business in numbers. However, evaluating the results of a business managed by psychologically unhealthy employees in numbers is much easier. We can start from there. *This is not an investment recommendation. **This is not a project the author has invested in (yep, it's required now). ***This is not a project I've been studying in detail for 10 years; it's just my subjective assessment of one of the most interesting projects that raised a round in the reporting period.

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$25m more to fuel Molten Industries in their mission to decarbonize the world’s chemical and heavy industries. When we first met the founders in 2021 they had built a white-hot chemical reactor in a literal garage at Stanford. Soon after Fifty Years led the seed round with our friends at Union Square Ventures. Molten is building the future of 🇺🇸 made sustainable graphite. Why does it matter? America has a supply chain issue. 97% of battery grade graphite currently comes from China. With increasing geopolitical tensions, they've been restricting exports. This puts the supply chain for Li-ion batteries at risk. And tensions go both ways. To promote supply chain resiliency, the Biden administration is eliminating the $7500 tax credit on EVs if they source graphite from China. Enter Molten, who built a reactor that cracks methane at extremely hot temperatures into hydrogen and graphite using renewable electricity. They turn natural gas and renewable power into battery grade graphite. With amazing technoeconomics. The best part? Molten's cost structure beats natural graphite (the cheapest on market) with higher performance than synthetic graphite (the best & most expensive on market). Lowest cost, highest performance, sustainable domestic process -- a dream come true! Kevin Bush, Caleb Boyd, and the rest of Molten are a wildly talented team on a mission to decarbonize the world’s chemical and heavy industries. And they're hiring!

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Can poop save the planet? 🤔 Well, in Silicon Valley, it's not just a punchline—it's a multimillion-dollar climate solution. Big players are teaming up with startup Vaulted Deep, paying $58.3 million, to pump organic waste underground. The deal was brokered by Frontier Climate, a coalition launched in 2022 by Stripe, Alphabet, Meta, Shopify, and McKinsey Sustainability. But why are tech giants getting their hands dirty with sewage and manure? Vaulted Deep's technology, rooted in decades-old methods used for oil and gas fracking cleanup, gives them an edge. But instead of sludge, they're tackling carbon-rich waste, aiming to sequester CO2 underground. They plan to sequester 152,480 tons of carbon dioxide by 2027 as part of the deal (That equates to 36,000 gas cars off the road for a year). Is this greenwashing, or a silver bullet? Critics warn of cost, the need for rigorous carbon accounting, and potential environmental trade-offs - i.e. emission prevention versus carbon removal. #decarbonization

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Here’s a question investors are often asked: When evaluating early stage companies, how much time do you spend on due diligence around future exits? It’s not surprising we hear this question a lot. Also not surprising: it’s got a wide range of answers depending on the firm. Some don’t spend much time here at all. Others make it a point to put meaningful time in as part of their process. Our current thinking: take the time to do the work on public market comps. At Alpaca VC, we spend significant time understanding how public market investors will  realistically value a business based on margin profile, product, business model & TAM. In short, we want to know: how will this company be valued at scale when we get taken out? Yes, we can acknowledge that the journey toward exit is a windy road and that there may be pivots along the way, but there are still public market companies that have a business model similar to the early stage company you're evaluating. And you can always look at gross profit multiples if you think the margin profile will change over time. So we still do the work on the comps. Quantitative metrics we look at when making the comparison to public market comps include EBITDA multiple, revenue multiple, Gross Profit multiple or all of the above. As part of this process, it’s also important to factor in the public market company’s year-over-year revenue growth as this will also significantly impact the multiple it trades at. Simple example: if you have two public market companies with similar business models and similar margin profiles, but one's growing 100% year over year, and one's growing 50% year over year, then obviously the DCF (discounted cash flow) analysis is going to spit out a very different valuation for the one that's growing faster. Why this matters: When you take all of that information into account as you evaluate an early stage business, you can begin to create a realistic picture of how this company will be valued in the public markets at exit - or how an acquirer will value the company for an acquisition. Strategic acquirers may, of course, pay a premium, but we won’t underwrite for that. This allows us, for example, to form conviction around valuation based on revenue and gross profit predictions. If we think they can do $100M of revenue five years from now, we use this diligence process to form a thesis about whether the characteristics above (product, margin, business model, etc.) will cause the company to be valued at $200M vs. $500M vs. $1B at exit. Curious how other early stage investors think about underwriting an exit and how much time they’re spending on public market comps even though these companies are in their infancy.

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Space tech-focused investment firm Seraphim Space Space launched its second VC fund, SSV II, to back early-stage startups in the global space tech market. The fund aims to build a portfolio of 30 startups, investing in seed and Series A stages. The latest fund's target size is larger than its predecessor's, which closed at £70M ($90M) in 2017. The fund's investment themes include AI applications for space data, in-orbit computing, space-enabled communications, and microgravity for science. Eutelsat is one of the limited partners that contributed to the latest fund. Seraphim Space aims to stand out with its track record, having returned three times the original investment from its first fund. The first fund's returns were driven by five exits, including Siemens' acquisition of UltraSOC and four IPOs of Arqit, AST SpaceMobile, Nightingale, and Spire Global. The British firm listed its growth fund Seraphim Space Investment Trust (SSIT) on the London Stock Exchange in July 2021, getting about £250M (~$300M) in gross proceeds. The fund's market cap touched an all-time low of £130M ($162M) in July 2023. The market for space tech is expected to grow significantly, with the World Economic Forum and McKinsey estimating it could be worth $1.8R by 2035.

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If you're doing small scale bitcoin mining, and want to hitch a ride on a Maserati, this post if for you. It's also for you if you're interested in my research-based assessment of where I see the future of Bitcoin mining going. First, what do big bitcoin mining companies have that smaller ones usually lack? - access to capital markets,  - networks and  - bulk purchasing power and - process/technical innovation. But what do small bitcoin mining companies, that is scarcer for big companies?  - Geographically dispersed sites - local jurisdictional knowledge, - direct relationships with power providers,  - domain knowledge, eg: niche energy-harvesting applications So it makes sense to cooperate, as Marathon and Nodalpower recently discovered when they combined their relative strengths to move each company ahead in a way they could not have easily achieved alone. Each partnership like this also helps the whole Bitcoin ecosystem - get more geographically decentralized - Change its narrative around bitcoin and the environment (these projects are almost always renewable) Outside the bitcoin ecosystem, large companies normally thinks they can do it all themselves. In bitcoin tho, everyone thinks like a startup disrupter As such, larger Bitcoin mining companies cooperate with other large companies that another industry would deem a competitor; small companies that another industry would deem irrelevant. There are already many more of these collaborations in the wings, and its my mission to help more of these types of collaborations get off the ground. If you’re a small mining company, reach out, and I'll see if you could be solving some problems for a bigger player, while gaining access to some of their valuable resources. And well done again to NodalPower and MARA for providing a solid example of how this type of collaboration can work

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To all #climatetech #founders and #funders in NYC and beyond, please join us on June 5th for an evening of #breakthrough #decarbonization #innovation at the ReGen Accelerator #DemoDay! 🎉 Get ready to be inspired by our cohort of #earlystage startups: ​ ▶ aich2 is engineering a novel #hydrogen ecosystem, built around Solid Hydrogen carriers. ​​ ▶ carbogenics produces sustainable #carbon adsorbents from difficult-to-recycle organic waste, including coffee cups and wastewater screenings ​​ ▶ TeamStack.ai is driving better performance by harnessing #AI, data, & the collective intelligence of teams. ​ ▶ Tesleon LLC uses compelling characters and #storytelling to instill compassion for communities and our planet in the next generation. ​ ▶ Tolam Earth is a trusted #marketplace for high-quality, high-impact carbon offsets. Don't miss out! Secure your spot below. Big thank you to Brown Rudnick LLP for hosting this event, our partners at ClimateHaven for their hard work and dedication during the entire program, and to our incredible network of #mentors and #facilitators, each of whom have dedicated time to working with these incredible founders this spring, including Jason Ambrose, Marina Rakhlin, Lauren Zujkowski, Stuart DeCew, Matt Puccini Andy Rooks, Nina Raab, and Bill Stephney. And of course Shai Tamary, Lars Korby and Sarah Cleveland, without whom we would not be able run such a #program. #innovation #sustainability #climateaction #accelerator

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Thank you Global Water Summit organizers and fellow attendees for a truly inspiring and insightful event. While I've got some trends and takeaways related specifically to #corporatewatersecurity in the blog, I wanted to share a personal note... Much of the rhetoric and discussion revolved around the underappreciation of water as an investment theme. Leaders spoke about the need to learn from carbon's marketing blitz and the resulting "popularity" of decarbonization financing. Some drew parallels to energy, and how water innovation could "fit in" with clean energy portfolios. My advice? It's the same as I share with my middle and high school daughters, who naturally struggle with social hierarchy (I shudder as I recall my own awkward middle school years). Embrace our uniqueness. Being unique is awesome and bold. Find self-acceptance, and in self-acceptance, you find the people who are worthy of your treasure. There were 1,000 of us in attendance at #GWS2024. That's one hell of a clique.

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Renewables+Storage WILL become the dominant technologies towards the "electrification of everything". Kingsmill Bond, Sam Butler-Sloss and Daan Walter at RMI (Rocky Mountain Institute) lay out the case clearly in https://lnkd.in/d3EHJDKM. #RenewableEnergy #ElectrificationOfEverything

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So far, it seems, these lower-tech companies have been able to scale quickly. Vaulted Deep, for instance, launched at the end of August last year and has already delivered more than 2,400 tons of carbon removal. By comparison, the only operating direct air capture facility in the United States is capable of removing 1,000 tons of CO2 per year. #carbonremoval #carboncapture #climatetech

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When rigor and transparency in carbon removal meet demand - very exciting.

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Over the past few days, I’ve been visiting lots of #farms in Europe and seeing the #regeneration and #destruction that management practices can have in the #land, #nature and environment. These practices are relatively unknown to the consumer and the huge gap between regenerative practices and industrial agriculture as well as the #positiveimpact that regenerative management can have! How do we create #impact in food systems? It starts with the health of farms #soils. Lots of positive externalities come from restoring soils. Soil health is an #outcome and regenerative practices have to be outcome driven. I’ll be talking about creating ‘impact in food systems and regenerative agriculture’ at the Impact Investor Global Summit in London Tuesday next week alongside fellow panelist’s Rosie Wardle, Carli Roth, Matteo Squilloni and Charles Avery. With lots more discussion about regenerative agriculture, sustainable farming and organic conversions - it’s an excellent time for this panel which touches on #naturalcapital, #farming and #foodsystems. Especially in the wake of the latest season of Clarksons Farm where #AndyCato and George Lamb with Wildfarmed joined #JeremyClarkson and Charles Ireland on the farm. Maybe Regenerate Outcomes will be there next season 😉 Our team at Regenerate work across Private Equity, Outcomes and Venture Capital, all working across regenerative agriculture. Come and see us at the event! Regenerate Asset Management European Investment Fund (EIF) Synthesis Capital The Rockefeller Foundation New Private Markets Ryan Cameron David Bates Nicholas Burlington Addy Windsor-Clive Erik Bruun Bindslev Oliver Martin Jeremy Stroud Timothy Coates Taimur Malik Philippa Saxon Matt Jordon Tom Dillon Christopher Heathcote Jake McNaughton

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The phrase “boiling the ocean” has been frequently used to reference putting a much larger amount of energy and effort into something (often data-related analysis) than is required to get what is actually needed. Though well meaning, many people I’ve heard this phrase from in the past would apply this whenever data would get particularly involved or if it went beyond what Microsoft Excel or the like could easily handle. Now, as most organizations are embracing the idea of utilizing generative AI in some form, they’re inherently leveraging LLMs, RAG, and other models where model training and analytics datasets are measured in petaflops.  And perhaps, in the not too-distant future, a desktop suite containing various AI analytics tools will be as ubiquitous and commonly used as Microsoft Office is today. In the meantime, it seems as if the tendency to reflexively exclaim “boiling the ocean” upon mere discussion of the analysis of large datasets may finally be coming to an end, replaced by a more nuanced consideration of the utility. This more insightful understanding and discerning application of data modeling/complexity vs. value tradeoff will be necessary for organizations that wish to effectively leverage generative AI and optimization technologies (think supply chain optimization).  And leveraging these will, in no uncertain terms, separate the leaders from the losers in the not-too-distant future. *** Not sure where to start with your digital transformation journey? Have questions about digital twins and how they can help your organization? Need to clarify your transformation vision or get it from vision to reality? Let's discuss.

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Partnering with startups can help companies to "solve a product problem, create a new avenue for revenue, accelerate R&D, or accelerate time to market for a specific product," according to Otilia Barbuta, principal at HP Tech Ventures, the venture capital arm of HP. She was talking at a breakout session at Circularity 2024. "There are solutions in the market created by startups and in this circularity realm, I think it's more important than ever to partner with [them]." #climatetech #startups #climateVC

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Fantastic event (and ecosystem) that Patrick Meier, PhD and his team at the Climate Robotics Network are creating. Highly recommend you check out the Climate Robotics Summit, done in partnership with EPFL, SOSV, Cybernetix Ventures, ETH Zürich, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. I just had the pleasure of moderating a panel just now on investing in climate robotics, alongside Urvi Nagrani, Malini Samtani, Sashi Jayatileke and Fady Saad. Here are some of the key insights: 1) Applications for robotics to climate challenges (adaptation AND mitigation) are enormous: support to farmers as conditions for humans become too hot to farm for long hours, drones that help capture data on forests and wildlife, supporting with installation of maintenance in large solar fields, wind turbines, circular economy applications - e.g. de-manufacturing - to just name a few. 2) Investing in robotics is simply different - it doesn't fit the standard SAAS VC strategies, often having a lot of engineering input and require non-dilutive funding upfront - e.g. similar barriers to investing in hardware writ large. Thus, it sits in a bit of its own asset class, so investors and entrepreneurs alike need to understand how these solutions behave, esp. in the early-stages of building/testing. That said, there is a growing pool of funds that have been specializing in this area. 3) So how do we move robotics solutions up the TRL ladder faster? It can take a LONG time for any robotics solution to be truly market ready. Even when there is theoretical product-market fit doesn't mean that it's ready in investors' eyes. Lots of testing as well as setting proper expectations with customers is critical, and part of this long process. Non-dilutive funding is rare to find in most countries, but in the US in particular there is a growing pool of grant funding that can help. 4) Development finance institutions and donors have a critical role here, especially in vulnerable countries/communities: Robotics could have bit impact in supporting climate solutions in vulnerable communities, but we need to ensure that there is an enabling environment for these solutions, which means that the policy, academic, and traditional finance space (e.g. local commercial banks)

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Last month, Uncork Capital celebrated its 20th anniversary with a jubilant gathering attended by 420 guests, marking two decades of success in the venture capital realm. Over the years, the firm, alongside industry peers like First Round Capital and Felicis, has witnessed remarkable growth, now managing billions of dollars in assets. This expansion reflects the flourishing landscape of venture capital, with the industry experiencing exponential growth in investment. Moreover, positive shifts in VC norms, such as the evolving attitudes towards board seats, underscore a commitment to providing tailored support to startups, enhancing their growth prospects. Amidst discussions surrounding sectors like AI, optimism prevails, emphasizing a steadfast dedication to investing in innovative ventures with lasting impact. Read More Here: https://lnkd.in/efN6-Spd Branded Hospitality Ventures Jeff Clavier Susan Liu Ashley Cravens Tripp Jones Sarah Du Andy McLoughlin Amy Saper #innovation #technology #management #venturecapital #startup

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