Leadership fund

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin In-Person events and conferences have long represented a significant portion of corporate budgets. In fact, the global event industry was worth approximately $890 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach $2 trillion by 2028, according to Statista. The size of the market and complexity around planning and executing such events made the industry ripe for digital disruption like what happened to the travel booking and movie and sports ticketing industries. Yet no all-in-one tool existed until Planned . First launched in 2018 by two Montreal-based entrepreneurs, Marc-Antoine Bonin and Emeric Noël, Planned provides a single platform that allows in-person event planners to book everything they need for their events while providing visibility and control to managers. Users can browse and book from a curated portfolio of thousands of venues and vendors across North America. The platform makes it easy for companies to source, … [Read more...] about Event Planning Platform Planned Survives Pandemic Lockdowns And Secures $18 Million A Round Funding

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin As a semiconductor analyst back in the aughts, I came to know Israel as a hotbed of high-tech innovation but have only started to appreciate the extent to which this tiny sliver of a country punches above its weight in the world ranking tables for scientific developments and start-up activity. My guide in this tour of Israeli venture has been Rotem Yehuda Kakon, who leveraged his experience as an advisor for both Israel’s Ministry of Economy and Industry and its Ministry of Environmental Protection to become Strategic Investments and Portfolio Management advisor at Consensus Business Group (CBG). He is now widely known as an important voice in the venture world both in Israel and overseas. Kakon introduced me to Dr. Ami Appelbaum, Israel’s Chief Scientist and the Chairman of the Israeli Innovation Authority (IIA), formerly the president of the Israeli branch of semiconductor equipment giant, KLA-Tencor. The Israeli … [Read more...] about The Public-Private Partnership Powering Israel’s Leadership In ClimateTech

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin By Vineet Madan It’s been over a decade since the onset of the Great Recession and nearly 20 years since the famed dot-com crash in early 2001. The signs that we’re entering the third major slowdown of the Internet era are popping up in feeds daily: In April, former high-flier, venture-backed and still newly public Robinhood announced layoffs of 9% of their staff On May 4, Cameo, a site that connects anyone to athletes and celebrities for the purposes of creating custom videos, announced a layoff of 87 people (nearly a quarter of their staff) At the end of May, Bolt announced a layoff of 250 people , or a third of its workforce As if that weren’t enough, investors are also seeing the signs of slowdowns and responding accordingly. Legendary startup accelerator, YCombinator, recently dispatched advice to their portfolio founders to “plan for the worst” and Sequoia, who famously shared the RIP Good … [Read more...] about Startup Tips For Surviving A Recession

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Consider the scenario where Elon Musk is not a multibillion-dollar entrepreneur, but a humble tech enthusiast working out of his garage and looking to secure investment for one of his projects. His radical idea is to launch a network of satellites into the Earth’s orbit to provide stable internet access for even the remotest regions of the world. His idea might be well intentioned, and the science behind it might be sound, but the costs would surely be staggering. And as for the payoff for investors? Well, it’s safe to say they’d be waiting a while. It’s highly likely Starlink would have remained an aspirational sketch in Mr Musk’s notebook. Technological solutions such as Starlink that build on fundamental science and engineering – so called ‘deep tech’ – are also a vital tool in helping to tackle some of our world’s biggest problems. Yet, for all the potential deep tech projects offer the world, the vast majority are … [Read more...] about Can We Unlock Deep Tech Entrepreneurship To Address The World’s Biggest Problems?

Finance Secretary TV Somanathan. There is said to be a perceptible difference regarding the relationship between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his top bureaucrats now compared to his first term in office. If various reports are to be believed, he has pulled up officials on multiple occasions in the past year. The latest dressing down apparently was regarding the system’s readiness in the face of a crushing ‘second wave’ of COVID-19 cases. Even in this backdrop, new Finance Secretary TV Somanathan remains one of the Prime Minister’s most trusted advisors and implementers when it comes to economic policymaking. Somanathan, the Expenditure Secretary, was designated as the Finance Secretary on April 29. As per the norm , the seniormost of the five Finance Ministry secretaries heading Expenditure, Revenue, Economic Affairs, DIPAM and Financial Services is designated as the Finance Secretary. Somanathan, Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth, DFS Secretary Debashish … [Read more...] about New Finance Secretary TV Somanathan: An articulate economic voice trusted by the top leadership

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin The proposal from hedge fund Third Point LLC for Intel to split its design and manufacturing operations could accelerate the decline of America’s last best hope for microelectronics manufacturing leadership. For Intel’s factories (its “fabs”) to regain leadership, they need customers to buy its output and help pay for its R&D, and anything that takes volume away from them will harm this effort. Over the short term, splitting the two would take volume away. Microelectronics manufacturing relies on scale to perfect new technologies Semiconductor microelectronic devices are made on silicon wafers, each carrying hundreds of individual chips (or “die”), using some of the most complex manufacturing technologies anywhere. The most advanced processes involve as many as 700+ steps and 80+ masking (imaging) levels. Each step involves procedures that are technically challenging, and because so many steps have to be carried … [Read more...] about Third Point’s Proposal To Intel Won’t Restore American Leadership In Microelectronics Manufacturing

Japan’s SoftBank Investment Advisers and US-based JP Morgan hosted a meeting between large mutual fund houses and 10 unicorns, including Swiggy, and Unacademy, which are keen on going public within 3 years, sources said. Mamaearth, Lenskart, Acko, Meesho, ElasticRun and InMobi also participated in the meeting held in Bengaluru on August 3 and 4. "Indian public asset managers, with USD 250 billion under management, met with the leadership of unicorn startups that are eyeing a possible stock market listing in the next 2-3 years. The first such interaction, hosted by SoftBank and JP Morgan, was aimed at building a better rapport between domestic mutual funds and startups well ahead of the latter’s IPO plans," a source privy to the meeting said. Fourteen Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) such as HDFC MF, Axis MF, Mirae, ICICI Prudential MF and UTI flew down to Bengaluru for the meeting, the source added. "The meeting was basically to help unicorns better understand public … [Read more...] about SoftBank, JP Morgan connect 10 unicorns mulling IPO in 3 years with mutual funds

Did you ever have to write a letter to your younger self at school? It’s a humbling feeling to look back and wonder what you wish you could have communicated to your past self. advertisement advertisement As I develop my next venture, 2045 Studio, I realize how much more I know now than eight years ago, when I quit my job in finance and took a terrific gamble on my career. When I started building my first business, Jopwell , I knew I was up against difficult odds. For one, I had never started a business before (I was only 24!). I was not (and still am not) an engineer.  And I was going to be a Black founder. That last point means that I belong to a group that, at the time, received less than 1% of venture capital funds. In 2021, 8 years later, that number had only increased to 1.4%. advertisement advertisement Another obstacle at that time which still exists today was the lack of representation at the investor … [Read more...] about Black founders only receive 1.4% VC funds—here’s how to change that

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Campaign partnerships between nonprofits and for-profits can increase the impact of work being done by both organizations. However, joining forces with another company is a business move that should only be done after careful thought and thorough research. Not every potential partner is a good match, and one wrong move can irreparably damage an organization’s standing with stakeholders and the communities it serves. Before agreeing to any partnership, read the following recommendations from members of Forbes Nonprofit Council . Below, they discuss key areas that should not be overlooked by nonprofit leaders as they consider potential campaign partners. 1. Shared Values Critical to a successful partnership is exploring your shared values. Often, nonprofit organizations feel resource deprived and are quick to partner with companies. In that rush of excitement, they neglect to have meaningful conversations about … [Read more...] about Considering A Nonprofit Campaign Partner? 12 Areas To Not Overlook

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin A revolution on the factory floor is taking place using its data-rich environment to leverage Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to improve productivity and reduce product defects. And it’s a large and growing market. Spending on AI in manufacturing stands at $2.3 billion in 2022 and is anticipated to reach $16.3 billion by 2027, according to Markets and Markets. Dataprophet is one such company helping to drive innovation within this market. The Cape Town, South Africa-based company is a developer of machine learning and AI technology to serve the manufacturing industry. The company specializes in optimizing the complex manufacturing processes of key industrial verticals through machine learning and its AI-driven solutions that leverage the existing data streams from the plant’s production line equipment to identify process efficiencies. “Our vision is to be the leading provider of impactful AI for the … [Read more...] about Frans Conje Builds Dataprophet To Become Foundation For Autonomous Manufacturing