7 OCTOBER | LONDON 2024
SEPTEMBER 12TH - 14TH
The O2, LONDON
Future of Capital Allocation
Your weekly newsletter on the fast-evolving world of investing
How to use AI to find your next investment
From Michael Burry’s big-time bet against Wall Street to parallels between astronomical AI valuations and the ‘99 dot-com bubble, history feels unnervingly close to repeating itself. Meanwhile, startup funding is drying up, triggering shutdowns and scale-backs across US and Europe.
The week's developments in investing & technology, explained
Reading time: ~4 minutes
Still, VCs are flocking to Europe — where they're grappling with a labyrinth of regulations and culture shocks. We cover how US and UK firms can navigate these challenges, as well as the 21 European fintechs edging toward unicorn status.
—Charlie and the Research & Intelligence Team
💸 Burry's bold bet
Michael Burry, of The Big Short fame, has wagered £1.25 billion on a Wall Street crash, placing 90% of his portfolio on a market downturn. His bearish options against S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 Index are making waves.
🤖 AI investment at a “dangerous point”
Morningstar cautions that AI investment is treading on risky ground, drawing parallels between AI valuations and the dot-com bubble. The difference between today and '99: tech giants are leading the way. Is history repeating itself or is big tech too big to fail?
How AI is transforming investing
💬 AI redefines investor-client dynamics
Liberated from performing mundane tasks, investors have more time to focus on building clients’ confidence in their financial advice.
🚀 Startup to scale-up, at warp speed
Fifty Years is using AI to sift through PhD tweets for promising startup ideas in line with the firm’s investment goals. Before, the team "could read papers all day, every day, and just crack a tiny fraction”.
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Startups
🦄 Unicorn hunt
Fintech funding is faltering, but 21 European startups are inching toward billion-dollar valuations. Investors should keep an eye on Self Custody, Stenn and Mews.
🛑 Startups are dying — and VCs won’t save them
Even amidst rebounding tech stocks and the AI boom, US investment in startups has fallen by 49% in a year, triggering shutdowns and scale-backs. To get to a Series A today, “you need serious revenue.”
Jobs
United Kingdom
•Director of Partnerships | Hotjar | London | £185-262k
•Market Manager | Airbnb | London | £51-72k
•Director, Partnerships | Founders Forum Group | London | £100-120k
United States and EU
•Operations Strategy & Planning Manager | Stripe | Dublin | £98-138k
•Growth Equity Associate | Adams Street | San Francisco | £80-134k
•Investor, AI & Robotics | Samsung Next | San Francisco | £69-117k
The investment ecosystem
Noteworthy deals
Series A+
•Israeli water intelligence startup Wint raised £27.6m in Series C funding led by Insight and Inven Capital.
•Fizz raised £20m in a Series B led by Owl Ventures to expand its anonymous social network, which has quickly spread across US college campuses.
•Matter, a Bristol startup that recycles microplastics, raised £8m in investment in a round led by S2G Venture sand SOUNDwaves.
Pre-seed & seed
•SF-based VR startup ShapesXR raised £6.8m in seed funding led by Supernode Global.
•11x AI, a London startup that builds AI personas that carry out repetitive tasks, raised a £1.6m pre-seed round led by Project A Ventures.
•French generative art platform fxhash raised £3.9m in seed funding from Fabric Ventures.
Undisclosed:
•London fintech SumUp received a £79m credit facility with Victory Park Capital.
•US AI startup Anthropic raised £77m from Korean telecommunications giant SK Telecom, just off the heels of its recent £354m Series C funding.
•Scottish biotech Cytomos raised £4m in funding led by Archangels and British Business Bank.