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Hi there,
Welcome to June's Update: a monthly newsfeed curated with news & insights for entrepreneurs, investors, corporate change-makers, and curious innovators.
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Join us in Chicago on July 12th! đ
âOn behalf of TechNexus Venture Collaborative, join us on July 12th for rethink:FIT, a
1-day celebration of the resiliency within the fitness/wellness and recreation venture ecosystem. Start your day off with a riverwalk, followed by our Fit Fest Popup featuring startups and fitness/wellness consumer brands, a healthy lunch, a FitTech & Wellness Startup Pitch Competition sponsored by Midwest House, a guided meditation class, and rooftop yoga. In the afternoon, CEO & President of Riddell Sports, Dan Arment, will be leading a Fireside Chat on the future of fitness and how the future of safety in sports will be crucial to helping athletes feel confident in their pursuit of sports and fitness.
Connect with major players like nationwide gym operators, emerging startups, direct-to-consumer brands, outdoor enthusiasts, FitTech leaders, investors, entrepreneurs, and more as we convene together during TechChicago week to reflect and rethink what these industries look like now, and where we go next!
"The economic downturn has left both founders and investors wondering what actions to take next. YC recently shared a message with its founders indicating that economic downturns actually become huge opportunities for the founders who quickly change their mindset, plan ahead, and make sure their company survives. The same opportunity exists for disciplined investors; lower valuations in the early stages may result in greater outcomes in future markets. Ultimately, we will all need to become better stewards of capital, and history has taught us that CEOs who are decisive now and make critical changes to their businesses will emerge in a stronger position when markets normalize once again."
"In the ever-evolving âhybridâ work setup, considerable focus has been placed on tech-enabled advancements improving worker productivity. Slack, Zoom, and a long tail of productivity apps ensure employees don't miss a beat, whether on- or off-site. Less attention, however, has been placed on the cognitive benefits of being outdoors - and the benefits bestowed to workers who take occasional breaks in nature. Research consistently shows that conÂtact with naÂture imÂproves peoÂpleâs moods, sharpÂens peoÂpleâs cogÂniÂtive abilÂiÂties, makes them more coÂopÂerÂaÂtive, reÂduces burnout and enÂhances emÂployÂeesâ proÂducÂtivity. With employees in all workforces being more intentional about pursuing deeper, more meaningful work â taking occasional breaks in nature is a way to elevate well-being and performance on that path.â
"The past two years have had lasting impacts. The challenges weâve collectively faced, the resiliency discovered, and the shifts we embraced not only impacted each of us personally, but it impacted long-standing systems and industries, for the worstâŚand then maybe for the better. In March 2020, think of all of the businesses and entire industries that felt obliterated⌠overnight. Shut down, shut-in, everything built, worked towards, calibrated against seemingly upended. But, we adapted. The ecosystemâs balance was disrupted. Then, consumer behavior changed. Corporate behavior changed. An industry-wide shift happened. And, the ecosystem rebalances. It begins to thrive."
We're thrilled to share some recent successes from our incredible ecosystem.
From Our Investment Portfolio
Welcome new TechNexus Portfolio Ventures
Bluedot, increasing EV charger utilization with payment identity rewards and cashback
SixWheel, developer of an autonomous EV system intended to provide a boost to extend range and payload in trucks
Natrion, a startup that makes a component for solid-state lithium-ion batteries, has secured $2M in seed funding, with participation from TechNexus Venture Collaborative (Axios)
General Radar, a developer of high-resolution 3D radar systems, recently announced their $22 million Series A funding round led by Octave Ventures with participation from TechNexus Venture Collaborative, Disruptive, Kleiner Perkins, and others (BusinessWire)
AmpUp, a leading electric vehicle (EV) management software company, announced an investment from Holman, a global automotive services organization (Charged)
Elon Musk shares his experiences with both Tesla and SpaceX and clears up some misconceptions about Tesla in an interview conducted by John Stringer, an Advisor to TechNexus portfolio company, Bluedot, and President of Tesla Owners of Silicon Valley (Youtube)
Outdoor retailer Catch Co. unveils its first experiential retail store, Karlâs Fishing & Outdoors, in Fort Worth, Texas (Bass Resource) (Paper City)
Catch Co. brand, Mystery Tackle Box, named 'Best Overall' on Outdoor Life's list: 'The Best Fishing Subscription Boxes of 2022' (Outdoor Life)
Hefring Marine launched their digital helm system at Seawork to measure the movements of a vessel including the impact, and then analyze that data to offer a guidance speed recommended for safety and/or fuel efficiency (SeaWork)
The Dyrt, the No. 1 app for camping with the most active online camping community, is now the first reservation platform to waive fees for both campers and campgrounds (The Dyrt)
Tonal CEO Aly Orady recently announced the company's plans to open a New York studio and add five new coaches to their lineup in an effort to expand their live class offerings (Verve Times)
Meet Cute, the rom-com media company, is launching a new podcast in September with a twist on Shakespeareâs âA Midsummer Nightâs Dream,â starring Bridgertonâs Charithra Chandran (Deadline)
The Audeze Euclid are the best planar magnetic IEMs youâll ever hear, using Audezeâs patented Fazor waveguides that are specifically designed to eliminate the phasing and distortion that can occur on quite a few pairs of closed-back dynamic IEMs (Forbes)
Soundskrit is developing the first bio-inspired MEMS directional microphone to improve audio capture for consumer electronics and has just launched its new website (Soundskrit)
LANDR is redefining collective creation and promotion of new music with the launch of LANDR Challenges, which will feature established music artists, influencers and brands as "hosts" who provide curated content to be used in the creation of original music or remixes by Challenge contestants (LANDR)
Bestselling author Malcolm Gladwellâs audio company, Pushkin Industries, has signed a film and TV deal with the independent entertainment studio, A24 (Bloomberg)
From Our Partners
Brunswick Corporation launches All Blue Planet, an initiative to promote the restorative benefits of the water and provide on-water experiences to those in their community (Boating Industry)
Boating Industry Magazine names four Brunswick Corporation leaders to its 2022 âWomen Making Wavesâ list of Honorees, an annual designation given to women in the marine industry who have made and continue to make contributions to their company while promoting diversity within the industry (Boating Industry)
Brunswick Corporation named a 2022 Adobe Experience Maker Awards finalist for innovating impactful digital customer experiences (Adobe)
Freedom Boat Club, a division of Brunswick, is expected to surpass 50,000 memberships across its 360 global locations, made up of both corporate locations and a continually growing network of franchise partners (Boating Industry)
THOR Industries' film, "Finding Strength and Redemption: The Blackfoot River Adventure with First Descents," chronicling the life-changing collaboration with non-profit First Descents, was awarded gold in two categories at the inaugural Anthem Awards (Modern Campground)
THOR Industries delivers record third-quarter net sales ($4.66M) and profitability via continued RV demand and operating excellence (Yahoo!)
THOR Industries' consumer research quantifies the limited impact on RV sales and usage due to rising fuel costs (Yahoo!)
Shure celebrates Pride and LGBTQIA+ artists with a limited-edition SM58 microphone giveaway. The fully functional microphone features a custom wrap designed by Shure and voted on by Shure Associates in the Company's LGBTQIA+ Resource Group (Benzinga)
Shure joined the International Telecommunication Union and the UK Spectrum Policy Forum Steering Board in order to âfurther expand [its] leadership in the spectrum policy space" (Radio World)
Shure and Barco ClickShare Conference Room System collaborate to ensure revolutionary meetings by combing high-quality audio of Stem Ecosystem with easy-to-use wireless conferencing (Shure)
TechNexus News
Last week, we partnered with Chicago:Blend and StartOut to host 'PRIDE! in Chicago Startups', an evening of no-holds-barred conversations with LGBTQ+ founders, investors, and business leaders about what it means to be queer today and what allies can do to support their LGBTQ+ colleagues.
Last week, Fred Hoch and Andrew Loulousis from our team traveled up North to Toronto for the Collision conference and connected with Canadian VCs, early-stage founders, the Trade Commissioner Service of Canada, CVCA, Global Affairs Canada, and more.
TechNexus is hiring! Apply below or share with others in your network:
That's it for June's update. We welcome July with open arms and some new, exciting content. We'd love for you to share this newsletter with anyone you think might find it useful or interesting and encourage them to sign up. And if you have questions, comments, or want to discover more about any of the companies mentioned, please reply directly.
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