TechNexus Venture Collaborative, helping leading corporations and ambitious entrepreneurs work together to create new business models, new revenue streams, new products, and markets.
Hi there,
Welcome to February's Update: a monthly newsfeed curated with news & insights for entrepreneurs, investors, corporate change-makers, and curious innovators.
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🎬 Quick takes from the TechNexus team
by Andy Annacone | Managing Director (LI: Andy Annacone)
"The "Big Five" tech companies invented much of the way we live, work, and play today, but missing the next transformative change could see them thrown out of the future-making game. To continue to "make the future," the Big Five are investing, collaborating, and acquiring ventures at the forefront of inventing the future—and it's a playbook that every company can emulate.”
"Most corporations wait for definitive proof that their business is going to be disrupted, before taking action. The best they can hope for at that point is to ignite change from a "burning platform"— this is a dicey proposition at best. Instead, leading corporations leverage imperfect information— including signals from early-stage startups —as part of a "private data" strategy to justify quicker action."
by Madelyn Rutter | Director, Collaboration (LI: Madelyn Rutter)
"Fully immersive consumer experiences are here. Two to three years ago, we thought we may have reached the depth of rich, personalized experiences because of the blurring line between physical and digital —when you want it, how you want it, and where you want it. Now, with emerging multi-sensory trends and tech in the Metaverse, Web3, and the likelihood of NFTs, we're descending further and faster into a truly immersive consumer realm like nothing ever seen before."
We're thrilled to share some recent successes from our incredible ecosystem.
From our investment portfolio
Welcome new TechNexus Portfolio Ventures
General Radar, democratizes Aerospace radar architecture with 3D imaging radar for autonomous vehicles.
Captain Experiences, unlocks the outdoors for everyone by making it easy to get out there with their Damn Good Guides.
Rollick, the leading relationship technology provider for the Marine, Powersports, and RV industries named Nifty Fifty 2022 Winner as a top product or service by Powersports Business Magazine.
iHeartMedia and Sounder Partner to Bring Brand Safety to Audio (AdWeek)
Tonal debuted a Super Bowl Ad featuring Serena Williams, but she’s more than an athlete with an affinity for the home fitness gym brand...she’s also an investor in Tonal through her venture capital firm, Serena Ventures. (Bloomberg)
BuiltIn Colorado name Giide, an entirely new audio-first content format helping creators and thought leaders explain complicated concepts with more context and clarity, to its Future 5 of Colorado TechList for Q1 2022 (BuiltIn)
Podcasts made by and for Latinos finally make mainstream inroads, led by media studios like Sonoro, the global entertainment company creating premium, audio-first content in English, Spanish, and Spanglish (Los Angeles Times) Looking for something new to listen to? Ídolo: The Ballad of Chalino Sánchez — a bilingual murder mystery that examines the life and death of a beloved regional Mexican folk legend. (Find it on Apple Podcasts)
Meet Cute, a romantic comedy media company, enters into a deal with Wiip, a major production studio, to adapt Meet Cute’s audio-based IP into a television series. (Deadline)
From our partners
Congratulations Brunswick for being named to Forbes America’s Best Large Employers List for the second consecutive year! (Global Newswire)
And another partner graces the Forbes List! AAR named among America’s Best Midsize Employers for 2022 by Forbes (Yahoo Finance)
How One Manufacturing CEO Embraced The Electric Revolution. Airstream’s Bob Wheeler responded to customers, corporate partners, and the zeitgeist in pivoting RV maker into the eStream concept. (Chief Executive)
From Budweiser’s Music Fest to the National Anthem and Snoop Dogg during the Half-time Show, Shure delivers the sounds of Super Bowl LVI to millions worldwide (Shure.com)
TechNexus news
On March 2, to kick-off Women’s History Month, we’re hosting "Celebrating Women Across Venture and Tech", an evening to shine a spotlight on Chicago-area women who started a career in venture & entrepreneurship, ascended to new heights of leadership, disrupted industries, and are empowering future generations of problem-solvers. >>>Join the celebration!<<<
Some of the team will be down in Austin at SXSW next month. If you’d like to set up some time to connect with any of our investment team, partners, or collaborators please reach out to Maddy Rutter to coordinate. Email her directly or hit reply.
Our team continues to grow — within the last month we’ve welcomed, Marketing Manager, Kelly Wyman, and Venture Analysts, Declan Zidar and Joey Alfieri
Plus, we’re hiring for open positions! Apply below or share with others in your network
That's it for February's update of 2022. We welcome March with open arms, warmer temperatures (especially here in Chicago), 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've got questions, comments, or to discover more about any of the companies mentioned, please reply directly.
