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 March's Update: a monthly newsfeed curated with news & insights for entrepreneurs, investors, corporate change-makers, and curious innovators.
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"Venture investment dollars hit record highs in 2021, nearly double the prior year. A contributing factor here is the growth of a non-traditional Venture Capital investor, which includes corporate venture capital firms, who typically invest in growth rounds (Series C and beyond). At TechNexus, we work with our partners to invest at an earlier stage, providing quick access to new technologies and business models and broader opportunities to collaborate with the startup companies."
"From a workspace operator perspective, the past year allowed us to think through what the "great return to the workplace" might look like for folks in companies of all sizes. It's convenient working from home, but we still miss the human connections and camaraderie...that's what creates strong teams and builds great companies. I personally think Chicago is coming back strong this summer and I'm looking forward to it!"
"The VC ecosystem is seeing a big wave of in-person events and conferences, and I couldn’t be more excited. For early stage founders, it is important to build trust and strong relationships with your investors and that can really only happen at in-person events. For investors, being able to network authentically and build relationships with other players plays a big role in maximizing support opportunities for the portfolio.”
We're thrilled to share some recent successes from our incredible ecosystem.
From Our Investment Portfolio
Welcome new TechNexus Portfolio Ventures:
K4 Mobility, builds secure digital platforms and unifies communications technologies to harness the power of the internet for maritime
Beastcoast, a multi-faceted esports organization: content engine, marketing agency, & professional team all wrapped into one. Read more on why we invested
Respeecher, Kyiv-based developers of voice cloning software for content creators, featured in the article 'How Ukraine’s Digital Artists Are Grappling With Working Through Wartime.' (Variety)
CB Insights today named Threekit to its Retail Tech 100 ranking, which showcases the 100 most promising B2B retail tech companies in the world (CB Insights)
Tonal was named to Fast Company's "10 Most Innovative Consumer Electronics Companies of 2022" for taking a smart approach to weight training at home (Fast Company)
Sounder raises $7.7M for its end-to-end podcasting platform that puts intelligence at the forefront (AlleyWatch)
Giide, a Boulder, Colorado-based interactive audio tech company, has closed a $1.6 million seed round (Axios)
Scope AR becomes a Siemens Digital Industries Software Partner (Bloomberg)
Swaypay, the startup making TikTok product placements easier, raises $4.2M (The Information)
Mixhalo was selected by 5G Open Innovation Lab for an exclusive development program (Yahoo)
The Dyrt, the No. 1 app for camping with the most active camping community in the world, was featured in a U.S. News Travel article (U.S. News) | *BONUS*: Make sure to check out The Dyrt's 2022 Camping Report for an in-depth and comprehensive look at the industry.
Beastcoast partners with 1,000 Dreams Fund to help support women in gaming #breakthebias. (Beastcoast sponsorship news)
Bureau Veritas grants first type approval for wireless remote helm control systems to Sea Machines (WorkBoat 365)
MediaMath is implementing hyperscale data analytics With Ocient (Datamation)
Hologram named to Purpose Jobs' "Great Companies for Diversity and Inclusion 2022" (Purpose Jobs)
From Our Partners
Brunswick's President of Business Acceleration & Chief Strategy Office, Brenna Preisser, interviewed by CNBC on how she’s transforming marine into a more inclusive and inviting community from the office to the helm (CNBC)
Brunswick welcomes Alexandra Cattelan as new Chief Technology Officer (Brunswick.com)
Shure celebrates Women’s History Month by looking back at the life and impact of Rose Langer Shure on the company and the wider audio industry (Shure.com)
Forbes covers the new luxury van on the market, the Jayco Terrain 19Y (owned by THOR Industries), which is likely to give some serious competition to the current crop of vehicles created to pair rugged adventure with creature comforts (Forbes)
TechNexus News
On March 2nd, 60+ people gathered at TechNexus Venture Collaborative's onsite innovation hub, TeamWorking, to kick off Women's History Month with a Celebration of Women across Venture & Tech.
At Venture Engine's ‘Achieving Gender Equity in Tech’ Workshop on March 10th, our amazing panelists spoke powerfully on how to become better allies in our push to break the bias within innovation. Shout out to the local startups that pitched — Globowl and STIGMA App!
Ellie Davis, Maddy Rutter, and Declan Zidar took on Austin during the first weekend of SXSW (March 12-15). They set out to convene with new entrepreneurs, engage with founders from the venture portfolio, enjoy the sights, sounds (and tastes!) of Rainey Street, and bring back innovative ideas, inspiration, and opportunities to empower our venturing engine.
On March 23rd, Cristin Pacifico was the guest speaker for Notre Dame Venture Capital Club's monthly meeting, sharing her journey from investment banking to working with a startup to finally pivoting to a career in venture capital.
Our team continues to grow — within the last month we welcomed Strategy Manager, Matt Meyers, and had 2 promotions. Kaitlyn Doyle was promoted to Senior Director of Strategy and Venture Investing and Cristin Pacifico was promoted to Director of Strategy and Venture Investing.
Ecosystem Jobs
TechNexus is hiring! Apply below or share with others in your network:
H3X is hiring a CAD Designer who will be in charge of the setup and management of their CAD PDM as well as developing mechanical designs.
Edgybees is hiring a Senior Computer Vision Engineer to join their fast-growing team in Israel (they are working on a hybrid model) and make an impact!
That's it for March's update. We welcome April 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 have questions, comments, or want to discover more about any of the companies mentioned, please reply directly.
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