Paul Straub

Exciting news! We just sent out the inaugural newsletter for Future Frontier Capital, our pre-seed venture fund backing frontier tech startups. As I hit "send," I realized how launching FFC parallels the path of the founders we support. Starting FFC has required the same passion, perseverance, and self-belief that drive entrepreneurs. Just like a startup, getting a VC fund off the ground demands relentless hustle—building the brand, perfecting the pitch, and networking tirelessly. There are constant challenges that test your resolve and endless hours of unglamorous work behind the scenes. And perhaps most daunting - the self-doubt, wondering if you're crazy for attempting something so bold. Pushing through that negative self-talk requires unshakable faith in your mission. Raising this VC fund reminds me of starting our IP strategy and patent analytics firm two decades ago. It’s a powerful reminder of the perseverance, creativity, and resilience needed to turn an ambitious idea into reality. This experience makes us more empathetic partners, ready to support the founders we back. Our work is just beginning, and this inaugural newsletter underscores our commitment to supporting frontier tech startups every step of the way. #startups #VentureCapital #EmergingManagers #Entrepreneurship #InnovationMindSet

21

2 Comments

WE DID IT! After 2 years of pushing through the biggest downturn in VC in decades, Matthew Stotts 🌐 and I made it to the finish line with Fund I! We couldn't have done this without One Small Planet (Will Peterffy and Jack Wielebinski 🙏), Regen Network and Regen Foundation (Austin Wade Smith Gregory Landua and Will Szal), and a dozen other family offices and angels who believed that we can build a nature-positive economy utilizing our eye for software and our history as founders from day 1 A shout out goes to all of our founders (only four announced today, but watch this space - there are multitudes!) who trusted us enough to give us a spot on their cap table for this 10-15 year journey. This is the best job in the world, and it's because we get to work with people like you who have weird ideas in the best possible way. Using Bitcoin as anchor base load to decarbonize residential housing in America's most expensive energy market? Make every complex supply chain legible to machines so we can find and eliminate deforestation in commodity supply chains? Build deeply liquid environmental asset markets to price ecosystem services, on a blockchain, that no one needs to know is a blockchain? I'm so excited to get to work on this stuff for the next 10-15 years minimum, and to see what we can accelerate with our tiny fund in the next 5-6 years as we approach 2030 Onward! https://lnkd.in/gy3B-DFe

570

118 Comments

My friend Raj Mistry of Sunya produces straight fire in all things energy transition news. Not surprised that practically every major energy company C-suite reads the Sunya Scoop every week. Was excited to provide our quick thoughts at 8090 Industries on our latest investment in Exowatt - a company making energy for $0.01 per kWh, and available 24 hours a day for commercial and industrial customers. "At 8090 Industries, we have long been active in standing up and fortifying new, paradigm shifting forms of baseload renewable power. However, the boom in generative AI has catapulted the energy demand needed to power our data centers. In response, we are thrilled to be an investor in Exowatt led by Hannan P. as it pioneers a new reality towards energy that costs $0.01 per kWh, and is available 24 hours a day. Exowatt’s 3-in-one modular system delivers baseload renewable power, industrial-grade heat and energy storage that can be dispatched and deployed to a wide range of commercial, industrial applications and sites. The company already has a backlog of demand for over 500 MW to power data centers across the U.S. and plans to begin deployments later this year."

17

3 Comments

To all #climatetech #founders and #funders in NYC and beyond, please join us on June 5th for an evening of #breakthrough #decarbonization #innovation at the ReGen Accelerator #DemoDay! 🎉 Get ready to be inspired by our cohort of #earlystage startups: ​ ▶ aich2 is engineering a novel #hydrogen ecosystem, built around Solid Hydrogen carriers. ​​ ▶ carbogenics produces sustainable #carbon adsorbents from difficult-to-recycle organic waste, including coffee cups and wastewater screenings ​​ ▶ TeamStack.ai is driving better performance by harnessing #AI, data, & the collective intelligence of teams. ​ ▶ Tesleon LLC uses compelling characters and #storytelling to instill compassion for communities and our planet in the next generation. ​ ▶ Tolam Earth is a trusted #marketplace for high-quality, high-impact carbon offsets. Don't miss out! Secure your spot below. Big thank you to Brown Rudnick LLP for hosting this event, our partners at ClimateHaven for their hard work and dedication during the entire program, and to our incredible network of #mentors and #facilitators, each of whom have dedicated time to working with these incredible founders this spring, including Jason Ambrose, Marina Rakhlin, Lauren Zujkowski, Stuart DeCew, Matt Puccini Andy Rooks, Nina Raab, and Bill Stephney. And of course Shai Tamary, Lars Korby and Sarah Cleveland, without whom we would not be able run such a #program. #innovation #sustainability #climateaction #accelerator

47

1 Comment

Calling all DeepTech Founders - Don't miss this chance for non-dilutive capital! Funding Notice: $33 Million Available for Smart Manufacturing Technologies to Accelerate a Clean Energy Economy The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office (AMMTO) released a $33 million funding opportunity to accelerate the advancement of smart manufacturing technologies and processes necessary to develop and deploy the innovative technologies and materials needed for the nation’s clean energy transition. FOA NUMBER: DE-FOA-0003329 FUNDING AMOUNT: $33 Million CONCEPT PAPERS DUE DATE: 8/21/2024 at 5 p.m. ET Smart manufacturing is the use of advanced technologies and processes – including digitalization and artificial intelligence – to improve the technical performance, productivity, quality assurance, and security of the manufacturing sector. Topic 1: Smart Manufacturing for a #CircularEconomy Topic 2: Smart Manufacturing of #Tooling and #Equipment for #Sustainable #Transportation Topic 3: Smart Manufacturing for #HighPerformance #Materials Topic 4: Smart Technologies for Sustainable and Competitive U.S. Mining Applicants must submit a concept paper by 5 p.m. ET on August 21, 2024, to be eligible to submit a full application. https://lnkd.in/eYJrfmf6 https://lnkd.in/eZmuuKED

6

4 Comments

It's what you do outside of the board meeting that makes the biggest difference for #VC backed portfolio companies. At Energy Capital Ventures we love to engage with our #greenmolecules portfolio teams as many different ways and on as many different levels as we can to support their growth. #venturecapital #startups #mentoring

20

3 Comments

Check out my recent post on why President Trump is the forcing function for us to solve the “Missing Middle” and catch the industrial Tsunami of onshoring coming to the US!

72

9 Comments

I’m thrilled to be announcing that Notion Capital is leading the $15m Series A investment in Cogna today. In the industry, we like to think that software has been eating the world. But when you look at the data a better description would be more of a nibble. Depending on what source you look at the software industry represents between 5-8% of global GDP. Contrast that with the services industry that represents between 60-70% of GDP and worth around $25 trillion on a global basis. Most services have been out of reach for the software industry. They have either been too complex or too specialized for off the shelf software to access in any economically viable way. But that’s beginnning to change with GenAI leading to the emergence of ‘service as a software.’ Cogna is at the forefront of this opportunity - building precision software at scale and delivering huge productivity gains for traditional industries. We know Ben Peters & Lars Mennen well having backed their previous company Five AI that was acquired by Bosch in 2022. And we’re very excited to be backing them again together with Hoxton Ventures & Chalfen Ventures Read my full blog post on why we invested here. Radu Bozga Ben Peters Lars Mennen Bryan Gartner Mike Chalfen Hussein Kanji Kirsten Connell https://lnkd.in/eh8mhcJb

195

13 Comments

Throw back Thursday! 😊Excited to look back at 2023 through the publication of our Catalyst Fund Impact Report! The report spotlights the hard work of our portfolio companies after a year of work with them, as they continue to build game-changing solutions from precision agriculture technologies to water access solutions or waste management tools. 👉 Dive into our portfolio companies' impact to date, our theory of change, and how we empower bold founders to build a climate-resilient future for millions of Africans. 👉 Learn about our gender lens investing approach, sustainability focus, and how our startups are driving green growth and positioning Africa as a leader in climate action. 👉 Explore spotlights on select portfolio companies and discover how Catalyst Fund's hands-on venture building accelerates the path to scale for early-stage climate tech in Africa 👉 See the recognition our fund has earned to date and join us in investing for a climate-resilient future on the continent. Sand to Green, Bekia inc, Visual and AI Solutions (VAIS), Assuraf | Insurance, Simply, Eight Medical | Techstars ‘23, Farmz2U, Farm to Feed, Octavia Carbon, PaddyCover, Agro Supply, NoorNation, Scrapays, THOLA, Earthbond, Zebra CropBank, Medikea, Keep IT Cool, Tolbi Link to download the report: https://lnkd.in/ejJjH6aD

35

8 Comments

What do you do when a radical new technology puts your main product right in the crosshairs of disruption? Listen to David Okuniev — co-founder of Typeform | Ask awesomely — discuss the challenges of innovation within existing structures. David shared a game-changing insight: Radical innovation is really, really difficult to do inside your own product. He emphasized the need to break free from the constraints of familiarity and embrace change from outside the box. Henrik Werdelin and I have both seen our fair share of this in our respective careers. What struck us most was how David leveraged structure to overcome the innovator’s dilemma. By creating a culture of experimentation and providing space for bold ideas, he propelled Typeform beyond incremental improvements. What other hacks have you seen or employed to help your organization overcome the innovator’s dilemma? Share your stories below! 👇 And if you want to dive deeper into our conversation, click the link in the comments to catch the full podcast episode!

4

2 Comments

Earlier this year, we surveyed our fellow Los Angeles-based GPs to get a pulse check on the LA venture ecosystem. Here’s what we found: 💗 Deal flow is healthy, and most LA venture investors (68%) are seeing the same or more deal flow YoY. ✈ LA investors are spending time in a variety of markets, with NYC, Austin, and SF following closely on LA’s heels. 🔍 Innovation is concentrated in AI and machine learning, space, and commerce. 💸 Funding is happening, but it’s barbell-shaped, with deals concentrated at the early and late stages. Funding post-Series A has been challenging. 🚩 LA is differentiated, but not without its challenges. Key difficulties include not attracting enough AI talent (despite having the largest number of engineers graduating from our region over any other in the United States); talent relocated to more tax-friendly or less expensive locations; and the great SoCal / NoCal divide 🙏 Thank you to all our many respondents! I’m so glad to be part of a venture ecosystem that includes great minds like Anna Barber, Brent Murri, W. Christine Choi, Sarah Tomolonius, Rob Smith, Win Chevapravatdumrong, John Tabis, Jill Royster, Jesse Draper, Ashley Balla, Britt Danneman, Tram Lai, Carmen Palafox, Elaine Russell, Deborah Benton Amanda Schutzbank, Brian Lee, Petra Griffith, Minnie Ingersoll, Shamin Walsh, Gabe Greenbaum...wow, this list could go on forever...plus too many other exceptional humans to name. You know who you are! Explore our findings more deeply with our survey dashboard: https://bit.ly/3JsaLaB

84

5 Comments

Yesterday, we joined investors, innovators, and policy makers at The White House to revisit the Bold Decadal Vision for Commercial Fusion Energy. 🎯The Takeaway: the Fusion Race is on The world is ready to take the next step to accelerate #fusion energy but it will take a Space Race-like effort to ensure we fully seize the opportunity. Fusion will redefine the very basics of how we live and build for centuries to come. We’re excited to get to work. Read more: https://ow.ly/koZy50SbTV4

39

🔦 Spotlight on Emerging Investment Trends: Energy Transition, Robotics, and Early-Stage Unicorn Sourcing 💡 At PaperJet Ventures, we’re always looking beyond the horizon for where technology and capital are converging to create transformative opportunities. In my latest Substack post, I dive into three major themes that are shaping our investment strategy: 1️⃣ Energy Transition & Data Centers: With the rising demand for AI infrastructure, energy consumption is set to skyrocket. We’re looking at novel material technologies that can make data centers scalable and sustainable. 🌍⚡ 2️⃣ Robotics Revolution: The race to build the next-gen robotics market is heating up, but it’s not just about software. Tackling hardware challenges will be key to unlocking the potential of humanoid robotics and solving global labor shortages. 🤖✨ 3️⃣ Sourcing Early-Stage Unicorns: With over 800 unicorns emerging in recent years, early-stage investment remains highly fragmented. That’s where we see an opportunity to identify and back outlier founders before they gain broader attention. 🚀🔍 Curious about our approach or want to share your thoughts? Check out the full post below and let’s connect on these emerging themes!👇 https://lnkd.in/gU9pfgUk #DeepTech #AI #VentureCapital #Investing #Robotics #EnergyTech #TechTrends

9

In this week's edition of VC doing work we have: Kapor Capital Kapor Capital is an Oakland-based venture capital firm founded by Mitch Kapor and Dr. Freada Kapor Klein. The firm focuses on investing in early-stage, tech-driven startups that aim to close gaps of access, opportunity, or outcome for low-income communities and communities of color in the United States. Kapor Capital invests in companies that use technology to solve real-world problems and improve the lives of millions through innovation in education, finance, health, work, justice, and more. They believe that the most effective solutions often come from people who are part of the communities facing inequities. Investment Stage: Pre-Seed, Seed, and Series A stages. Check Size: Unknown Notable Investments: Uber, Asana, Twilio, BlocPower, Career Karma, Life360 and more. Are They Actively Investing?  Yes, Kapor Capital is actively investing in early-stage startups that align with their investment thesis. How to Connect with Them: Interested founders can submit a pitch through the firm's official website at www.kaporcapital.com. #venturecapital #impactinvesting #bayarea #vcsdoingwork

85

4 Comments

🚀 R3i Planet43 Call for Corporate, Family Office, and Government Co-Investment Partners 🌍 Are you a corporate innovator or an economic development leader passionate about driving sustainable, impactful change? R3i Planet43 is on a mission to scale game-changing deep-tech solutions in climate action, healthcare, and smart cities, and we’re seeking open innovation and co-investment partners to join forces with us! By partnering with R3i Planet43, you’ll have the unique opportunity to collaborate with visionary scaleup entrepreneurs, accelerating the commercialization of cutting-edge technologies and making a tangible difference in the communities and industries you serve. Together, we can unlock new market opportunities, diversify supply chains, and drive transformative ESG outcomes. 📢 Calling all corporate innovation leaders, government innovators, and economic development champions: this is your chance to be part of a global movement to power the future of applied AI and emerging technologies! 🔗 Share this post with those ready to fuel the next wave of innovation and sustainable growth. Let’s build the future, together. 🌱 Planet43 #CoInvestment #CorporateInnovation #EconomicDevelopment #ESG #SustainableGrowth #DeepTech #AppliedAI #CriticalInfrastructure #Climateresilience #Impact

7

We are so excited to announce our investment in Raechel Lambert, Bernard Kobos, and Ryan Lambert and their company, River Platform Company. River is a platform that empowers brands and influencers to build large-scale, in-person communities. To date, the platform has hosted over 2,000 events with 3,000 crowdsourced hosts and 55,000 attendees across more than 15 cities worldwide. We like to think of it as the operating system for community management. If the Catholic Church were founded today, it would use River to coordinate its global activities. No kidding. Jason Calacanis, the American internet entrepreneur and investor known for his All-In podcast with Chamath Palihapitiya, David O. Sacks, and David Friedberg, saw their potential early on. So did Balaji Srinivasan, Bryan Johnson, Tim Ferriss, and many others. We met the River team six months ago and have been incredibly impressed by their big-picture thinking, relentless hustle to connect with the right people and flawless execution. And as if that wasn’t enough, working with them is an absolute pleasure. These guys are a source of renewable energy. We’re proud to be part of this journey alongside wonderful co-investors like Blue Wire Capital, Blockwall, Solana Foundation, very early Ventures, and LAUNCH. Congratulations to the entire River team on this exciting milestone! We know firsthand that when things seem effortless, it’s because a tremendous amount of hard work went into making it happen. Want to join or host an IRL community event? Head over to getriver.io. #getriver #community #blockchainfounderscapital #startup #venturecapital #creatoreconomy

52

6 Comments

Juniper Square recently released their look back at the state of venture in Q2 2024, and the data is interesting. 👉 The liquidity drought continues to stifle fundraising, with $37.4B committed to 255 funds YTD. 👉 In the current climate, established managers are securing 77% of fund value YTD, the highest concentration in the last decade.  👉 Over 63% of capital raised in 2024 so far is in funds of $500M+, the second-highest percentage in the last decade. 👉 Q2 reflects an uptick in US venture deal momentum, with quarterly deal count climbing to the highest level since Q2 2022. 👉 Q2 data shows a third consecutive upward quarter in both exit value and the total number of exits.  👉 Q2 hit a 9-quarter high in total number of exits, and the total exit value recorded was the second-best quarter since Q1 2022. The data shows that the landscape is especially competitive for emerging managers. When it comes to generating returns though, a fresh perspective can help find the most interesting deals. I wrote a bit about this last week, if you’re curious to dig into stats on unicorns at the seed stage, and the funds they’re raising from. You can check out the full report from Juniper Square here: https://lnkd.in/eN6VnY-k #emergingmanagers #stateofvc

13

1 Comment

Data center efficiency is becoming top of mind for our investors and apparently we're not alone. Check out this piece from VCJ where we discuss some of the energy solutions. https://lnkd.in/ehcTVgDu.

17

It was an honour to unveil Molten Ventures’ short film, 2054, at the London Stock Exchange this morning as Molten Ventures’ new CEO.   This film, created using 14 separate generative AI applications, formed the core of the theme for this year’s CEO summit: “what if you succeed?”. A question which we should ask ourselves every day – and urge every entrepreneur and investor to do the same.   By diving thirty years ahead into a fictional future, we can get a glimpse of what may be possible if the capital, support, expertise and energy is injected into businesses and ideas at the right time. Something that we’ve been doing at Molten Ventures for many years.   We have already built a portfolio of Europe’s most forward-thinking companies who have developed technology that changes lives, now.   You can find out more about the story behind the film, including films made by our portfolio companies here: https://lnkd.in/ezNbeEPu

60

3 Comments