FUNDstars & FOUNDstars from NOTWICS Anthony Lyall

In our last ever FOUNDstar and FUNDstar Vod/Pod we talk to Dominic Vergine of leading Electric Motor Scale Up, Monumo. Dominic is a true visionary who heralds from the hotbed of UK Tech, Cambridge and is another legend of the ARM stable of leading Technologists. In terms of Monumo, Dominic highlights how he and the team at Monumo are working to:# Create a new wave of sustainably designed Electric Motors that reduce the consumption of electricity and help solve the climate crisis.# Their Technology is world first and like ARM, they aim to become the IP or platform that the EV designs of the now and future are built upon.# The Design industry is evolving across all industries where Electric engines reside and Monumo aims to be at the forefront of a AI and Deep Tech revolution that evolves and replaces the current CAD design.# Monumo is one of many AI led businesses that will all be revolutionising and improving design, manufacturing and sustainability in the next ten years# Monumo is the current market leader in this space, providing: Simulation, AI/ML and prototyping for potential clients and customers. They aim to complete their engine and launch next year - to a strong pipeline of demand.  They are also currently enacting their Series A round to accelerate this. In conclusion:Dominic is right at the cutting edge of the Deep Tech / AI led revolution in industry and manufacturing design. It's hard work but fulfilling, as per his Edison quote on innovation, that its: "ninety nine percent perspiration and one percent inspiration". If you want to connect with Dominic please DM me or him directly on LNKD.

Priya is an impressive Venture Capitalist, who established Goddess Gaia Ventures to assist with Women's Health and Wellness. She established GGV on the back of personal circumstances and wanted to fix many of the problems facing Female Founders the Healthcare and Wellness industry.

In terms of nuggets:===> Priya explains what she is looking for in terms of female founders in Healthcare, that are creating impact===> The founders they have invested in are from a variety of backgrounds and GGV are looking and Priya feels like a proud "Mother Hen" helping her founders grow

===> This is her first of four funds, with a big focus on taking her founders to the US and to crack this market===> GGV are building relationships with Angel groups / Universities / Founders referencing them are providing great deal-flow

===> They are investing in FemHealth and Sport have made 11 investments so far.. Seed and Series A - where most Health-Techs tend to navigate between

===> On a week of a Superbowl win for the Kansas City Chiefs  and Taylor Swift's impact is used as a good example of leading women focusing on Sport and Health - a big area for GGV

===> The current fundraising environment is the hardest environment to raise in the last 15 years. "Its an incredibly difficult environment". Priya provides some great pearls on this..===> AI / Clinical Trials / Cancer Tech / The NHS and other topics are tackled in a wide ranging conversation In conclusion:Priya is top drawer and she is very keen to connect with any founders or VCs that find this session interest DM me or Priya on LNKD.

In our first FUNDstar Vod/pod of 2024, we sit down with leading VC, Sam Nasrolahi at InMotion Ventures, the Corporate VC arm of Jaguar Land Rover.  She's a super intelligent and very direct investor and she certainly knows mobility from a very strong background at BP. I certainly learn't a lot in this 26 minute Podcast Sam conducted with Anthony and I, pre Xmas 2023.

In terms of InMotion Ventures, the fund was originally set up in 2016 to focus on Mobility, but more recently, when Sam joined, (last August) this has changed to focus on a number of industry agnostic areas in mobility. 

In this pre-Christmas Vod/Pod Sam tells us more about these areas, so listen on if you want to find out more about this fascinating and importantly, very active VC on:

# How they invest in Electrification, Sustainability, Climate-Tech, Industrial-Tech, Automation AI platform and AI in Enterprise, globally.
# Stage-wise the focus is on Pre-Seed to Series B, but Seed to Series A is the sweet-spot
# They interact with the whole JLR and Tata that they can reach out to in the Cloud, AI and Automation expert areas
# Pre-Seed and Series B deal-flow seem to predominate in 2023, with Seed and Series A being light
# They are broadening their activity in the EU, particularly Germany and France. France is very strong in AI and Robotics, with Germany great in Manufacturing / Industrial Tech
# Israel remains a strong focus still for them
# Some good genuine, Generative AI opportunities have appeared in Infrastructure and niche areas like compliance
# Cloud native companies are of particular interest to Sam

Naturally we discuss the market and current trends, which is of interest to all. Sam believes (and hopes) there will be a potential pick up in VC investing in 2024 and AI / Enterprise Infrastructure could be a particularly powerful driver behind this. Sam is particularly excited by the complexity of this area, which she’ll be delving into more in 24!

In conclusion:
Sam is a very busy lady - as you can gather by the passion she expresses in her role, but she is very keen to connect with any founders or VCs that find this session interest DM me or Sam on LNKD.

King of Scandi Tech takes time out of his hectic schedule, to share his perspectives on scaling amazing consumer businesses, ranging from smart headphones (Marshall, Adidas, Urban Ears) with Zound Industries to more recently creating the "Tesla of the Seas",  X Shore

Konrad continues to grow his consumer portfolio and is now looking at Natural Chemicals, in the world of Cleantech and has also invested in a leading uncompromised drinks product called OGIN, creating the world's best gin, from handpicked herbs in Finland

Konrad provides an array of opinions on several hot topics:

===> How he has scaled businesses to become Technology leaders in their respective industries

===> What the impact of AI is in the Music industry and the scary realities of AGI accelerating more widely in 2024 to potentially takes over us .. "All need to do small steps together to manage this inevitable change"

===> How his success has come from spotting trends ahead of other entrepreneurs and being first to market

===> The 5 senses and the 6th sense is going to be accelerated by AI

===> How Wellness, Nature and Family should feature more strongly in Entrepreneurship

So, listen on here for other amazing insights from Konrad, a must for any Consumer focused VC or Founder. Konrad is a true visionary who is now plotting his next move in the world of AI and sonic mental health (making Sound intelligent) by the sound of things...bom! bom!

Listen here for more...

After an extended summer break, due to personal reasons, its nice to be back broadcasting and publishing season 6 of FUNDstars and FOUNDstars, where our guest was Rob Desborough,  the CEO of Seraphim Space Accelerator, and a partner in the Seraphim Space Fund.

There is no disguising Space is hot  and Rob provides an array of opinions on several hot topics:

# How Seraphim is the largest investment group focused on Space privately, and launched the first listed Space fund

# They are one of the pre-eminent Accelerators building businesses covering all aspects of Space

# How Space is set to become a $1trillion investment market by the end of the decade, from $1.6n when Rob set up Seraphim in 2014 and now is the time to be investing in this space

# 100,000 Satellites will be in space by 2030 and private Space Stations will be in orbit by 2028

# That Space offers so many opportunities in Mining, Datacentre, Optimisation of  Science & Materials, industry 4.0/industry 5.0 and  life in general

# 13 of the 15 biggest VC funds in the world have invested into space

So, listen on here for other amazing Space star gems from Rob

On a lighter note,
My mum was a Trekkie and I've been a space nerd since watching 007's Moonraker movie and skiving off school to watch the Space Shuttle's land in the 80's in the Nevada Desert, so this pod was right up my street.

More recently I am fixated by aliens, via Invasion on AppleTV - so if you love space, want to invest in it or generally get more of an understanding of what's going on...I recommend taking 30 minutes to listen to this episode.

Ben is the Director of the University of Southampton's Futureworlds, a business that takes the best bits of accelerators / University innovation and Technological excellence, providing opportunities for students at the University to commercialise and scale.

Ben provides an array of opinions on several hot topics:

#How the Futureworlds model works and the businesses being created

# The current situation in the University funding environment

#  The big picture trends emerging from UK Universities and where government's need to act

In particular - a big love and section of the podcast is dedicated to Quantum Computing, which is an area of deep interest for both Ben and Anthony, plus a technology that University of Southampton is showing some excellence in.

Not wanting to give too much away, listen on and enjoy the pod !!