🟢Fewer Small and Midsize Venture Funds Raise Capital in 2024
In 2024, the number of new small and midsized U.S. startup funds has dropped significantly, with only 118 raising capital, the lowest in years, reflecting a challenging fundraising environment amid a slow exit market and cautious investor sentiment. However, sector-focused funds in areas like cleantech, life sciences, and cybersecurity are still finding success despite the downturn.
🟢Fewer Small and Midsize Venture Funds Raise Capital in 2024
In 2024, the number of new small and midsized U.S. startup funds has dropped significantly, with only 118 raising capital, the lowest in years, reflecting a challenging fundraising environment amid a slow exit market and cautious investor sentiment. However, sector-focused funds in areas like cleantech, life sciences, and cybersecurity are still finding success despite the downturn.
Investors took profits on Friday while they could ahead of the weekend, explained Tom Essaye, founder of Sevens Report Research. Saturday and Sunday could easily bring unfortunate news on the war front—and traders would rather be able to sell any recent winnings at Friday’s earlier prices than wait for a potentially lower price at Monday’s open. So, uh, whenever I hear about Telegram, it’s always in relation to something bad. What gives? The next bit isn’t clear, but Durov reportedly claimed that his resignation, dated March 21st, was an April Fools’ prank. TechCrunch implies that it was a matter of principle, but it’s hard to be clear on the wheres, whos and whys. Similarly, on April 17th, the Moscow Times quoted Durov as saying that he quit the company after being pressured to reveal account details about Ukrainians protesting the then-president Viktor Yanukovych. At the start of 2018, the company attempted to launch an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) which would enable it to enable payments (and earn the cash that comes from doing so). The initial signals were promising, especially given Telegram’s user base is already fairly crypto-savvy. It raised an initial tranche of cash – worth more than a billion dollars – to help develop the coin before opening sales to the public. Unfortunately, third-party sales of coins bought in those initial fundraising rounds raised the ire of the SEC, which brought the hammer down on the whole operation. In 2020, officials ordered Telegram to pay a fine of $18.5 million and hand back much of the cash that it had raised. What distinguishes the app from competitors is its use of what's known as channels: Public or private feeds of photos and videos that can be set up by one person or an organization. The channels have become popular with on-the-ground journalists, aid workers and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who broadcasts on a Telegram channel. The channels can be followed by an unlimited number of people. Unlike Facebook, Twitter and other popular social networks, there is no advertising on Telegram and the flow of information is not driven by an algorithm.
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