C2V NEWS

Before our predictions for the New Year, something I’ve done, for now, the 5th consecutive year – see past predictions here – of course, have to look back at this year. Forgive the immodesty, but we crushed it. We made some pretty bold predictions and took some flak for leaning cynical with our views on trends that, at the time, seemed unstoppable (notably SPACs, NFTs/Web3/Metaverse, and late-stage tech). So, what lies ahead for 2023?

Tech-startup investors expect a big 'reset' that creates 'a two-year period of both pain and opportunity,' with money still flowing to early-stage startups while older ventures face an uneasy road.

C2 Ventures is launching two new funds: a second seed fund worth just north of $20 million and $2.55 million for pre-seed investments through its Tributary Fund. C2 plans to make 20 investments from the $20 million fund – roughly seven a year – at around half a million a pop, with the rest reserved for when those companies hit their Series A.

The fund has more than 100 investors including quarterback Baker Mayfield and his brother Matt, and NFL Network reporter, Ian Rappaport, as well as some of the industry’s most successful founders and tech executives, including Brian Adams, Jennifer Prince, Shiven Ramji, Sean Cohen, David Kidder, Ari Paparo, Haroon Mokhtarzada, and Mike Murphy, who also act as the firm’s Operator Bench, providing extensive post-investment support to C2V’s portfolio companies.

C2 Ventures announced today it has closed its second early-stage fund totaling $20 million, and a separate $2.5 million Tributary Fund that will make investments in earlier, pre-seed stage old-economy SaaS and robotics productivity tools. Fund 2’s LPs include more than 125 investors, including the State of Connecticut through Connecticut Ventures.

Edward Marshall, Global Head of Dentons’ Family Office and High Net Worth sector, is joined by Chris Cunningham and Sam Frankfort. Chris is a media and tech veteran, entrepreneur and early-stage venture capital investor. Sam is the founding partner of Benvolio Group, which focuses on direct investing in early stage disruptive consumer facing concepts. Sam now sits on several boards of early stage companies and is actively involved in a number of early stage venture companies.

Jeffery Potvin sits down for a conversation with Top Investors to discuss what makes a great Angel investor and strategies on picking winners!

Chris Cunningham, founder of C2 Ventures, reflected on his experience as a founder of multiple companies. He shared his vision for C2 Ventures and his perception on where the venture / business world is heading. He also clarified the common misconceptions on VCs, discussed on the types of mentoring, and dished out practical advices for startups. Chris also shared his investment process and how he likes to build a strong rapport with his founders.

Horasis, in ancient Greek, means ‘to gaze at, as in a vision.’

It’s the name that Frank-Jürgen Richter, former director of the World Economic Forum, gave to the international think tank he founded in 2005, and it seems particularly a propos in the wake of 2020 — a year that very definitively gave us clearer vision.

Chris Cunningham, a Managing Partner at C2 Ventures, an early-stage venture fund out of New York, joined me on the podcast to talk about the nature of investing in the podcast industry. He shares some great insights into what investors look for when...

As the 2020 numbers start to roll in, I thought I’d add my two (somewhat curmudgeonly) cents to the various “State of Venture” commentaries out there.

It’s that time of year again! Annual tech startup and funding predictions for the coming year.

However, before we look ahead, let’s first take a look back at the 2020 predictions. Despite 2020 being, well, different to say the least, most held up. The highlight – correctly predicting that Apple would reduce their 30 percent app commissions, but have a look and let me know if you agree!

Now the reason why you are here — what lies ahead in 2021? Without further ado here are some shots in the dark that needed to be etched in digital stone – on the internet – forever.

We find ourselves infuriated and profoundly saddened as yet another inexplicable and inexcusable act of violence was perpetrated against a black citizen by those who are entrusted to protect the safety and welfare of that citizen. Our hearts go out to the families of George Floyd and all our other fellow citizens who have been victimized by the very system that is supposed to protect them. This is not the America we want to live in. These are not the American values to which we aspire and to which we want our children to aspire, and it needs to stop.

In the spirit of never letting a crisis go to waste, I thought I would share some of the broad lessons I hope we take away from our first direct experience with a full-scale pandemic in more than a century.

As we watch the world fall apart, I wanted to comment on why times like the present have historically been the moments not to follow the herd and sell everything, nor to take a “wait until everything is back to normal” approach, but to buck the trends, headlines and apocalyptic predictions, and buy while everything is on sale.

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Business Insider asked five industry insiders including investors, consultants, bankers and analysts which companies are hot acquisition targets.

Factual

Total funding to date: $104 million

Why it's an acquisition target: The firm has regulation-compliant location data.

Location-based  marketing has taken a hit under data-privacy laws like California's  Consumer Privacy Act and Europe's General Data Protection Regulation that limit how advertisers collect location data that pings people's smartphones with targeted ads.

As a result, firms like PlaceIQ and  Verve have been sold off in pieces. Chris Cunningham, an investor and  founder of C2 Ventures, said Factual is another acquisition target with a  potentially bigger exit because it works directly with brands and  agencies to create audiences for ad targeting.

"The location space  is tricky and continues to get trickier," he said. "Factual is the one  that owns the relationships with brands and agencies and has dominant  scale."

Founding, starting and scaling a company is hard. On this tumultuous journey, founders are faced with a multitude of challenges. In C2V’s inaugural infographic, we lay out these challenges in each of the three stages they occur.

It’s that time of year again! Annual tech, startup and funding predictions for the coming year.

However, before we look ahead, let’s first take a look back at the 2019 predictions. I must say that unlike a few other years I seem to have nailed the 2019 picks, but have a look and let me know if you agree!

Now the reason why you are here — what lies ahead in 2020? Without further ado here are some shots in the dark that needed to be etched in digital stone – on the internet – forever.

The Podcast boom continues and begins to cannibalize other forms of media. The larger music providers Apple and Spotify continue to support creators and new shows but like the app ecosystem, many will come and go. New products and features built by third parties to support the podcast rush will continue to 2020 and Spotify will continue its M&A mega push, that is until they get acquired next year.

Amazon will experience its first stumbles. It still gets to 10 percent of overall ad spend but look to see some negative headlines on Amazon in 2020.  Through a data breach, poor performance in its ad business, consumer frustration, Amazon hits turbulence but of course, will survive and be just fine.

• Marketing entrepreneur and veteran Chris Cunningham is starting a private investment fund called C2V Capital Partners with 25 media and technology investors including Complex’s Rich Antoniello, Beeswax’s Ari Paparo, and OpenSlate’s Brian Quinn.
• The fund is an extension of C2 Ventures, Cunningham’s 5-year-old angel investment firm that uses his experience to help startups.
• The fund has invested in four startups so far and plans to invest in two more this year. The average investment runs from $150,000 to $250,000.

Technology and marketing entrepreneur and investor Chris Cunningham has recruited a group of media and tech executives to help startups get off the ground.

Cunningham cofounded mobile advertising firm Appssavvy before holding senior roles at location data firm Unacast and mobile advertising company ironSource.

Five years ago, he started C2 Ventures to angel invest in startups like Arbor and credit card company Petal at the pre-seed and seed rounds, using his own startup background to help new companies. Now, he’s applying that model more broadly, raising $10 million for a new fund backed by media and tech veterans who will also advise founders.

It’s become something of a tradition for me to look at the year ahead and predict where the industry is headed. Part of that process involves looking back at the trends that dominated last year and looking to see how much of that momentum will continue into the New Year.

And, what a year it was. Companies like Amazon and Netflix continued to assert their dominance, while others faltered in the face of heightened scrutiny (I’m looking at you, Facebook). On top of that, artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented and virtual realities (AR/VR) have continued to develop rapidly, to the point where voice assistants and other smart gadgets have become commonplace.

It can be hard to keep up in the face of such innovation, but here’s what I consider to be the top issues and trends facing the tech industry in 2019.

2019 is the year of the consumer

My favorite tech movement of 2018 has to be the steady growth of companies focusing on direct-to-consumer products. Allbirds, Casper, Dollar Shave Club, Warby Parker, Netflix, Peloton – the list is endless. So many of the best brands nowadays are choosing to go straight to the consumer, instead of having to rely on middlemen and third parties. What do these brands all have in common? They all know how to talk and listen to their consumers, and they don’t rely on suspect adtech to do it.

In 2019, consumers will take back control of their data, and start becoming choosier about the brands they interact with. People will start participating more with the brands they love in a personalized way, which in turn, will allow them to get more value out of the interaction.