Beyram BELHAJ AMOR

💡 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐈𝐬 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞! 🌍 Fundraising is hard, but finding the right investors doesn’t have to be. This guide is your shortcut to 5000+ VCs, angels, and family offices across:  • 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀: US, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa, and MENA.  • 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀: SaaS, Web3, ClimateTech, DeepTech, and more.  • 𝗡𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀: Pre-seed angels, fund-of-funds, and diversity-focused investors. What you’ll get:  • Verified global VC lists, tailored by stage and geography.  • Specialized directories like AI angels, accelerators, and niche family offices.  • Tools to focus your outreach and scale smarter. Check it out here: https://lnkd.in/dtdyuUqP

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€25M, to build the one finance platform to rule them all. Proud to be partner of Pauline Glikman and Joseph A. from Day 0! When we first invested in Payflows, there were many other FinTech SaaS startups focusing on individual pain points felt by CFOs and their teams. Some of these companies try to improve accounts payable or procurement. Others tackle cash management or try to modernize the payment stack. Payflows stands apart by offering this and more as modules within an automated platform bigger than the sum of its parts. Each module can be purchased and deployed independently, but the offering becomes much more powerful when all the pieces of the puzzle are combined.   We partnered with Payflows team on their €5M Seed round, together with Ribbit Capital - all thanks to an intro from my friend Salomon Aiach, GP at Origins Fund. Their product quickly turned out to be such a customer hit that they never had time to announce the round. Fast forward one year. Customers include both public enterprise companies as well as growth-stage tech companies like Ornikar, Spendesk, and Swile and Podimo. Welcome Balderton Capital in today’s combined €25M funding round! In the comments, the story on Les Echos and an in-depth piece on why we invested. Can't wait to continue seeing the ultimate financial automation platform come together! (Photo by Samuel Sotto)

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The Startup Tech Stack 2024 by Ollie Forsyth Huge startup tech map packed with ressources to build ventures from the ground up👇 Row 1 👀 Product: Support in making products better Security / KYC: Customer onboarding and compliance Marketing: Website builders, data collecting and more Fintech / Insurance: Payment providers, expense management and insurance Row 2 🎯 Collaboration and project management tools HR: Employee onboarding and payroll Fundraising: Cap table management and investor reporting Analytics: Product analytics Row 3 🚀 Customer Service: Customer support Cloud: Cloud providers Sales: Closing deals faster Employee Benefits: Giving your team great benefits Brand: Design platforms Row 4 🏁 Productivity: Tools to save you time Data: Data & analytics CRM: Customer relationship management tools Automations: Automations for your startup Legal: Sign docs quickly 🛎 What to do next 1. Tag a founder who might find this useful 2. Tag a company that you are missing #letsbuild #venturebuilding #startup #techstack #prototyping #mvp

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🤨 What do I look for in co-founders ? 🤨 This is the question I get asked the most often, and I (finally) have a good answer! At Hexa, I partner with entrepreneurs ~3x/year, a CEO and CTO for each project— essentially “marrying” 6x/year to build the best partnerships. I look for 4 key traits in my co-founders ⤵️ ⚡️ Energy booster Building and growing a company is about convincing people to follow you—investors, clients, team members—and the person’s natural energy is a key factor in achieving this. I call these people exothermic: they move things around them simply by the energy they exude. How do I test this? I need to feel more energized at the end of a meeting with them than I did at the start. ⏰ Sense of urgency The higher the velocity in a startup, the faster it will grow. Having a deep need to act and get things done sets the fast-paced tempo I’m looking for. 🧑‍🏫 Thirst for self-improvement Founders who are constantly looking to improve by proactively seeking feedback and showing vulnerability have an endless strength to overcome the (inevitable) challenges of entrepreneurship. 🏋️‍♀️ Commitment Being a founder means making your company part of your top priorities, it’s a journey that’s all-consuming. If you believe you embody these traits and are ready to build a transformative company, let’s connect!

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The Venture market is very weird right now and it sometimes feels like we are in the hottest and coldest fundraising market ever at the same time. Time to invest or time to wait? I’ve tried to summarize my understanding of what’s happening in a blogpost. 

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🌠 Jury Reveal for our Consumer Edge AI Hackathon! 🌠 After taking Quack AI to YC and launching The Drop with Julia Denoly I'm thrilled to have joined the Entrepreneur First talent investing team — now on a mission to find Europe’s most ambitious tech founders and bring them together in our next programme in Paris & SF. Julia & I have teamed up again to launch the Spotlight Hackathons. Our first edition is next week in Paris! The challenge: bringing Gen AI from the cloud to the edge, for new & fun consumer use-cases. For this edition, we’re joining forces with Hugging Face, Meta & PyTorch, and Scaleway, in the fabulous Paris HQ of Ekimetrics. - Teams will not only be supported by exceptional mentors (we have the pleasure of hosting Ali Khosh and Mergen Nachin from the PyTorch team coming from the US) but also to be judged by SOTA entrepreneurs & AI researchers made in France. These include: - Laurent Mazare CTO of Kyutai- representing the best of Open Source research today - Eliot Andres, CTO of Photoroom - who else for a consumer AI hackathon than our French success story - Xavier Fischer from Datakalab - tackling edge way before Gen AI was a thing Spots are limited and applications are already overflowing, so we’ve moved the deadline up a couple of days. Submit yours by Friday, Nov 15th (EOD) for your chance to secure a last minute spot. Link is in description 💥

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Time to step up Germany 🇩🇪 🇫🇷 Corporations have pledged to invest €15bn in France at the “Choose France” summit — an annual event held since 2018 to facilitate foreign investments in the country. A large chunk of the money will be dedicated to AI. Microsoft stole the show after announcing its largest investment in France to date, a €4bn cash envelope to build more data centres — and expand existing ones — across the country by the end of 2025. The focus is on increasing the capacity of GPUs, which are needed to run large AI models. Amazon also announced that it’ll invest €1.2bn to further develop its French cloud and AI infrastructure. Quantum computing was also on the agenda. IBM pledged to invest €45m to expand the company’s research efforts in France. Up to 50 quantum researchers and engineers will be recruited in the country in the next year.

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🌟 Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the release of the Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2024 by Stephan Kuester, and it’s packed with exciting insights! Here are some highlights 👇: Top Ecosystems - 🌐 Silicon Valley is still on top, with NYC and London following closely. Rising Stars - 📈 Tokyo makes a significant leap into the top 10, showing impressive growth. - 🌍 São Paulo is emerging as a major tech hub in Latin America, especially in fintech and health tech. - 🌟 Mexico City is climbing the ranks, making great strides in the startup world. AI & Tech Innovations - 🤖 Over half of the new unicorns in 2023 are in Generative AI and Deep Tech, highlighting AI's growing impact. - 🔍 AI's true value lies in automation, making processes more efficient and improving user experiences. It's crucial to use AI strategically and not just follow the trend (FOMO). - 😅 Talking about FOMO, every city wants to be an "AI Hub" now. Funding Trends - 💸 Despite a global dip in VC funding, early-stage investments in Q1 2024 are bouncing back...though I haven't gotten my investment yet 🥲 - 📊 Series A funding in 2023 was down 46% from 2022, but there's a positive outlook for 2024. Regional Highlights - 🇪🇺 Europe leads with emerging ecosystems: -- Madrid moves up to #1. (Madrid is probably going to be more expensive now, so get your tapas while they last! 😂) -- Barcelona is now #2. 🌍 While Latin America is not yet in the top global ecosystems list, there are promising developments: - São Paulo and Mexico City are showing significant growth. - Mexico City moved up impressively in the Emerging Ecosystems Ranking. 🌿 Cleantech is thriving with strong late-stage funding growth, especially in Europe. Fun Fact - 🌍 The report covers data from 4.5 million startups across 300 ecosystems—that’s a lot of innovation! If you're into the latest trends and insights in the startup world, you don't want to miss this report. Dive in to explore more: Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2024 from Startup Genome. Let’s discuss! What trends are you seeing in your region? 💬 #StartupEcosystem #Innovation #Entrepreneurship #TechTrends #AI #LatinAmerica #SaoPaulo #Cleantech

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How is AI changing the way founders solve problems? Next Monday I will be chatting with superstar guests Gabriel Hubert, co-founder of Dust, Victoire Mine (Goebel), Startup/VC head at Meta, and Yoach Lacombe, ML Research Engineer at Hugging Face, at the HEC Alumni House at an AI Conference on the topic "Building startups in the AI Era". I'm super excited to be moderating such a high-quality panel :) Co-organized by HEC Alumni , Hook, and 42Entrepreneurs, this event is a must for AI enthusiasts and founders looking to harness the power of AI to supercharge their startup growth. 👉Link in the comments to register.

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I simply can't wait for this ! You are Invited to Meet The Entrepreneur Who Turned Startups into Exits -Not Once, but 12 TIMES! ✨ This Monday - a Virtual Session with *International Expert Gregory shepard. 🌎* The Webinar Will Provide Insights On: -EXACT Pitfalls That Kill 90% of Startups -The 7-Phase Methodology That Works -Insider Secrets to Attracting Investors -Proven Strategies for Fundraising Arieli Capital *Register Now:

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Paris-based VC Breega hits first close of $75M Africa fund to back pre-seed and seed startups #paris-based-vc-breega-75m-africa-fund

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🚀 Fleet: From Laptop Leasing to Global IT Companion for SMEs 🚀 I’m thrilled to share this great article by Romain Dillet from TechCrunch, which dives deep into Fleet’s evolution and growth journey! 🖥️ Fleet started as a simple laptop leasing service, helping companies rent hardware instead of making large upfront investments. But we quickly realized that SMEs need more than just devices. As businesses face increasing challenges in IT management, cybersecurity, and global logistics, we’ve expanded our offerings to provide a full suite of IT services. Today, we offer much more than laptops. Fleet now provides software solutions, cybersecurity tools, and even insurance services, allowing businesses to manage their IT infrastructure from a single platform. Our partnerships with financial institutions and tech providers have enabled us to create a seamless experience for our clients, allowing them to focus on their growth while we handle the tech. What’s unique about Fleet is our ability to scale globally without raising external capital. We’ve remained bootstrapped and profitable, proving that a solid strategy and operational efficiency can fuel sustainable growth. We now support +100 000 users from +1 500 companies across 120 countries, with July 2024 being our best month ever in terms of revenue. But our growth isn’t just about numbers — it’s about helping SMEs implement IT best practices and strengthen their cybersecurity. Whether it’s equipping teams with the latest devices, managing software solutions like MDM, or offering insurance coverage, Fleet is positioning itself as the one-stop shop for everything IT for SMEs. Our vision is to continue expanding, helping businesses of all sizes streamline their IT operations and focus on what really matters: innovation and growth. 👉 Dive deeper into Fleet’s story by reading the full article here: https://lnkd.in/e4RvjVVh

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VCs and Moats: A Founder’s Journey Through the Fog.... Sam : “This is terrible, Deepseek is copying our O3 model and search. We have no moat!” VCs: “Here, don’t cry – you got $6.6B and a valuation of $157B.” Me, trying to raise $2M pre-seed: “I’m fundraising for a product that already has 6 paying customers…” VCs, in perfect unison: “Where’s your moat? What happens if Google / Microsoft / OpenAI wants to build this?” 🤪 So, to all the scrappy founders out there. Dream. Stay persistent. Because one day, when you’re raising $6.6B, you can say, “What’s a moat?” And the VCs? They’ll write the check anyway. (in your dreams 😂) Happy Sunday! #LeadingEdge #startups #entrepreneurship #venturecapital #fundraising ---- 👉 Follow me, Robin Jose, for daily insights on AI, leadership, and technology. ❤️ Like and share if you found this valuable!

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Principal, analyst, partners, associate, scout, director, LPs, GPs… 𝐑𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐕𝐂 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐳𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬: As a startup founder, it’s sometimes hard to understand: - Who’s in charge of what? - Who makes the decisions? - Who should I contact? Let’s break it down into clear, functional categories to simplify your fundraising journey : 𝟏. 𝐋𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬 (𝐋𝐏𝐬): 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐕𝐂 They provide the capital that VCs invest in startups. It can include pension funds, university endowments, family offices, and high-net-worth individuals. LPs are not involved in the decision-making for individual startups, so founders typically don’t need to engage with them. 𝟐. 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬 / 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐥𝐬 / 𝐆𝐏𝐬: 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐬 They have the authority to approve investments. If your startup progresses through the funnel, you’ll pitch to them. - 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬: The senior leaders who raise capital from LPs, manage the fund, and decide on investments.   - General Partners (GPs): The key decision-makers at a VC firm.   - Managing Partners: GPs who also oversee firm operations. - 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐥𝐬: One level below Partners, Principals evaluate startups and often play a significant role in recommending investments. They are senior enough to champion your case internally and influence final decisions. If you’re in the final stages of pitching, you’ll be engaging with Partners or Principals. 𝟑. 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 / 𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐬: 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟏𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 These team members focus on identifying and evaluating startups, often becoming the first point of contact for founders. - 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬: Mid-level team members responsible for sourcing deals, building relationships, and conducting due diligence. They’re your main advocates within the firm. - 𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐬: Junior team members focused on research and initial evaluations. While they don’t have decision-making power, they’re often your first touchpoint and can influence whether your pitch moves forward. Partners and Analysts receive hundreds of pitch decks every week—many of which are out of scope and spammy. That’s why they value collaborating with Awake Partners. We know their investment criteria and bring them opportunities that align perfectly. When we present a startup, they know it’s worth their attention. Understanding this structure of VCs is key to making your pitch count. But above all, don't forget to Stay Awake! 🥱

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ARIA Framework: how to accelerate #growth by focusing on the features you already have ? Every major tech company, including Meta, Amazon, Netflix, Airbnb, LinkedIn, Uber, TikTok, and Duolingo, has long prioritized optimizing every square inch of their product. But surprisingly, there was never a great framework for how to think about this work - with Crystian M.:

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[EUROS ON AI] One in every two #euros invested in young startups is going to AI: Sifted has tracked 686 rounds this year raised by #startups launched in 2023 or 2024: here’s what they’re up to. More than half (51.5%) of the total funding raised was secured by companies using AI as their core tech — despite AI startups only closing 9.8% of the 686 rounds announced. The three largest deals for startups launched after 2023 are all foundational AI: Mistral (€600m between Series B and debt), Poolside ($500m Series B) and H (formerly Holistic AI, $220m seed round) raised 40% of funding raised by companies founded in 2023 or 2024 - with Rafael Barbalat:

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Fake investors: How to spot scammers and time-wasters, and protect your startup Don't fall victim to fake investors! In this article, we uncover crucial strategies for safeguarding your business from potential scammers and fraudsters. Key takeaways: - Build your network: Leverage trusted connections and attend startup events to meet potential investors. - Communicate openly: Ensure alignment in values and vision with potential investors to avoid conflicts. - Trust your instincts: If something feels off, investigate further and don't rush into decisions. - Conduct due diligence: Verify investor credentials and seek professional help to navigate fundraising deals. - Protect with legal documents: Use platforms like SeedLegals for secure fundraising and safeguarding against conflicts. Stay informed, stay vigilant, and protect your startup from the lurking dangers of fake investors. #StartupAdvice #InvestorProtection #Entrepreneurship

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Dear cross border community, Plased to share a few insights from the last parisian edition of the Private Equity Exchange which is enyoing a long and deep legacy alongside the entire value chain of the private equity and VC industry spanning from investors to experts Inspired by the topics shared by Tom Laufenburger , I felt priviledged to contribue as speaker to the AI dedicated session : “🕹️Harnessing AI: impact on pricing and business models” 🕹️ with prominent experts Mounir Mahjoubi Jozefowicz and Alix Nepveux Who shared their perspectives as longstanding players in the space 🕹️Here a few take aways from the session : ✅SCALABILTY & INNOVATION OF BUSINESS MODELS IN BOTH TECH AND TRADITIONAL INDUSTRY AI Will play a trasformational role in strategies for expansion, executions plans due to innovative styles of leadership : - the entire value chain will be transformed opening the door to new business models: from Software as a Service to Service as a Software. - while Software itself runs the risk of becoming a commodity, it will allows to regain leadership and innovate, and can become a growth driver if it is properly leveraged. ✅INCREASING INTERNATIONAL SCALABILITY - Tech companies will be able to identify unseen mkts segments in both domestic and international markets . The main peculiarities of tech is cross border trasversality as client today is becoming similar despite geographies - The AI dedicated to immediate translation is including both language and cultural key aspects to structure offer and approach to each geographies without boundaries. 🤓This means that AI will provide the guidelines to structure services and products to a specific market accordingly to the local requirements and purchaising power. ✅WHICH CONSEQUENCES FOR GP’s - Due to the transversality of AI, Funds and portfolio’s companies are no longer looking for geographical areas, but rather for the best technologies - Different models will emerge including the investment models of the GP’s community as the LP’s base will have an easy access to opportunities in different 🌏 geographies making comparisons to find the right alignements among 🥇returns, 🍀domestic + international impacts, ☀️market perspectives ✅RISKS due to INTL competition and break through innovations in SEGMENTATION STRATEGIES - Competition is more intense and can come from anywhere as markets are more and more visible, sizable and globalized in terms of clients expectations and purchaising power; - Small structures could be challenged as the AI driven technologies requires increasing capex to stay ahead of competition . ✌️Thank you to the team of Leaders League GROUPE FICADE Alexandra Leonhart for organizing such insightful event and for the invite . #AI #IA #eutech #indiatech #frenchtech #eic #europe #india #france #francedigitale #privatequityinvestments #vcinvestments #innovation #crossborder4crossfertilization

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