Aidan Corbett

🌟 Featured Domain of the Day 🌟 👨‍💻 Unlock Your Tech Potential with devs.ie! 👩‍💻 Are you launching a new #tech venture or building the next innovative software solution? The right #domain name can set the stage for your success. Introducing devs.ie – a domain that speaks directly to the heart of the tech world! 🌟 Why devs.ie is Perfect for Your Tech Business 🌟 - Devs for Developers: Whether you’re starting a development agency, an online coding bootcamp, or a community for software engineers, devs.ie is the ideal digital address. It’s short, memorable, and instantly communicates your focus on development. - Future-Proof Your Brand: In the fast-paced world of technology, having a domain that’s easy to remember and clearly linked to the #developer community is a huge advantage. devs.ie positions your brand at the forefront of innovation. - Ireland’s Tech Hub: With #Ireland being a thriving tech hub, having a .ie domain connects you to a network of local and international tech talent and businesses. Show your commitment to excellence with a domain that’s as dynamic as your aspirations. Why Work with Us? 🔍 Tailored Guidance: We’re here to help you find the domain that perfectly aligns with your tech vision. 💸 Affiliate Rewards: Know someone who needs a domain? Refer them to us and earn a 20% affiliate reward! 💻 Affordable Excellence: Starting a new venture can be costly. That’s why we offer competitive pricing to help you secure a premium domain like devs.ie without breaking the bank. Ready to Code Your Future? Don’t let this opportunity pass by! Secure devs.ie today and code your way to success. 🔗 Explore Our Domains: https://lnkd.in/eGPZ7_DE Feel free to connect with me directly if you have any questions or need assistance.

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I'm thrilled to share that Dataships has raised $7M in Series A funding led by Osage Venture Partners, with participation from Lavrock Ventures and Urban Innovation Fund. We started Dataships to help companies navigate data privacy. When we began serving Ireland's ecommerce brands, we discovered something game changing: consent collection at checkout has been completely overlooked. And by optimizing that collection point, brands can see insane uplift to their email and SMS audience growth. These aren't just any subscribers from a popup or traffic de-anonymizer. They're your customers consenting to marketing in high-leverage channels - which is why these lists drive such amazing revenue performance for our brands. And while list growth is our big draw, it’s not the only value. Every contact Dataships adds, from any geo and channel, is fully compliant, recorded and auditable. That's intangible value for anyone planning international expansion or an eventual exit. 2024 was transformative. 3X revenue growth, but even more importantly, the impact for our customers: 4X more email opt-ins on average 10X more SMS opt-ins on average 8M net new contacts driving $112M in revenue through 1.1M repeat purchases I could not be more bullish on 2025. We're expanding ESP and SMS platform integrations, supercharging list growth features, and launching enhanced reporting with built-in A/B testing against default checkout configurations. An enormous thanks to our early believers: Bare by Vogue Williams, Sculpted by Aimee, Louis Copeland and Sons To our day-one team - James Coonerty, Sue Crowley, Ian Madigan - who built the foundation. To the incredible crew who joined us this past year. And to my co-founder and partner in crime, Ryan McErlane. This is just the beginning. Learn more about our vision in the announcement below!

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Can you spot me on the list? 😉 Even if not you'll find me next week at SaaStock This is actually my first time there so, if you're going as well, tell me: Where's the best afterparty, which panel is not to be missed and which booth should I definitely check out? .. Oh and of course let me know if you want to grab a coffee & chat #SaaStock #SaaS

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Thinking 🤔 out loud - one of the biggest beneficiaries of GenAI in the enterprise and agentic worfklows will be software PE firms There are so many beaten down SaaS 🦄 they can buy on the cheap and with a GenAI playbook can now reduce costs even more dramatically And as the AI gets better and moves from just the easy stuff like support and code to more complex workflows, the profitability created is going to be 📈 We are going to see a ton of PE buyouts in the months ahead...

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I am deeply saddened and, frankly, disheartened by the government's decision to withdraw funding from the NDRC, Ireland's most established tech accelerator. At a time when countries around the world are accelerating their efforts to compete in the global AI race, this move feels like we're not even making an effort to reach the starting line. The NDRC has played a pivotal role in supporting early-stage startups, helping them get off the ground and scale, while also providing invaluable resources to others further along in their journey. The accelerator has fostered a vibrant community, thanks in no small part to the passionate leadership of Patrick Walsh, Ian Browne, Menno Axt, and Lorraine E. Curham, who have created a strong network for startups across Ireland. By cutting this essential support, we send a concerning message about Ireland’s long-term commitment to innovation and competitiveness on a global stage. How can we expect to retain talent and foster innovation without resources like the NDRC? I strongly urge the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications to carefully reconsider the long-term impact of this decision and how it will inevitably force many startups to find supports elsewhere. We need to invest in the future, not retreat from it. #AI #TechInnovation #Ireland #Startups #NDRC #GovernmentPolicy #USBrainDrain

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It's that time!! FoundersBoost Fall 2024 Cohort is here 🎆 The accelerator program that I'm extremely proud to run with the venerable Gene Murphy, New York's finest Irishman, is back for it's second and final cohort of the year. We've had some incredible startups in the past few years come through and go on to succeed across industries. Are you next? Our mentors and speakers (soon to be revealed), consisting of exited and current founders, investors, industry leaders, award winners, are excited to welcome this next batch, which could include YOU (if you're a founder 😉 ). I shout from the rooftops about this program because it's the best! No equity, no payment, and potential investment alongside your future investors at matching terms -- how could I not be proud to represent this org? If you or a founder you know is interested, apply by tomorrow, or shoot me a DM for more info! Apply here: https://lnkd.in/eGi38Sm9 #accelerator #startups #venturecapital

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What's been happening in Mental Health innovation this week? ⭕ Virtual Therapeutics and Akili announce a merger. Akili were in big trouble, losing about $10m a quarter after failing to generate revenue for their digital therapeutics products. ⭕ Seven Starling, a maternal mental healthcare startup, raises $12.6m ⭕ Irish startup Spectrum.Life raises €17m in a round led by Act Venture Capital ⭕ Orygen receives an additional $6.4m of funding from the Victorian Sate Goverment for their youth digital mental health service MOST ⭕ Workplace wellbeing provider Habit Health is acquired by Five V Capital for over $200m ⭕ Optum acquires outpatient mental health providers Refresh Mental Health and CARE Counseling ⭕ Acadia Healthcare appoints Nasser Khan, MD as COO to expand their comprehensive treatment centres, grow their outpatient segment and improve quality of clinical care __ Want more insights and trends on mental health innovation? Feel free to follow myself and The Hemingway Report.

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I spoke at TechCrunch Disrupt two weeks ago, leading a series of roundtable discussions on Consumer AI. The level of enthusiasm goes to show that it's a great time to be a consumer founder! Bucking the trend of VCs and founders flocking to B2B Saas, there were many more interested founders than the available spots. The waitlist line stretched far down the hall. We're on the brink of some incredible AI applications that will be amazing for everyday life. Here were the topics we covered: 1) About Maven: Maven Ventures is a seed stage venture firm investing in tech companies addressing emerging consumer behavior and trends. We identify and back bold founders with a vision worth fighting for, then help unlock their potential to change the world, building iconic brands like Zoom and Cruise. Given our history of identifying emerging consumer tech trends, we are immersed in the frontier of consumer AI. 2) Consumer AI landscape: The sector is just at the very beginning. CB Insights reports that VC investment into B2B AI startups outnumbers B2C by 9:1. Still, there are amazing applications of AI for consumers like ChatGPT and Maven portfolio company Perplexity. These companies represent the first magical experiences with consumer AI, and there will be many more. The successful companies will reach massive adoption and be bigger than we can imagine. 3) What we're looking for in startups: Even as technology evolves and changes, Maven looks for same three things in our investments. First is a Vision Worth Fighting For. What are you bringing to the world that is worth all the time, energy, and money you will spend? Why is it needed, and why aren’t existing solutions good enough? Second, the market opportunity: can the vision support a many multi-billion dollar company? Is the market large enough that there will be no-brainer successes, or growing at an incredible rate? And third – the most important – is the team. We love to invest is bold, ambitious founders who are technical and product-oriented. They have a unique insight others haven’t figured out yet. And they will tear down a brick wall to bring their idea to the world. 4) Top trends we're watching in Consumer AI: There are five trends we’re watching in the space where we envision massive companies can be built. The top five are: AI agents that solve problems for consumers; AI that improves consumer health in areas like longevity, concierge medicine, and mental health; generative AI for consumer social; AI applied to personal finance; and AI for the home and families. What was on the founders' minds? Here were some of their questions: 💰 What new business models will emerge with consumer AI? 🗣️ How should we be thinking about distribution? 📈 What kind of traction gets VCs interested in investing in a consumer company? 💡 What do investors look for when they evaluate startups? A huge thanks to TechCrunch for having me, and to all the founders for spending their afternoon with Maven!

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This month marks my 10 year anniversary in Venture, and what a ten years it has been 🎉 🤩 First stop: JamJar Investments Rewind 10 years and you’ll find me sitting at my desk at JamJar, operating under the alias of “Bread”, working my way through an inbox full of 1000 cold inbound pitch decks, reviewing and replying to every single one. Highlights included a hand drawn picture of a new ketchup sachet design with “target market: Nandos” written below it, and a concept for a drink that tasted like the leftover milk at the bottom of a cereal bowl. But there were also some diamonds in the rough, and it was here that I got my first experience of that lightbulb moment when you meet an exceptional founder that you want to back, making my first investment a few months in. JamJar was the best training ground I could have hoped for, and I'm so grateful to Katie Marrache and Adam Balon, Richard Reed & Jonathan Wright for welcoming me into the team. Second stop: Venrex In 2015, I joined Mark & Tom at Venrex alongside Pooja Patel. We clicked as a team immediately, and over the ensuing years launched 7 new funds, grew the portfolio to 180+ companies, built a brilliant team, moved from a small attic in West London to panoramic views in Fitzrovia, and had a lot of fun along the way. As well as the buzz of discovering new founders to back, I also discovered my love for supporting founders post-investment. With 11 board roles and a further 16 portfolio companies to support, the ex-strategy consultant in me had just enough to get my teeth into. Venrex’s people-centric and pragmatic approach to investing chimed with my own instincts about the type of investor I wanted to be. They gave me the most incredible platform to grow as an investor and roll up my sleeves with all of the operational sides of running a venture fund. To the entire Venrex team, new and old, thank you for an amazing chapter. Third stop: Circle & Co In June, I left Venrex to launch my own Venture fund, Circle & Co, which is on track for its first close next month. It's by total chance that this milestone falls on my 10th anniversary in venture, but what an incredible way to kick off the next decade. More details on the fund to follow, but for the moment I want to thank the amazing network of friends, fellow VCs, founders, LPs and family who have got me this far. You are the original Circle, and have been the inspiration & driving force behind this next step. Let's make it a good one.

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49 founders and senior startup leaders respond to a survey from Sifted on the relationship between founders and VCs. Are expectations off from the start as VCs try too hard to pander to their founders with over promises of "value-add" and extensive platform teams? Do founders need to be reminded of their primary role - execution?

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are you a saas founder attending #SaaSStock next week in #Dublin? I’ll be there, ready to connect and share insights from my time as a product lead at Canva. Whether you’re aiming for the first million $5M, $10M, or $100M in arr, let's talk about it I would love to hear your pain points and see if I can help. Let's have a coffee together, just write me directly, i have a few spots for Tuesday the 15th. #SaaS #SaaSFounder #ARR #GrowthStrategy #SaaSScale #DublinNetworking

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Balderton's €1.3bn raise for European startups sparks debate: Does a bigger VC fund lead to better outcomes? First, consider: 💲 Larger rounds demand bigger funds, but returns get harder at scale 💲 $100M fund needs $1bn exit at 10% ownership for a single 1x return 💲 Most early-stage VCs target 3x returns, investing in 30+ companies 💲Management fees (typically 2%) grow with fund size Plus, the current landscape: Giants like Balderton, Index, and Accel are raising massive funds, while smaller firms stick to sub-$200M and focus on early-stage startups. Many VCs have maintained their previous fund sizes, while others are downsizing or struggling to raise new funds (or even returning un-invested capital to investors, as CRV recently announced they will do). Thus, weigh up the trade-offs: Larger funds (≥$500M): 📈 More firepower, full-cycle support 📉 Risk: Pressure to deploy capital, potentially lower returns Smaller funds (≤$200M): 🔍Agility, focused support, higher potential multiples ❌ Limited late-stage participation The future of European VC may not be one-size-fits-all. As the ecosystem matures, perhaps there's room for both Davids and Goliaths. What's your take? Would you bet on a nimble $150M fund or the muscle of a €1B+ vehicle? Source: Sifted #EuropeanVC #FundStrategy #StartupInvesting PS 🔔 Follow me for strategies and resources for startups and VCs! There's a better, streamlined way to raise capital: 💸https://foundersuite.com/ for startups 💸https://fundingstack.com/ for VCs and investors

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The Vanta EMEA team brought the 🔥 to QBRs this week in Dublin! We have an incredible team on the ground here in Europe. I’ve also had many insightful conversations this month with folks who have built some of the greatest SaaS businesses on the continent. A few of their bits of advice and wisdom include: - Every business, country, and segment comes with its own nuances. Don’t copy someone else’s strategy. Leverage benchmarks but know your business will be unique. - Many SaaS companies entering Europe repeat the same mistakes time and time again. Leverage your local friends, investors and contacts to see around corners. - Compliance and regulation are taken very seriously in Europe. This should mean our opportunity here is tremendous. - Don’t settle. Go big, think broad, be ambitious. If you don’t, someone else will. Thank you EMEA team for your hospitality! Can’t wait to be back soon.

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Taavet Hinrikus and I made the Financial Times Due Diligence email. https://lnkd.in/ez2AuGQx One 'unintended consequence' is that if there is a 45% tax on carry and CGT (raising £40m per year, remember) it for all intents and purposes closes the door on new VCs in the UK. Especially started by teams from non-traditional backgrounds. To meet the GP commit, you need to be already part of the 'wealthy' as you cannot rely on the value you create - nearly half of it will disappear - to fund it. We have both had extremely successful startups which are few and far between. The smaller number of new VCs will therefore more likely increasingly be for people who have inherited the capital or can draw it from their already rich family. Probably not want they have in mind with this policy.

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Is entrepreneurship your calling? 🚀 For me, it seems to run in my blood. Four years ago, Victoria Yanakos and I founded Capella, and since then, there's been no looking back. Despite the challenges and the constant travel between Dublin and New York, starting Capella has been a decision I've never regretted. Our focus remains on bringing cutting-edge PropTech products to the Irish and US market, striving to make a meaningful impact every day. Building a business that I can be proud of - that's the path I was meant to follow. Reach out if you are an entrepreneur in waiting and need a bit of advice...I'll happily share my path. #Entrepreneurship #PropTech #Innovation #BusinessGrowth

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In this week’s episode Phuong Ireland and I dive into the essentials of early-stage startup fundraising, exploring the diverse options available to founders. We discuss everything from leveraging friends and family when possible to connecting with angel investors, accelerators, and venture capitalists, as well as alternative funding methods like non-dilutive capital and crowdfunding. Our goal here was to share practical advice on building relationships with investors, tailoring your approach to your business type, and strategically positioning your startup for success. Whether you're just starting out or refining your fundraising strategy, this episode provides actionable insights for securing the right kind of capital. https://lnkd.in/ehch-ss4

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💡 SaaStock Reflections: 5 Fundraising Insights for Early-Stage Founders. Last week at SaaStock, I found myself bouncing between two extremes—presenting to early-stage founders navigating their first fundraise on Monday and tee-d up to discuss the high-stakes challenges of CEOs with >£1bn valuations on Wednesday. The contrast reminded me of one thing: the learning curve never stops, whether you're just getting started or leading a unicorn. For founders getting started, the world of fundraising can be one of the biggest learning curves. So, I’ve pulled together the top takeaways from Monday’s session to help demystify the process for those thinking about raising for the first time. Here’s what I’ll break down this week: ❓What’s happening in VC fundraising? ❓The ‘Power Law’ and why VC isn’t right for 99% of businesses. ❓Alternatives to VC and when they make more sense. ❓How to choose the right VC for you. ❓How much to raise and when is the best time to do it. 1️⃣ So, what’s happening in VC fundraising?? 😕 Still stress in the system. It is hard to speak with conviction (markets hot, markets not, valuations back up, valuations down, down rounds over…a lot of pain still to come etc). The reality is 2020/21 were anomalies (unfair yardsticks to measure against) BUT covid, gov stimulus, inflation, monetary policy, political uncertainty and war have and still massively impact fundraising. 🪟 IPO window closed and M&A activity weak. Public SaaS multiples are way down relative to a couple years ago - 80% of SaaS companies that went public in 2020/1 are trading below their issue price. The IPO window has been closed and M&A activity weak. ⌛Liquidity for VCs has stretched to longer time horizons. According to Carta only 9% of 2021 funds have seen any return vs 25% for the 2017 vintage at the same checkpoint. 3 years in is early for a fund, but it is an important mark as it is when GPs start looking to raise their next funds. 🫰So, LPs are more selective. Whilst returns are stretching out to longer time horizons, the NASDAQ is on a rip and interest rates are high, so alternatives to VC have become relatively more attractive to LPs. So, LP capital is being more selective. Less money is going to fewer VCs compared to a couple of years ago (“flight to quality” for LPs). ✈️ What does this mean for founders? It is relatively harder to raise now than a few years ago. Seed to A conversion had dropped to 15% from 30%+. Ultimately, VCs have refocussed on finding companies best suited to “traditional VC return profiles” (“flight to quality” for VCs, too). Founders raising VC are held to an incredibly high bar. Tomorrow I will cover the mathematical reality of the ‘Power Law’ and why VC isn’t right for 99% of businesses. #VC #fundraising #saastock #albionVC

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HNY! Hope everyone had a great break. Quiet on here as head down. Such a lot of exciting things coming up: - More Tools for all scaleups to improve their growth trajectory - More Founders using VenturePath to secure their Series A-B investment rounds - More VCs joining VenturePath's VC Network - More Events (including a VC dinner for 50 on the 22nd and SuperScalers female founders event on the 30th) - More Partners joining our scaleup support ecosystem - More Data to publish on 2024 VC trends for the UK ScaleUp Investment Mission Busy January! We'll share more on these when we have a minute... If you can play a part, as a founder, VC, investor, partner, sponsor, data provider etc., there's still room for a conversation or coffee with you though 😉

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