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| |  Image Credits: MarioGuti / Getty Images | | In the conclusion to a comprehensive survey that polled investors who focus on Madrid and Barcelona, Editor-at-large Mike Butcher gathered thoughts from nine VCs: - Lourdes Álvarez de Toledo, partner, JME Ventures
- Javier González-Soria y Moreno de la Santa, managing partner, Top Seeds Lab
- Joaquín Sanz Berrioategortua, partner, Kereon Partners
- Samuel Gil, partner, JME Ventures
- Josep Guitart Pardellans, associate, Sabadell Venture Capital
- Miguel Arias, Wayra
- Carlos Sabater Navarrete, VAS Ventures
- Mathieu Carenzo, founding partner, Venture Hub
- Giovanni Bologna, associate, Athos Capital
From my perspective in San Francisco, these regional investor surveys are particularly interesting; they’re my best glimpse into conversations that are taking place far outside my bubble. A few takeaways: - Most VCs were pessimistic about the travel sector and a few suggested that fintech and D2C may be oversaturated.
- “Spain has no Series B investors, so there are many opportunities for foreign Series B funds.”
- Capital efficiency is key: nearly all advised founders to watch their cash flows carefully.
Mike is working on additional European investor surveys; if you’d like to participate, please let him know how he can reach you.
This week marked my one-year anniversary with TechCrunch! Thank you very much to everyone on the staff — you’re a smart, funny, hard-working group of people and it’s a pleasure to work with you. And thanks to all of you for reading Extra Crunch; have a great weekend. Walter Thompson
Senior Editor, TechCrunch
@yourprotagonist Read more | | | |
| |  Image Credits: Nigel Sussman | | Alex Wilhelm returned from vacation this morning and filed a column that looked back on this week’s direct listings from Palantir and Asana. Their entrance into the public markets is a high-water mark for each company, but the moves are also a grand experiment, he writes. “For Palantir, the event tested how far corporate governance could be twisted while leaving an underlying remain worth buying in the eyes of public shareholders. And with Asana, its direct listing was a test of what sort of tech company can go public using the mechanism.” Read more | | | |
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| |  Image Credits: Morsa Images / Getty Images | | Young Latinx consumers are more likely to be early adopters, tend to spend more time on social media and read more online product reviews than members of other demographic groups. So why aren’t more marketers investing in this “hidden generation?” In a guest post written by two investors who describe themselves as “hypercultural (HC) Latinx,” Ilse Calderon and Kathleen Garcia-Manjarres offer data-rich insights. Read more | | | |
| |  Image Credits: Blake Callahan / Getty Images | | It is strange to reflect on the fact that many of us left our offices six months ago and haven’t been back since. I keep thinking about cubicles with dusty personal photos and dead potted plants. Wall calendars still pinned to March 2020. It’s a little eerie, right? Even companies that had flexible office policies have had to adapt, and some are planning their return to shared workspaces. To learn more about their plans, Zack Whittaker spoke to representatives from identity management company Auth0, multifactor authentication giant Duo Security and security key maker Yubico. Read more | | | |
| |  Image Credits: Sophie Alcorn | | Dear Sophie: I've been waiting for years for my green card. Is there any way to expedite my case? What does the October shift in Visa Bulletin priority dates mean for me? —Waiting in Woodside Read more | | | |
| |  Image Credits: yorkfoto / Getty Images | | Startup ecosystems around Southeast Asia have matured in recent years, but despite a small flock of unicorns and growth across several sectors, there hasn’t been much consolidation. According to some regional investors, that may be about to change. Grab’s purchase of Uber’s Southeast Asia operations in 2018 was a high-profile example that signaled an evolving mindset, reports Catherine Shu. “The likelihood of consolidation is predicated on two key things. One is the prevalence of competitors and the other one, which is just as, if not more important, is a war chest to finance those acquisitions," said Golden Gate Ventures partner Justin Hall. “In certain verticals, we haven't seen that yet.” Read more | | | |
| |  Image Credits: Asana | | On Wednesday, Managing Editor Danny Crichton spoke to Asana founder and CEO Dustin Moskovitz and head of product Alex Hood at the end of their first trading day. “I think it went pretty well — we were able to tell our story and we felt like this morning went really smoothly,” said Moskowitz. “This is just one trading day, so I don't have a lot of deals or anything to compare it to but there's going to be a lot more trading days in our future and I feel like this is a good start to that journey.” Read more | | | |
| |  Image Credits: PEDRO PARDO / Getty Images | | A report from VC fund Atlantico that compiled data from Latin America’s top startups offers an excellent overview of rapidly maturing technology markets in the region. In terms of tech company market cap expressed as a percentage of GDP, Atlantico managing partner Julio Vasconcellos estimates that the region is a decade behind China, “which itself is five years behind current U.S. levels (39% penetration).” Read more | | | |
| |  Image Credits: Dhiraj Singh / Bloomberg / Getty Images | | Reporter Rita Liao looked at how news apps like Brief, SmartNews and ByteDance’s Jinri Toutiao use algorithms to give users a personalized experience that keeps them scrolling. Each company takes a different approach, but the overarching goals are the same: give uses more of what they want, show them what’s important, and if possible, offer them a balanced viewpoint. Read more | | | |
| |  Image Credits: suedhang / Getty Images | | Several times each day, I stop editing and pore over a huge library of original and stock images to find the “best” one to illustrate a TechCrunch story. Sometimes, I strike gold; some days, not so much. Developers of a new machine learning model have found a more reliable way to pick engaging photos that outperforms humans. And if your creative team puts this model and source code to work, it can help you pick images for blog posts, videos and marketing materials that boost engagement. Interested? Read more | | | |
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