Early-Stage VC Firm Sorenson Ventures Closes Inaugural Fund at $110M

https://xconomy.com/san-francisco/2019/02/27/early-stage-vc-firm-sorenson-ventures-closes-inaugural-fund-at-110m/

Bernadette Tansey 2/27/19

Sorenson Ventures, an offshoot of Utah private equity firm Sorenson Capital, announced today it has closed its first fund with more than $110 million to invest in early-stage security and enterprise software companies.

The young venture capital firm was formed in 2017 by Sorenson Capital, which recruited former Intel Capital executive Ken Elefant as managing director. Elefant shares leadership of the VC spinout with Sorenson Capital’s managing director Rob Rueckert. The pairing was a reunion for Elefant and Rueckert, both former Kauffman Fellows who were also colleagues at Intel Capital.

Menlo Park, CA-based Sorenson Ventures draws on the expertise of Sorenson Capital while strengthening the larger firm’s ties to early-stage entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley. The Salt Lake City-based private equity firm, founded in 2002, focuses on the other end of the investment spectrum—growth equity and buyouts. It has more than $1 billion under management.

Sorenson Ventures raised its inaugural fund from investors that included an insurance company, foundations, endowments, corporate investors, family offices, and individuals, including managing directors at Sorenson Capital. Since 2017, when the VC firm raised its first funding, it has backed eight early-stage companies, ranging from cybersecurity startup CyCognito to machine-learning business Paperspace.

The firm now plans to expand its stable of startups to include as many as 20 companies. It has led most of the investments in its portfolio companies, and has also joined in syndicated fundraising rounds with established VC firms including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Battery Ventures, and Accel.

“We are product-first investors and are attracted to entrepreneurs who use their engineering vision to change markets, which you will see evidence of in our first eight investments,” Elefant (pictured) said in the announcement of the fund’s closing.

Palo Alto, CA-based CyCognito is the best illustration of those traits, Rueckert wrote in an e-mail to Xconomy.

“CyCognito uses a combination of deep domain expertise and engineering talent to enable cyber teams to understand and prioritize their blind spots,” Rueckert says. “This is a very complex problem that is being solved by technologies that haven’t been available in prior generations of solutions.”

Photo of Ken Elefant courtesy of Sorenson Ventures

Rapyd raises $40m from Stripe, a fellow portfolio company of Entree Capital

Rapyd, a fintech founded by CEO Arik Shtilman 4 years ago has raised $40 million in series B funding from Stripe and General Catalyst and others , to further expand its operations worldwide.

What Rapyd does

Rapyd helps companies and merchants of all sizes integrate a range of payment services into their platforms, and operates on a fintech-as-a-service model. It offers a technology stack that provides support for financial, payment, mobile wallet, and money movement services through a single API.

The Rapyd solution provides  a single point of reconciliation and settlement of all funds across 65 currencies and the ability to pay out in over 170 countries. 

Using Rapyd’s technology, a company can enable support for payments in over 100 countries, via more than 500 locally supported payment methods — such as direct deposits to banks, local cards, and mobile wallets —

What the money will be used for 

The Capital is going to be used to expand to more markets across the Americas and Europe, Middle East, Africa (EMEA) and Asia-Pacific (APAC) regions and to further develop its infrastructure.

The money  

Stripe CEO Patrick Collison sees a big demand for Rapyd’s services. “The challenge of enabling local payments on a global scale is critical for the continued growth in worldwide commerce. We are excited by Rapyd’s vision and believe they are solving a significant challenge that will help to increase the GDP of the internet,” 

Both Stripe and Rapyd are portfolio companies of Entrée Capital 

Founded in 2009, Entrée manages more than $300 million across a number of funds and its portfolio includes  the likes of SnapChat, Stripe, Deliveroo, Prospa, monday.com, Riskified, HouseParty, Stash, PillPack, SeatGeek, Coupang and over 50 other investments. 

Managing partner of the fund Avi Eyal picked fintech as a growth industry in 2015! Was definitely the right call! 

The 5 Factors that Will Determine the Success of Australian Businesses in the USA

Trena shares with us 5 gems you need when taking their product to the USA

Many Australian businesses have global ambitions from day one. That’s because foreign markets like the US provide almost unlimited opportunities to get your product or service in front of a massive base of potential customers and partners.

While it’s true there are incredible opportunities up for grabs in the US, Australian businesses must understand the factors that can make or break your success in this unique market. 

When people think about the differences between Australia and the US, they often about it from the perspective of a tourist. They know there are differences in culture, language, politics, sport – even tipping practices. But few truly understand how that translates into day-to-day business. 

Despite the large pool of customers, it can actually be much harder to sell your products in the States. The market is competitive and crowded and can easily swallow up unprepared founders. 

Here are 5 important factors that will determine whether you sink or swim in the US:  

1. You have access to local market knowledge: You think you know the US market, but unless you have insight and support from experts with an intimate understanding of how things work, you’re going to run into trouble. If you want to succeed in the US, make sure you seek advice from people who know the market well. Even well-intentioned advisors and mentors can accidentally steer founders into rough waters if they don’t have the necessary on-the-ground experience. 

2. You set a realistic budget: Founders looking to enter a foreign market know the importance of planning ahead but it’s also important to set and work within a realistic expansion budget. Assume your plans will always be more expensive than expected to execute. Be conservative and think about the details. You’d be surprised to find out how many founders forget to consider the impact of foreign currency exchanges. 

3.    You understand your potential customers and investors: In a crowded market, you need to make sure your message is well-targeted, whether you’re selling to customers and partners or pitching an investor. Profile your targets and make sure you know them inside and out. For customers, that means understanding their motivations, needs and the right messages and channels to use. For VCs, you need to understand the industries they invest in, what kind of investment they offer and what they need to hear from you. 

4.    You’re willing to hustle: There’s a revolving door in large US organisations – they’re constantly approached and sought after by potential new providers and partners. You and your business need to stand out from the crowd. Be memorable by following up and hustling for their business. In fact, follow-up shamelessly. It’s not always comfortable for Australian founders but it’s expected in the US. It could mean the difference between getting their signature or walking away empty-handed.

5.    You have a long-term plan: US organisations want to work with foreign businesses who are committed to the market. Make sure you’re prepared to discuss how you plan to continue growing there and expect to be questioned about it. If you don’t have a plan beyond ‘fly in, fly out’, you will likely lose their interest and potentially miss out on valuable opportunities. 

US businesses are often eager to work with Australian companies and professionals. We’re seen as innovative and they admire our work ethic, sense of humour, and yes, our accent. But it’s more important than ever that local businesses and founders understand what global organisations need from them – and then do what they can to meet those needs. Only then can you fast-track and de-risk your international expansion.

For more information about how to improve your success in the US, check out her latest programs.

Trena Blair is Founder/CEO of FD Global Connections who works with Australian companies to prepare for, and launch in the USA market. Enquiries can be made at enquiry@fdglobal.com.au

(Ivan’s note :- be sure to have a plan to maximise any grants and incentives that you may be eligible for - such as the export market development grant as administered by AUSTRADE - up to 150k per year - speak to the team at BSI Innovation - happy to refer you) 

From Bankruptcy to $400m in sales

Mike Dillard interviews 38 year old entrepreneur Suzie Batiz who  went from bankruptcy twice To $400 Million in sales from another  little company she founded called PooPourri.

PooPourri is exactly what it sounds like… A new way to handle unwanted odors in your bathroom.

She shares her story of how her cars were repossessed, how she lost her business, and how she was broken in every way you could imagine.

At that point, she went on a journey to examine her life in an attempt to find out why she was constantly struggling with business, with money, and with her relationships…

So what did Suzy learn that allowed her to turn a life of struggle, into a life of abundance and success?

Listen to the podcast .

listen to the podcast

I 

Some of my key takeouts:-

1. Do something that you love and believe in
2. Make something great - not just good
3. Ask people for help - people want to help -  don’t need to know everything “ I need your help” - I don’t know but I know someone who will. If you want help from someone - get a meeting - face to face and ask
4. Suzi’s big success came from a viral video 
5. Go with the flow - trust your gut. 

It’s all about energy and seeking more energy 

Resonance- 2 similar energy  waves working together - creating more energy - flow 

Disanonce - 2 polar enaervy waves - less energy - struggle 

4 signs of resonance

1. Increased energy - can stay up all night 
2. Chills up arm
3. Keeps coming around 
4. Synchronicity - suzys world - it’s a vibration - when you meet someone that you zing with 

Are you in struggle? 

Are you in easy flow?

Are you in resonance?

Sendle raises $20m series B from Federation

Sendle, the 100% carbon neutral courier service has raised AU$20 million in a Series B funding round to grow locally and overseas

The Money

The funding round was led by Federation, who are investing alongside Full Circle Venture Capital, Rampersand and Giant Leap as returning investors.

Federation invests in clean-energy and sustainability projects, social, health and education, real estate, and growing businesses that meet today’s social, environmental and economic needs. As part of its investment, Federation’s Head of Private Equity, Neil Brown, will join the Sendle Board.

The service 

Sendle provides a convenient carbon neutral door-to-door delivery at affordable national flat affordable rates. 

Since launching in November 2014,  Sendle parcels have travelled more than 4.3 billion kilometres —  or 14 times to the Sun and back. 

It facilitates more than a quarter of billion dollars in small business eCommerce annually and its customer base has grown by over 600 per cent in the last two years.

Sendle uses 100% compostable green satchels, while its inaugural brand campaign ‘Why Post when you can Sendle”, launched in May.

The Mission 

“giving small business owners access to big business delivery infrastructure,” said Sendle CEO and Co-founder, James Chin Moody.

“We exist to offer a cheaper and convenient alternative to Australia Post 

The 2019 expectation 

2019 is expected to be a year of hyper-growth with CMO, Eva Ross, joining Sendle’s ranks last year from Airbnb, to spearhead brand and marketing as the business scales.

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