Do names of VC Rounds Matter?

Companies raising the same amount of money have different post-money valuations depending on the round name.

Eg. If a seed-stage round raises $15M, that company is likely valued at $58M post-money. Whereas if a Series B company does so, the startup is typically worth $93M.

Why?

1. The companies that are raising Series B have likely raised more capital over multiple rounds than the earlier stages. So the valuation 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 be higher accounting for the excess capital already on the books.

  

2. The later the stage, the higher the traction / underlying business metrics needed to justify the next round (typically). 

  

3. Some round name fraud happening? Founders do sometimes choose to raise a "seed" when they've already raised significant capital in order to stand out relative to their peers..

#startups #Seed #SeriesA #SeriesB #founders

Lorikeet raises $54m after 2 years of starting up

 Lorikeet,  an AI company providing AI agents for customer service and founded by  Steve Hind (ex Stripe) and Jamie Hall (Google AI) in 2023,  has raised $54 million (US$35 million) in Series A funding at a valuation north of $200m . This is after receiving US$5m in seed funding in Oct 24 and growing revenue 10x 

Investors 

Investment was led led by QED Investors, with participation from Square Peg, Blackbird, Airtree, Skip Capital, Capital 49ers, Operator Partners and Athletic Ventures.

Canva’s husband-and-wife cofounders Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht also joined the Series A. Several ex Stripers are also angel investors in the platform, which uses AI agents to deal with intricate customer problems.

Customers 

Customers include Lorikeet’s agents, or ‘concierges’, are used by several Australian unicorns, including Airwallex, Linktree and Eucalyptus, as the startup takes on global customer service giants Intercom, Zendesk, Decagon and Sierra.

What Lorikeet Does 

If you’ve dealt with a chatbot at Airwallex, Linktree, Flex or Eucalyptus, you’ve probably engaged with a Lorikeet AI concierge  – which answers questions, makes judgment calls and takes action to solve problems across chat, email, and voice.

Hond says “Customers don’t want to be told how to fix their problems. They want a concierge that actually solves them.”

One of Lorikeet’s first deployments was end-to-end handling of lost, stolen, and missing debit cards—with the AI used to determine eligibility, updatethe customer’s address, and send a replacement card without human intervention.

Application of Funds 

The money will be spent by R&D and global go-to-market efforts in the next five months. The business already has customers in US, Europe, and Australia.

Kanwal Rekhi - 7 unicorns and 2 IPOs talking about his Excelan story

Love this insight from Kanwal 

“I was never meant to be the CEO, but the board had no choice…

40 years ago, the company I had co-founded, Excelan, was close to shutting down. With just eight months of cash left, the board took some drastic measures. They named me Interim CEO.

To the outside world, it looked like a long-overdue promotion. To the board, I was a last resort. They wanted someone who was Wall Street-friendly and polished. A White Knight. Not an Indian engineer with dark skin, a thick accent, and a pocket protector.

I still remember the day, walking out of the meeting and stepping into my office. I stared at the painting of a bull charging through the currents, as doubts swirled in my mind. 

It’s a temporary arrangement, I remember saying to myself.

But I still said yes. Why? 

Because I’d been here before, underestimated and overlooked. And this was my chance to prove them all wrong. 

And so, I stepped out of my office, ready to take up the challenge and figure out how to turn the company around.

Once or twice in everyone’s life, there comes a moment when the tide finally turns in your favor. And when it does, it’s on you to take the wheel and steer it with everything you’ve got.”

Kanwal’s LinkedIn post 

Send your vCard and refer your network with www.referron.com 

Why Tim Draper invested in Elon Musk

Tim Draper invested in  Elon Musk because he trusted him based on the 6 investable traits  

1. He was Passionate about the industry 
2. He put his own money on the line
3. He had a clear roadmap and was willing to sleep on factory floors to get there.
4. He had a clear vision while remaining flexible on tactics 
5. He had done it before - a proven ability to execute in that domain
6. He was confident . He unashamedly asked investors  if they’d like to come for the ride 

#Passionate #confidence #vision #goals #trackrecord #backedhimself

Performance PR Reimagined: Linkby Raises US $15 M Series B to Accelerate U.S. Expansion & AI Platform

(Picture from AFR)

Here’s a cool LinkedIn post - to comment

Sydney‑based adtech startup Linkby, co‑founded in 2020 by Chris Wirasinha (ex‑Pedestrian), Andrew Chak, and Adrian Fagerlund, has secured a US $15 million (≈AUD 23 million) Series B round led by Boston’s Volition Capital—marking their first investment in Australia. The round also included Perennial Private Investments and OIF Ventures  .

Volition Capital stepping  in as a lead investor in their first Australian deal is something to be noted!!

What They Do

Linkby is a performance‑driven editorial platform that enables brands to pitch content directly to a network of over 600 premium publishers, paying only on cost‑per‑click or CPM engagement. This approach merges PR credibility with marketing accountability  .

To date, the platform serves more than 3,800 brands (e.g., Charlotte Tilbury, Beyond Meat, Lululemon, Disney+) and works with major publishers like Daily Mail, Condé Nast, Morning Brew, Substack creators, and News Corp  

Why It Matters

• Measurable PR: By paying for engagement rather than impressions, Linkby brings outcome-based tracking to editorial campaigns—helping brands measure visits, conversions, and awareness .
• Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO): In stepping into the emerging space of LLM‑driven search (e.g., ChatGPT), Linkby ensures brand content surfaces in AI summaries—positioned as “SEO 2.0”  .
• Publisher support: With click-based compensation, publishers can monetize independent editorial with confidence—especially amid declining Google search traffic  

• Linkby employs teams in Sydney, UK, and U.S.; a new New York office serves as US HQ, with US headcount set to double to 40+  .
• The platform handles tens of thousands of features and collects millions of data points—fueling its GEO and recommendation engine roadmap  .

What’s Next?

1. Expand U.S. GTM & engineering: Double North American team and scale product development  .
2. GEO & AI‑powered recommendations: Build intelligent tools to assist in campaign setup, publisher selection, and budget allocation—leveraging machine learning models on rich engagement data  .
3. Enhance measurement attribution: Incorporate fraud detection and deeper conversion tracking, including Shopify integration beta  .

Takeaway

Linkby is at the vanguard of a new marketing paradigm—bridging high-trust editorial with performance marketing that measures real engagement. Their cost-per-click model aligns incentives across brands and publishers while positioning them as a leader in AI-era content discoverability.

With robust traction, global expansion plans, and technology investment in GEO, Linkby is not just evolving PR—it’s reinventing it as a scalable, measurable channel for growth in the age of AI.

Your Thoughts

• Are you rethinking PR strategies to include measurable engagement outcomes?
• How is AI‑mediated content discovery changing your marketing tactics?
• Could engagement-first models replace traditional affiliate or sponsorship deals?

Let’s connect and discuss.