Your Window Into the Innovation Economy

The demand for SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) solutions continues to flourish, with the estimated global market value expected to reach $716.5 billion by 2028. Unfortunately, while companies like DocuSign and HubSpot have seen significant success and growth, today’s SaaS startups are finding it time-consuming to raise the capital to scale their platforms. SaaS founders typically have only two viable options for raising capital — an equity round or a debt round. Both options are expensive and require long lead times.

In finance, alternative data is a collection of non-traditional financial and market-related information. This provides investors with unique insights into investing trends that might affect their portfolio. Unfortunately, this information has long been largely accessible only to hedge funds, asset managers, and management firms, not individual accredited investors.

Healthtech represents one of the fastest-growing segments in healthcare. Emerging technologies such as bioprinting, genomics, and smart devices are driving revolutionary advances in healthcare while presenting valuable investment opportunities. Some sources gauge the global market size at ~$350 billion in 2019 and project growth to reach $950 billion by 2027. The venture story is, not surprisingly, equally robust. There are ~20,000 healthtech startups in the U.S., and VCs invested about $14 billion into the sector in 2020 — double 2019’s total. Some of this growth is due to the fact that consumers are increasingly embracing proactive, preventative, and personalized care, as well as self-monitoring products. Additionally, high healthcare costs are also increasing the demand for disruptive solutions. The global pandemic and the emergence of chronic diseases are also spurring innovation in telehealth and biotech. Alumni Ventures’ Healthtech Fund will target this intersection of entrepreneurship, growing trends, and transformative medical advances to source high-potential opportunities for investors. We spoke with Alumni Ventures’ Chief Investment Officer Anton Simunovic about what investors can expect from AV’s Healthtech Fund.

Alumni Ventures recently sat down with three key executives at Alumni Ventures to get their thoughts about the macro environment, venture, and the firm’s development.

AVTV features GoodTrust, a digital legacy management platform. AVTV videos feature Alumni Ventures’ portfolio companies sharing their stories and asks with our community.

AVTV features Spero Foods, an innovative, plant-based, dairy-alternative company specializing in creating tasty eggs and cheeses. AVTV videos feature Alumni Ventures’ portfolio companies sharing their stories and asks with our community.

Renowned business and technology magazine Fast Company has released its 2022 rankings for the World’s Most Innovative Companies and we are gratified to report that Alumni Ventures and several of our portfolio companies were included on the list. From cutting-edge manufacturing techniques to life-changing biotech solutions, these companies are developing important innovations with the possibility to reshape their respective industries. As for Alumni Ventures, we were listed as a winner in the Personal Finance category.

Hayden AI has developed an autonomous perception system using mobile sensors and traffic data to generate real-time digital twins of cities. The company analyzes a city’s existing transportation fleet to simulate traffic scenarios and provide actionable insights — helping improve traffic flow and safety. The goal is to take humans out of the loop and automate traffic enforcement, allowing municipalities and police departments to focus on more important work.

The world’s movement towards a net-zero model faces a major sustainability challenge. Energy demand is expected to grow rapidly over the coming decades, and renewable energy sources are failing to supply sufficient energy to meet the ballooning demand.