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Westwood Ventures Newsletter — March 2022

Content at the intersection of entrepreneurship, venture capital, and our UCLA community.

Written by

Edward Tsai

Published on

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2 min

IN THIS ISSUE: Read a feature story on portfolio company X-Energy, an exclusive offer from our portfolio company RocketCart, and more.

Westwood’s 2022 Fund is Opening in May!

We continue to add new companies into our 2021 Fund and look forward to sharing more information as we grow our portfolio of ~20-30 promising, venture-backed companies. If you missed your chance to invest and are still interested in joining us, our 2022 Fund is opening in May.

Westwood Portfolio Spotlight

X-energy develops commercial nuclear reactors, giving users access to zero-emission energy that is safe, reliable, secure, and affordable. Congress appropriated ~$1.1B to X-energy’s ARDP Project with Historic Legislation Recognizing Clean Energy Supply as vital to US Infrastructure and Economic Health.  Read Feature Story »

A NOTE FROM MANAGING PARTNER EDWARD TSAI

Building a Diversified Portfolio by Investing in Various Sectors

One significant aspect of Westwood Ventures’ model is to build a diversified portfolio for our investors, meaning we invest across a number of sectors such as AI, cybersecurity, fintech, blockchain, proptech, and trends in Asia. As a result, I’ve selected several more specialized newsletters that focus on emerging trends. I hope these articles elicit new ideas and inspiration on innovation driven by venture-backed technology startups.

  1. Impact of Fundamental AI: The New Stack discusses the impact of improvements in fundamental AI technology such as “Large Language Models” and Multimodal AI. Read More »
  2. Cybersecurity’s Increasing Importance: Threatpost discusses the increase of government interest in cybersecurity, continued social-engineering attacks, and securing the supply chain. Read More »
  3. Fintech Leading Sector for VC Investment: Crunchbase notes fintech’s 177% YoY growth and highlights fintech apps, embedded finance, and B2B payments. Read More »
  4. Blockchain’s Impact on the Economy: Roland Berger speaks about the impact of blockchain on finance models, asset tokenization, and the sharing economy. Read More »
  5. Proptech Leveraging Blockchain and the Metaverse: Forbes discusses the role of the metaverse and digital land and the impact of ML/AI on real estate investing. Read More »
  6. Trends in Asian Startups: Google describes how Asian startups are shaping global trends. In April 2021, there were almost 200 unicorns in Asia (second only to the U.S.), showing the impact of startups there. These startups reflect several AI, decentralized finance, fintech, and health tech trends that are worth following. Read More »

Exclusive Portfolio Company Offer

RocketCart is a leading online Korean grocery delivery service that provides free next-morning delivery to your doorstep! Go to RocketCart.com to get the widest selection of Korean food brands, meats, produce, banchan, and more. RocketCart currently lives in Southern California and delivers to all of LA and Orange County and many areas in Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura Counties. RocketCart is funded by top-tier venture capital firms and founders of several eCommerce giants and the CEO Paul Kim is a UCLA alum (Econ, Poly Sci Bachelors).

Exclusive Offer (valid until 3/31/2022):

To celebrate RocketCart’s recent service launch, they are providing an exclusive offer to get $40 off your first order (above $70) to the first 25 people who use the coupon on their site. Use the code BRUINS40 at checkout to get the discount. Also, even if you don’t get the $40 discount, go to RocketCart.com to get $20 off your first order (above $40) at any time.

FOR EXISTING INVESTORS

Thinking of becoming an investor? Access Materials »

Updates From Your Managing Partner

We invite existing investors to visit your Club portal for updates from Managing Partner Edward Tsai (’02,’04) and our team, including webinars and events, Syndications, portfolio news, and exclusive content.

Campus and Community Update

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has committed to donating $21 million to the UCLA Institute for Carbon Management to support the institute’s mission of developing new carbon removal technologies designed to combat climate change. Learn More »

Westwood Portfolio Companies in the News

AV Talent Referrals

Interested in joining a cutting-edge startup or know someone who might be? Our portfolio companies are growing and always looking for high-caliber talent. Check out their open positions on our job board. If you find a match, fill out this short form, and we will try to make a personal referral. Visit Job Board »

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Contact [email protected] for additional information. To see additional risk factors and investment considerations, visit av-funds.com/disclosures.

Written by

Edward Tsai

Edward has over 15 years of investment and strategy experience in the U.S. and China, including a successful track record with investments including Cruise Automation ($1 billion acquisition by GM), Life360 (IPO), Palantir (IPO), and Brave Software as well as deep operating experience at technology and cybersecurity companies 360 and Qianxin, and service on the limited partner advisory committees at Cendana Capital and Ten Eleven Ventures.

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