Astra Global, a global business development company, specializing in startup funding, in association with Gold Ventures, present:
ARTIFICAIL INTELLIGENCE (AI/AR/VR): WHAT'S NEXT?
Description
The event consists of the investors panel and startups pitching.
During the investors panel we discussed with
Chris Fisher, Operating Partner, Click Ventures,
Gilad Engel, Partner, Target Global, Ingrid Vasiliu-Feltes, Senator, WBAF Angel Investment Fund,
Gary Fowler, Co-Founder, GSD Venture Studios,
Yash Hemaraj, Partner, Benhamou Global Ventures,
Sergio A. Escobar, CEO & Partner, BCF Ventures,
Henry Palmer, Partner, Amplifier, Francesco Corea, Research Lead,Balderton Capital.
Moderators: Richard Ward, Enterprise VR/AR/XR lead, McKinsey & Company, John Koetsier, Host, The AI Show, Columnist, Forbes
the following topics:
rethinking portfolio companies go-to-market strategies (what has changed and what not)
rethinking portfolio companies priorities: cash runway vs. product advancement vs. sales
corporate VC vs Financial VC: what Covid has surfaced having them in startup's cap table.
successful pivoting with current portfolio companies.
startups side: Israel versus Europe versus USA versus China.
during pitching sessions, investors listened to carefully selected startups and will give their feedback to each startup.
Speakers
Henry Palmer, Partner, Amplifier
Operating out Berlin, Amplifier is a specialised fund for the interconnected supply chain. Focused on distruptive tech for the "movement of things", from the first to last-mile in logistics and mobility. Examples include; deep learning smart enterprise applications for asset and fulfilment optimisation, AI for neural and perception layer autonomy in industrial robotics and transportation, and trade finance alternative lending platforms. Investments include Nautilus Labs, Micropsi Industries, Mercado and Humanising Autonomy.
Before Amplifier, Henry's career began with Decidedly, consulting Private Equity funds, before building and investing into a number of startups in the UK and Germany. Currently also acting as a mentor with Techstars and Katapult Ocean.
Francesco Corea, Research Lead, Balderton
Francesco joined Balderton in 2019 as Research Lead, working on all research and data projects on the investment team.
Prior to Balderton, Francesco helped a number of AI startups ramp up operations, and worked with small financial boutiques on venture strategies. Francesco was an Anthemis fellow in London and a fellow at UCLA's IPAM (Institute of Pure and Applied Math) in Applied Math and High Performance Computing.
Sergio A. Escobar, CEO & Partner, BCF Ventures
Sergio has been supporting early-stage startups for 15 years across a variety of stages from inception to growth. He currently works as CEO & Partner at BCF Ventures, a Montreal-based Corporate Venture Capital fund where he invests in B2B Enterprise Software startups at the Seed & Series A stages across US, Canada and Israel. He is also the Managing Director of Founder Institute Montreal, a pre-seed accelerator program, and he has been awarded several times as best Director worldwide. For 8 years, he has been an active member of the Techstars Global Ecosystem acting as Techstars Startup Weekend Global Facilitator, Entrepreneur-in-Residence and Curator at Techtstars Startup Digest. Prior to that, he was a multiple times entrepreneur with startups in Aerospace, eCommerce, Manufacturing, AgTech and Financial Technologies. Lastly, he considers himself as a citizen of the world by having lived in Canada, Bolivia, Paraguay and France. Polyglot speaking 5 languages.
Over the last 8 years, he has been deeply involved in the international entrepreneurial scene (incubators and accelerators) through his involvement in Founder Institute, Techstars, McGill X-1, Startup Chile, Startup Peru, Startup Bootcamp FinTech London, MsB Tunisia, Flat6Labs Tunisia, Kuwait National Fund, World Bank 'Tech Entrepreneurship Program for Innovation in the Caribbean', Krypto Labs in the Middle East and Creative Destruction Lab in Artificial Intelligence.
Yash Hemaraj, Partner, Benhamou Global Ventures
Benhamou Global Ventures is an early stage venture firm investing in start ups that are focused on the digital transformation of enterprises globally. At BGV, Yash has led/co-led several investments for BGV including Folloze, Tagnos, Macrometa, Totango and 6dbytes and assisted on Blue Cedar, Kaptivo, Drishti and Spikes/Cyberinc. He also heads the Arka Venture Labs, an accelerator platform for India based B2B companies to scale up globally. Yash focuses on intelligent automation, robotics and customer centric applications powered by a combination of enabling technologies such as AI, ML, Blockchain and computer vision. Prior to BGV, Yash was one of the first engineers at SpiderCloud Wireless (acquired by Corning Incorporated (NYSE: GLW)), a venture backed bay area startup building indoor wireless systems.
Gary Fowler, Co-Founder, GSD Venture Studios
Award-winning Senior level executive with 30+ years of success in global strategic innovation leadership, sales, marketing, operational and investment management. CEO and Co-Founder of the the award-winning growth stage AI venture studio, GSD Venture Studios. Co-Founder of the award-winning AI startup Yva.ai as well as the investment firm, DY Investments. Gary was involved in the management team of ClickSoftware that was recently sold for $1.35 billion dollars to SalesForce. Gary raised several rounds of funding to position Yva.ai as a leading AI employee engagement company. Gary is a recognized expert in entrepreneurship (including entrepreneurial education), lean startup methods, innovation management, and technology development. Consultant to numerous international companies and startups. Extensive experience with fund raising and a successful IPO (CKSW). Executive level positions in top tier companies: ClickSoftware, Mirantis, Siemens, HP, etc. Founder of Fowler International, Tecra, Yva.ai, Findo, GSD Venture Studios, GVA LaunchGurus (Co-Founder), Fowler Development, Broadiant, DY Investments, Zemplee (Co-Founder), and more. Gary was recently named "One of the 10 Most Inspiring Global AI Executives in 2020".
Nuno Goncalves Pedro, Managing Partner, Strive Capital
Founder and managing partner of Strive Capital, the first ever quant early-stage VC firm in the Bay area, focused on consumer and enterprise software, with investments in App Annie, Gusto, Rubrik, Enish (IPO), Virta Health, DraftKings, among others. He is also the venture partner at Grishin Robotics, a Sand Hill Road venture capital firm focused on smart hardware and consumer investments, with investments in companies such as Ring (Sold Amazon), Spin (Sold Ford), Zipline, among others.
Chris Fisher, Operating Partner, Click Ventures
Chris Fisher is Operating Partner for Hong Kong based early stage venture capital firm, Click Ventures, where he invests in highly scalable tech ventures. Within the firm he especially focuses on helping portfolio companies form strategies, grow, acquire, sell, and IPO.
He is also a Venture Partner for GPO Fund in New York City, a crossover fund which invests in rapidly growing US Series C and Series D tech companies to help them access global public equity markets. Before venture capital, he spent over 20 years in corporate M&A, direct investing, and information technology strategy for leading global consumer products companies.
Gilad Engel , Partner, Target Global
Prior to joining Target, Gilad was a Vice President responsible for strategic alliances at Elastifile (acquired by Google). Before that he was at Anobit Technologies (acquired by Apple), where he was the Vice President in Business Development and Co-manager of the SSD business unit. Before Anobit, Gilad was a Business Development Director at M-Systems (acquired by SanDisk).
He is also a board member at Plessey Semiconductors and an active angel investor in more than 10 companies, several of which were acquired.
Ingrid Vasiliu-Feltes, Senator, WBAF Angel Investment Fund
Is a healthcare futurist who has extensive experience in the healthcare industry as a founder, executive, consultant or speaker. She currently is serving as the Chief Quality and Innovation Officer at MEDNAX Healthcare Solutions. In this capacity she provides oversight for all quality and innovation initiatives across the enterprise, such as Blockchain, AI, Genomics, Precision Medicine, Population Health, Telehealth, Medical Simulation, and Value Based Care. Additionally, she provides leadership to the MEDNAX Center for Research, Education, Quality and Safety. Prior to her current role, she held several leadership positions within the academic, corporate and not-for-profit healthcare arena, most notably serving as VP-Education, Quality and Safety, Chief Patient Safety and Quality Officer, Chief of Compliance and Quality Assurance, Medical Director of Clinical Research Trials, and Medical Director-Managed Care.
ARTIFICAIL INTELLIGENCE (AI/AR/VR): WHAT'S NEXT?
Description
The event consists of the investors panel and startups pitching.
During the investors panel we discussed with
Chris Fisher, Operating Partner, Click Ventures,
Gilad Engel, Partner, Target Global, Ingrid Vasiliu-Feltes, Senator, WBAF Angel Investment Fund,
Gary Fowler, Co-Founder, GSD Venture Studios,
Yash Hemaraj, Partner, Benhamou Global Ventures,
Sergio A. Escobar, CEO & Partner, BCF Ventures,
Henry Palmer, Partner, Amplifier, Francesco Corea, Research Lead,Balderton Capital.
Moderators: Richard Ward, Enterprise VR/AR/XR lead, McKinsey & Company, John Koetsier, Host, The AI Show, Columnist, Forbes
the following topics:
rethinking portfolio companies go-to-market strategies (what has changed and what not)
rethinking portfolio companies priorities: cash runway vs. product advancement vs. sales
corporate VC vs Financial VC: what Covid has surfaced having them in startup's cap table.
successful pivoting with current portfolio companies.
startups side: Israel versus Europe versus USA versus China.
during pitching sessions, investors listened to carefully selected startups and will give their feedback to each startup.
Speakers
Henry Palmer, Partner, Amplifier
Operating out Berlin, Amplifier is a specialised fund for the interconnected supply chain. Focused on distruptive tech for the "movement of things", from the first to last-mile in logistics and mobility. Examples include; deep learning smart enterprise applications for asset and fulfilment optimisation, AI for neural and perception layer autonomy in industrial robotics and transportation, and trade finance alternative lending platforms. Investments include Nautilus Labs, Micropsi Industries, Mercado and Humanising Autonomy.
Before Amplifier, Henry's career began with Decidedly, consulting Private Equity funds, before building and investing into a number of startups in the UK and Germany. Currently also acting as a mentor with Techstars and Katapult Ocean.
Francesco Corea, Research Lead, Balderton
Francesco joined Balderton in 2019 as Research Lead, working on all research and data projects on the investment team.
Prior to Balderton, Francesco helped a number of AI startups ramp up operations, and worked with small financial boutiques on venture strategies. Francesco was an Anthemis fellow in London and a fellow at UCLA's IPAM (Institute of Pure and Applied Math) in Applied Math and High Performance Computing.
Sergio A. Escobar, CEO & Partner, BCF Ventures
Sergio has been supporting early-stage startups for 15 years across a variety of stages from inception to growth. He currently works as CEO & Partner at BCF Ventures, a Montreal-based Corporate Venture Capital fund where he invests in B2B Enterprise Software startups at the Seed & Series A stages across US, Canada and Israel. He is also the Managing Director of Founder Institute Montreal, a pre-seed accelerator program, and he has been awarded several times as best Director worldwide. For 8 years, he has been an active member of the Techstars Global Ecosystem acting as Techstars Startup Weekend Global Facilitator, Entrepreneur-in-Residence and Curator at Techtstars Startup Digest. Prior to that, he was a multiple times entrepreneur with startups in Aerospace, eCommerce, Manufacturing, AgTech and Financial Technologies. Lastly, he considers himself as a citizen of the world by having lived in Canada, Bolivia, Paraguay and France. Polyglot speaking 5 languages.
Over the last 8 years, he has been deeply involved in the international entrepreneurial scene (incubators and accelerators) through his involvement in Founder Institute, Techstars, McGill X-1, Startup Chile, Startup Peru, Startup Bootcamp FinTech London, MsB Tunisia, Flat6Labs Tunisia, Kuwait National Fund, World Bank 'Tech Entrepreneurship Program for Innovation in the Caribbean', Krypto Labs in the Middle East and Creative Destruction Lab in Artificial Intelligence.
Yash Hemaraj, Partner, Benhamou Global Ventures
Benhamou Global Ventures is an early stage venture firm investing in start ups that are focused on the digital transformation of enterprises globally. At BGV, Yash has led/co-led several investments for BGV including Folloze, Tagnos, Macrometa, Totango and 6dbytes and assisted on Blue Cedar, Kaptivo, Drishti and Spikes/Cyberinc. He also heads the Arka Venture Labs, an accelerator platform for India based B2B companies to scale up globally. Yash focuses on intelligent automation, robotics and customer centric applications powered by a combination of enabling technologies such as AI, ML, Blockchain and computer vision. Prior to BGV, Yash was one of the first engineers at SpiderCloud Wireless (acquired by Corning Incorporated (NYSE: GLW)), a venture backed bay area startup building indoor wireless systems.
Gary Fowler, Co-Founder, GSD Venture Studios
Award-winning Senior level executive with 30+ years of success in global strategic innovation leadership, sales, marketing, operational and investment management. CEO and Co-Founder of the the award-winning growth stage AI venture studio, GSD Venture Studios. Co-Founder of the award-winning AI startup Yva.ai as well as the investment firm, DY Investments. Gary was involved in the management team of ClickSoftware that was recently sold for $1.35 billion dollars to SalesForce. Gary raised several rounds of funding to position Yva.ai as a leading AI employee engagement company. Gary is a recognized expert in entrepreneurship (including entrepreneurial education), lean startup methods, innovation management, and technology development. Consultant to numerous international companies and startups. Extensive experience with fund raising and a successful IPO (CKSW). Executive level positions in top tier companies: ClickSoftware, Mirantis, Siemens, HP, etc. Founder of Fowler International, Tecra, Yva.ai, Findo, GSD Venture Studios, GVA LaunchGurus (Co-Founder), Fowler Development, Broadiant, DY Investments, Zemplee (Co-Founder), and more. Gary was recently named "One of the 10 Most Inspiring Global AI Executives in 2020".
Nuno Goncalves Pedro, Managing Partner, Strive Capital
Founder and managing partner of Strive Capital, the first ever quant early-stage VC firm in the Bay area, focused on consumer and enterprise software, with investments in App Annie, Gusto, Rubrik, Enish (IPO), Virta Health, DraftKings, among others. He is also the venture partner at Grishin Robotics, a Sand Hill Road venture capital firm focused on smart hardware and consumer investments, with investments in companies such as Ring (Sold Amazon), Spin (Sold Ford), Zipline, among others.
Chris Fisher, Operating Partner, Click Ventures
Chris Fisher is Operating Partner for Hong Kong based early stage venture capital firm, Click Ventures, where he invests in highly scalable tech ventures. Within the firm he especially focuses on helping portfolio companies form strategies, grow, acquire, sell, and IPO.
He is also a Venture Partner for GPO Fund in New York City, a crossover fund which invests in rapidly growing US Series C and Series D tech companies to help them access global public equity markets. Before venture capital, he spent over 20 years in corporate M&A, direct investing, and information technology strategy for leading global consumer products companies.
Gilad Engel , Partner, Target Global
Prior to joining Target, Gilad was a Vice President responsible for strategic alliances at Elastifile (acquired by Google). Before that he was at Anobit Technologies (acquired by Apple), where he was the Vice President in Business Development and Co-manager of the SSD business unit. Before Anobit, Gilad was a Business Development Director at M-Systems (acquired by SanDisk).
He is also a board member at Plessey Semiconductors and an active angel investor in more than 10 companies, several of which were acquired.
Ingrid Vasiliu-Feltes, Senator, WBAF Angel Investment Fund
Is a healthcare futurist who has extensive experience in the healthcare industry as a founder, executive, consultant or speaker. She currently is serving as the Chief Quality and Innovation Officer at MEDNAX Healthcare Solutions. In this capacity she provides oversight for all quality and innovation initiatives across the enterprise, such as Blockchain, AI, Genomics, Precision Medicine, Population Health, Telehealth, Medical Simulation, and Value Based Care. Additionally, she provides leadership to the MEDNAX Center for Research, Education, Quality and Safety. Prior to her current role, she held several leadership positions within the academic, corporate and not-for-profit healthcare arena, most notably serving as VP-Education, Quality and Safety, Chief Patient Safety and Quality Officer, Chief of Compliance and Quality Assurance, Medical Director of Clinical Research Trials, and Medical Director-Managed Care.