9 New Pre-Seed Investments in 6 Months
Thoughts (not predictions) on pre-seed in 2023, new investments, portfolio news & jobs, opportunities you don't want to miss out and more
Hey đ
In our previous update, we shared that we are very much still investing. True to form, weâve welcomed 9 new pre-seed companies to the portfolio over the past 6 months.
We spend a lot of time thinking about the impact of the current market conditions on pre-seed startups, and we believe 2023 presents a unique set of opportunities in our industry. At the same time, turbulent macro calls for a cautious approach to venture capital investing, with an increased commitment to solid business fundamentals.
Weâre not going to offer another fancy analysis of the markets or try to predict what will happen in 2023. We do want to share a few thoughts and questions we find ourselves asking more often lately in hopes that these may be helpful for founders contemplating raising their first round of pre-seed financing. These thoughts also reflect the conversations we are having with other investors from Israel and abroad, and our ongoing work with our portfolio companies.
Are you building a painkiller or a vitamin?
The distinction between a painkiller (a must-have product) and a vitamin (a nice-to-have product) becomes more stark in market downturns when customers are compelled to operate on tighter budgets. The willingness to pay and attention span for solutions that are not must-haves are even more limited. Whether you are reducing costs, increasing revenue, or improving efficiency â the more substantial and clear your startupâs value proposition comes across, the more likely it is to succeed to engage customers and raise capital.
Why (especially) now?
Downturns lend a new twist to the timing narrative for many companies. Do the market conditions actually support your âwhy nowâ? Is your startup addressing a pressing issue that might be viewed as ârecession-proofâ (climate for example)? Will a company die, survive or prosper in a recession? Are you building in a space that was all the hype last year or are you building for the future? Perhaps instead of the usual âwhy now?â we might ask ourselves âwhy especially now?â or âwhy now despite the downturnâ?
What do you need to achieve in order to raise your next round?
With the bar constantly being raised for seed round financing, founders raising a pre-seed round need to chart a clear path toward the next round. What are the KPIs, milestones, and validation that your next-stage investors will consider attractive in the current climate? What are the financing risks companies are likely to face on the way to attaining these goals? These questions are highly subjective, and differ across sectors and industries. But, determining what would likely be an âinflection pointâ for raising your next round in a convincing and thoughtful way is more essential than ever for early-stage companies in 2023.
With all these thoughts and questions in mind, we remain bullish on pre-seed investments, and think today is a great time to build a startup!
đ„ł Welcome to our Portfolio
Dialogue - Founded by Omri, Dialogue is building the next generation of AI-enabled e-commerce enablement tools. By analyzing customer behavior and offering contextual in-store upsells, promotions and auto-generated content, Dialogue is helping brands like L'Occitane, Sabon and Swarovski increase their stores' conversion rates substantially.
Gigaton - Co-founded by Sapir and Dotan, Gigaton aims to restore the global climate balance by developing a unique carbon removal method. Using a bio-mimicking approach and inspired by the marine âBiological Pumpâ, natureâs largest carbon removal process, their technology aims to surpass the cost, scale, and quality challenges of the carbon removal solutions existing today. Co-investors: At One Ventures, GiTV, The Dock VC, Foxglove Capital, and Venessa Bartram.
Remepy - Co-founded by Or, Michal, Amir, Nira, Shahar & Ofer - Remepy envisions a future where many drugs will be approved, prescribed and used in combination with a tailored software application. The platform will enable pharma companies to launch synergetic drug-software combinations that enhance the efficacy and safety profile of standalone drugs. The concept relies on designing unique therapeutic experiences that sync with each drug mechanism and result in better outcomes. The initial focus is on enhancing Immuno-Oncology drugs, as well as boosting drug development for ADâs. Co-investors: TechAviv Founders Partners, Samsung Next, Supernode, StageNext and a few digital-health-focused angels.
Slauth.io - Co-founded by Daniel and Tal, Slauth.io generates and rightsizes IAM policies in order to save engineering time. They speed up policy writing and embed best security practices in the policies. Co-investors: Rebel Fund, YCombinator, and strategic industry-related angels invested as well.
Five investments still in stealth:
Collaboration platform for data analysts
Revenue-based financing platform for b2c and e-commerce companies
Experience optimization platform for gamers
Retirement savings platform for self-employed in the US
Raw materials hedging solution for general contractors and real-estate developers
đ« Portfolio Highlights
accSenSe raises a $5M Seed round and welcomes Joules Ventures, Gefen Capital, and strategic angels as new investors. The company was also recognized as a âCool Vendorâ in identity-first security by Gartner.
Carbon Blue, an ocean-based carbon removal startup mentioned in a couple of articles on the rising ClimateTech and CDR domains in Israel. Check it out: Haaretz | Globes | Tech12.
ITC (Intelligence Traffic Control) raises a $5M series A round co-led by Champel Capital and Mobilitech Capital. Fresh Fund is proud to have been among the companiâs first investors.
MDI Health's artificial intelligence pharmacology platform was mentioned in two profile articles on the company - NoCamels | Mako.
Listen to Payem CEO Itamar Jobaniâs podcast interview on how Fintech is transforming FinOps
Peech** raises $8.3 million Seed funding to expand AI-driven content generation for brands. The company has also been selected to participate in Googleâs prestigious âGrowth Labâ program, mentioned in Base10âs most promising Generative AI startups in the video editing space and ranked as âproduct of the dayâ on Product Hunt.
Ritual officially launched its virtual couplesâ therapy platform in the US, with a growing amount of satisfied members getting relationship support through it. Check out a few articles published on them in Axios, CTech, and Tech12.
Remilk continues to make waves. They recently represented Israel at the global COP27 UN climate summit in Egypt and partnered with General Mills, one of the largest food companies in the world. The company was also chosen by Globesâ readers as the most favorite Israeli startup for 2022. Also, donât miss this video interview with Remilkâs Head of BizDev on Precision Fermentation.
Visitt mentioned in CTechâs list of Israeli most promising Property Management startups.
đȘ Portfolio Job Opportunities
Dialogue is looking for a Head of Marketing, BizDev Manager and Partnership Manager {explore here}
Gigaton is looking for a Material Scientist and a Marine Microbiologist to join their team {explore here}
MDI Health has a few open Product, Marketing, and Engineering positions {explore here}
Remepy is looking for a Clinical Research Associate (CRA) {explore here}
Remilk is looking for a Molecular Microbiology Scientist to join their team {explore here}
Visitt is looking for a Senior Full Stack Developer and Customer Success Specialist {explore here}
Wisor.ai has a few open Engineering and Sales positions {explore here}
đ Students Love Startups
Lunching âThe Pizza Fundâđ
Going into 2023 we are still committed, as always, to supporting and championing student entrepreneurs and innovation leaders on campus.
Last year we met over 60 students who are leading incredible initiatives on campus aiming to bring knowledge, tools, and industry experts to their communities to help shape the next generation of entrepreneurs â today weâve decided to fund them!
As part of our mission, weâve launched The Pizza Fund, a micro-grant program to support those activities on campus and share our knowledge and experience, and to bridge the gap between academia and the ecosystem.
For more details and for the grant application, join the Students Love Startups community (on the Nas.io platform)
đ Fresh Opportunities & Links
The Future of Plastics - Weâre happy to partner with ARC Impact, alongside several other Israeli VCs and MNCs, on the "Future Of Plastics" challenge. Weâre looking for companies that could potentially disrupt the plastic industry and introduce relevant sustainable solutions. Chosen applications will pitch to international investors and corporates at the "Future Of Plastics Innovation Event" in Tel Aviv on February 12. {Apply here until Feb 6}.
2022 Israeli Layoff Report - Earlier this year, Yoav from our team created The Layoffs Project with the aim of helping people laid off from Israeli tech companies find their next role in the industry. A byproduct of the project is that we've accumulated quite a bit of layoff data about the Israeli high-tech industry. Check out the 2022 Israeli Layoff Report. Hopefully, 2023 will take a positive turn.
Unlocking FemTech 2023 - In the course of just a few years, FemTech has grown to encompass a range of technology-enabled, consumer-centric products and solutions, as opportunities in womenâs health accelerate, and the industry is helping to match capital and talent to unmet needsâwith promising results. Check out this event, weâll be there and are also honored to be involved as judges in the pitch competition.
**In case you wonder, this newsletter was not written by or with the assistance of ChatGPT đ but if you havenât already we highly recommend you try it!
Fresh Fund is an Israeli venture fund investing in pre-seed stage startups across segments and verticals. We invest up to $1,000,000, often as the first institutional investors.
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