Open Venture Capital

Last week we held our First AGM for Open Venture Capital. We were delighted with the execution and the turnout. Here are a few takeaways from our first event. 1. We called our meeting Healthy-Ish, reflecting our cautious optimism given the economic and political landscape and providing a comprehensive, albeit early, recap of our portfolio's performance. 2. We were thrilled to celebrate our dynamic founders (thank you Trisha Goyal and Erica Cole) and highlight our esteemed advisors (thank you Christopher Nixon and Ron 'Boss' Everline). Their insights and experiences are invaluable to our approach and we have very few occasions to share their insights with our larger community. Additionally, we showcased content from our most recent "Meet the Athlete" event which serves as strategic platform for deal flow and supports our operator-first approach to portco diligence. 3. Opening Session and Insights from our GP, Kimberley Nixon We shared several insights and findings from our summer research, powered by our interns, and leveraging a wide range of conventional and unconventional sources for input. We also shared ways for our LPs to share their insights on the Future of Health, to enrich or sources of data. 4. We adopted a format that felt like a podcast or fireside chat, produced in a stunning setting with the help of our partners Just Train Productions. This allowed our LPs to join from anywhere, especially with the election just days away, but still be engaged in a format that we're all becoming increasingly comfortable with. 5. Looking Ahead  We believe we've found a fantastic format to use in the future. We were able to incorporate more speakers, leverage our growing content library, engage with the audience and provide a unique gifting opportunity ( thanks to: Round21) We're excited to do it again next year! #OpenVentureCapital #AGM #MeetTheAthlete #VentureCapital

We’re excited to share the latest episode of Meet the Athlete featuring the incredible Allyson Felix, the most decorated track and field athlete in Olympic history.  In this inspiring conversation, Allyson Felix and her business partner and brother, Wes Felix, open up about: Launching Saysh, a footwear brand designed specifically for women • Their shared passion for supporting women-centered businesses and founders • How they are using their platforms to drive positive change for female athletes and entrepreneurs • How they worked together to take back control and ownership of Allyson’s  personal brand Allyson and Wes are on the lookout for resilient and innovative founders building products, services, and technologies that empower women. Watch the clip below to hear it from Allyson herself. If this is you, don't miss this opportunity to apply to Meet the Athlete! Apply to pitch your startup to Allyson and Wes via the link below: https://lnkd.in/gwaJ28nM ⏰ Application Deadline: December 15th at midnight PT Ron 'Boss' Everline, Just Train Productions, Kimberley Nixon

Join us for an incredible panel during LA Tech Week to discuss a topic that deserves more attention: "Beyond the AI Buzz - Crafting Equitable Workplaces in the Digital Age." 🗓 When: October 15, 2024 🕒 Time: 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM 📍 Location: Tala HQ Our GP, Kimberley Nixon Nixon, will be joined on stage by a group of phenomenal leaders: Grisselle Escotto, Director of People, Boldin (Formerly New Retirement) Cierra Gross, MHR Gross, Founder & CEO, Caged Bird HR Bonnie Oliva-Porter, Founder, MARGINS: A Workplace Innovation Studio Vikram J., Chief Information Officer, LACERS The panel will explore the intersection of AI, equity, and workplace transformation and how technology can be leveraged to build more inclusive and equitable workplaces. Register Here: https://lu.ma/f6k5frqb #LATechWeek #AI #EquityInTech #FutureOfWork #WorkplaceTransformation #HealthyWorkplaces

LA Tech Week is an incredible opportunity to connect with brilliant minds, but it can also be overwhelming. Join us for an opening wellness session to start your week off with clear mind and focus. Try out new wellness brands and connect with like-minded folks as you prepare for the week ahead. 🧘♀️ Yoga, wellness, networking 🍽️ Complimentary snacks & smoothies 🤝 Themes: B2C, wellness, fundraising, healthtech, creativity We are pleased to bring you this ecosystem building opportunity in partnership with our co-hosts: Wellness Growth Ventures and Oya Femtech Apparel. Thank you to Cerebro Capital for sponsoring this event. Cerebro Capital is a proven lender - matching platform helping companies find the best match for their business from inventory financing to venture debt. Cerebro provides the smart solution for lower rates and better terms via a fast and efficient lending process.  📅 **Date:** Monday, 10/14 @10:15 AM 🔗 Register here: lu.ma/ob45bxy9 #LATechWeek #Wellness #Community

Last, and certainly not least, we are pleased to highlight OVC intern - Simon Atwill. Simon is a rising senior at Reed College pursuing a degree in Economics with a Quantitative Concentration which has led to interests in FinTech, finance, and private equity in general. OVC was a great fit for Simon's internship given his passion for health and wellness - including biking and playing rugby for both Reed and a local club (Go River Rats!). This summer, we gave our interns a choice of three growth drivers that they could research for our Brand Eminence projects, and Simon chose to study the future of adaptive tech - inspired by our portfolio company No Limbits. He also had the opportunity to conduct Founder interviews and to lead revenue forecasting and manage our weighted sales pipeline exercise as part of our diligence for our 9th portfolio company. We appreciate Simon's thoroughness, his keen eye for detail and his intellectual curiosity. We have enjoyed having all of our interns as part of the team this summer. Simon, thank you for your contributions! Thank you to Luis Balderas Villagrana, Himalaya Rao-Potlapally and Venture Partners Fund for introducing us to Simon and helping to secure this opportunity.

This week, we're excited to highlight our second summer intern - Jayna Mumo. Jayna has spent her summer industry mapping several sub-sectors of women's health. Her work includes gathering quantitative and qualitative data, building a competitive landscape overview and expanding our mapping work beyond the US. Jayna was born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya where she attended an international school for all 12 years, learning valuable lessons and gaining exposure to a myriad of other cultures, languages, and traditions. Her experiences and network worked perfectly for the global nature of this assignment. Jayna is a sophomore at Reed College where she is studying Psychology with a concentration in biological, chemical, and computational sciences. Her interests lie in the world of academia, sustainable development, and overall health and wellbeing. We appreciate her contributions to the team! Thank you to Luis Balderas Villagrana, Himalaya Rao-Potlapally, and Venture Partners Fund for introducing us to Jayna and help to secure this opportunity.

Over the next few weeks we'll be highlighting OVC's incredible group of summer interns. We're thrilled to have these bright minds as part of our team, contributing to meaningful work. Meet Mohammad Hasib - Mohammad is a Philly native and recent Wesleyan University Computer Science graduate. His interests lie in the intersection of data mining, cybersecurity, and cloud computing. Mohammad worked with us to improve data integrity and workflows in our deal flow pipelines and or CRM tech stack. Thank you to, Mohammad Hasib, Wesleyan University and The Frederick A. DeLuca Foundation for making this internship possible.

Congratulations to our portfolio company, Pear Suite for reaching an impressive milestone of 100 customers! This achievement highlights the incredible value Pear Suite brings to the community health worker workforce. By equipping them with essential resources, Pear Suite empowers these workers to serve larger communities, standardize data, enhance care navigation, and secure reimbursements from participating health plans. Well done, team! Here's to many more milestones and continued success.

🚨 Announcement 🚨 The response to Meet the Athlete has been overwhelming! Thank you to everyone who has applied and shown interest in our project. In order to give our team and Matt enough time to review all applications, we will accept new applications until this Sunday 06/23/2024 at midnight Pacific Time. Our team is currently reviewing all applications and will be in touch soon. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work through this process. Stay tuned for further updates!

#Inventures2024 invited Open Venture Capital's Kimberley Nixon to share her insights on early pricing, market dynamics, valuations and differentiation for early stage Founders. Kimberley was joined by Kristina Milke (General Partner, Sprout Fund), Peter Santosham (Executive Director, Seed Funds at Innovate Calgary) and BKR Capital’s Lise Birikundavyi, CFA who moderated the panel to a large, and overflowing room of attendees. Thank you to the team at Alberta Innovates and specifically Ayo Aiyeleye, MSc, PMP® for making the opportunity available to explore innovation in Canada.