Beta Financial Services’ Post

This year marks the 5th year of the Google for Startups Founders Funds, which started in the United States. Each startup will receive $150,000 in non-dilutive cash awards, $100,000 in Google Cloud credits, and hands-on mentorship from Google experts across AI, sales and more to help build and scale their companies and innovate responsibly with AI. Read more about the 2024 Founders Funds recipients here: https://lnkd.in/gu94sBjE

Congratulations to the Beta team for this great accomplishment. We are thrilled to be a part of Google for Startups Founders Fund, focused on companies using Artificial Intelligence to positively impact humanity. We believe that all businesses should have fair access to capital, however identity (e.g. race, gender) leads to disparate outcomes. The problem is massively complex, but we have pin-pointed small business credit scoring as the best way to address this problem at scale. Our work with Google will enable ethical use of generative AI to empower small businesses to access and improve their BetaScore over time, which will in-turn increase access to and lower cost of capital over time. Success is a world where the only thing determining whether your business gets a loan is how good you are at selling a service/product at a higher price than it costs to provide. Nothing more, nothing less. Let's go Google!!!

We’re thrilled to announce that Dr. Marcus Spiegel, our Lead Technologist, will be a featured panellist at the Google for Startups Google Cloud Climate Tech Event in London on December 4th at the Startup Hub. This event brings together alumni of the Google for Startups Climate Tech Accelerator, with Marcus sharing the stage alongside Mark Dowds (RESPONSIBLE) and Marta Krupinska (CUR8). Key topics will include: → Experiences with Google’s Climate Tech Accelerator and leveraging its support. → The role of AI in advancing climate technology. → Building successful B2B and B2G partnerships. → Insights into overcoming challenges in the climate tech sector. → Practical advice for early-stage startups in sustainability. This is a unique opportunity to hear Marcus discuss Gentian’s journey and our vision for the future of climate technology. #ClimateTech #Gentian #Sustainability #GoogleForStartups #AI #Innovation

Many successful startups are at least slightly ahead of their time at first, finding themselves well-positioned to jump on a new trend or take advantage of newly available technologies. Today's AI companies could follow the same path. For consumer-facing startups raising capital to grow their business and losing money on a per user basis today could be a viable model. LLMs are expensive today, but the cost is likely to drop at least 10x over the next few years. If you’re in the red now due to LLM costs, but can successfully position your company as the company that does X for Y in the minds of consumers and capture pole position, you have a good shot at being in the black in 4-5 years. At that point, you should have the unit economics of your business dialed in, and you can pour fuel on the fire.

Reflections on the Google I/O Event: Startups and LLMs A Google PM revealed untruth facts building startups on LLMs: Foundation matters: A startup's success hinges not just on cutting-edge tech, but on addressing real customer needs. Without solid use cases, even the most advanced LLM is like bread without butter. Navigating the AI rollercoaster: Developing apps on LLMs (be it Gemini or others) is a journey through uncertainty. What's challenging today may become problematic tomorrow and unpredictable the day after. Embracing the process: This rapidly evolving landscape demands adaptability. While the outcome isn't guaranteed, the experience gained - whether in success or failure - is invaluable. #AIStartups #LLM #TechInnovation

Graph of the Month: The Tech Skills Gap in Europe’s Unicorns🦄 Did you know? 74% of Europe’s unicorn founders lack tech skills! Our Startup Heatmap (www.startupheatmap.eu) data reveals that only 35% of founders know how to code. This gap presents a major challenge for growth in Europe’s deep tech ecosystem. If you find this insight valuable, share it with your network to spark the conversation! https://lnkd.in/edFmRXtk 📊 #TechLeadership

As I look ahead to our next Techstars San Francisco cohort,  I’m especially excited to support more female founders bringing their vision to life. If you’re a woman in tech working on something bold—whether in AI, deep tech, or any other space—I’d love to see you apply. I know firsthand how invaluable it is to have diverse voices and perspectives in the room, shaping the future of startups and tech. We’re here to support founders with mentorship, a strong network, and a safe space to grow. If you’re curious about joining or just want to chat about your startup journey, feel free to reach out. We are committed to being a place where you can build, thrive, and succeed. Let’s work together toward a startup world that truly reflects all voices. 📧 Reach out: sylvia.bouloutas@techstars.com 👉 Learn more and Apply here: https://lnkd.in/gd5exiZ7 #FemaleFounders #TechstarsSF #DiversityInTech #Founders #Accelerator #VentureCapital #Techstars

Good News! We got accepted for the DeepTech Boost 2024 program from CITES: "The program aims to identify, support, and accelerate the development of deeptech startups in their early stages. Through a combination of training and mentorship, we seek to transform innovative ideas into successful and sustainable tech companies capable of competing in the global market."

I want to share an insight I've gained while participating in the Techstars program about why accelerator programs are excellent environments for developing your idea and making the right pivots; it's not by accident. Many accelerator programs have been around for over 20 years, funding nearly 10,000 companies. As founders, we often like to believe that our ideas are unique, that we're the first, and that we have no competitors. However, with such a volume of companies, it's likely that some have been funded that directly compete with yours or are strikingly similar. I would wager that almost any founder could find at least ten companies similar to theirs. Some of these companies have been successful, others have pivoted, and some have failed. All three outcomes are valuable. In accelerator programs, you often have access to other companies and founders, providing opportunities to learn from their failures and pivots. Success stories serve as models for what to do right. I often hear founders complain about the "cost" of these programs—the equity stakes, pro-rata rights, MFN clauses, etc. Yes, they are expensive, but that's also why you should fully utilize the resources and access provided. TL;DR: I am experiencing many great learnings with Tré Baker as Glitch participates in Techstars. We are using gaming as a go-to-market strategy to develop our large language model for AI, which can comprehend media in real-time and make decisions by leveraging the Techstars network of other companies.

"Like any model, this is wrong, but reflecting on the patterns may be useful. The key point is that meaningful differences exist between rapidly growing startups/scale-ups, more established tech companies, and non-digital-product-selling companies looking to modernize. You can also experience all three motions in the same company (and experience the shifts and tensions as you move between motions, which could be unique motions unto themselves)." https://lnkd.in/gbPAgHCz