Posts by lucidcapitalism
The Agriculture Industry Didn’t Have a Data Platform – So She Created One
(Inc.) Gro Intelligence’s software helps power the multitrillion-dollar agriculture industry. Ticker prices and stock symbols surrounded Sara Menker when she worked as a commodities trader in the 2000s. But she noticed one field was lacking in data: agriculture. “Nearly every part of our lives depends on this multitrillion-dollar industry,” she says, “and it didn’t have…
Read MoreLaunch of the Startups & Society Initiative
(Medium) Faced with a pandemic, the climate crisis, and unresolved systemic racial and economic inequality, our country finds itself at a critical moment. Our interdependence is now more apparent than ever, and this has triggered explosive demands for change in every corner of society. Technology companies are not immune, having been increasingly singled out for…
Read MoreYale may have just turned institutional investing on its head with a new diversity edict
(TechCrunch) It could be the long-awaited turning point in the world of venture capital and beyond. Yale, whose $32 billion endowment has been led since 1985 by the legendary investor David Swensen, just let its 70 U.S. money managers across a variety of asset classes know that for the school, diversity has now moved front…
Read MoreGreylock and MLT are trying to diversify tech’s wealth cycle
(TechCrunch) Greylock Partners has teamed up with Management Leadership for Tomorrow to address issues of diversity and inclusion in the technology industry. Read more here.
Read MoreApollo Joins Impact Investing Rush With Goal to be Market Leader
(Bloomberg) Apollo Global Management Inc. is venturing into the world of impact investing, a corner of finance where most of its private equity peers already have substantial operations.
Read MoreVenture capital firms to include “diversity riders” in term sheets
(Axios) Ten venture capital firms on Wednesday will announce that they’re now including “diversity riders” in term sheets submitted to startups, requiring that best efforts are made to bring underrepresented investors into the deals.
Read MorePrivate Equity Makes ESG Promises. But Their Impact Is Often Superficial.
(Institutional Investor) Alongside Bono, Richard Branson, and eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, private equity firm TPG launched the Rise Impact fund in 2016. The offering committed “to deliver positive and sustainable impact” while creating a “top-performing fund.”
Read MoreNVCA Launches Nonprofit Venture Forward to Shape the Future of Venture Capital
(PR Newswire) The National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) today launched Venture Forward, a 501(c)(3) non-profit to shape the future of venture capital and meet the growing needs of the venture capital (VC) industry that extend beyond public policy. Venture Forward will drive the human capital, culture, values, and narrative of venture capital, to promote a strong…
Read MoreDynamic Materiality In The Time Of COVID-19
(Forbes) Three months ago, in what seems like another age, I wrote about the concept of dynamic materiality. It was developed by Thomas Kuh, Andre Shepley, Greg Bala, and Michael Flowers of Truvalue Labs (TVL), a San Francisco-based technology company (to whom I’m an advisor) which uses AI and big data to develop signals on…
Read MoreOver Two Years After #MeToo Harassment Allegations, Justin Caldbeck Is Investing In Startups Again
(Forbes) Justin Caldbeck, the venture capitalist who resigned from his firm after six women accused him of unwanted sexual advances in the course of talking to him about their tech companies or other business deals, is investing in startups again. According to messages reviewed by Forbes, Caldbeck claims to have made small, angel investments in…
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