Hackers & Backers

Pitch Global launched as part of its ongoing CVC Impact series of events, the first CVC Accelerator for startups. With Sponsorship from Venture Lab Niterra Group (Thom Kluz 🙏) and SJSU Research and Innovation (Edgar Ceron 🙏) we first want to thank our sponsors for making this possible. In this interview with Deepak M. we learned the unique perspective of how Hitachi Ventures operates. In the CVC world there several different models (and we have seen this from Samsung Catalyst Fund, Samsung Ventures, LG Technology Ventures, JetBlue Ventures, Lam Research, and so many more). Hitachi Ventures operates at arms length and can make investment decisions in 4-6 weeks. Other CVC, especially with strong corporate integration, may take 6-9 months. But in all cases a common threat is that CVCs don't shy away from early stage startups - as long as it fits into their investment thesis. Hitachi Ventures can invest 2M to 10M and is not "afraid" of leading (or co-leading) the round. They are looking at all things Data and AI for example, on the data side - multi-modal data pipelines, automated data discovery and lineage, classification of unstructured data, observability, governance, Edge AI. On the AI side - smaller language models, large action models, code requirements and testing using AI, traceability of the weights and the data in LLMs, and mulit-agents applications and frameworks, post transformer architecture. Asked why most Japanese CVCs are located in the US or in other International markets the answer was a kind of myopia of Japanese startups looking only at the Japanese market vs US company typically start with a world prospective. Motto: "Bolder is better" (but not without substance). Another takeaway, be truthful and correct from day one!!! (This is important for many entrepreneurs to understand, inflating numbers, misrepresenting their activities, presenting answers when questioned that are not true - all are deal killers). A good old proverb says: "Lies have short legs". How do you know if your company is a good fit? A: Best way participate with Pitch Global. We know what is a fit or not because we were told. We never mind to make warm introductions. B: If you don't have us, start out with studying their website and LinkedIn profile it often tells you more about their interests. C: If you don't have anybody for a warm introduction, search which investment partner (director) handles you vertical that your company is pursuing. Now check this partner on LinkedIn and see who in your network 1st and 2nd degree of connections is connected and reach out with a well formulated message. D: and this is the least preferred, cold outreach. One additional interesting fact of Hitachi Ventures is that the head of Hitachi Ventures is German (like Niterra Ventures). #Startups #Fundraising #leadership #CVC #Entrepreneurs

Great event last night with our friends from hackers and backers. A big shout out to our co-hosts Silverside AI. It was a fantastic event space and we look forward to more collaboration in the future. Not too many offices can show off a bar in their office. Guests had the opportunity to hear about the investing landscape, challenges of company building, and future of A.I. from Lyman Thai, Deepak M., Wesley Tillu and Shriyash U.