Laconia

Meet Sumner Vanderhoof and Carla Vanderhoof, the dynamic co-founders of Propensity, featured in our latest Portfolio Spotlight! Hear their inspiring story of resilience, innovation, and how they transformed challenges into triumphs. Catch the full spotlight here: https://lnkd.in/gbGA7STi

Congratulations to our legacy portfolio company, LeagueApps, for successfully closing a major financing round led by Accel-KKR. This achievement highlights Laconia’s B2B investment strategy: backing great founders solving high-impact workflow problems with a customer-focused go-to-market approach leads to tremendous value creation and successful exits. Congratulations to Brian Litvack and Jeremy Goldberg for their continued success! The founders of Laconia first invested in LeagueApps during its seed round in 2011, recognizing their potential to revolutionize recreational sports management. Their journey exemplifies our belief in the digital transition from manual processes—a trend that continues to evolve with emerging technologies and AI. To read more, click here: https://lnkd.in/eifxPTQQ Arctos, Contour Venture Partners, 645 Ventures, Red Sea Ventures , Major League Baseball (MLB), Elysian Park Ventures

Last week Geri Kirilova attended the WVC:E Summit in Paris! This event had over 350 senior investors and venture capital leaders, featuring 70+ speakers and 25+ sessions. Huge thank you to Sophie Winwood and Ruth Foxe Blader for building a truly inclusive community and hosting a phenomenal event!

We’ve moved! Laconia/Venture Cooperative has a new office! We’re thrilled to finally settle into our new location in the Flatiron area. We hope you’ll have the chance to come by, take a tour, and check out our new space. We’d love to welcome you personally. Come celebrate this milestone with us!

Join us for the nextNYC October VC/Founder Coffee Meetups! Jeffrey Silverman will be at Murray Hill with Momo Bi from Watershed Ventures at 8:30 AM on October 17th! These coffee meetups are a great way to connect with VCs and fellow founders at the start of their startup journeys. Plus, you'll have the chance to tap into Jeffrey’s wealth of knowledge, gained from years of experience in the industry. To register for this event, click here: https://lnkd.in/exfQNsgT

Last week Mirit Lugassi joined the Department for Business and Trade UK Women in Tech Trade Mission’s VC mentoring session. Thank you Lynn Loacker, Shree Shah and Sydney Badman for the opportunity! It was great to join fellow investors Alex Chung, Yasmin Ibrahim, Eastin Rossell, Ian Seltzer, and June W Choi, to try and share some actionable feedback and insight to help shape the stories of these trailblazing women. The entrepreneurs – Liz Villani - beyourselfatwork, Riham Satti, Sabrina P., Rebecca Griffiths, Kathryn S., and Mahreen J. – are all building across AI observability, Cyber Security, autonomous BI, Retail Enablement, Reg Tech and more! We look forward to following their growth.

Last week Mirit Lugassi had the pleasure of being a guest speaker at the Yale School of Management Private Equity & Venture Capital Club. A big thank you to Ioana Solomon and the team for the warm welcome and the opportunity to share Mirit’s journey in the venture capital world. 💼✨ From storytelling about entering the industry to answering some intriguing questions from the students, it was an insightful discussion! Looking forward to seeing where this conversation takes you all next!

Our portfolio company, Paloma, is featured in Julia Waldow’s Modern Retail article on the rise of resale services. Paloma’s innovative e-commerce platform lets users resell items directly via Instagram, streamlining the process and boosting transparency. In fact, in Paloma’s recent case study, they achieved a 140% increase in sales through their seamless integration and user-friendly features. Read the full article below!

Raising venture capital is challenging, but you can increase your chances by running a focused and organized process. One of the hardest parts is creating momentum and generating investor competition. Unlike B2B sales, there’s no inherent demand for your round—you need to build it. The more prepared you are before launching your raise, the better your odds of success. Here’s a streamlined approach: 1) Build an investor pipeline – Start with at least 50 aligned investors based on your stage, round size, and sector. 2) Establish connections – Use a mix of warm intros and targeted outreach to get on their radar. 3) Prepare your materials – Ensure your pitch deck and data room are polished and ready for review. 4) Run a structured process – Move as many investors through the process simultaneously to create competition and maintain momentum. By keeping investors engaged, being transparent about your progress, and balancing urgency with realism, you’ll set yourself up for a more successful fundraising round. For a deep dive into building your fundraising strategy, read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/etXP7ciJ

Congrats to our portfolio company, Yuvo Health, for being named a Fierce 50 honoree of 2024 by Fierce Life Sciences and Fierce Healthcare! 🎉 This recognition highlights their dedication to innovation, equity, and making a positive impact in healthcare. Proud to see them shaping the future with their FQHC partners! Check out the full list below!