TechCrunch+ Roundup: YC Demo Days, blockchain’s killer app, comparing seed investors

Most startups never get past the pitch deck stage, so getting an investor to say yes can become a founder’s all-encompassing desire.

Getting into an accelerator like Y Combinator can open countless doors, but this year, some investors are saying that the higher valuations these startups obtain today will make fundraising more difficult later.

In a TC+ article that examines four different seed investor models, Work-Bench general partner Jonathan Lehr examines “the underlying incentives and biases of different investor archetypes, ranging from YC to seed firms to multistage firms.”

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The Notorious B.I.G. wasn’t referring to high-valuation startups when he wrote, “It’s like the more money we come across, the more problems we see,” but it’s relevant here.

“Most Series A investors would look to at least 2x the valuation of the seed raise,” says Lehr.

“Consider the milestones that would be sought out in a scenario to justify a $20 million valuation doubling to $40 million, compared to a $12 million doubling to $24 million.”

Food for thought,

Walter Thompson
Editorial Manager, TechCrunch+

Our favorite startups from YC’s Summer 2023 Demo Day, Day 1

For YC’s first day of cohort presentations, Dominic-Madori Davis, Christine Hall, Alex Wilhelm, Rebecca Szkutak, Tim De Chant, and Anna Heim selected a baker’s dozen of their favorite startups:

• Constructable
• Coba
• Chow Central
• Leafpress
• Langfuse
• Osium AI
• Line.Build
• Glade
• Slingshot
• Guac
• Vendors
• Cheq
• CatX

Our favorite startups from YC’s Summer 2023 Demo Day, Day 2

YC’s Summer 2023 cohort is slightly smaller than it has been in recent years, which means there’s less chaff for the TC+ team to sort through.

Yesterday, Alex Wilhelm, Christine Hall and Anna Heim identified their eight preferred startups from the summer batch’s final day:

• Envelope
• Flint
• Dili
• Silicate
• Parea AI
• Magic Loops
• Flex
• Pure

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Blockchain tech needs a ‘ChatGPT moment’ to scale enterprise adoption

What’s going to vault blockchain technology into the fore when it comes to enterprise software?

“I haven’t seen any killer use case yet,” said Gary Liu, co-founder and CEO of Terminal 3. “I think we’re really, really early in enterprise adoption.”

At Korea Blockchain Week, Jacquelyn Melinek interviewed founders and investors about the headwinds the industry faces as it searches for ways to service blue-chip businesses.

“The use case needs to be nonexistent today,” said Yue Hong Zhang, managing director and partner of Boston Consulting Group. “This is how you bring in a new wave of users.”

Here’s why some investors are sitting out of YC Demo Day

Y Combinator’s Summer 2023 cohort took part in Demo Days this week, but seven investors Rebecca Szkutak interviewed said they were taking a pass.

“Demo Day is not really all that useful for pre-seed, seed investors at this point, as most of the companies are already funded,” said Ameet Shah, general partner at Golden Ventures.

“It’s useful for the larger funds that want to track companies/founders. Most of the work pre-seed/seed firms have to do [is] before demo day.”

Ask Sophie: How do I move my startup to the US while my co-founders remain in India?

Dear Sophie,

I am an entrepreneur with a company based in India.

Down the road, I want to move to the U.S. to seek venture capital funding to expand my company while my co-founders remain in India.

How can I come to the U.S. to set up my company and have my operation in India linked to it?

— Expanding Entrepreneur