Skip to main content

Taking the pulse on the Northeast seed market with Techstars’ Kerty Levy

Techstars’ Kerty Levy knows a thing or two about where seed funding is, and where it might be going, in the Northeast.

During a presentation at TechCrunch’s Early Stage in Boston last month, Levy took a brief look at deal counts and valuations before exploring in more depth what the obstacles to funding are right now, and what founders are going to have to expand on in order to cut a deal.

From 2021 to 2022, overall deal count in the Northeast was down around 25%. It might not be surprising, but it is quite stark. If you take a look at seed funding specifically, things are even more contracted.

“Even if you extrapolate out past this quarter, even if we have a great second half of the year, I’m afraid that the deal count is looking bad,” she said.

In the first quarter of 2023, most of the investments in New England were in the productivity, business productivity, software, health care, climate, energy and fintech sectors.

But in Levy’s opinion, founders seeking investment are expected to jump through a series of hoops in order to access a pot of money that has decreased in size.

“In 2021, you would go through this list of things to think about,” Levy said. “Traction: check. Founder/market fit: check. That’s the attitude investors were going through at that time. But this time around, what we’re seeing is real, really rigorous, hurdle-jumping to get through the diligence and even through a few meetings with investors. And I think that’s because investors have funds to invest and want to spend it, but they want to spend it on the companies that they feel have the best chance of success.”

While investment might be down overall, there’s still a lot of buzz surrounding the companies that do get through all the hoops.

“Just like always, there is a little bit of FOMO there,” Levy said. “So those companies who are checking those boxes heavily and making it through that diligence, those are the ones that you’re hearing the buzz about the valuations are still up there.”

The hurdles are high.

Taking the pulse on the Northeast seed market with Techstars’ Kerty Levy by Haje Jan Kamps originally published on TechCrunch



source https://techcrunch.com/2023/05/28/northeast-seed-market/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Apple’s AI Push: Everything We Know About Apple Intelligence So Far

Apple’s WWDC 2025 confirmed what many suspected: Apple is finally making a serious leap into artificial intelligence. Dubbed “Apple Intelligence,” the suite of AI-powered tools, enhancements, and integrations marks the company’s biggest software evolution in a decade. But unlike competitors racing to plug AI into everything, Apple is taking a slower, more deliberate approach — one rooted in privacy, on-device processing, and ecosystem synergy. If you’re wondering what Apple Intelligence actually is, how it works, and what it means for your iPhone, iPad, or Mac, you’re in the right place. This article breaks it all down.   What Is Apple Intelligence? Let’s get the terminology clear first. Apple Intelligence isn’t a product — it’s a platform. It’s not just a chatbot. It’s a system-wide integration of generative AI, machine learning, and personal context awareness, embedded across Apple’s OS platforms. Think of it as a foundational AI layer stitched into iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and m...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Silent Revolution of On-Device AI: Why the Cloud Is No Longer King

Introduction For years, artificial intelligence has meant one thing: the cloud. Whether you’re asking ChatGPT a question, editing a photo with AI tools, or getting recommendations on Netflix — those decisions happen on distant servers, not your device. But that’s changing. Thanks to major advances in silicon, model compression, and memory architecture, AI is quietly migrating from giant data centres to the palm of your hand. Your phone, your laptop, your smartwatch — all are becoming AI engines in their own right. It’s a shift that redefines not just how AI works, but who controls it, how private it is, and what it can do for you. This article explores the rise of on-device AI — how it works, why it matters, and why the cloud’s days as the centre of the AI universe might be numbered. What Is On-Device AI? On-device AI refers to machine learning models that run locally on your smartphone, tablet, laptop, or edge device — without needing constant access to the cloud. In practi...
1 comment
Read more

Max Q: Psyche(d)

In this issue: SpaceX launches NASA asteroid mission, news from Relativity Space and more. © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/h6Kjrde via IFTTT
Post a Comment
Read more