Highlights from Startup World Cup 2022

I recently had the opportunity to attend Startup World Cup 2022 with a handful of my CLA colleagues. I really enjoyed interacting with members of the Bay Area venture capital community along with watching the Startup competition presentations. Chris Parker from our transaction services team has provided some key takeaways and insights from the event below –

The largest startup competition in the world – The Startup World Cup, hosted by Pegasus Tech Ventures, is a platform for startups and startup ecosystems around the world. The event is intended to unite entrepreneurs, corporations, and investors from around the world.

The event was headlined by Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary along with other prominent investors and entrepreneurs such as Lidia Fonseca (CTO of Pfizer), Spencer Rascoff (Co-founder of Zillow), and Ryan Kavanaugh (Principal & Co-Founder of Triller). The event kicked off with fireside chats from industry professionals and presentations from startup teams followed by a Q&A with the panel of judges scoring the competition. The day finished with presentations from the finalists ultimately leading to the winner and awards ceremony that featured CLA’s own Patrick Smith and Stephen Estes, who spoke at the ceremony. Below are some of the highlights from the event.

• Deal Flow and Size – Venture capital firms are still seeing tremendous activity in the market and fundraising has surpassed 2021 figures. Valuations, although still relatively high, have started to decline in 2022, largely due to economic concerns and the increase of interest rates.
• Crowd Source Funding – Capital solutions are always evolving, from startups to established platforms, crowd source funding is growing in popularity and could pave a way for nontraditional investors to enter the venture space.
• Silicon Valley, still King? – With the emergence of technology and other resources, entrepreneurs are popping up all over the world. Venture capital firms have long hovered around Silicon Valley, but recently Austin, New York, and Los Angeles have gained traction in the venture scene, leading to satellite offices and the birth of new firms. Despite the growth outside of Silicon Valley, members at the event were still bullish on Silicon Valley being at the center of venture activity for years to come.
• Outlook – Venture capital is still a thriving asset class. Despite growth rates slowing in 2022 relative to the surge seen from 2020 to 2021, firms are still raising and launching new funds.   

Key takeaway: Regardless of recent challenges in the economy, global tensions, and COVID, the world is still innovating and looking forward. With challenging times comes great opportunities.

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