The Crimson Insider (V. #3)
Insights and happenings from the Harvard startup & VC ecosystem
Welcome back, Insiders. First and foremost, we remain devastated by the tragic and horrific loss of lives in Israel / Gaza. We feel deeply for the families affected and hope for peace amid the suffering.
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Recent Harvard Financings / News 💸
🚀 Stash Financial receives $40M in new capital via a convertible note; indicates that the company is moving towards an IPO. Stash’s Series G in 2021 valued the company at $1.4B. Founded by David Ronick (HBS, 1994). More here.
🚀 Diana Health raises a $34M Series B led by Norwest Venture Partners. Founded by Kate Condliffe (HBS, 2008), Diana Health is a women’s healthcare company dedicated to improving health outcomes for women. More here.
🚀 Prevent Biometrics announced that World Rugby made the decision to mandate their technology across all levels of Rugby Union. Founded by Mike Shogren (HBS, 1994), Prevent is on a mission to make sports safer through their smart mouthguard with real-time, accurate head impact monitor system.
🦄 Tracking Private Unicorns
At Phoenix, we keep close tabs on Harvard-founded startups across all stages. We are currently tracking 83 Series C+ companies on path to IPO or a $1B+ exit. Furthermore, 27 of the 83 (33%) companies we’re monitoring already have a $1B+ private valuation.
Two others you’ve likely heard of:
Gympass: Providing pay-as-you-go gym access and enables employees to get unlimited access to gyms, fitness studios, swimming centers, bootcamps, and more. $2.5B most recent valuation. Founded by Cesar Carvalho (HBS, 2012).
Betterment: Financial advisory company offering digital investment solutions such as automated investing, cryptocurrency investing, financial planning, retirement planning, and more. $1.3B most recent valuation. Founded by Jonathan Stein (Harvard College, 2001).
*If you have additional information or believe that a company is missing from this list, please let us know by replying to this email
🚨 This week only, share The Crimson Insider with 5 HBS students and/or alumni and receive a $75 digital gift card! Details below.
❤️ Harvard-Founders Reign in Health Tech / Hardware
Harvard founders have made a meaningful impact in the world through ventures across many sectors, but your peers reign in health tech / health hardware companies is especially impressive.
Fitbit: $4.1B IPO, 2015. Founded by James Park (Harvard College, 1998)
Strava: $1.5B latest private valuation, 2020. Founded by Mark Gainey (Harvard College, 1990) and Michael Horvath (Harvard College, 1988)
Peloton: $8.1B IPO, 2019. Founded by John Foley (HBS, 2001)
Whoop: $3.6B latest private valuation, 2021. Founded by Will Ahmed (Harvard College, 2012)
Celebrating Your Peers 🎉
Tyler Bosmeny (Harvard College, 2009) joins YC as a Visiting Group Partner. Prior to YC, Tyler was the Founder & CEO of Clever, a classroom education technology company acquired by Kahoot! for $500M in 2021. More here.
Zhenya Loginov (HBS, 2012) joined Accel as a Partner where he focuses on helping European and Israeli founders build global businesses. More here.
Steve Shaheen (HBS) closes $675M inaugural fund as a Partner at Astira Capital Partners. More here.
Gus Domel (PhD, Harvard) was promoted to Principal at Boost VC.
Aaron Matto (HBS, 2011) joined TPG as a Partner.
*Please reply to this email with a tip / celebration to share
VC Spotlight 📣
This week, we’re spotlighting alumni investors featured on the 2023 Forbes Midas List - this year’s best technology investors. 15 alumni were featured on the List and 25% of the top 25 spots were filled by your peers!
Alfred Lin (Sequoia), David Frankel (Founders Collective), Mike Speiser (Sutter Hill), Danny Rimer (Index), Chris Dixon (a16z), Keith Rabois (Founders Fund), Rick Heitzmann (FirstMark), Marc Stad (Dragoneer), Santi Subotovsky (Emergence), Mamoon Hamid (Kleiner Perkins), Scott Raney (Redpoint), Jing Hong (Gaocheng), Ryan Sweeney (Accel), Max Gazor (CRV), Matt Witheiler (Wellington).
Big congratulations to all of our Midas Listers!
Community Updates 🧑🤝🧑
Phoenix aims to foster community among Harvard founders, investors, and alumni to offer a rewarding extension of the Harvard experience.
With 2024 fast approaching, we are excited to announce our new line up of events, gatherings, dinners, and happy hours for the year. Stay tuned as we have more information coming your way soon.
What’s Happening at Harvard? 🤔
🔗Link: Harvard College Announces $2,000 “Launch-Grants” to Low-Income Juniors, intending to support students’ plans for post-Harvard life (aiming to cover costs such as travel to job interviews or test preparation materials).
🔗 Link: Harvard’s Claudia Goldin awarded Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics.
Phoenix Library 📚️ 🎙️
🎙️ Great Listens
🔗 Link: Chris Paik - Venture Investing Frameworks, Invest Like the Best with Patrick O’Shaughnessy. Featuring Chris Paik, GP at Pace Capital (Harvard College, 2009).
🔗 Link: 20VC episode featuring Matthew Prince (HBS, 2009), co-founder & CEO of Cloudflare (NYSE: NET)
📚️ Great Reads
🔗 Link: Conversations with Kai: The Time Traveling AI. Blending together ancient wisdom with modern AI technology, the book invites readers to ponder life’s most profound mysteries and especially - what it means to be human in the age of AI. Written by Peter ‘JP’ Liang.
🔗 Link: The State of VC in 2023 via Twitter, by Sam Lessin (Harvard College, 2005)
Cheers,
Anthony, Chloe, & Devon
Phoenix Investment Fund