Your Techstars Venture Capital Weekly Digest is here! (Issue #34)

Jenny Zeng, managing partner at MSA Capital, discusses the VC industry in China, her investment strategy and how the trade war is impacting China’s tech space.

Forbes today released the 2019 Midas List Europe, which highlights the top 25 VC’s in Europe that are investing into the most disruptive high-tech innovations.

This year was meant to be triumphal for a16z. But four highly-anticipated IPOs failed to impress and a report emerged that its fund returns have been falling off. What’s next for the iconic VC firm?

Corporate venture capital funding is at an all-time high and banks are leading the charge.

It’s become the norm for some private tech companies to raise in a single round what VC firms raise for an entire new fund. For a certain class of large, rapidly-growing companies flying in the rarified air of startup finance, raising $100 million or more in a venture round is, if you’ll forgive the pun, just not that big of a deal anymore.

Venture dollars are pouring into the cannabis space on the belief that the drug will someday be legal in the US. Without the traditional exit route of an IPO, the boom has also led to a boom in M&A.

Two years ago, First Round launched its Pitch Assist program to help founders raise follow-on capital. Here are the most important fundraising lessons we share.

Even for strong startups, fundraising is a marathon that requires near constant attention for 8–12 weeks. The process is punishing, and riskier than you might imagine. You need to prep for it as…