IPO market strengthening

Defense tech events

Author

Michael Morgenstern
July 09, 2024

Happy Tuesday Brex community,

The IPO market is strengthening. U.S. IPOs raised $8.4B in Q1 2024, over 3x the Q1 2023 amount.

However, not every private company should rush to go public. Consider these three points:

1️⃣ Intentionality — Understand why you’re going public and what you aim to gain. The milestone alone isn’t enough; know how it will drive future performance.

2️⃣ Profitability — While not a strict requirement, most companies going public in 2024 prioritize achieving profitability or having a clear path to it.

3️⃣ Obligations — Going public brings more stakeholders, reporting duties, and scrutiny, plus an active valuation. This is significant and worth noting.

In short, going public is a remarkable achievement—ensure you’re prepared for the demands of the public market.

Growing together, Michael Morgenstern

Upcoming Events:

  • Founder Mixer 7/9 in Boston

    Designed as a curated rooftop happy hour for Brex’s fastest growing clients

    Apply Here Brex Host: Michael Morgenstern

  • Brex Supper Club 7/22 in El Segundo, CA

    Designed as a private conversational dinner for defense tech founders

    Apply Here Brex Host: Michael Morgenstern

  • Brex Supper Club 7/24 in SF

    Designed as a private conversational dinner for AI founders cohosted with Gradient Ventures

    Apply Here Brex Host: Jonathan Chang 

  • Brex Mixer Club 7/24 in Bridgehampton 

    Designed as a curated cocktail mixer for founders and investors spending the summer in the Hamptons

    Apply Here Brex Host: Erica Wenger

Startup of the Week 🤩 

Veba Baby has created the world’s first baby bottle monitor that tracks the expiration of breast milk and formula in real time — making automatic adjustments based on data and guidelines from the WHO and CDC. The monitor gives parents peace of mind, knowing that their babies are getting the best nutrition possible, at home or on the go.

Ambassador Perspective: Veba is a compelling company with its innovative Smart Baby Bottle Monitor, soon to be featured on Shark Tank July 10th (10pmET). Their recent launch in Target adds a crucial third sales channel, solidifying their presence in the US Baby e-commerce market. Additionally, a partnership with Philips Avent enhances brand awareness among millions of Target users through the Philips Baby+ app. We are watching this dynamic team in this massive market closely.

Venture Capitalist Spotlight 🤩 

Lisa Calhoun is the founder of Valor VC in Atlanta Georgia and leads their investment committee. Valor leads seed rounds in AI software companies started in the South. Lisa was recognized last year as one of the Top 30 Women Investors in Early Stage by Business Insider. She's investing out of her third fund.

"When I'm speaking with founders, my top three questions are, 1) Why are you doing this? 2) How do you see getting to $100M in revenue inside of 10 years? and 3) What kind of support do you need the most right now?"

Here's how you get your B2B AI company in front of Lisa and her team, and details on what they are looking for.

The financial stack that scales with you. 🤩 Trusted by 1 in 3 US startups, Brex allows you to manage your spend from MVP to IPO. Interested? Sign up here using the referral code NEWSLETTER and get 25,000 bonus points, $5K AWS credits, $2.5K OpenAI credits and up to $150K in SaaS discounts.

Don’t hesitate to reach out,🦾!