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Priced seed rounds near all-time highs

Plus, a rise in seed founders offering discounts to early investors

Author

Michael Morgenstern
March 26, 2024

Happy Tuesday Brex community,

In today’s seed-stage ecosystem, we're witnessing valuations that are reaching unprecedented heights. It's a trend that, while exciting, calls for a careful approach. High valuations can be a testament to certain startup’s promise and the market's confidence to them, but they can also set a daunting precedent for future performance and funding efforts. Tread carefully. 

On the other hand, despite peak valuations, we are seeing an increasing trend of pre-seed founders offering discounts to early investors. While this can be an attractive lure, it’s worth noting that these discounts can more than often raise red flags. They might suggest that the startup is overly eager to attract investment, potentially at the cost of a fair valuation.

Keep sharing your experiences with us – they're gold for this community – and we can’t wait to see you IRL!

Growing together, Michael Morgenstern

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Startup of the Week 🤩 

Summer Delaney, Co-Founder and CEO of CollabWORK

CollabWORK cracks the code on sourcing and reaching diverse, top-tier talent leveraging the power of exclusive online communities. Imagine ditching the job boards and connecting with exceptional talent organically in the online spaces they already frequent, from Slack channels to niche newsletters to other vetted affinity groups. CollabWORK's AI-powered matching ensures your job postings reach the perfect audience within trusted networks, sparking genuine interest and engagement from highly qualified candidates.

Ambassadors Perspective: When's the last time you landed a job by applying cold? While most talent solutions focus on optimizing your existing candidate pipeline, CollabWORK reaches the right talent with targeted distribution networks and word-of-mouth referrals. This precision marketing approach unlocks the "Hidden Job Market," slashing sourcing time by 66% and fueling a more inclusive workforce. In the realm of talent acquisition and marketing, CollabWORK stands out, providing a modern and effective solution for securing the best candidates seamlessly.

Venture Capitalist Spotlight 🤩 

CEAS Investments is a venture fund within a family office that aims to be low friction partners, investing with conviction to power the brightest minds early in their entrepreneurial journey. Their primary focus is enterprise software with $150k-$1.5m initial checks. They write first checks into pre-seed/seed companies and have unlimited follow-on potential - some of their biggest wins have been with companies they funded through every round (i.e. Fivetran).

Additionally, they have Honors Fund, a $25m sub-fund aimed at accelerating the next generation of founders. Writing $250,000 checks to current students or recent grads to pursue their company full-time.

Ronnie has been at CEAS since 2018 and is responsible for sourcing, analyzing and recommending new early-stage and follow-on investments. She is a board member for Marqii and a board observer and Prescient AI. She is Canadian and was previously a NCAA division 1 soccer player at the University of Miami and a semi-pro player for the Toronto Lynx.

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