A Tale of Three Launch Startups Firefly’s surprise weekend announcement that it is buying software specialist SciTec shows how aggressively the company is moving to become a full-fledged space and defense company not defined solely, or even predominantly, by launch. The $855 million deal, comprised of $300 million in cash and $555 million in stock, is nearly as much as what Firefly raised in its IPO ($868 million) just two months ago. SciTec adds 475 employees to Firefly’s ~800, growing headcount by roughly 60% and reshaping Firefly into a bigger contender for Golden Dome work. Compared with the other U.S. launch companies that went public this decade – Rocket Lab and Virgin Orbit – Firefly’s evolution is the most rapid from a financial standpoint. In its first few months as a public entity, Firefly is outpacing what Rocket Lab spent in four years on M&A. Why the urgency? ➡️ Read the full QuickTake here: https://lnkd.in/eAS8QWsv
Firefly Acquires SciTec for $855M, Expands into Space and Defense
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We believe the VC secondary market will keep expanding through direct secondaries, while GP-led deals remain limited by design. This market rewards winning tickets, not entire portfolios. We see it clearly on our platform — every quarter, activity becomes more concentrated around top names. In Q3 2025, the top 10 companies represented 47% of total listed volume, the highest share in two years.
NEW REPORT 🚀 Sizing the GP-Led Secondaries Market for US VC 💡 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 Continuation vehicles and strip sales let LPs access liquidity early, while GPs gain time to continue backing their top startups. 📉 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 We size GP-led venture secondaries at $14.6B, projected to grow by just $1.5B over the next two years. In comparison, direct secondaries generate over $61B annually. ⚙️ 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐮𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐬 Only large RIAs can feasibly run continuation vehicles, because too many resources are needed for re-underwriting and continued management. As potential buyers, many GPs are unable to purchase stakes in continuation vehicles due to overlapping strategies with LPs. 🔮 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤? If liquidity returns, GP-leds will likely plateau... Unlike direct secondaries, which are expected to surge alongside renewed dealmaking and higher pricing transparency. 👉 Read the full breakdown on PitchBook (free access): https://lnkd.in/gKWCsUiQ
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📣 Is It Time For The Next Unicorn? 📣 Hear from Brian Wilson, the real estate powerhouse behind the Tri-Valley's hardest tech and life sciences facilities. Brian Wilson (Colliers VP) sits down with Yolanda Fintschenko (Daybreak Labs Executive Director) to discuss: How to build a custom lab without breaking the bank. The path from law to brokering startup deals. Why the Tri-Valley is the ultimate location for science-based scale-ups. A must-listen for founders & investors! ➡️ Watch the full episode now: https://loom.ly/mTDuvBU #StartupTriValley #DaybreakLabs #HardTech #LifeSciences #CommercialRealEstate
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How do you evaluate 400 startups per year without drowning in pitch decks? Oshkosh Corporation's Jennifer Miller built a filtering system that gives quick answers. The breakthrough: Start with customers, not with startups. Her team asks business units "what will customers pay for?" before looking at a single company. That creates clear themes. Within each theme, they find 10 relevant startups. Then comes the kill step: Technical diligence before business diligence. If the technology doesn't work or doesn't fit, they stop. No financial models, no lengthy negotiations, just a fast no. The companies that pass get presented monthly to their full executive team—CEO, CFO, all business unit presidents. More quick nos, or clear marching orders to build the investment thesis. This process solves the biggest CVC problem: Analysis paralysis. The full conversation covers how they structure these partnerships (spoiler: proof of concept first, equity later), how they handle IP in the NDA, and why board observer seats beat board seats: https://lnkd.in/g5NsRCwp
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"Physical-Tech & AI" -- building/investing at the intersection of physical and digital -- Conduit VC / Conduit Venture Labs
For hardware startups, cash flow isn’t just accounting — it’s oxygen. Without financial strategy and a grasp of your supply chain position, even brilliant engineering and design runs out of air. We continue our discussion series with Conduit Fellow and hardware operations and culture builders bad-a$$ Orla Lucey. We chat about the unique challenges that come with creating a culture of innovation within physical-tech ventures, to the early understanding of cash flow, supply chain strategies, tariffs, and surrounding yourself with those that been there before. In hard-tech, experience, wisdom, relationships and access matter more than most founders and investors understand.... Listen to whole conversation here: https://lnkd.in/gWh9pwpZ Conduit Venture Labs / Conduit VC #physicalTech #hardware #venturecapital #vc #venturestudio #deeptech
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A Valuer should always know what “Carve-Out” and “Green Shoe” really means in a Term Sheet. Let us take an example - A Startup raising $1M, VC carve-out of $100K, green shoe of $100K at a pre-money valuation of $5M. Explanation - VC Carve-Out: Out of the $1M raise, $100K is reserved for a particular VC or lead investor. It ensures their participation even if the round is oversubscribed — essentially, their seat at the table is guaranteed. Green Shoe Option: This is flexibility. If investor demand exceeds expectations, the startup can raise an additional $100K (usually 10-15%) on the same terms. So effectively, the company could raise $1.1M instead of $1M, keeping its pre-money valuation at $5M and post-money at $6.1M. From a valuer’s lens: Carve-outs show who controls the round. Green shoes show how confident the market is in the round. Both say a lot about investor sentiment, even before the money hits the account. #StartupFunding #Valuation #VentureCapital #TermSheet #RegisteredValuer
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Every founder knows this one: Investor: “We love what you’re building! Can you show more traction?” Me: “We can, once we raise funds to scale.” Investor: “We fund post-traction startups.” Me: “So… who funds pre-traction founders trying to get traction?” Investor: “Friends and family.” Me: “My friends are also founders, and my family still doesn’t understand what I do.” 😅 And that’s how the modern-day chicken-and-VC loop begins. But here’s what I realized traction isn’t just numbers. It’s persistence, it’s feedback loops, it’s progress that isn’t always visible in a dashboard. The best founders I’ve met didn’t wait for validation , they built momentum until validation couldn’t ignore them. So if you’re out there building without external fuel , you’re doing the hard part already. Keep going. The right people will notice #founder #vc
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The wrong investor can devalue your startup by 25x - just like real estate location matters. A $200K condo in Ohio vs. $5M in San Francisco. Same square footage, same construction - but completely different neighborhoods. Investors think exactly the same way about your startup. They don't buy your product. They buy your position in their mental map: - Market timing alignment - Portfolio thesis fit - Strategic category exposure Pitch a generalist fund? You look overpriced. Pitch a strategic investor who needs your vertical? You look undervalued and urgent. Your valuation isn't real - it's market context priced into a number. Before any raise, test your positioning: - Are you in a hot market "zip code"? - Who are the active buyers in your space? - Is timing working for or against you? Smart founders don't rebuild their pitch - they move it to where investors are already buying. At Brookstone & Partners, we help high-growth founders raise capital through strategic positioning, sharp execution, and warm introductions to the right investors. We specialize in venture-scale raises across AI, SaaS, and tech-enabled businesses. DM us - We're already speaking with your next partner. #capitalraising #venturecapital #fundraising #startupfunding #investorrelations #venturefunding #fundraisingstrategy #startupadvice #investoralignment #brookstoneandpartners #Founders #Finance
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Good listen for anyone currently thinking about or in the process of raising pre-seed/seed funds. The conversation includes interesting perspectives on how to maximise success - especially around using lead indicators as early signals of your success rate and maintaining velocity (e.g. not getting too involved on just one investor conversation). Thanks for recording and sharing Techstars!
How to Raise Pre-Seed and Seed Insider tips on how top investors evaluate founders, what red flags to avoid, and how to attract the right backers. Learn how to frame traction, think about valuation, and build real momentum in your raise. Raising your first round is one of the hardest parts of building a startup. In this session, Georgina Smithwick, Managing Director at Techstars London sits down with Usman Gul, Founder & CEO of Metal. Gul has raised a $2.5 million pre-seed for Metal, and previously co-founded Airlift Technologies, which went on to raise $110 million from investors including First Round Capital and Harry Stebbings’ 20VC. Together, they’ll share practical insights on how to frame traction, think about valuation, and build genuine momentum in your raise—while avoiding the common pitfalls that turn investors off. Expect a candid, tactical discussion packed with real-world examples you can apply immediately.
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🚀 Fundraising War Stories 🚀 In the below post, Usman Gul (Founder/CEO at Metal) and Georgina Smithwick (Managing Director at Techstars) set up a talk shop to share fundraising war stories and lessons learned. A few key takeaways for founders raising venture rounds: 👉 In venture rounds, there is a very thin line between things not working out and an oversubscribed round led by a top-tier lead. 👉 If your round collateral is not within the top 2%, then keep iterating on it. This really matters. 👉 Focusing on the right investors is the highest leverage activity in a raise process. Navigate below to watch the full video!
How to Raise Pre-Seed and Seed Insider tips on how top investors evaluate founders, what red flags to avoid, and how to attract the right backers. Learn how to frame traction, think about valuation, and build real momentum in your raise. Raising your first round is one of the hardest parts of building a startup. In this session, Georgina Smithwick, Managing Director at Techstars London sits down with Usman Gul, Founder & CEO of Metal. Gul has raised a $2.5 million pre-seed for Metal, and previously co-founded Airlift Technologies, which went on to raise $110 million from investors including First Round Capital and Harry Stebbings’ 20VC. Together, they’ll share practical insights on how to frame traction, think about valuation, and build genuine momentum in your raise—while avoiding the common pitfalls that turn investors off. Expect a candid, tactical discussion packed with real-world examples you can apply immediately.
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LOI Shark 🦈 | Off-Market Deal Sourcing & Creative Structuring for Qualified Buyers
Most startups die trying to get what an existing business already has — Customers Cash flow Systems Brand trust Why start from zero when you can buy from momentum? Buy a business doing $500K–$2M in revenue. Leverage seller financing, SBA, or private capital. Keep the team, fix the margins, and scale. It’s not about being an entrepreneur anymore. It’s about being an acquirer. Startups are hope. Acquisitions are math. And math wins. 🦈
