At Ancieo, we’re in the business of helping people build stuff.
Through our growing network of investors and innovators, we help scout for and research prospective investment opportunities. It’s a constant process of contact with founders and entrepreneurs, relationship building and research, and connection with investors looking to build their portfolios.
This evolving stream of connections and feedback loops in the jargon-filled business world is known as ‘Deal Flow’. In the venture capital industry, deal flow is often cited by many as a measure of how successful a firm/fund is in attracting pitches from prospective portfolio companies. The greater the deal flow, the more people are knocking at your door for your money.
In the era of easy money, the deal flow at large VC firms was quite significant, all in the name of finding the next great unicorn (a portfolio startup with a value that exceeds $1 billion).
Those days are probably (for most people) over. Higher interest rates, combined with investing disasters such as FTX, along with the decimation of growth stock valuations, such as Uber, have blunted the appetites of many investors. We’ve discussed this here:
At Ancieo, the chaos of last year has proven our existential point. The days of easy money allowed for less rigorous research and more speculative investing. We’re now in the era of domain experience and the application of disciplined analysis. When there’s less spaghetti to throw at the wall, you’d better make sure it sticks. That’s where Ancieo comes in.
In the advanced aerospace industry, there has been considerable buyer’s remorse after a flurry of special purpose acquisition company transactions (SPACs). Indeed, there is increasing litigation activity surrounding some of the more notable startups, including Lilium. We won’t comment on specific cases here, but the point is self-evident, do your research.
At Ancieo, our background is in aerospace, and it will always remain central to our core interests. But we don’t just work on pure aerospace projects. Our network value lies within our aerospace mindset. Something we’ve talked about here:
Ultimately, it’s all about a collaborative approach. At Ancieo, we work with founders, visionaries and entrepreneurs. In an age of doubt, deal flow will be harder to find when markets are tight, and money is harder to come by.
But that’s ok because that’s when the hard work pays off. To deliberately misquote Warren Buffett:
“Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been throwing spaghetti.”
If you have a pitch deck and you’re ready to work together, then contact us: [email protected]