It Was All About the Teamwork at Nex Cubed’s Spring 2021 Portfolio Showcase
May 20th marked this year’s Spring Portfolio Showcase – after a year of virtual-only events you might think energy would dwindle as we’re all video conferenced out, but the level of participation from both the audience and portfolio company founders was outstanding, making it a great session to be a part of.
Every year Nex Cubed holds a Showcase event (at least one) which gives some of our portfolio companies the opportunity to pitch attendees and tell them a little bit about them and their company, and why they’re looking for an investment. The economic uncertainty created by the pandemic may lead us to believe that people are less likely to start a new venture, but we’re pleased to say that is not something we’ve actively seen at Nex Cubed. Talented founders are continuing to have ideas that solve both pre-existing challenges along with those that have come about since the pandemic. We’re thrilled we get to join them on their journey.
This year we had the chance to hear from founders across eight of our inspiring startups: All Of Us, Alpha’a, AuraNexus, Bandwagon, DeFiner, Enki, Its Trendi, and Model Medicines. These companies are building the latest in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and other leading technologies across Digital Health, FinTech, EdTech, PropTech, and other Frontier Tech. Although every founder touched on similar topics, such as the idea behind their business, how their service or product works, the financial aspect, and how they plan to grow, that is where the similarities ended.
Each company was vastly different from the next as we heard about brokerage firms, the education sector, cryptocurrency, and the art world. Not only were the companies hugely different, so too were the pitches and the way they were delivered. We were shown demo videos, talked through how we can turn business insights into actual opportunities, and told about what one founder believes is the next best thing – Stadium-as-a-Service.
It’s clear that each founder has a solid understanding of their target audience and demographic, including what will make them tick, how to get consumers interested, and how to sell their product or service in a way that makes them sit up and take notice. This was obvious from the energy that was being displayed from those in the room including investors, business advisors, fellow founders, and others in attendance.
Everyone was sharing congratulations on successful pitches, questions were being thrown around, and we all got the chance to bear witness to some very unique business ideas – the excitement was tangible. Each founder’s story was motivational, and their business idea filled a gap in the market, so we know it will be no easy task deciding which startup(s) to invest in.
There are many takeaways from the session ranging from what Gen Z is looking for from the fashion tech world to how humanity needs to plan in days rather than decades when it comes to solving medical issues. However, the most poignant takeaway from the session was how inspired everyone is by the team of people they work with. At the end of every pitch, we listened to founders thank the great team they have behind them. We all know it takes more than one person to launch a successful startup, and it was fantastic to see this recognized by every founder in this year’s Spring Portfolio Showcase.