Harmonic

Antler Elevate ditched their old sourcing tool because it showed AT&T as a "startup" 🤦 Their investing team was wasting hours on bad search results and broken integrations. After switching to Harmonic:  • 10x faster to research companies  • Search results that actually make sense  • Their CRM finally works properly  • Outbound deals up to 15% of pipeline (from almost zero) They said it best: "Harmonic just works" Huge thanks to Chris Millisits for taking the time to chat! See the full Case Study in the comments.

We’re thrilled to share our new partnership with Harmonic! Harmonic is transforming early-stage deal discovery, tracking startups from inception to IPO, and helping investors access opportunities far beyond traditional networks. At unlock VC, we’re proud to partner with a platform that doesn’t just surface data, but actively expands who gets seen, funded, and backed. In a space where information is power, Harmonic is helping more women investors gain the insights they need to succeed. We spoke with the team about how they’re building the only real-time, founder-first startup database, and how our partnership will help unlock new paths for inclusion. Link in the comments. Big thanks to Darri Atlason and Aaron Bartel for your support and energy, we’re excited to work together to drive systemic change ✨

𝐻𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑛𝑠? Tons of fun bringing the whole team to the Acquired Live event at Radio City Music Hall last week. Attendees guessed our "unicorn" companies based on trivia from past Acquired episodes, and winners secured free drinks 🍻 P.S. If you're looking for your own unicorn, it's on Harmonic 🦄

We had a great time at the Women in VC Breakfast co-hosted with our friends at Antler, unlock VC (previously WVC:E), All Raise, and Global Women in VC. Huge thanks to all the attendees, our co-hosts, and our very own Olivia Haskell and Divya Jakatdar for representing Harmonic 🌟

Friends and investors in VC, we are hosting breakfast at Antler in partnership with All Raise x unlock VC (previously WVC:E) x Harmonic x Women in VC next Tuesday 7/22 morning in Flatiron, would love to catchup over chia puddings ❤️ RSVP: https://lu.ma/pjdnjhko? Roslyn Prerna Allie McKenzie Caroline Kelly Divya Olivia Christie Lenox Lisa

💨 Speed is the only moat. Speed of execution, learning and iteration. 🦾 ...or is it. In enterprise AI, being able to drive and navigate enterprise change management with your prospects is a superpower that's now more important than ever that investors look for in founding teams. To win big in a vertical you need to be able to capture green field in a big way, now. 🔻 The AI pyramid is flipping -- a few players will dominate the infrastructure and model base, and the application layer is about to explode. Had a blast on this panel at RAISE Summit with investing legends Bernard Liautaud, Avid Larizadeh Duggan OBE, Antoine Blondeau, Apoorv Agrawal and Malachi Price, where they shared these insights on the current phase of the AI wave + and a ton more that’ll make you a sharper AI investor or operator. Hoping to share the recording as soon as it's available -- but in the meantime, check out deeper insights from the panelists in the comments 👇

Had the opportunity to join Bernard Liautaud, Apoorv Agrawal, Antoine Blondeau, Malachi Price, and our moderator-in-chief Max Ruderman at RAISE Summit in Paris. We delved into some key insights during our session: 1️⃣ AI’s “SaaS moment” is coming—just not yet. Right now, the lion’s share of value is still flowing to the infra layer. Why? The unit economics at the application level just aren’t there yet, weighed down by high compute, training, and inference costs. But as the technology matures, efficiencies kck in, and inference shifts to the edge, we’ll see new business models emerge — much like SaaS in the early internet era. When that happens, the application layer won’t just catch up — it’ll take off. 2️⃣ “Vibe-coding” ≠ hands-free engineering. While generative tools streamline routine tasks, skilled developers remain indispensable for: - Establishing robust architecture - Navigating complex and sometimes contradictory product specifications - Ensuring security, governance, and compliance - Seamlessly integrating with existing data pipelines ➡️ In essence, top-tier engineers will become even more in demand. 3️⃣ What investors want now: resilience, resilience, resilience. Amid market volatility, geopolitical uncertainty, regulatory shifts, and increasing mental health challenges, the founders who stand out are those who can absorb shocks and keep their teams focused and moving forward. For enterprise AI founders, resilience alone isn’t enough — it has to be paired with: - Deep technical excellence, adapting swiftly to AI's rapid advancements - Customer-embedded execution, where you're not just selling software — you’re hands on, educating, upskilling, implementing, and reshaping how work gets done. ➡️ Unlike SaaS, you’re not selling seats. You’re selling transformation. And that means living inside the customer’s org to drive real change. Huge thanks to my fellow panellists, Henri Delahaye and the entire RAISE Summit team for engaging discussions and insightful interactions.

Nothing beats hearing about closed deals found through Harmonic (…except hearing those deals returned the fund). Grateful when firms share these wins, and especially as part of an awesome story like this. Congrats to 20VC and Peec AI! 20VC is shaping up to be one of the most important seed firms of our generation. Harry Stebbings has spent 10+ years dissecting the best investors and founders and building brand and media muscle. A media native firm with extreme domain expertise, strong brand with founders, and great partners that all hustle feels bound to crush.

See you at RAISE Summit? Our CEO Max Ruderman will be in Paris next week moderating a very exciting panel featuring: 💡 Bernard Liautaud of Balderton Capital 💡Apoorv Agrawal of Altimeter 💡Jill (Greenberg) Chase of CapitalG 💡Avid Larizadeh Duggan OBE of Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan 💡Antoine Blondeau of Alpha Intelligence Capital Excited to share our insights, but mostly just listen to theirs - come say bonjour 🥐 🇫🇷  

So Harmonic just released their Hot 25 Report on the most in-demand early-stage companies. Top 3 Risers in Q3 2025: 1. Lovable rises to #1 2. Profound jumps to #2 3. Tabs up 8 places Flip side, top fallers: 1. Basis down 8 places 2. Starcloud down 13 places 3. New entry: Quanta 👇  #Founder #funding #business #investing #vc #venturecapital #entrepreneur #startup