WEBVTT - ICYMI: Collab Capital's Latest Investments

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News. You're listening to Bloomberg

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<v Speaker 1>Business Week with Carol Masser and tim Stenoveek on Bloomberg Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Want to bring in jewel Burg Solomon, co founder and

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<v Speaker 1>managing partner of Collab Capital. It's a venture capital firm that,

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<v Speaker 1>in its own words, invested the intersection of innovation and inclusion.

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<v Speaker 1>Well to background on jewel She sold her first company

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<v Speaker 1>to Amazon and then was also the inaugural head of

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<v Speaker 1>Google Startups US that was from twenty nineteen to twenty

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<v Speaker 1>twenty three. Juel joins us once again, this time though

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<v Speaker 1>from Martha's vineyard, Jewel How are you.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm doing great? How are you?

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<v Speaker 1>We're doing well. Earlier in our program, we spoke to

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<v Speaker 1>the partner at in Recent Horowitz, who focused on fintech.

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<v Speaker 1>So his his purview is very focused on just one

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<v Speaker 1>part of what he sees as a promising tech ecosystem

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<v Speaker 1>and a promising future. Where would you say, in terms

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<v Speaker 1>of types of technologies, Cloud Capital focuses on.

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<v Speaker 2>So we really focus on what we call the building

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<v Speaker 2>blocks of shared prosperity, and that looks across financial technology.

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<v Speaker 2>So we think about economic mobility from a standpoint of

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<v Speaker 2>how can we get more people into high paying jobs

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<v Speaker 2>using technology, how can we provide the right access to

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<v Speaker 2>capital using technology. We look at the healthcare industry and

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<v Speaker 2>where there have historically been gaps and access to care

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<v Speaker 2>and how technology can close those gaps. And lastly, we

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<v Speaker 2>look at community infrastructure and we think about all the

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<v Speaker 2>things that people need to thrive in communities, things like

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<v Speaker 2>access to transportation, climate related technologies, energy related technologies, all

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<v Speaker 2>those things that in this AI world that we're living

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<v Speaker 2>in right now are increasingly important. Those are the places

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<v Speaker 2>where we really look to invest.

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<v Speaker 3>How is the investing landscape right now in the context

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<v Speaker 3>of the fact that I mean you mentioned AI. It

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<v Speaker 3>seems like there's so many startups out there that are

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<v Speaker 3>claiming to have some innovation in artificial intelligence. Are you

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<v Speaker 3>finding that like you're in an environment right now where

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<v Speaker 3>you have to sift through a lot of noise to

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<v Speaker 3>find a good investment or are you finding that you know,

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<v Speaker 3>there's too many companies that are promising to you.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, there are a ton of promising companies. We definitely

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<v Speaker 2>don't have any problems when it comes to pipeline of

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<v Speaker 2>companies that we could potentially invest in. But you're right,

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<v Speaker 2>there are a ton of companies that are just slapping

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<v Speaker 2>dot ai on technology that maybe isn't truly deep ai,

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<v Speaker 2>and maybe they don't necessarily have a data mode or

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<v Speaker 2>something that makes them special. So that's our work as

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<v Speaker 2>investors to really make sure that the companies do have

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<v Speaker 2>some type of technology lead or mote that can be defensible,

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<v Speaker 2>that they are approaching a problem in a really unique way,

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<v Speaker 2>that they're actually solving a problem that at some point

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<v Speaker 2>down the line from our investment will become profitable. Those

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<v Speaker 2>are all things that we're considering as we make investments.

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<v Speaker 1>Talk to us about the environment of raising money from

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<v Speaker 1>LPs right now, going out and raising the money to

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<v Speaker 1>invest in these startups that you find.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, this is a tough time for managing partners of

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<v Speaker 2>particularly new funds to raise capital. I think the stat

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<v Speaker 2>is something like eighty percent of capital that was deployed

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<v Speaker 2>over the last year went into nine funds. So those

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<v Speaker 2>large funds like the A six m Z that you

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<v Speaker 2>spoke with earlier today, they're kind of consolidating a lot

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<v Speaker 2>of the LP capital and so it's increasingly challenging for

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<v Speaker 2>emerging managers like myself to raise capital from LPs. But

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<v Speaker 2>the good news is we were successful in closing our

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<v Speaker 2>second fund a few months ago. I know I'll have

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<v Speaker 2>a lot of friends who are also out in market

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<v Speaker 2>right now and finding success from LPs who really are

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<v Speaker 2>still looking for these unique strategies and managers that are

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<v Speaker 2>in places maybe outside of your typical silicon valley in

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<v Speaker 2>Boston and New York hubs.

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<v Speaker 3>Collob Capital is a venture firm investing at the intersection

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<v Speaker 3>of innovation and inclusion.

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<v Speaker 2>Do you get? Do you think?

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<v Speaker 3>Just talk to us about like how that pitch works,

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<v Speaker 3>the inclusion pitch. I guess how is inclusion related to

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<v Speaker 3>investment returns?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, inclusion still matters. We know. The pitch that we

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<v Speaker 2>make to our LPs is that we believe we can

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<v Speaker 2>find alpha in places where other people aren't looking. And

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<v Speaker 2>most importantly, we believe that folks who are in the margins,

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<v Speaker 2>if you will, they oftentimes have the best solutions to

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<v Speaker 2>our most entrenched problems. So the founders that we're finding

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<v Speaker 2>they oftentimes have the live experience that leads them to

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<v Speaker 2>the right solution, and they really just need the resources,

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<v Speaker 2>backing and support to be able to build really scalable

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<v Speaker 2>and successful companies, and that's what we're all about, is

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<v Speaker 2>not just the capital that we're providing, but also the

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<v Speaker 2>wrap around services, the fact that we've been entrepreneurs before,

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<v Speaker 2>we've done it, so we can really offer them our

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<v Speaker 2>first hand experience and also connections to the right people

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<v Speaker 2>that they need to really scale their businesses as well.

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<v Speaker 3>I know there's probably way too many to pick just one,

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<v Speaker 3>but tell us about one interesting company that you guys

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<v Speaker 3>are investing in right now that our readers would want

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<v Speaker 3>to know about. Our listeners.

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<v Speaker 1>You're in a different media today, It's okay, we'll send

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<v Speaker 1>you back there tomorrow. Sadly.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, sure, I'll tell you about an investment we're super

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<v Speaker 2>excited about. We're just closing a company called May, which

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<v Speaker 2>is in the maternal health space. They've built a network

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<v Speaker 2>of doulas around the country and are providing really important

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<v Speaker 2>critical care to mothers who need that extra support as

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<v Speaker 2>they're they're going into thus the pre natal and post

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<v Speaker 2>natal care. So that's one that we're really excited about

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<v Speaker 2>because unfortunately in this country, the health outcomes for mothers

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<v Speaker 2>are really not as good as we would hope for

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<v Speaker 2>them to be, and so May has really built this

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<v Speaker 2>support network of do list to address that problem.

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<v Speaker 1>Just in our last minute, can you tell us about

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<v Speaker 1>the seaweed company for building materials Source that you recently

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<v Speaker 1>invested in.

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<v Speaker 2>Yes, that's a really exciting one as well. So they

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<v Speaker 2>have done some incredible work as using seaweed to create

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<v Speaker 2>this nantio cellules material to ensure that all of the

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<v Speaker 2>great things that we're building, all of these new and

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<v Speaker 2>innovative products that are coming out to market, have the

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<v Speaker 2>right materials that are cheaper, more efficient, and safer for

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<v Speaker 2>the environment. And so this is our kind of first

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<v Speaker 2>foray the material science world. But we're really excited to

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<v Speaker 2>support Source, which is a company based in Florida.

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<v Speaker 1>Jewel always good to check in with you. Thank you

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<v Speaker 1>so much for joining us. Jewel Burg Solomon, co founder

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<v Speaker 1>and a managing partner at Collab Capital, joining us this

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<v Speaker 1>afternoon from Martha's vineyard. Seaweed as he building material. This

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<v Speaker 1>is cool.

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<v Speaker 3>I know, I think about seaweed as something that it's

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<v Speaker 3>like an emerging health snack.

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<v Speaker 1>I was thinking about it as like, yeah, I like

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<v Speaker 1>it when they have them here.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, yeah, the sweed, the seaweed snacks.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, just a little inside baseball. I think that's a

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<v Speaker 1>permanent part of the permanent snack collection in the San

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<v Speaker 1>Francisco Bureau.

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<v Speaker 2>Really.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, you know, when I go to different bureaus around

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<v Speaker 1>the country, around the world, I just go to write

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<v Speaker 1>to the snacks. Got to get a good idea of

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<v Speaker 1>the you know, regional varieties.

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<v Speaker 3>Yes, yes, I'm trying to remember the SF Bureau. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 3>they had a lot of like sweet sweet treats.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, the sweet A great view from that bureau as well.