7GC & Co

In our latest article, Christopher Walsh reflects on the compute cycles; how cloud computing, led by companies like AWS, changed the way software was built and scaled over the last 20 years. It compares to today’s AI boom, and the growing need for powerful hardware like GPUs to train and run AI systems. This shift is creating exciting opportunities for investors as the demand for AI computing continues to grow. https://lnkd.in/dSfvPqTN

Huge congratulations to the whole team at Because on the nationwide launch with CVS! Stop in and have a look.

Congrats team! Fluidstack

As DeepSeek makes public and private markets head spin, we looked to best address the topic for our fellow investors: In a nutshell? 🔹 The latests DeepSeek models are very impressive and mark a huge leap towards making AI more cost effective and accessible. 🔹 Performance matches current open source models and even outperforming Llama for a fraction of the cost, caveat that newer models have yet to be released. 🔹 Training cost has significantly decreased but may not fully reflect the extensive R&D costs incurred to build the architecture and probably involves millions of additional investments. 🔹 While the emergence of alternative solutions does put a significant pressure on Nvidia and could dampen GPU demand, major players like Microsoft, Meta, and China have made huge investments meaning that they will continue to rely on powerful GPUs to support their AI initiatives. 🔹 While this may temporarily narrow the competitive edge of western labs, these will need to focus more on using superior data, domain expertise, and customer access to maintain their edge. 🔹 This puts Anthropic in a strong position as their enterprise solution isn't simply a self-serve API model. It provides safety, security, customizability, and customer support to some of the largest enterprises in the world and has made a focus on building and deepening strong partnerships. 🔹 Overall, DeepSeek successes are starting a new wave of global competition in AI. At 7GC, we view this as a positive as we expect many new companies to appear and more people and businesses to start using AI and benefit from affordable or even free AI products and services. Article written by Christopher Walsh

Happy New Year and Best Wishes from the 7GC Team! Check out our portfolios highlights & recap of our 2024 Insights, market commentaries and interviews in our latest newsletter. Good vibes ahead! https://lnkd.in/dgP23TiM

In our latest market commentary piece "Convergence of AI vs non-AI Investing" by our colleague Christopher Walsh, we discuss the rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) across various industries, leading to a convergence between AI and traditional ("non-AI") investing. Since 2022, and particularly the release of Chat GPT, AI adoption has surged with enterprises deploying billions into open-source models and further funneled substantial investments into the AI sector, particularly in infrastructure and computing applications. As AI technologies become standard across industries, the distinction between AI and non-AI investments is diminishing, prompting investors to consider AI's impact across all sectors. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/ds8tb9px

Portfolio Alert! Lucra Sports makes it in 7GC's Fund II family 7GC co-leads Lucra Sports Series B round alongside SeventySix Capital, Stephen Kuhn, Marc Lasry, and NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. Founded by Dylan Robbins, Lucra Sports is the new social gaming technology platform for consumers. Its aim is to bring offline competitions online. While lucrative, it has developed a safe, trustworthy, and trackable experience for consumers and clients. Congratulations to Dylan Robbins and the wider Lucra Sports team including Michael Madding for this achievement - We are looking forward to being in this exciting journey alongside you. https://lnkd.in/gagF3JMh

7GC was recently invited by our friends at IAG Italy to explore the fascinating world of AI. During his lecture, Christopher Walsh provided a macro overview of the current AI landscape before diving into its role and impact within Venture Capital. Of course, he also shared insights about 7GC highlighting one of our latest investments in the space: Poolside. Thanks again IAG ! #VentureCapital #AI #Investing https://lnkd.in/dUWe56es

Is a #TechIPO on the horizon? As we showcased in our #VC market insights in September, there were only 5 Tech IPOs in 2024. Now, Cerebras adds another to the count, a sign that something is about to change.. As Christopher Walsh explains in our latest #marketcommentary, 2021 and 2022 VC backed IPOs dealt with severe overpricing and massive multiple compression, however post-ZIRP IPOs continue to fare well and have exacerbated the fact that public-market-ready assets can go public today. This, in our view, has slowly set the stage for what is to come next, and a strong cohort of private companies have been identified as businesses in a position to go public in the near term... More details on this in our full commentary piece: https://lnkd.in/dNKtsDBE

Cerebras Systems, a "pure play AI" and leader semiconductor chip company, announced It's #NASDAQ #IPO earlier in October. The first company to file since the release of #ChatGPT in 2022. Christopher Walsh dived through this interesting #AI business in great detail for our latest #insightpiece. Could this be a sign for strong investor appetite and become a catalyst that will likely upturn LP sentiment and capital markets? https://lnkd.in/dyVF5i9G #AI #Venturecapital #IPO #Casestudy