Announcing Our New CFO Forum ?? Plus Cohere Raises $500m & More Big-Money AI Deals ??

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If you know an all-star CFO (or if you are one), then we want to hear from you! Amid an early summer frenzy of startup acquisitions and big money raises – Cohere just raised $500m at a $5.5b valuation – we have an exciting announcement of our own.

In this edition of Founders News:

We’re Hosting Our First Ever CFO Forum…

We’re excited to announce the launch of our CFO Forum, a new strategic finance community, powered by Cooper Parry. Our event partners are HSBC Innovation Banking, Google Cloud, and Harmonic Finance.

What we’ve done for founders for nearly 20 years, we’re now bringing to CFOs of founder-led companies, and we're hosting our inaugural CFO Forum on?10 September in London.

Are you a CFO of a startup or scaleup shaping the future of tech, or a successful founder with a brilliant CFO?

Click here to register your interest.

...And There's More!

In partnership with Harmonic Finance and Tech Nation, we’re also conducting a comprehensive survey on European startup and scaleup CFOs and corporate finance leaders.

By tracking the sentiment around the disruptive impact of technology and AI on the CFO function, our aim is to create one of the most valuable resources for CFOs and their businesses in 2024. And, of course, there’s a reward for your time!

If you’re a CFO or Finance Director, click here to enter our survey.

Liquidity Group Announces Record Month For Debt & Equity Investments

Liquidity Group has announced another record-breaking month in both debt and equity investments, securing an additional $146m in debt investments, and contributing to a total of $288m for the last quarter.? T

his surge in investments reflects the growing demand across key regions including Europe, APAC, and MENA, with notable activity in the UK, Indonesia, Israel, Singapore, India, and Australia.

Click here to read more.

Opportunities For Your Business

Turbocharge Your Team’s Leadership Skills with Founders HR

Founders HR has just launched a new Leadership Development Programme , designed to equip people managers with the tools and skills they need to be effective, engaging leaders.?

Delivered in six, two-and-a-half hour modules, either in person or online, the experiential learning programme covers leadership topics ranging from coaching and mentoring to delegation and managing performance.

Want to upskill your workforce with practical leadership skills? Contact [email protected] to find out more.

B(r)and Anthem: Build your Brand From Startup to Scale-Up!

What can startups learn about brand building from hit-making bands? Founders Makers’ Charlie Holman explains how the leap from startup to scale-up is like evolving from a scrappy garage band playing local pubs to headlining a major festival!

Click here to read his top brand building tips.

Shape UK AI Regulation

UK regulatory body, the Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum, has launched a new AI and Digital Hub to support innovators with cross-regulatory queries, which span the regulatory remits of its member regulators – the CMA, FCA, ICO, and Ofcom.?

Click here to send your query and benefit from this one-year pilot service.?

FF Community Wrap:

New Launches & Announcements

• Alexandre LeBrun’s Nabla partnered with Carle Health to roll out its AI copilot technology across hospitals in the US Midwest.
• Moritz Claussen’s cargo.one partnered with Royal Air Maroc Cargo to digitise its cargo bookings.
• Ben Francis’ Gymshark opened its second flagship store in London.
• Jeremy O'Brien’s PsiQuantum partnered with five Queensland universities to support Australia’s quantum sector.
• Julia & Kevin Hartz’s Eventbrite partnered with TikTok to enhance event discovery and ticket sales for event creators
• Naveen Jain’s Viome launched the first personalised toothpaste to support whole body health.
• Brunello Cucinelli launched a new kind of website, combining human creativity and AI.

Exits, Raises & Acquisitions

• Aiden Gomez’s Cohere raised $500m at a $5.5b valuation in a Series D funding round led by PSP Investments.
• Dan Vahdat’s Huma raised $80m in a Series D funding round and announced the launch of its new Huma Cloud Platform.
• Nnamdi Emelifeonwu’s Definely received a strategic investment from Raine Ventures.
• Tanay Tandon’s Commure acquired AI scribe, Augmedix, for $139m.
• Ambar Sur’s TerraPay raised $95m in debt financing to boost affordable money transfers across Africa.
• Alex Bouaziz’s Deel acquired device supply and management company, Hofy.
• Peter Sarlin’s Silo AI was acquired by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) for $665m.
• Grace Beverley’s Tala raised ￡5m in a funding round led by Pembroke VCT.
• Nigel Toon’s Graphcore was acquired by SoftBank.
• Luca Ferrari’s Bending Spoons acquired digital publishing platform, Issuu.
• Torsten Reil’s Helsing raised $487m in a Series C funding round led by General Catalyst.

Investor & Corporate News

• Zapp’s Navid Hadzaad invested in a $5m Seed funding round for restaurant SaaS, allO.
• PropertyGuru’s Steve Melhuish invested in a $80m funding round for Philippine proptech firm, Lhoopa.

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