​

• The Damiani Group is announcing the forecasted results for the annual financial statements as at 31 March 2025, with consolidated revenues of 280 million Euros, up more than 10% compared to the previous year.

 

• The brand Damiani is introducing new extensions of its iconic fine jewelry collections: Belle Epoque, Margherita and Mimosa, as well as the newest Mimosa Watches, see above.

 

• The brand Damiani is also announcing the introduction of a brand new global store concept.

 

• ROCCA, the biggest Italian jewelry and watch retail chain, part of the Damiani Group, is announcing its international expansion and the partnership with the Swiss manufacture of haute horology H. Moser & Cie. in Korea and the upcoming opening of the first exclusive brand boutique in Seoul.

The Most Impactful Brands on Social Media source 

AW25 Womenswear Roundup, these brands profited most from online presence....
Autumn/Winter 2025 showcased contrasting approaches, with some brands scaling back and others ramping up investments in talent and production. Despite these differences, Fashion Month grew 47% year-on-year, generating $775.9 million in Earned Media Value (EMV), proving both strategies can succeed.
​
Our latest report with Karla Otto breaks down key strategies from this season, including fandom-driven engagement, featuring niche talent on runways, balancing large-scale productions with intimate events, and leveraging TikTok commentators to spark conversations.
The report also features insights from CTZAR on social media trends, highlighting how top brands are refining their narratives on Instagram and TikTok to connect with audiences.

4M views
On TikTok were generated
by Coperni, which had the
most viral runway show.


12.47% ER
Valentino was the brand with
the highest Eng. Rate and
second most visible brand.


+7,783% EMV Growth
Eckhaus Latta led AW25 with the largest Season over Season growth in EMV.

Stephen Forbes, Head of Abu Dhabi, Savills Middle East.

Savills Middle East has released its latest Abu Dhabi Commercial Property Market Report,
outlining continued growth in both the office and industrial real estate sectors during 2024. Key
factors include rising demand, new regulatory flexibilities, and increased development activity
across the emirate.

According to the report, the number of economic licences issued on the mainland rose by 16%
in 2024, while active licences in non-financial free zones grew by 22%. These increases
coincide with regulatory changes introduced by the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic
Development (ADDED), which now allows companies registered in other emirates and free
zones to open branches in Abu Dhabi without the need for a physical presence in the first year.
The report notes sustained demand for Grade A office space, leading to high occupancy levels
across several developments. International Tower, Daman House, and Baniyas Tower are
operating at full occupancy, while occupancy within ADGM has reached 97%. The number of
operational entities within ADGM rose to 2,088, including 231 financial services firms, a 31%
increase compared to H1 2023.

In terms of rental performance, Grade A office buildings in CBD and Outer CBD submarkets
recorded an average year-on-year increase of 8% in Q4 2024. Notable individual buildings saw
higher growth: Capital Gate Tower (14%), Addax Tower (13%), and ADGM (12%). ADGM office
rental rates range between AED 2,600 and AED 2,900 per sq m per annum.
Commenting on the findings, Stephen Forbes, Head of Abu Dhabi, Savills Middle East,
said,

Occupier demand in Abu Dhabi remains strong, especially within key sectors such as
financial services, consulting and technology. As a result, we continue to see high occupancy
rates in well-located, Grade A buildings. The introduction of regulatory changes and
infrastructure expansion is contributing to sustained interest in the emirate. In parallel, the
industrial sector has also seen impressive growth, with average rental rates rising 25% year-on-
year, driven by strong demand from third-party logistics, e-commerce, and retail occupiers.

Looking ahead, more than 100,000 sq m of new office supply is expected to be delivered in
2025, including developments such as Masdar City Square and Yas Place, which have already
recorded healthy pre-commitment levels.
The industrial and logistics sector also recorded notable activity. According to the report,
average market rents rose by 25% year-on-year in 2024, with submarkets such as KEZAD
experiencing rental increases of 38%. Mussafah, ICAD and KEZAD all reached or exceeded
AED 500 per sq m per annum. Key demand drivers include third-party logistics (3PL), e-
commerce, and retail operators.
Major announcements in H2 2024 include a AED 5 billion industrial and logistics park by
Mubadala and Aldar, and a AED 320 million warehouse facility by ADAFZ and Radius,
delivering over 90,000 sq m of space by Q4 2026. KEZAD has also commenced development of
250,000 sq m, scheduled for completion in Q4 2025.

Savills Middle East notes that while upcoming supply may ease some pressure, demand for
specialised and high-quality facilities is expected to remain firm across both the office and
industrial segments.
For further insights, download the full Abu Dhabi Commercial Property Market report 2024 here.

Savills plc is a global real estate services provider listed on the London Stock Exchange. With a presence in the Middle
East for over 40 years, Savills offers an extensive range of specialist advisory, management and transactional services
across the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. Expertise includes property management,
residential and commercial agency services, property and business assets valuation, and investment and development
advisory. Originally founded in the UK in 1855, Savills has an international network of over 700 offices and associates
employing over 40,000 people across the Americas, UK, Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa, and the Middle East.
For further information, please contact:
+971 (0)4 365 7700 www.savills.me

Dr. Eric Ball spent 30 years working for large tech corporates (New York, LA, London, Silicon Valley) in finance, the last 11 working for Larry Ellison as Treasurer at Oracle before a brief stint as CFO of the unicorn C3 AI. In this interview Dr. Eric Ball talks about key topics: (1) why venture should be part of any family office portfolio, (2) why this is a great time for family offices to allocate new capital to venture as an asset class, (3) the growing importance of AI as a dominant force among tech startups, (4) the increased importance of corporates in the startup ecosystem. Please see more on www.impactvc.netlify.app.

He says, I noticed that many silicon valley venture firms wanted to sell their startups to big tech, but were slow to collaborate in investing in startups while those startups are still young. I co-founded Impact Venture Capital in 2016 with Jack Crawford to:
- Invest in seed-stage startups
- Specifically those using AI in new business models to add value
- Emphasizing collaboration and co-investment with major tech corporates to lower the risk of venture investing
So we are riding the intersection of trends in the evolution of AI within the tech startup space and the increased importance of major corporates to younger startups.

Another current initiative is chairing the board of the Archimedes II Tech SPAC. This is a blank-check company that went public last month on Nasdaq, and we are now speaking to several mature private startups interested in becoming a publicly-traded company via the SPAC route (as opposed to a traditional IPO). We did this three years ago with SoundHound, a successful conversational AI company that we took public in 2022 and where I continue to serve on the board.

Opening Questions by Prof. Manuel Freire-Garabal y Núñez,
Eric, you have an extensive background in finance and tech, having worked for major corporates like Oracle and C3 AI. What inspired your transition from corporate finance to venture capital?
 
I had the privilege of working at Oracle with legendary venture investor and board member Don Lucas, who had provided the seed capital to Oracle in 1980 to get it started, and went on to invest early in many other winners. I witnessed directly the outsized effect that a small amount of capital and a bit of time could have on the growth trajectory of a young company.
Then at Oracle we raised $52 billion in debt capital and acquired 103 companies during my tenure, and it turned out many of them had corporate venture arms that had invested in startups themselves. We inherited a corporate venture portfolio that needed to be managed. I had the opportunity as a corporate VC to participate in the Kauffman Fellows program for training venture capitalists. There I met my current business partner Jack Crawford, and we saw an opportunity to provide a link between corporate venture arms and independent venture capital firms. And I also saw an opportunity to step away from a supporting role of a highly-successful corporate team and into a role making all of the key decisions in a smaller organization.
 
What was the main gap in the VC landscape that led you to co-found Impact Venture Capital?
 
I had some formative experiences in corporate venture.
 
In 2007, I approached Larry Ellison and suggested we launch a corporate venture arm. He initially was cool on the idea, noting that major VCs often treated corporates as “the dumb money”. After we acquired 103 companies from 2005-10, it turned out that many of them had their own venture arms, and by 2010 we had investment stakes in over 180 different startups. I shared this with Larry, and his response was “well if we have an accidental corporate venture arm, let’s maximize the value” and empowered me to make follow-on investments. The portfolio ended up generating value. But I noticed that when I approached the largest VCs on Sand Hill Road, they were usually enthused to take the calls and pitch their portfolio companies for Oracle to acquire. But they were less receptive to coinvestment in their young startups. I perceived that they thought a corporate making startup investments was not ‘staying in their lane’.
 
This is the origin story of what motivated me to start a venture firm after 30 years in corporates. I wanted to launch corporate-friendly independent VC. At the time, the percentage of venture-backed deals with a corporate participant was quite small, less than one-tenth of venture deals had a corporate investor. That has changed dramatically. In 2024 one-fourth of deals had a corporate investor. And the percent-of-dollars invested was well over half (as corporates emphasize quality over quantity).
 
This is a key trend in venture that does not get enough attention. Corporates no longer rely solely on internal R&D and acquisition to get access to new technology, but now rely also on the ‘third leg’ of the stool which is coinvesting in young startups to stay abreast of innovation faster.
 
 
Venture Capital as an Asset Class
 
You emphasize the importance of venture capital in family office portfolios. Why do you believe venture should be a key part of their investment strategy?
 
Venture always has attractive features in an individual or family office portfolio.
-        Venture has a wider dispersion in returns than other assets, but over long periods of time has the highest return of any asset class. This short-term variance means most of us should only invest a  fraction of our wealth not needed for liquidity
-        However, venture has an imperfect correlation with other assets, so can lower the variance of portfolio return even with its individual variation
-        Within venture, early-stage has higher returns than later-stage venture
 
So venture has the dual characteristics of a higher long-run average return and an ability to offer a volatility-dampening diversification component to a family office portfolio across multiple asset classes. Over long periods of time, venture has been a great component to a family office portfolio.

Over the past three years, capital deployment into venture has declined. What factors have contributed to this, and why do you see this as an ideal time for new investments?
 
The amount of dollars invested by US venture firms into startups peaked at $350 billion in 2021. This was driven by a huge influx of capital into ever-larger venture funds from US institutional LP investors (endowments, fund-of-funds) who saw other institutions with high returns in the asset class. As capital ballooned, so did valuations. The percentage of portfolios comprising the venture asset class increased.
 
However, after this runup, many US institutional investors felt overallocated to the asset class and then started pulling back, and the venture firms themselves started stockpiling dry powder. Both in the US and globally, the amount invested by venture firms into startup companies fell by a third in 2022. Then, the amount invested into startups fell by another third in 2023. So in just two years, the amount of capital deployed by VC firms fell in half. This has not changed in the past five quarters since the end of 2023.
 
Incidentally, VCs continued to raise their own capital for another year after they slowed deployment, so they were still raising through 2022. By 2023 however, fundraising followed suit, falling 60% in 2023 alone and another 8% or so in 2024. So VC fundraising is down two-thirds in the past three years.
 
In public equity markets, I have seen enough research to believe that few can time that market consistently. But in private markets, there are more ebbs and flows in the aggregate valuations. Since the end of 2022, so little capital is flowing to startups that valuations are significantly down. This is creating an environment that PitchBook last year called “the most investor-friendly environment of the last decade.” This means that investors in startups have the power to set the terms, including investor-friendly valuations as an entry point for investment. Which we conclude makes it a good time to be a new investor in startups and the funds that invest in them. It’s a particularly good entry point for those players that weren’t already heavily allocated to the asset class, like family offices considering entering the asset class today.
 
There is another reason why now may be an opportune entry point. We looked at some historical data about how venture fared over a number of years, and the data show that venture has been a better investment in years soon after a macro disruption. This was true after the crises of 1987, 2001, and 2008. We think it is true today after the recent downturn in the general venture environment (which has been partially offset by the excitement around AI business models). Crises lower valuations, crises passed and valuations rebounded, and investors from that period get additional return.
For example, 2008 saw the seed rounds at low valuations for several huge eventual winners:  Stripe, Square, Uber, Lyft, Airbnb, GroupOn.
 
What are some misconceptions family offices have about venture investing, and how do you address them?
 
I think some family offices have concerns about venture (particularly early-stage venture):

(1) ‘It is too risky’: Venture has a higher standalone variance than other asset classes. This is true, and represents a good reason not to put all your wealth into this single asset class. But that misses the benefit of diversification discussed earlier. Because private stocks do not move in concert with public stocks, the imperfect correlation means that the individual variance does not necessarily translate into a higher portfolio variance.
 
(2) ‘It is not liquid’: This is true, investing in a venture fund can tie your commitment up for up to a decade. Another reason not to put all your capital in a single asset class. But the historical returns are so much higher than other asset classes that it pays well if your investment horizon allows you to have a modest percentage of your wealth illiquid. Do you really expect to need 100% of your wealth converted to cash in the next decade?
 
(3) ‘It requires special expertise’: Conceptually, it is just another category of stock in companies, just stock that does not reveal a trading price daily. And it’s a larger pool of candidates. There are 3450 public stocks on Nasdaq and 1840 public stocks on Euronext. There are many times as many private stocks (among just US companies with $100 million in revenues, public stocks are just 13% of the total). And if you invest in venture funds, you can outsource that expertise of evaluating private companies. Investing in funds is a good way to gain experience, and deal flow, to assist family offices that want to start investing directly into startup companies.
 
The Role of AI in Startups
 
AI is reshaping industries across the board. From your experience, how has AI evolved in the startup space, and where do you see the biggest opportunities for innovation? What sectors will be the most disrupted by AI in the next 5-10 years.
 
AI is becoming THE dominant area for venture investment. When we started in 2016, less than one-tenth of venture deals were AI-oriented. In 2024, over a third of the companies by deal count, and over half by dollars invested, had a business model based on artificial intelligence.
AI is an overly broad term. With many startups claiming to be “AI” to harness the trendiness, it is important to distinguish between specific categories.
 
ChatGPT was unveiled just two years ago at the end of 2022. It showed the power of large language models, and OpenAI became extraordinarily valuable. Then in the last year DeepSeek showed that many of these same capabilities could be achieved at a far lower cost. Large language models appear to be becoming commoditized, and the big money has arguably already been made there.
 
We see potential for new use cases of AI. Some of these we put in the ‘picks and shovels’ category of just providing foundational ingredients like compute power and speed (as with our hardware portfolio company Cornami using faster chips to create better cybersecurity). In other instances, it is taking an existing AI or machine learning tool and applying it in a new sector or industry (as with the auction platform developed by our portfolio company  CapConnect+ to make corporate debt issuance more efficient). To stretch the gold mining metaphor, these are the ‘jewelers’ and an area of focus for us.
 
I would also note that the growth in AI-oriented tech startups, and in the participation by big tech investing in startups, are actually not separate phenomena. They are tied together. The advent of more AI related startups is pushing corporates to invest more, and is a big part of the $108 billion in US venture deal activity in 2024 that involved at least one corporate investor.
 
How does Impact Venture Capital identify promising AI startups? What criteria do you prioritize when making investment decisions?
 
The National Venture Capital Association estimates the number of venture firms in the US to be about 3400, which includes all types. If we exclude corporates and one-person shops and niche specialists, the number is noticeably smaller. It’s also smaller in Europe. So if you are the founder of an early-stage AI-oriented startup, it’s not very hard to identify most of the VCs whose investment thesis might align with your business model. At Impact VC, we are getting a couple of thousand inbound inquiries each year. So it’s not finding the startups that is a challenge as much as filtering for the good ones. At our firm, we look first at those startups referred to us by our own limited partner investors, and second to those referred to us by our corporate partners, and third those referred by our broad network of advisors and coinvestors at other firms.
 
Like most VCs, we look at: the team, the technology, the barriers to being copied (whether from intellectual property or first-mover advantage), and the addressable market. Venture investing is built on outliers, which means most VCs will see a disproportionate percentage of a fund’s overall return come from its single most successful company. This is the ‘power law’ described well by Peter Thiel in his excellent book “Zero to One” (a great primer on the thought process in venture). So it’s important not just to look at the odds of success, but rather how good can the best-case scenario get? The great thing about venture is that you can earn 100 times your investment on a good company, but won’t (normally) lose more than 1x your investment on a bad company.

We focus a lot on the team. Do they understand the risks and opportunities of being a startup? Do they have a mix of skills useful for a new startup, and also do they have anyone there who knows how to operate in a bigger company so that they can handle initial success? Importantly, how coachable is the CEO? It can be hard to find the right combination of confidence and humility required to grow a company from nothing to exit-ready. Do we have the right personal chemistry to be confident that we can have a constructive discussion under stress? These are some of the questions that we address in our internal investment committee discussion around investing in an individual startup.
 
We also add a couple of elements that may be more unique to our own thesis. We ask is this truly using artificial intelligence or is this software with a new label? Are there other use cases for the tools involved that can expand the addressable market? Is this a company and technology that would be interesting to our corporate partners?
 
Corporate Collaboration in Venture
 
You’ve mentioned that many VCs focus on selling startups to big tech rather than collaborating early on. How does Impact Venture Capital approach corporate partnerships differently?
 
Most, over 90%, of successful exits take the form of selling to a larger acquirer. IPOs do happen but they are less common even for successful outcomes. So almost all venture investors hope that they can get interest from corporates, hopefully from more than one so that the price gets bid high to create nice returns for the investors. Historically, many corporates are active acquirers of startups as a way to bring new technology into the company.
 
Before ten years ago, relatively few corporates made venture investments. That is, they might buy 100% of a startup but less often would buy 20% of that startup. These days that is less true, though some corporates still have a minimum investment level that keeps them less active in investing at the seed-stage.
 
At Impact VC, we talk to corporates regularly, even before we have a specific company in mind for coinvestment. We try to understand their tech priorities for that year, what types of companies might they be interested in and what types are they less likely to be interested in. So that when we evaluate a potential seed-stage startup, we already have some idea which corporates might eventually become interested when that startup matures a bit. It sometimes goes the other way, we have corporates approach us and tell us about a company they like that is ‘too early’ for the corporate, and the corporate asks if we want to invest early, then help the startup mature, then bring it back to the corporate for a later-stage round.
 
Because of this partnership, with the investment of less than $50 million in our first two funds, we have catalyzed follow-on investment from corporate partners (and larger VCs) of over $500 million. We consider the venture lifecycle to be a relay race. The first leg might be the founder’s own capital and friends-and-family (preseed), we might lead the second leg of the race as the first institutional investor, and then we recruit a corporate to invest in the third leg in an ‘A’ or ‘B’ round.
 
What are the key advantages of corporate-startup collaboration, both for the startups and for the corporates?
 
For us, the key advantage is an informational advantage. If the corporate venture arm is already invested at the ‘A’ round or ‘B’ round, and is already familiar with the startup, we think it’s more likely that a corporate will make an acquisition bid for the company later. It is a way of mitigating the risk of investing for us. We don’t require a corporate to be an LP investor in our fund (though some choose to), and many tech corporates don’t act as fund investors. But we see the corporates as an ingredient to the eventual successful exit of the company to benefit all our investors.
 
The increased likelihood of exit helps the startup as well as ourselves. But the startup also benefits from understanding how the corporate, as both a customer and potential later owner, thinks about the technology. And often the corporate becomes an anchor early customer for the company when it needs to generate revenue, and provides assurance to other customers that the company will stay alive to provide its products or services.
 
Can you share an example of a successful investment where corporate collaboration played a critical role?
 
Corporate collaboration has been central to the growth of several of our portfolio companies. We invested in 2016 in an early round (at a low valuation) of the hardware startup Cornami that was developing a data-center-on-a-chip, that could retrieve and manipulate data far faster than existing technologies. We recruited Baidu Ventures to co-lead the larger next round. And then this year SoftBank led a new Series D round at a much higher valuation.
 
We were also early investors in a company Airlinq that provides a mobile internet-of-things platform that allows cars to communicate with their manufacturers in real-time as they go down the road. General Motors and Verizon Ventures both invested early, and Radiomovil invested later, providing necessary capital to the growth of this promising telecommunications startup.
 
For us, this dynamic is the norm and not the exception. Which is the foundation of how we turned $50 million of our own investment into over $500 million of follow-on capital for our portfolio companies.
 
SPACs & Public Markets
 
You are chairing the Archimedes II Tech SPAC, and previously, you took SoundHound public via SPAC in 2022. Why do you see SPACs as a viable alternative to traditional IPOs?
 
Startups seeking to go public can go the traditional path, working with an investment bank to prepare an IPO, building the finance team for the rigors of public reporting requirements, and working to satisfy the intense initial reporting and disclosure requirements around historical and projected financials mandated by regulatory authorities (like the SEC in the US). It is a long and complicated process.
A special purpose acquisition corporation (SPAC) simplifies this process somewhat. The SPAC goes public while still simply a shell with no assets other than cash, which simplifies the disclosure needed for the IPO process. Then this public shell company partners with an operating company to merge (which has disclosure requirements that are involved but not quite as stringent as with a traditional IPO), with the partner company taking on the publicly-traded combination.
These offer a few benefits versus a traditional IPO. First, it can be done faster. In fact, the target partner controls any conditions that are set to execute the combination, which reduces the uncertainty about whether going public will actually happen.
Second, it avoids a ‘failed IPO’. The target company controls the timing, and avoids the risk and embarrassment of an IPO that does not happen.
Third, it can work even if markets do not cooperate. The traditional IPO process tends to go through ‘open’ and ‘closed’ periods when no, or few, companies are able to complete a traditional transaction. With a SPAC, it is technically a merger transaction and less prone to these ebbs and flows.
Fourth, the process offers more flexibility than a traditional IPO. The partner company can take more time with a SPAC merger process to raise the company’s profile, educate the market, attract analyst coverage, and find the right investors.
In 2022, the Archimedes Tech SPAC team partnered with conversational AI unicorn SoundHound to take them public as the surviving entity in a merger with the already-public SPAC entity. This worked out well, and the market cap of SoundHound was $3.8 billion on March 24th.
 
What types of startups should consider the SPAC route, and what should they be aware of before going public this way?
 
Startup management teams that value faster timing, more control over the process, more flexibility relative to a traditional IPO should consider the SPAC alternative. It helps if the company’s product is not too technologically complicated to be explained to non-expert public investors. It also helps if the SPAC has an experienced CFO and finance team that is ready for the rigors of being a publicly-traded company, including the need for detailed audited financials and timely financial reporting. I always say that a company needs to be ready not to go public but rather to be public.
 
There are risks. It is important to think through the alignment of incentives between SPAC sponsors and investors. SPAC sponsors require a meaningful fraction of equity. SPAC sponsors only get paid if the transaction happens so may be slow to walk away when conditions make it less favorable. Some SPAC sponsor team have not had expertise in the sector that the partner company operates in (that is, they may be financial teams without a sufficient grounding in technology or product). Some may not perform enough diligence.
 
Going public via SPAC won’t always be the optimal path for every company. But we think it is good for companies to have more than one path, and we think many will find the added control of the process can tilt the scales in favor of the SPAC approach.
 
The SPAC market has had ups and downs in recent years. How do you see its future evolving?
 
I think SPACs have historically been subject to swings; they have been in and out of fashion. In some periods, companies that went public via SPAC had stock that appreciated well for some period of time, even if the company wasn’t ready to be public. Then the image of SPACs went less positive, and we saw some quality companies going public and still experiencing a drop in share price. I think the market is leveling out, and investors are realizing that a SPAC business combination is not inherently good or bad but simply a tool. With good sponsors and management teams setting themselves up for good returns, and weaker sponsors and partners not seeing those returns.
 
Closing Thoughts
 
If you had to give one key piece of advice to investors looking to enter the venture space today, what would it be?
 
I would suggest that family offices thinking about becoming limited partner investors in venture funds:
- Determine the percentage of their wealth that can remain illiquid for a few years
- Diversify over three or more funds
- Use their venture fund investments as a way to gain expertise and familiarity with investing in startups, as a good intermediate step for investing directly in to startups themselves, and
- Most of all, see the current environment with lower valuations as an unusual opportunity
 
What’s next for you and Impact Venture Capital? Are there any exciting initiatives on the horizon?
 
We have launched our third seed fund and just made our first investment out of that fund. We have also launched a growth fund making later-stage investments in a subset of companies (from our Fund I portfolio) that have matured to the point where they don’t fit the seed-stage thesis that applied at the time of initial investment, and are getting closer to meaningful exits under shorter time horizons. And we are looking at partnering in a more meaningful way with other venture firms in addition to our corporate partners. We remain bullish on our thesis of investing in early-stage applied-AI startups in collaboration with tech corporates.
 
Some additional thoughts on the farther-future of AI

The Future of AI & Venture Capital – With AI advancing rapidly, where do you see the most promising opportunities for venture capital over the next five to ten years, and what advice would you give to AI startups looking to secure funding?
As mentioned earlier, AI already makes up over half of the business models for startups receiving venture funding; it is now the backbone of the majority of startups in the venture ecosystem. And now it is breaking into subcategories.
For startups, I would advise them to focus not just on developing new AI tools but thinking about the business model the tool is being applied to. There are many startups succeeding by applying proven tools to new sectors or use cases. Also, try to avoid calling everything an element of your business “AI”. Many software companies with new software are calling themselves “AI”, and it can become confusing. So be specific about what is new in your technology and how it is being applied.
 
Going further in the future, I think AI may not only represent the types of startups that will be funded, but can also be used by investors in ways that will change how investing is done across multiple asset classes. We are already at a point where information in publicly-traded securities is revealed and incorporated into prices very quickly, and I think it is much harder for a stock-picker to “add alpha” (that is, form a portfolio of similar risk that beats a stock market index) than it used to be. AI is helping public stock markets become more efficient. This will also now happen in other asset classes. It may become harder to ‘beat the market’ in trading bitcoin, or art, or cars as information is harder to keep private.
 
Even in markets that are based on developing and trading inside information, like private equity and venture capital, I anticipate these markets to become more efficient as well. There are some venture firms already using algorithms to drive their venture investment selection (such as Correlation Ventures in San Diego, whose algorithm makes decisions based on the track records of other investors in a startup). This will accelerate. I think in 50 years a new startup’s valuation may be unbiased (i.e. equally likely to turn out to be over or undervalued) and the market for trading in privately held stock may be as efficient as prices are today in publicly-traded stocks.
 
In previous industrial revolutions, blue-collar jobs were the ones that were displaced by technology. In this AI revolution, many of the people displaced will be white collar educated professionals. These types of people may have wealth and influence and may not go quietly into the unemployment line, so this could create social dynamics we have not seen before. And those displaced may include journalists and venture capitalists…

At Impact Venture Capital, we are excited about the potential for investing in seed-stage AI-oriented startups in collaboration with major tech corporates.
​

ELITE Global Leaders Conference JABOY Productions www.jaboyproductions.com at The College Green Hotel Dublin held March 19-21, 2025 group image.


The ELITE Global Leaders Conference debuted in Dublin, March 19-21, following the previously in Europe held editions in royal cities such as London, Madrid, Rome, and the Vatican, and even more  organised in the Americas. This exceptional conference aims to facilitate meaningful discussions and provide insights that empower participants in their current and future pursuits.

Organized by JABOY Productions, the event is dedicated to delivering valuable content on various topics, including investments, tax planning, estate planning, and insurance services. Recognizing that each attendee has unique needs, the conference is structured to offer a diverse range of ideas and opportunities, enabling participants to choose what aligns best with their individual requirements. Attendees have a distinctive opportunity to connect and build relationships with a variety of sophisticated peers and presenters, making this conference not only a memorable networking experience but also a chance to "INVEST IN YOURSELF," as emphasized by Neil A. Greene, the founder and CEO of JABOY Productions.

This bespoke private wealth conference offers exclusive access to top-tier speakers and sponsors. The agenda included engaging meetings and panels on topics that participants find both relevant and stimulating. The ELITE Global Leaders Conference is an invitation-only event, specifically designed for independent Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs), family offices, private wealth managers, professional athletes, pension funds, and other high-net-worth investors. Additionally, a special post-conference experience was arranged, featuring a trip to Edinburgh, Scotland, which included a golf event at the prestigious St. Andrews golf course. For further details, please visit www.jaboyproductions.com.

Larisa B. Miller is CEO of Phoenix Global LLC, and AIR with Featured Speaker Lorenzo de’ Medici – Founder,  Medici Family Office e Lorenzo de’ Medici

CEO of a global investment, development, and consulting firm specializing in agriculture/agritech; international municipal and governmental consulting; sustainability and innovation strategies; business development, recovery, and acceleration; as well as assisting clients in global market expansion, through investment firm, Phoenix Global, Miller develops innovative, cutting-edge investment projects around the world, matching large-scale investment opportunities with strategic capital partners, focusing primarily on technology, transportation, energy and agritech.
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Having spent many years in the Middle East as head of business development for members of the Royal Family in Abu Dhabi, UAE, through the royal non-profit foundation, Larisa has spent considerable time on charitable projects in refugee camps in Iraq, Jordan, Yemen and across rural Africa and has been named one of the World’s Top 100 People in Finance by Top 100 Magazine; one of the 10 Most Influential Business Leaders of 2020 by Exeleon Magazine; 100 Global Women of Excellence by Sovereign Magazine, Top 10 Most Influential Friends of Africa by For Business in Africa Magazine, and the 2020 Personality of the Year by Powerhouse Magazine with many more recognitions over the years.

 Dr. Eric Ball, impact venture capital (VC) presentation follows the principles of academic lecture to covey current VC trends. (Please see also the full interview with Dr Eric Ball). As a technology finance professional and investor Dr. Ball serves as Founding General Partner for Impact Venture Capital. Impact VC makes early-stage applied-AI investments in collaboration with corporates. He also serves on multiple public and private boards, including SoundHound (SOUN), Archimedes II Tech SPAC (ATIIU), and previously Glu Mobile (GLU) until its 2021 $2.4 billion acquisition by Electronic Arts. 
Eric was Chief Financial Officer at C3 AI in 2015-16. From 2005 to 2015, Eric served as Senior VP & Treasurer at Oracle. While there he raised $52 billion in acquisition capital, and was named one of the 100 most influential people in finance. Eric previously served at Flextronics International, Cisco Systems, Avery Dennison, and AT&T. Eric holds a PhD in management from the Drucker-Ito School, as well as master’s degrees from the University of Rochester and a BA from University of Michigan. He has published two books and taught at three universities. He lives and works in Woodside, California.

Make it. Spend it. Invest it.On May 7, 2025, the Forbes Money Summit opens its doors atPark Hyatt in Zurich – an exclusive event bringing together entrepreneurs, investors, and financial experts from around the world. It’s all about what you need to know about money: how to earn it effectively, discover the best investment opportunities, and know when to spend it wisely.


Why you shouldn’t miss the Forbes Money Summit 2025 in Zurich:

• Exclusive insights into financial strategies and investment opportunities
• Premium networking with top entrepreneurs and investors
• Practical tips on how to earn, invest, and spend your money wisely

Secure your ticket now and experience the future of finance!
Don't miss our limited Pre-Sale offer – secure your ticket for just 220 CHF, available until April 4, 2025!
May 7, 2025 | PARK HYATT ZURICH | 1:00 PM

SECURE YOUR PRE-SALE TICKET NOW!The Forbes Money Summit Zurich is fast approaching, and one speaker you definitely don’t want to miss is Philippe A. Naegeli, the co-founder and CEO of GenTwo. With over 30 years of experience in investment banking, corporate governance, and product innovation, Naegeli is a true pioneer in the financial world.
At GenTwo, a Swiss B2B fintech company, he’s revolutionizing the industry by enabling the securitization of virtually any asset. Under his leadership, the company now manages over 4 Bio. US-$ in Assets under Service and has built a global financial engineering network. In 2024, Naegeli co-authored the book Assetization, shedding light on a 78 Trio. US-$ investment opportunity.
Don’t miss the chance to hear Philippe A. Naegeli at the Forbes Money Summit as he shares his insights on unlocking new financial possibilities and shaping the future of asset securitization.

Find more info here!A key highlight at the Forbes Money Summit Zurich is Richard Schäli, the founder of Secanta Capital – a speaker you won’t want to miss. Richard’s journey in asset management began remarkably early, at just eleven years old. Today, he advises ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs), focusing on long-term investments, particularly in the tech sector. His strategy revolves around tailored mandates and collaborating with top advisors from family offices.
Beyond asset management, Richard expanded his impact in 2023 by launching Camp Corvatsch – an exclusive event where leading entrepreneurs and promising young founders come together to exchange ideas and foster innovation.
Don’t miss the opportunity to hear Richard Schäli at the Forbes Money Summit Zurich as he shares his insights, strategies, and vision for the future of investments.


Another speaker at the Money Summit Zurich is Alex Stöckl, Co-Founder and Partner at Founderful, a Zurich-based venture firm dedicated to supporting Swiss startups. Since 2018, Founderful has raised nearly 140 Mio. CHF for its second fund, with the goal of establishing Switzerland as a leading global tech hub by investing in visionary entrepreneurs.
The firm’s portfolio features groundbreaking companies like Wingtra, Depoly, and Saeki Robotics, driving innovation in industrial technology and software.
Don't miss Alex Stöckl’s insights at the Forbes Money Summit Zurich.

Also joining is Marko Bjelonic, the CEO and Co-Founder of Rivr (formerly Swiss-Mile), a cutting-edge robotics startup based in Zurich.
Originally from Yugoslavia, Marko studied Mechanical Engineering in Germany and later earned his PhD in Robotics at ETH Zurich. At Rivr, he leads the development of "Milo"—a wheeled-legged robot designed to climb stairs and transport heavy loads with ease.
With 22 Mio. $ in funding, including a significant investment from Jeff Bezos, Marko’s vision is to position Rivr at the forefront of autonomous robotics and tackle complex logistics challenges.
Hear Marko Bjelonic share his vision and expertise at the Forbes Money Summit Zurich.

New Murabba, a Public Investment Fund (PIF) company, participated in the real estate event "MIPIM 2025," held from March 11- 14 in Cannes, France. This year’s participation aims to enhance international investment in the Kingdom and highlight its commitment to economic diversification.

According to a company press release issued today, New Murabba’s presence at MIPIM 2025 featured a series of insightful sessions led by key executives. These sessions provided attendees with a deeper understanding of New Murabba’s strategic vision and its alignment with Saudi Arabia’s broader development goals.

CEO of New Murabba Michael Dyke took part in a panel discussion titled "How the Saudi Giga Projects Are Contributing to the Kingdom’s Economy and Vision 2030,"
EPMO and Stakeholder Management Division Head Eissa Almunif contributed to the panel "Changing Demographics in Saudi Arabia and How This Affects Development Planning." Development Director Ashwaq Albabtain joined the panel "Mega Events, Hospitality, and Leisure," while Executive Director of Capital Partnerships Development Nida Raza participated in the discussion "The Evolving Real Estate Sector in Saudi Arabia." Director of Healthcare and Education Development Reham Alawaji took part in the panel "Creating Livable Cities with Purpose." These sessions provided valuable insights into the development’s strategic relevance and its potential to reshape the urban landscape.

During his participation, Dyke emphasized, "We are committed to collaborative development and world-class execution. New Murabba has completed 14 million cubic meters of excavation while achieving 5.5 million safe hours without lost-time incidents. This milestone enables the commencement of permanent works for The Mukaab, ensuring the groundwork is set for the next phase of construction."

He also added that this progress underscores New Murabba’s dedication to delivering a world-class destination that will redefine urban development and contribute to a vibrant live-work-visit offering within the project.

The crypto markets have posted their second consecutive positive week following the Federal
Reserve s latest meeting, which left interest rates unchanged and maintained its forecast for
two rate cuts in 2025. Bitcoin surged to $87,470, its highest level since March 7th, as positive
sentiment rippled through the market.
The Federal Reserve s decision to reduce the pace of balance sheet shrinkage starting next
month, despite ongoing uncertainty surrounding tariffs, has contributed to this bullish
movement in crypto assets. Bitcoin's recent rally suggests that the market may have already
seen the bottom at $76,600 and could be on the cusp of a new upward trend.

Bitcoin;s performance is reflecting the optimism surrounding the Fed's stance and a broader
recovery in the market, said Simon Peters, crypto market analyst at eToro.If this momentum
continues, supported by upcoming inflation data, we may see further upward movement in
Bitcoin and other major crypto assets.
This week, attention will turn to the release of the US PCE Personal Consumption Expenditures
data, with expectations that it could provide an additional boost to Bitcoin and wider crypto
assets, particularly after earlier CPI data came in lower than forecast.
Market Movers
 XRP experienced a sharp price increase following the announcement by Ripple CEO Brad
Garlinghouse that the SEC's case against Ripple had officially concluded. The token
spiked 11% on the news, moving up by 26 cents.
 $ORCA, the native token of Solana-based decentralised exchange Orca, surged by 280%
after being listed on South Korea’s Upbit exchange. The price shot up from $1.50 to $6
in just a few hours before pulling back slightly.

Eric Trump Joins Metaplanet’s Advisory Board
In a strategic move to further accelerate Bitcoin adoption in Japan, Japanese company
Metaplanet has appointed Eric Trump to its newly formed Strategic Board of Advisors. This
announcement led to a 17% surge in Metaplanet’s share price, reinforcing the company's
position as a global leader in the Bitcoin economy. Metaplanet currently holds around 3,200
Bitcoin, valued at approximately $269 million.
Ripple CEO Predicts XRP ETF Approval by Year-End
In a conversation with Bloomberg, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse expressed optimism
regarding the approval of a spot XRP ETF by the end of 2025. Following the resolution of
Ripple’s legal case with the SEC, Garlinghouse highlighted shifting attitudes within US financial
institutions towards crypto.