How to choose a tech partner in the age of AI

The Mortar Missing in Modern AI Everyone is racing to build higher, faster, smarter with AI. But in all the excitement, too many forget the mortar that holds it all together: command of your corporate information at the data layer. Without clean, accurate, and validated data, AI doesn’t make you smarter — it just makes bad decisions faster. Generative models can synthesize, summarize, and simulate. But they can’t correct the underlying truth of what they’re fed. If your data is fragmented, duplicated, or unverified, the brilliance of your AI output is limited before it even begins. The future of AI excellence won’t be determined by who has the flashiest model — it’ll be determined by who has the cleanest data foundation. Those who treat data hygiene, lineage, and validation as strategic assets will own the next decade of intelligent automation. Bottom line: AI doesn’t replace the fundamentals — it amplifies them. Get your data right first. Everything else flows from there.

We had several questions at the time end of our panel this past week but the one that stuck out to me was how do you future proof when it comes to technology vendors in the age of generative AI. You see there is no question that we are seeing a plethora of new startups in the space. And with lots of new startups means a high chance of some not lasting long. To me the answer was pretty straightforward and it isn’t how well capitalized they are. As Keith Soura pointed out, VCs can tire quickly and cut off funding. The key is the people and their track record. If you are looking at a new technology partner in the space who is likely only 2-3 years old look at who the people are running it and what they’ve done in the past. A great technology partner isn’t about how much VC money they can raise, it’s about the people who not only understand your language but more importantly who have proven themselves to have built great things in the past.

The Paradigm Shift in Early-Stage Investing The biggest inefficiency in early-stage investing isn’t access to startups, it’s qualification. For years, investors have relied on outbound sourcing - scanning pitch decks, joining demo days, and navigating deal rooms - all in pursuit of a few fundable startups. But AI-led qualification tools like ReadyScore are flipping that model. Instead of investors chasing founders, founders now arrive qualified - with structured, benchmarked insights across traction, scalability, and readiness. The result? A quieter but fundamental shift: from outbound hustle to inbound intelligence. As AI reshapes the “front door” of startup investing, the question isn’t who has more deal flow - but who has smarter signal flow. At Startup Steroid - Deal Flow | SPVs | Demo Day | Ready Score, we’re building this shift from the inside out - connecting founders, investors, and ecosystems through smarter qualification layers. 🔗 Explore the movement: www.readyscore.ai, www.startupsteroid.com 📩 Happy to exchange ideas at laxmikanth@startupsteroid.com #EarlyStageInvesting #VentureCapital #AIinInvesting #StartupEcosystem #DealFlow #InvestmentTech Anshuman Sinha Ashish Saboo

Investors are whipping themselves into a frenzy over the workflow automation sector right now. Few startups in European tech are capable of instigating VCs into all-out bidding wars, but in August German startup n8n did just that. Most VCs think there will be more stories like that to come as revenue opportunities ramp up. But which AI workflow automation startups have investors got their eyes on? Sifted spoke to VCs from Acadian Ventures, firstminute capital, Creandum and Episode 1 Ventures to find out. Several of the startups named include: 🇩🇪 askLio 🇬🇧 Kinfolk 🇩🇪 Synthflow AI 🇬🇧 Fern Labs 🇸🇪 Freda 🇳🇱 Lleverage 🇮🇪 Seapoint Full list: https://lnkd.in/e69iMfyw Audrey Handem | Mandeep Singh | Peter Specht | Michael Stothard | Carolina Monck, PhD.

Silicon Valley’s unprecedented $100 million seed rounds are forcing VCs to rethink their investment strategies. The market has split in two: "There’s Silicon Valley, where AI companies can raise $100 million seed rounds in 60 minutes" "Then there’s everywhere else, where startups fight for increasingly scarce capital." Carta's head of global insights, Peter Walker is in Sydney this week for SXSW Sydney and spoke with Capital Brief today: https://lnkd.in/g_zcs-eM

We’re opening our #fundraising round for #investors with an appetite for bold ideas, strong conviction and a healthy disregard for the phrase “too early.” Your Voice Was Always the Most Powerful Tool in Business.We Just Gave It Power. After months in stealth, we’re done whispering. At RevSprint, we’ve been building something quietly radical; the world’s first Voice-to-Action Revenue Engine. It doesn’t wait for instructions. It listens. It understands. It acts. Every conversation becomes execution. Every word becomes momentum. Every team moves faster than thought. Right now, revenue teams lose 60% of their time bouncing between tools; over 1,100 context switches a day. That’s not work. That’s noise wearing a tie. We’re here to end that. Instantly. Intuitively. Autonomously. So work can finally work for you. We’ve got traction. A growing pipeline. A team wired for speed and allergic to ordinary. Backed by Google for Startups, NVIDIA for Startups, Artificial Intelligence Collaboration Centre (AICC) and MongoDB. Because the future of work doesn’t click, type or drag. It speaks. And when it does; everything moves. RevSprint. Heard. Understood. Done. #RevSprint #VoiceToAction #FutureOfWork #AI #Innovation #StartupFunding #VentureCapital #AngelInvesting #SEIS #WorkReimagined #FounderJourney #Fundraising #Startup #AgenticAI

DC Startup & Tech Week (Formerly DC Startup Week) Day 3! It was great learning how to maximize marketing and branding efficiency through AI. Key takeaways included understanding where AI can provide the most value — and equally important, where it shouldn’t be applied. A later session, led by Anthony Millin, on preparing for fundraising and understanding the legal requirements of raising capital was especially insightful. He provided a clear and concise foundation for startup fundraising readiness. The startup demos were another highlight, offering excellent opportunities to connect, explore emerging ventures, and identify potential areas for collaboration. Finally, the networking and conversations during happy hour proved, once again, to be invaluable. Looking forward to continued discussions today! Bradley Herrup, Andrew Conklin, Kelly Martin, Brian C. O'Connor, Steve Deese, Ph.D., MBA #DCStartupWeek #TechWeekDC #StartupLife #EntrepreneurCommunity #Innovation #NetworkingEvent #TechStartups #LoMInc #Founders #DefenseInnovation #MaritimeSecurity #AIandData

𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒚 𝑾𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏-𝑳𝒆𝒅 𝑰𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏: 𝑰𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒎𝒆 𝑩𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒔 We’re kicking off InnovX’s Inception Programme, part of the Open Horizons Project, a European programme empowering women-led deep tech startups. I’m thrilled to announce this pivotal phase where the women-led deep tech startups selected from over 200 applications, will work intensively to: ✅ Clarify their Business Model Canvas (BMC)  ✅ Build a fundable Proof of Concept (PoC) tailored to real corporate challenges I proudly stand with women-led innovation and this programme is a powerful reminder of why I love working on the Open Horizons Project. These founders bring amazing ideas, deep tech expertise, and the drive to solve real-world challenges. #OpenHorizons #InnovX #DeepTech #StartupsAcceleration #PoC #BusinessModelCanvas

Q3 Cut Through Ventures Report 🚀 Q3 2025 Highlights: 💰 Over $1B in funding across 116 rounds – the busiest quarter of 2025 by deal count! Accelerator activity drove the surge, while mega deals were scarce (just 1 round >$100M). 📈 Valuations are climbing, especially for early-stage startups. Founders in AI are securing faster rounds & higher pricing. Hardware, biotech, & climate tech led funding totals. 👩💼 Female-led startups had their best quarter since 2023, but funding for female/mixed-gender teams dropped to 11%. Accelerators remain key to representation. 📊 Series A → B analysis shows 2021–22 startups still feeling valuation pressure, while the 2024 cohort shows stronger fundamentals despite early pricing challenges. #StartupFunding #Q32025 #Innovation