DealMakers: Entrepreneur | Startups | Venture Capital

In the heart of a quiet French village, a young girl stared at the night sky, dreaming of the stars and the mysteries of space. That girl, Eloa Guillotin, would grow up to co-found Beyond Aero, a groundbreaking company building hydrogen-electric planes, redefining the future of aviation. Beyond Aero has attracted funding from top-tier investors like Bpifrance, Y Combinator, Initialized Capital, and Female Funders Found.

Mark Heynen has successfully navigated the startup ecosystem several times, running the entire gamut from building, scaling, and funding companies to exiting them. His journey demonstrates the power of resilience, learning from failures, and successfully pivoting to adapt to market conditions. Mark's latest venture is Knapsack, and he reveals what it means to build a rocket ship in the current environment. The company has Alphabet, Ascend Venture Capital (Seattle), FiDi Ventures, and Gradient Ventures.

In the fast-paced world of tech entrepreneurship, Daniel Lee stands out with a remarkable story of resilience, innovation, and vision. Co-founder of Nooks, an AI-powered platform transforming the productivity of sales teams, Daniel recently announced a $43M funding round, bringing the total raised to $70M. Nooks' top-tier investors include Kleiner Perkins, Lachy Groom, Stifel Venture Banking, and Tola Capital.

In the entrepreneurship world, stories often begin in predictable places: classrooms, tech hubs, or corporate boardrooms. Casper Henningsen’s tale, however, takes us to the soccer field. As a former professional soccer player in Denmark’s top league, Casper pivoted from the high-stakes world of elite sports to the equally demanding landscape of business and startups. His startup, GetWhy has attracted funding from investors like PeakSpan, Arbejdernes Landsbank, Stig Holledig, and SwiftScale.

Sverre Dueholm’s entrepreneurial journey traces his remarkable successes and resilience in building and scaling not just the company but also the product and people. He talks about flying solo and prioritizing work over a social life, eventually learning to create the optimum balance. Sverre's latest venture is Comundo, where he successfully instituted a four-day workweek, achieving higher productivity and creativity levels. It has attracted funding from top-tier investors like People Ventures and Likeminded.vc.

Mary Lou Jepsen is an award-winning, trailblazing technologist, entrepreneur, and creative thinker whose career has spanned some of the most groundbreaking technological advancements–from building holographic video systems to creating the world’s first $100 laptop. Mary Lou's latest company, Openwater, has attracted funding from top-tier investors like Bold Capital Partners, Khosla Ventures, Plum Alley Investments, and Collab Fund.

Thomas Laurent's story is one of resilience, adaptability, and learning through experience. From his early days in Lyon, France, to leading Micropep Technologies as a pioneer in sustainable agriculture, he has gained valuable insights into entrepreneurship, leadership, and innovation. Thomas' latest venture, Micropep, has attracted funding from top-tier investors like Corteva Agriscience, Sofinnova Partners, Denis Lucquin, and Sparkfood.

Sergio Fogel’s entrepreneurial journey is a testament to the power of adaptability, resilience, and innovation. Born in Uruguay and later traversing the world for education and business, Sergio has built and scaled multiple ventures. The latest venture is dLocal, a fintech unicorn valued at $18 billion at its peak. It has attracted funding from top-tier investors like Alkeon Capital, General Atlantic, Tiger Global Management, and D1 Capital Partners.

In the world of entrepreneurship, visionaries like Bradley Bostic repeatedly navigate the challenges of building, scaling, financing, and exiting companies. His story is about relentless innovation, learning from setbacks, and a deeply personal mission to revolutionize healthcare. This interview traces Brad’s journey to building Health Cloud Capital and the challenges he handled along the way. The company has invested in companies like DecisionRx, hc1, 3Aware, and Covance.

Shawn Weidmann’s story is one of transformation, resilience, and thoughtful decision-making. He is a fantastic operator-turned-entrepreneur who successfully raised $90M+ for his company, Zephyr, and scaled it to 300 employees. In this insightful interview, Shawn explores the key moments that shaped his career, the lessons he’s learned along the way, and raising funding in challenging markets from investors like Elda River and The Pritzker Organization.

Richard Socher, an AI pioneer and accomplished entrepreneur, has a story that exemplifies innovation, resilience, and the ability to transform cutting-edge technology into impactful businesses. Richard has had an exceptional journey founding and scaling AI-driven companies like MetaMind and You.com. His latest venture You.com has attracted funding from top-tier investors like Marc Benioff, Salesforce Ventures, NVIDIA, Gen Digital, and SBVA (formerly Softbank Ventures Asia).

The entrepreneurial path is rarely a straight line, and for Brian O’Kelley, it’s been a winding road of remarkable successes, humbling failures, and surprising turns. He has built multiple companies, one of which was incredibly successful and culminated in a $1.6B exit. Brian's latest venture, Scope3, has attracted funding from top-tier investors like Room40 Ventures, Google Ventures, Craft Venture, and Venrock.

David García Aceves, born and raised in Guadalajara, Mexico, embodies resilience and innovation. His story traces his journey through building two companies that didn’t quite work out before creating a new rocket ship, drawing valuable lessons from his failures. David's latest venture, Digitt, has raised funding from top-tier investors like Clocktower Ventures, Gilgamesh, New Stack Ventures, FJ Labs, and Treville.

A scientist-turned-entrepreneur, Bruce Lahn has successfully transitioned from academia to leading businesses like Vector Builder and Cyagen, reshaping gene delivery and genetic research. Here's a dive into his extraordinary path and the lessons he's gleaned along the way. Vector Builder has attracted funding from top-tier investors like Legend Capital, Operation Holding Group, Wanlian Securities Co., Guangzhou Yuexiu Industrial Investment Fund Management, and China Chengtong.

When Kristian Ranta reflects on his entrepreneurial journey, it’s a story filled with grit, resilience, and a profound sense of purpose. From his roots in Finland to founding ventures that span continents, Kristian’s experiences offer invaluable lessons for aspiring founders. His latest venture, Meru Health, has attracted funding from top-tier investors like Bold Capital Partners, Foundry Group, Freestyle VC, and FMZ Ventures.

In the world of cybersecurity entrepreneurship, few stories are as inspiring and insightful as that of Ayal Yogev, co-founder and CEO of Anjuna. Ayal's journey weaves through Israel’s renowned Unit 8200, Silicon Valley startups, and the transformative experiences of founding his own company. Anjuna has attracted funding from top-tier investors like Insight Partners, M Ventures, SineWave Ventures, and DCVC.

Matthew Kligerman’s path as a founder is a masterclass in vision, adaptability, and persistence. His entrepreneurial story is woven with bold moves, serendipitous moments, and relentless curiosity. In this engrossing interview, Matthew talks about adapting his experiences as a climber into building, scaling, and financing his companies. He also reveals unique aspects of the adventure of building a company in Latin America. Matthew's company, Escale, has attracted funding from top-tier investors like Invus, QED Investors, Redpoint Eventures, and Kaszek.

Sky Kurtz’s entrepreneurial journey involves grit, transformation, and strategic excellence. His story traces his humble beginnings in Jerome, Arizona, to crafting multi-million-dollar exits in the tech and agribusiness sectors. Sky's latest venture, Pure Harvest Smart Farms, has attracted funding from top-tier investors like IMM Investment, Samarthya Investment Advisors, StartX (US), and Metric Capital Partners.

Fawn Weaver’s journey from Pasadena to founding successful businesses has been anything but traditional. In this interview, she talks at length about an interesting concept–how to approach challenges by ignoring them. Fawn also discusses her journey of building and raising funding for her company and her unique approach toward venture capital, private equity, and growing Uncle Nearest. The company has attracted funding from top-tier investors like Hybridge Capital Management, CB3 Holdings, Mosaic General Partnership, Strand Equity, and Still Capital Partners.

In the startup ecosystem, building a company from the ground up without extensive capital is an impressive feat, as Anand Chandra has demonstrated. But building one in agriculture—a sector with deeply embedded challenges—is a story of grit, vision, and tenacity. Anand's company, Arya Collateral has attracted funding from top-tier investors like Quona Capital, the U.S. International Development Finance Corp, Lightrock, and Stride Ventures.