Insurtech investor survey, H-1B pink flags, SaaS gross sales teaching • TechCrunch

The demand for some companies may be so excessive, it might probably insulate their suppliers towards the vagaries of the market. Throughout an financial downturn, shoppers don’t in the reduction of on pet meals or rest room paper. Equally, everybody wants insurance coverage.

Between 2016 and 2022, insurtech startups obtained round $43 billion in funding, and regardless of the downturn, a lot of the traders that reporter Anna Heim not too long ago surveyed stated they’re nonetheless optimistic in regards to the sector’s prospects:

• Martha Notaras, basic associate, Brewer Lane Ventures
• David Wechsler, principal, OMERS Ventures
• Stephen Brittain and Rob Lumley, administrators and co-founders, Insurtech Gateway
• Florian Graillot, founding associate, Astorya.vc
• Clarisse Lam, affiliate, New Alpha Asset Administration
• Hélène Falchier, associate, Portage Ventures
• Adam Blumencranz, associate, Distributed Ventures

---

Full TechCrunch+ articles are solely accessible to members
Use low cost code TCPLUSROUNDUP to avoid wasting 20% off a one- or two-year subscription

---

“We’re merely seeing a actuality test occur,” stated Wechsler. “Sadly, there are numerous firms that ought to not have raised as a lot as they did, or maybe don’t have sustainable enterprise fashions. These firms will wrestle to outlive.”

Their responses comprise helpful insights for early stage founders nonetheless in fundraising mode, in addition to those that are hoping to search out an exit on this down market.

“From an M&A perspective, it’s a matter of value versus positioning,” stated Graillot. “If you’re fixing an actual ache level as an enterprise software program firm, tech suppliers or insurers may be enthusiastic about buying you.”

Thanks very a lot for studying TC+ this week. Have an awesome weekend.

Walter Thompson
Editorial Supervisor, TechCrunch+
@yourprotagonist

The insufferable lightness of being asset-light

Traders have embraced “asset-light” firms like Hire the Runway, Uber and Airbnb that don’t personal the {hardware} that generates their income.

Corporations that generate billions from belongings they don’t personal “sometimes require much less capital — and due to this fact much less dilution for his or her traders,” writes Daniel Hoffer, managing director of Autotech Ventures.

“However some asset-light marketplaces wrestle to fulfill their clients as a result of not all of the belongings they’ll make accessible are equally appreciated by their demand-side clients.”

Expensive Sophie: Is it OK to make use of a customer visa whereas holding an H-1B?

Expensive Sophie,

I’m in Toronto, Canada, and I used to be authorized for an H-1B, which was not too long ago stamped in my passport. I plan to maneuver to the U.S. subsequent yr. Can I go to the U.S. on a earlier B-1/B-2 visa this November?

Would it not elevate any pink flags if I have been to go to as a customer whereas holding an authorized/stamped H-1B visa?

— Gifted in Toronto

How you can make teaching work on your gross sales crew

A powerful gross sales group is the tip of the spear for each SaaS startup, however as a result of so few founders have significant expertise on this area, they don’t know learn how to set their groups up for fulfillment.

On this TC+ article, contributor Kevin Varadian explains learn how to chart a gross sales teaching journey that enhances retention and will increase income.

“It’s vital to acknowledge that right this moment’s gross sales groups are extra problem-solvers than deal-closers — smooth expertise are extra vital right here than technical capabilities,” he says.

Pitch Deck Teardown: Rokoko’s $3M strategic extension deck

Jakob Balslev, CEO and co-founder of Danish animation and movement seize firm Rokoko, describes the $3 million spherical that boosted his firm to an $80 million valuation as “strategic.”

“True digital presence requires pure human movement,” the deck states, explaining that the corporate’s whole addressable market encompasses all the things from automotive robotics to security and safety.

To point out TC+ readers how Rokoko persuaded traders to inject more money at this stage of its improvement, Balslev shared the deck in full.

Treepz founder Onyeka Akumah on how to achieve transportation tech

Total, high quality of life for Africans has improved dramatically in latest a long time, however the continent nonetheless suffers from weak public transportation infrastructure.

In Europe and North America, three-quarters of the city inhabitants can trip a bus or practice, however in Africa, that determine falls to one-third. To fill the hole, Nigerian startup Treepz is constructing a bus-hailing service that co-founder and CEO Onyeka Akumah desires to traverse the sub-Saharan area.

“We will’t proceed to complain in regards to the downturn,” stated Akumah. “I’d say it’s serving to us turn out to be sturdier.”