Global insights: venture capital and the impacts of COVID-19

COVID-19 has certainly brought challenges to our world that we’ve never experienced in our lifetime. We still don’t fully understand the likely ripple effects it may have in the near- to intermediate-term future, or how it will ultimately shift the VC space in the long term.

However, there may be some measure of silver lining from it all. There are valuable lessons to keep in mind as we charge forward: challenging long-held assumptions, having a resilient mindset, showing your appreciation for others and remembering that you still have your village despite all of this change and uncertainty.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve had several discussions with startups and fellow investors about today’s unprecedented environment and the impacts this will have in years to come. We’ve heard common themes and top of mind focus areas including deployment of capital, impact on the fintech landscape, changes in sales and fundraising processes and more. 

In “Global Insights: Venture Capital and the Impacts of COVID-19,” we posed five questions to five VCs and key players from across various geographic regions and domains within the startup ecosystem about the impact of our current crisis, and what they’ve gleaned from past disruptive events. 

We hope you enjoy today’s post and find these insights valuable. More importantly, we hope that you and your loved ones stay safe and healthy during these challenging times. Our hearts go out to all whose lives have been impacted by this pandemic.

Our five key questions

1. In 2008, our society faced a major financial crisis. Today, COVID-19 has brought on a different kind of crisis – a health crisis – with enormous economic impacts as well. Are there any lessons learned or takeaways from navigating the 2008 crisis that have made you more prepared to navigate today’s uncertainty?
2. How have these circumstances impacted your lens for evaluating companies and potential investment opportunities? 
3. What do you think the fintech startup/VC ecosystem look like 12 months from now? 
4. How are you supporting your portfolio companies through these challenging times/this period of uncertainty? 
5. How do you help yourself and/or your teams stay positive during these unprecedented times?

Read the paper.

Meet our contributors

• Tim Guleri, Managing Director, Sierra Ventures
• Atul Kamra, Managing Partner, SixThirty Ventures
• James Mawson, Founder of Mawsonia and its publications: Global Corporate Venturing, Global Impact Venturing and Global University Venturing
• Dean Miller, President and CEO, Philadelphia Alliance for Capital and Technologies (PACT)
• Katherine Wilson, Investor, Illuminate Financial