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receive to the TechCrunch Exchange , a weekly startup - and - markets newssheet . It ’s inspired by thedaily TechCrunch+ columnwhere it gets its name . Want it in your inbox every Saturday ? Sign uphere .
diarist and reader love scoop . But sometimes it ’s important to express the obvious . This week , I ’m reminded that democracies are flimsy but that technology can help . And also that crowdfunding is n’t always the best agency to set up an innovative mathematical product .
Why agentic tech?
When I read that a new venture business firm calledex / antehadraised $ 33 millionto vest in “ agentic tech , ” I got curious : What did that mean , and why were LPs such as Marc Andreessen and Union Square Ventures willing to back an egress investment trust manager concentre on this category ?
I already had something to go on : Forbes ’ Alex Konrad noted that ex / ante would indue in on-line privacy and surety , and described agentic tech as “ a starter condition that the fund delineate as applied science that relates to human representation and rights in the digital age . ” But I still wanted to know more , so I had a confab with its father , 32 - class - old Zoe Weinberg .
Weinberg ’s project was ab initio part of Schmidt Futures , Eric Schmidt ’s philanthropic venture ( orphilanthropic mountain , depending on who you require ) . But when she spun it out as a stand - alone investment firm , she needed a concise direction to explain her thesis to stakeholders .
“ When I was first thinking about how to frame our strategy , I kept occur back to this question of what is in the end the technical school that will help us to restore agency to individuals and help oneself to forestall digital dictatorship and surveillance capitalist economy . ”
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This thesis cover ex-wife / ante portfolio companies such asReality Defender , which direct to fight deepfakes , as well asWebacy , which promises to help you “ do crypto / DeFi / web3 safely . ”
“ I used to excuse it to people as anti - despotic tech . . . but I never like that terminus , ” Weinberg tell me . Other terms such as “ anti - surveillance tech ” also had similar negatively charged connotations , so Weinberg mention privacy expertAnastasia Uglovafor the choice of words she in the end landed on . Uglova confirm her role in an electronic mail to me :
“ I encouraged Zoe to go with the condition ‘ agentic tech ’ and not anti - surveillance technical school because ( 1 ) it reclaims the term towards trends that empower human dignity , sovereignty , and selection , rather than subverting them as the age of societal medium has done , and ( 2 ) it ’s a positive terminus that implies possibility for human flourishing with applied science rather than transmit anti - tech sentiment . ”
Using an emerging condition is also a way for Weinberg to show that its focal point is intelligence . “ Historically , the way that folks have been clothe in the crossway of technology and democracy has been either civil technical school and govtech , [ or ] on the other side , defence tech ( national security , military hardware , etc . ) . And what I ’m endeavor to do is different from both of those things . ”
While Weinberg recall it ’s honest to see VCs becomemore uncoerced to invest in defense team technical school , she think that protecting democracy takes a broader coming .
“ When I step back and think about what is the biggest threat to at least American commonwealth in 2023 , it ’s credibly not a physical intrusion on one of our molding . It is the crumbling of republic from within , as a result of things like lack of trust in public institution , greater polarisation , conspiracy theories , etc . And so , to me , we really should be amplify the aperture of what we mean when we say national security system or fight back democracy . ”
Weinberg ’s take clearly seemed unparalleled enough to attract some high - visibility LPs , despite the ambitious surroundings for startup and fund likewise , especially emerging ones . But her voice is also part of a growing trend in public discourse , including in venture capital .
Future Union , a group that describe itself as “ a nonpartisan organization focused on winning the geopolitical clash between majority rule and autocracy for the next generation , ” late fall up with a report onthe top investor back democracy . Just like Weinberg ’s , its definition is much broader than defence tech , so hazard are good that ex / ante will be on its inclination .
Reinventing the wheel, again
Revolve , a Startup Battlefield 2023 alum that came up with aninnovative travel wheelchair , is rethink its go - to - food market scheme after cancel itsKickstarter campaign . While € 39,293 had been pledged , it was n’t enough and the startupdecidedto “ search different avenue to offer our mathematical product to the world . ”
Go - to - market expertAndrea Baldereschihad apprize Revolve on its crowdfunding strategy and remains bullish about this approach , which proved successful for most projects he make for with . But in retrospect , he sees why it was n’t the right fit for Revolve ; a niche hardware product at a high price is just a knotty ( pre-)sell , he told me .
After add up to this same termination , Revolve ’s founder , Andrea Mocellin , is pursuing a more collaborative glide path . In a statement he shared with me , he excuse that Revolve is now calculate for “ licensing cooperator and onwards - thinking companies ” to evolve its engineering science , and is keen to partner up with “ institutions and airy universities eager to challenge traditional business model . ”
“ This approach view Revolve not as a niche product but as a global innovation , balance to answer a large number of user and businesses , ” Mocellin write . His vision , he added , “ is to produce a lasting encroachment , fostering inclusivity and reaching a full user base . ” permit ’s hope it becomes a realism sooner rather than after . jaunt with a disability is stillmuch harderthan it should be , so if a travel wheelchair can avail , the faster , the adept .
This Emily Post was update on December 18 , 2023 to tote up a radio link to Andrea Mocellin ’s website .
