Friends of FJ Labs,

We finished off the year with a bang! Please see below for our latest investment highlights and happenings. Here is to an exciting & prosperous 2025!

While AI startups continue to shatter fundraising and valuation records, we at FJ Labs maintain that the best way to consistently outperform in VC investing is to be non-consensus. This is reflected in our cautious and contrarian approach to investing in AI startups. In his recent podcast episode, Fabrice shares FJ Labs’ AI Thesis and highlights select exciting startups we’ve recently backed in the space such as Hero Stuff, Photoroom, Numerai, and Figure.AI. You can find the full transcript and slides used in the presentation here.

… and for our views on the latest marketplace trends, Fabrice discusses key marketplace themes we’re currently watching. He also digs deeper into our core B2B marketplace thesis and the various B2B startups we’ve backed across categories. You can find the full transcript and slides used in the presentation here.

For full year 2024, FJ Labs was named among the most active investors at seed by Crunchbase.

Vinted, Europe’s largest secondhand clothing marketplace, closed a secondary sale of €340M at a valuation of €5B led by TPG. We are ecstatic to quadruple down in Vinted, now our largest position by carrying value and among our highest-conviction investments led by CEO (and FJ Labs alumnus!) Thomas Plantenga. Not only is this one of the only up-rounds we’ve seen following a 2021 late-stage fundraise, it was secondary only, a testament to the company’s stellar performance and capital efficiency. (Vinted.com)

We are excited to share that eBay recently announced plans to acquire FJ portco, Caramel, an LA-based startup whose platform provides a secure and seamless experience that handles all the complexities of online car sales, including paperwork, ownership transfer, financing, transportation and more. (TechCrunch).

Neo Financial raised a C$360M Series D to continue accelerating growth and position itself as the leading challenger to banks in Canada. The round includes investments from the founders of Shopify, Slack, and Roblox, plus Valar, Golden Ventures, and Afore Capital. (Business Wire).

Professional coaching platform, Leland, raised a $12M Series A led by Forerunner Ventures. The company has grown revenue 4X over the past year and boasts over 100,000 users from 70 countries. They also recently announced an exciting partnership with LinkedIn to bring career coaching to LinkedIn Premium members. (TechCrunch).

FJ portco, Broadlume, a provider of business management software focused on the flooring business was acquired by Cyncly, a global provider of software and content solutions that is majority owned by TA and Genstar. (Broadlume).

FJ portco, Printify, a Latvian print-on-demand provider, announced it would merge with Printiful, the country’s first unicorn. The merger will deliver significantly bigger scale to customers, combining Printful’s production facilities with Printify’s network of printing partners across 117 locations. (TechEu).

For the second year in a row, Jose spoke on a panel at Abu Dhabi Finance Week on the current state of venture capital. Later, he discussed value accrual and liquidity in venture on a panel hosted by Fintech Abu Dhabi. ADFW is an annual event that brings together leaders, market experts, and entrepreneurs from over 100 countries.

Fabrice was again invited to keynote the Transatlantic Leadership Forum hosted by Goldman Sachs. The annual event draws over 500 leaders to explore sustainability and transatlantic economic collaboration. Fabrice shared his contrarian, optimistic take on the state of climate: we are rising to the challenge of the 21st century and building a sustainable world of plenty! You can see the slides used in his presentation here.

Fabrice enjoyed a wide ranging conversation with Minter Dial, an amazing author, speaker, conversationalist, and fellow padel aficionado. They covered many topics including Fabrice’s unique approach to life, challenging societal norms, AI, being your authentic self, and more.

ICYMI: make sure to check out Fabrice’s 2024 gadget guide, including picks for best wireless headset, webcam, eReaders, dog collars, and more. (For TV, sound bar, notebook computer, chair, streaming setup, and drone recs, check out his past 2022 and 2023 guides).