Your Monthly Dose of ASIF Ventures
January 2019
new year, new look.
We kicked off 2019 with a brand new start! New website, logo, look and feel, but no worries, we still got the same people, goals and ambitions! Keep reading to get all the details on our rebranding, what has been going on with the fund and what’s on the event calendar for the coming month.
why we rebranded…
“The challenge we face when trying to convey ASIF’s brand is that as an organization we are promoting two distinct identities: on the one hand, we want to establish ourselves as reputable Venture Capital Fund — operating at a smaller scale than the big names, but no less professional, supportive, or successful. On the other hand, through our events, we aim to inspire and inform students, connect them with the startup ecosystem in Amsterdam, and ultimately make them more entrepreneurial. To succeed in this second goal, we need to convey that we are fun, approachable, and open-minded.”
Read the full story behind our rebranding in our very first blog post (of which many more good ones are yet to come, so make sure you follow us as well).
the fund.
It has been a while since the last update, where you could read about our first investment in Dyme. However, we have not been sitting still at ASIF. As the funds are coming to an official close — now with not only the University of Amsterdam, but now also the Vrije University as our investors — we have been more active than ever to find the best startups out there!
Thanks in part to the success of our last edition of P!TCH, we have been introduced to some promising startups in last couple weeks. We have started the investment process with multiple startups, to analyse whether they have can receive funding from ASIF, We hope to tell you more about them very soon!
We’ve said it before, but it can’t hurt to remind you: ASIF Ventures exist to support all entrepreneurial students. Do you have a business, an idea, or even just a dream? We’re here to help! We support, we connect and we invest, and we would love to meet you. So get in touch!
the community.
We skipped town for a bit over the Christmas break, but we’re back and ready to go! Not only are we hosting amazing editions of all our events again, we are also looking for new team members! Read all the details below.
join us!
Always wanted to be part of an amazing, entrepreneurial community, full of bright minds, and lots of fun? Well, we’re recruiting!
We couldn’t organize all our events and activities without the help of our community. The group of roughly twenty students work together to host all ASIF’s events, with the most knowledgable speakers, the hottest startups, and the best audience! We are now looking for more students to join the team. Interested to meet new entrepreneurial students and got a few hours a week left? Apply now.
P!TCH x ACE
6th of February, 19.00 @Rent24 (Magna Plaza)
In the 8th edition of P!TCH, we are joined by ACE to put on Amsterdam’s most renowned event to see student entrepreneurs in action — and for those student entrepreneurs, the go-to event to showcase what you’ve been working on!
But this time the stakes are higher! Audience voting to select the grand winner is out; instead, a judgment panel of seasoned entrepreneurs and venture capitalists is in.
The grand winner of P!TCH will receive a 1-on-1 discussion with an expert, who can provide you with valuable tips and tricks on how to scale and optimize your business and……€500 in prize money.
Apply here to pitch: https://tinyurl.com/y7zk44sg
So, on 6 February, get ready to not just be inspired, but to fall in love with 5 of Amsterdam’s best student entrepreneurs. Get your tickets.
masterclass
Stay tuned because we will soon go live with the next edition of Masterclass! We cannot give away all details yet, but we can say that you will learn the ins and outs of negotiating — be it a contract with a client, an investment from a VC, the price of your next bike.
common ground
After the success of the last edition of Common Ground, we are already looking forward to the next event! This time, we’re going to chat about privacy in the age of the internet. Does Facebook have your best interests at heart? Who actually owns your data? Will the GDPR do anything to save you? Find out in a couple weeks!
what we are reading.
- Podcast: An Interview with Manu Kumar, who is the founder of the one-man seed fund K9 Ventures. Manu talks about his background as an entrepreneur, how he ultimately found his way to becoming an investor, and the company’s he’s been involved along the way.
- Video: As we reach we reach a point in time where the vast majority of humans has access to smartphones, it’s time to start to think what’s next. Where is there the still room for growth? Where should we expect little to happen? Benedict Evans from a16z discusses these questions in this presentation.
- Report: In its yearly report, Atomico looks at the state of the European tech landscape. Main takeaway this year? Things are all good from a business perspective, but both the European Tech and VC space continue to have a massive diversity problem.
what’s next.
We hope you’re up-to-date now on what is happening with ASIF and beyond. Next month we will tell you more about.
In the meantime, we hope to see you at one of our upcoming events! Want to get all the ASIF updates straight away? Follow us on Facebook, Linkedin and Instagram!
