Alex Rodrigues always wanted to be an inventor. Growing up in Waterloo, Canada, he spent his childhood scorching much older opponents in robotics competitions before engineering a self-driving golf cart at 19. While professors and the media encouraged him to apply his talent to self-driving cars, after conversations with trucking companies, Rodrigues set his sights on the less sexy relative: 18-wheelers.
His autonomous trucking software company, Embark, went public via SPAC merger with Northern Genesis Acquisition Corp. II on November 11 at a $5 billion valuation, making the 26-year-old inventor worth an estimated $500 million, and the youngest CEO of a publicly traded company.
Threshold Ventures partner Chirag Chotalia (left) and principal Megan Kelly (right) are tasked with growing the firm’s New York presence.
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Every Firm Is Talking About It’: Venture Capital Is Having Its New York Moment
Pandemic work flexibility and red-hot deal flow in sectors like fintech, crypto and digital health have West Coast firms from Andreessen Horowitz to Lightspeed, Threshold and many others hiring New York-based investors like never before.
This Week’s Money Moves
Female Invest has raised $4.5 million to empower women to invest. The Forbes Under 30 alum looks to give women the resources they need to make informed investing decisions and has garnered more than 20,000 users.
Plus, Fin VC has raised $400 million to be a full-stack B2B fintech investor. The San Francisco-based firm is structured to invest from pre-seed through the late stages with this latest batch of funds.
No group has gotten richer—or more powerful—over the past decade than tech tycoons. So it’s no wonder both the left and right are now gunning for them. One-fifth of the richest people in America made their fortune in the technology industry, a massive increase from only 9% in 2008.
Buzzy EV upstart Rivian is now the number two U.S. automaker by value after Tesla. Rivian hasn’t delivered many of its intriguing new electric pickup trucks, but on its second day as a public company saw a 22% run-up in its share price.
The Inside Scoop: Exclusive Under 30 News
No Code Analytics Platform Narrative BI Raises $1.2 Million Pre-Seed Funding
Michael Rumiantsau, now 32, made the Under 30 list in 2019 for his natural language processing company FriendlyData, which was acquired by ServiceNow in 2018. After that, the Belarus-native took a job as an investor at Founders.ai making seven-figures annually. But in the background, he saw the opportunity for a no code analytics platform to complement mainstays like Google Analytics and Salesforce.
Now he’s left his cushy job and raised $1.2 million in pre-seed funding to launch the first version of Narrative BI’s product from investors Elysium Venture Capital, Finsight Ventures, Digital Future, Adventures Lab, Joint Journey VC, and angels at Google and ServiceNow. “Every time something unusual happens with your data, it means something to your business,” says Rumiantsau. “We make sure you know about it before it becomes a problem.”
Earlier this week Narrative BI launched its first product, onboarding a whopping 500 teams onto the platform after Product Hunt featured the company as its Product of the Day. The company, now eight people who work across five time zones, plans to use the fresh funding to hire and release the 2.0 version of its product next year. Their ultimate goal: To give people with no business intelligence background the power of analytics-based decision making.
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Forbes
Forbes Under 30 Nominations Are Now Open
Ten years ago, Forbes set out to create the inaugural 30 Under 30 list. One decade later, it’s now the definitive list of young people changing the world. Do you know someone creating the next Instagram, Stripe or Spotify? Nominate them (or yourself!) today.
Note: North America nominations have closed already. All other regions are open.
Recommendations From Beyond The Newsroom
Speakers at the Forbes Power Women’s Summit include Rosalind Brewer, Naomi Campbell, Dr. Jane Goodall, Allyson Felix, Ava Duvernay and Lindsey Vonn
Forbes
2021 Forbes Power Women’s Summit
Join us for the 2021 Forbes Power Women’s Summit taking place virtually on Thursday, December 9 at 11 a.m. ET | 8 a.m. PT. As we chart a course toward a post-pandemic world, the Summit will explore how today’s most dynamic changemakers are leading a new way forward and building a more equitable future. The Summit voices will include: Ava DuVernay, Award-winning Filmmaker, Director & Producer, ARRAY; Jane Goodall, Founder, Jane Goodall Institute & UN Messenger Of Peace; Rosalind Brewer, Chief Executive Officer, Walgreens Boots Alliance; Allyson Felix, Five-time Olympian, 11-time Olympic medalist, Founder & President, Saysh; Naomi Campbell, Supermodel & Activist; Lindsey Vonn, Former Olympic Skier & Founder, Lindsey Vonn Foundation and more. Register for free today!
Retirement Basics: What Is A 401(k) Match?
A 401(k) match is money your employer contributes to your 401(k) account. See the different types of employer 401(k) matches here.
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