Venture Director

There are venture directors.., and then there are altVenture Directors

 

Most EMMA and/or early companies need mentoring and support in governance ways, but even more so for risk mitigation, business & corporate development, or hiring & firing… 

Please connect for Emerging Market Venture Capital Advisory as in independent non-exec hand-holding, industry & financial expertise, etc.

 

Corona Update

In line with ‘the new normal’ – altVENTURE @ 2EMMA caters for outsourced / subcontracted / remote / desktop deal or project execution for either side of the investment table:

  • research, analysis & evaluation
  • BP, strategy & pitch development
  • financial modelling & valuation
  • structuring & negotiation
  • due diligence & closing documentation

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Theme Related Tracker

  • Weekly funding round-up! All of the European startup funding rounds we tracked this week (Aug. 03 – Aug. 07)
    on August 7, 2026

    This article is visible for CLUB members only. If you are already a member but don’t see the content of this article, please login here. If you’re not a CLUB member yet, but you’d like to read members-only content like this one, have unrestricted access to the site and benefit from many additional perks, you The post Weekly funding round-up! All of the European startup funding rounds we tracked this week (Aug. 03 – Aug. 07) appeared first on EU-Startups.

  • London’s Safehire.ai, founded by ex-British Army officers, secures €583.2k to scale AI-powered digital risk screening
    on August 7, 2026

    Safehire.ai, a London-based digital risk intelligence company helping organisations make safer, more informed hiring and access decisions, has secured a €583.2k (£500k) follow-on investment from a private investor.  This round, together with the €1.22 million (£1.05 million) Seed investment round closed in April 2025, brings total investment to €1.8 million (£1.55 million).  “Safehire challenges the The post London’s Safehire.ai, founded by ex-British Army officers, secures €583.2k to scale AI-powered digital risk screening appeared first on EU-Startups.

  • Glasgow-based Mironid raises €39.9 million in Series B to advance rare kidney disease treatment
    on August 7, 2026

    Mironid, a Glasgow-based biopharmaceutical company, has closed a €39.9 million ($46 million) Series B financing round to push its lead drug candidate for Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD) through clinical development. The round was led by Scottish National Investment Bank, which joined a syndicate of existing backers including Roche Venture Fund, Epidarex Capital, Sofinnova The post Glasgow-based Mironid raises €39.9 million in Series B to advance rare kidney disease treatment appeared first on EU-Startups.

  • Munich-based NavVis raises €73.7 million to build its spatial data engine and accelerate AI roadmap
    on August 7, 2026

    NavVis, a Munich-based spatial twin platform for the built world, has raised a €73.7 million ($85 million) Series D round to build its massive spatial data engine and accelerate the AI product roadmap. The round was led by US private equity firm The Jordan Company, with participation from existing shareholders Yttrium (together with a consortium The post Munich-based NavVis raises €73.7 million to build its spatial data engine and accelerate AI roadmap appeared first on EU-Startups.

  • Marketing’s AI evolution: from creativity to engineering
    on August 7, 2026

    Anyone can build an app now, so distribution is the whole game, and the person who wins it looks less like a marketer and more like a growth engineer. Building an app used to be the hard part. Not any more. On Lovable alone, people were starting around a million new projects every week by June 2026, The post Marketing’s AI evolution: from creativity to engineering appeared first on EU-Startups.

  • Cyprus-based enterprise agentic CX company Omilia secures €58.1 million in Series B funding
    on August 7, 2026

    Omilia, the Cyprus-based self-learning agentic CX company, has secured a €58.1 million ($67 million) Series B funding round led by Expedition Growth Capital. The company plans to use this capital to support continued growth acceleration in North America and globally, including the opening of Omilia’s first US office in the second half of 2026. The The post Cyprus-based enterprise agentic CX company Omilia secures €58.1 million in Series B funding appeared first on EU-Startups.

  • Gucci's magical carousel in February 2020
    on August 8, 2026

    'Behind the scene' (4/6). Fashion shows are often opportunities for particularly spectacular staging, and for the houses, they are key moments. In February 2020, in Milan, artistic director Alessandro Michele invited his guests to discover the backstage of a Gucci show.

The Economist Graphic Detail

The Economist Graphic Detail

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Stocks Sink in Broad AI Rout Sparked by China's DeepSeek

U.S. stocks were mostly lower, with the Nasdaq leading declines as makers of AI infrastructure suffered steep falls, many in the double digits. Nvidia was down 16%. [...]

Comex Gold, Silver Settle Lower

Gold settled 1.4% lower, down two of the past three sessions, and silver fell 2.5%, down three of the past four sessions. [...]

DeepSeek Won't Sink U.S. AI Titans

Panic fueling the selloff of Nvidia, Broadcom and other tech giants is overblown. [...]

Financial Services Roundup: Market Talk

Gain insight on Experian, SoFi Technologies and more in the latest Market Talks covering Financial Services. [...]

Arabica Coffee Prices Hit Record on U.S., Colombia Tariff Spat

Arabica coffee prices hit a record level, as traders digested the withdrawal of President Trump’s threats to impose tariffs and economic sanctions on Colombia. [...]

Swiss franc, Japanese yen Rise as DeepSeek News Boosts Safe Havens

The Yen and Swiss Franc were stronger against the dollar as investors sought safe havens after Chinese start-up DeepSeek’s new AI model hit U.S. tech stocks. [...]

Natural Gas Falls on Shifting Weather Forecasts

U.S. natural gas futures fell after weekend updates took some of the chill out of early February weather forecasts. [...]

Building-Products Distributor QXO Launches Hostile Bid for Beacon

QXO is taking its offer directly to shareholders after being rebuffed on several occasions. [...]

Translation: “AI Has Determined That My Press Card Is a Fake”

The rise of artificial intelligence and the widespread use of domestic and international large language models (LLMs) have had a profound impact, for better and worse, on the work of Chinese investigative journalists and news editors. New AI tools have reverberated through campus newsrooms, state [...]

Freedom House – TNR Watch: Cyberattacks as a Tactic of Digital Transnational Repression
Photo: Xanadu, by Xiquinho Silva
Photo: Xanadu, by Xiquinho Silva

Xanadu, by Xiquinho Silva (CC BY 2.0) [...]

CDT’s “404 Deleted Content Archive” Summary for June 2026

CDT presents a monthly series of censored content that has been added to our “404 Deleted Content Archive.” Each month, we publish a summary of content blocked or deleted (often yielding the message “404: content not found”) from Chinese platforms such as WeChat, Weibo, Douyin [...]

Translation: No Scaling the Great Firewall in the Library

The notice below was issued by the Hunan Library, a provincial institution located in Changsha. It announces the temporary suspension of library Wi-Fi in response to "hazardous" use of censorship circumvention tools. The message is underlined by the inclusion of partly redacted cellphone numbers belonging [...]

Translations: “Sometimes Forgetting Is as Terrible as the Disaster.” Censored Reflections on the Deadly Zhengzhou Floods, Five Years On
Translations: “Sometimes Forgetting Is as Terrible as the Disaster.” Censored Reflections on the Deadly Zhengzhou Floods, Five Years On

Recent weeks have seen extreme weather across central and southern China, particularly in Guangxi, where a dam breach led to at least 26 deaths. These events sparked widespread online discussion about accountability for human failings that exacerbated the damage; lionization of rescue efforts as a [...]

Photo: 广场鸽子, by Costi
Photo: 广场鸽子, by Costi

广场鸽子, by Costi (CC BY-SA 2.0) [...]

Translations: On Foreign and Domestic Media and “Man-Made Problems Lurking Behind Natural Disasters”
Translations: On Foreign and Domestic Media and “Man-Made Problems Lurking Behind Natural Disasters”

Disaster preparedness and disaster-relief efforts are hot topics on Chinese social media as the country braces for as many as three new typhoons in the next ten days. This follows the devastation earlier this month of twin typhoons Bavi and Maysak, which caused 39 deaths [...]

Cutting sweet foods doesn’t curb cravings or improve health

Changing how much sweet-tasting food people eat may not change how much they crave or enjoy sweetness after all. In a six-month trial, researchers found that people assigned to high-, low-, or average-sweetness diets showed no meaningful differences in their preference for sweet foods, body [...]

Meteorite that smashed through a New Jersey roof reveals clues to life’s origins

A rare meteorite that crashed through a New Jersey roof contains evidence of ancient salty fluids, organic compounds, and amino acids from a primitive asteroid. Its pristine chemistry could offer new clues about how space rocks helped supply early Earth with some of the ingredients [...]

The sun is covered in tiny whirlpools we’ve never seen before

Scientists have discovered incredibly tiny plasma whirlpools swirling across the Sun’s surface, some just 20 kilometers wide. These previously invisible vortices may twist magnetic fields and help build up the energy released in small solar eruptions called nanoflares. They may also help magnetic fields spread [...]

New fuel cell breakthrough could help power energy-hungry data centers

A new nanostructured carbon design lets fuel-cell catalysts use tiny amounts of platinum while remaining remarkably stable and efficient. The breakthrough could help hydrogen fuel cells become a more practical way to power data centers, vehicles, and other energy-intensive technologies. [...]

Sunlight creates quantum entanglement once thought to require lasers

Scientists have generated quantum entanglement directly from sunlight, potentially offering a lower-energy alternative to the lasers normally used in quantum technology. Their outdoor experiment produced entangled photons with about 94% similarity to an ideal state. The result could pave the way for simpler quantum satellites, [...]

A drug already used for osteoporosis blocked spinal damage in a new study

Genetic changes may set off a chain reaction that causes the spine’s natural shock absorbers to harden and deteriorate. Zebrafish with a faulty collagen-related gene developed mineral buildup and spinal fusion similar to human disc disease. Researchers were able to reduce the damage using an [...]

Teen cannabis use linked to slower memory and thinking growth

Teens who start using cannabis may experience slower growth in memory, attention, language, and processing speed. Their abilities often developed normally at first, then began leveling off while nonusers continued improving. THC appeared to be the most likely driver, especially for worsening memory. [...]

Scientists reveal how much exercise you really need to protect your heart

Getting the recommended 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous exercise each week may offer only modest protection against heart attacks and strokes. A large study suggests that substantially greater benefits may require roughly 560 to 610 minutes a week—nearly 9 to 10 hours of brisk walking, running, [...]

Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan sign defence pact
Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan sign defence pact

Pakistan says an attack on any of the three will amount to an attack against all, amid conflict in the Middle East. [...]

Houthi attacks reportedly kill at least 30 Yemeni government forces
Houthi attacks reportedly kill at least 30 Yemeni government forces

The Houthis say they launched missiles and drones at "Saudi military build-ups" in the central provinces of Marib and Hadramawt. [...]

Israel charges settler over killing of Palestinian involved in Oscar-winning West Bank film
Israel charges settler over killing of Palestinian involved in Oscar-winning West Bank film

Yinon Levy is charged with reckless manslaughter over the July 2025 shooting of Odeh Hathaleen. [...]

Rights groups say Israeli attack that killed Lebanese journalist an apparent war crime
Rights groups say Israeli attack that killed Lebanese journalist an apparent war crime

Amal Khalil was killed and her colleague Zeinab Faraj wounded in an Israeli attack in April; Israel denied targeting the journalists. [...]

Israel strikes south Lebanon after two soldiers killed by explosion
Israel strikes south Lebanon after two soldiers killed by explosion

Lebanese authorities says one person was killed in the strikes, which came after the first Israeli military fatalities in Lebanon in more than a month. [...]

Iranian footballers who defied Tehran become Australian citizens
Iranian footballers who defied Tehran become Australian citizens

There were among seven to be granted humanitarian visas while playing in Australia - but the other five changed their minds and returned to Iran. [...]

Iran says deal with Oman on Strait of Hormuz is in final stages
Iran says deal with Oman on Strait of Hormuz is in final stages

Neither the US or Oman have commented on the proposed agreement on the vital waterway. [...]

UN rights chief alarmed by rise in Iran executions since March
UN rights chief alarmed by rise in Iran executions since March

Volker Türk says 56 people have been executed on national security-related charges, including 27 in cases linked to January's protests. [...]

The Middle East Tries Its Hand at a NATO-Style Pact
The Middle East Tries Its Hand at a NATO-Style Pact

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey pledge mutual defense in the face of aggressive Iranian and Israeli operations. [...]

Why China’s Elites Still Want to Leave
Why China’s Elites Still Want to Leave

Social callousness pushes even the prosperous to seek new lives overseas. [...]

The Straits Are Not OK
The Straits Are Not OK

After Hormuz, global waterways will return to being sites of bloody contention. [...]

There’s No Going Back
There’s No Going Back

Thomas Wright on the post-Cold War order. [...]

An ‘Odyssey,’ From a Dog’s Perspective
An ‘Odyssey,’ From a Dog’s Perspective

Plus, a satire about a Nigerian on holiday, and more international fiction in August. [...]

Latin America’s Second Pink Tide Recedes
Latin America’s Second Pink Tide Recedes

The latest leftward shift was shorter-lived and less accomplished than its predecessor. [...]

Is Iran Winning the Battle Over the Strait of Hormuz?
Is Iran Winning the Battle Over the Strait of Hormuz?

Any level of Iranian control would mark a major geopolitical shift in Tehran’s favor. [...]

What Everyone Is Missing About Ceuta
What Everyone Is Missing About Ceuta

The history of the disputed exclave should inform what Spain does next. [...]

Africa: A Landmark for African Finance - Europe's First African Sovereign Bond ETF Opens a New Chapter

[allAfrica] For years, African finance ministers have made the same case at investor conferences and multilateral summits: the continent is not short of bankable projects, it is short of affordable capital. This week, that case took a tangible step forward. Legal & General Asset Management, [...]

Benin: Ex-Benin President Talon Makes Political Comeback Via Newly Founded Senate

[RFI] Benin's newly created Senate elected former president Patrice Talon as its leader on Thursday in Porto-Novo, less than three months after he left office. He will serve a five-year term at the head of the country's new second chamber of Parliament. [...]

Nigeria: Women Lead Campaign Against Open Defecation in Abuja

[This Day] Abuja -- Women leaders from 16 communities in Kundu Ward of Kwali Area Council, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), have launched a community-driven campaign aimed at ending open defecation and improving hygiene practices across the ward. [...]

South Africa: No, 2 Million Doses of HIV Medication Have Not Gone Uncollected Since Anti-Migrant Protests in South Africa

[Africa Check] IN SHORT: Social media posts and AI-generated search results claim that 2 million doses of HIV medication have gone uncollected in South Africa in July 2026. But these claims are false. They have been shared without any supporting evidence, and promote false, dangerous [...]

Kenya: Murkomen Warns Against Illegal Use of Police Military, Style Uniforms

[Capital FM] Nairobi -- Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has directed Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja to move with speed against individuals wearing camouflage and other security-style uniforms while allegedly posing as police officers or members of specialised security units. [...]

Nigeria: Exclusive - How 'Chance' Encounter With Soldier Allegedly Landed Nollywood Actor Coup Propagandist Role

[Premium Times] This installment of PREMIUM TIMES 'series of exclusive reporting on last year's failed coup details how a veteran Nollywood actor became involved with suspected coup plotters after developing a friendship with a soldier, before being assigned a propagandist role. [...]

Nigeria: Osun Election - Police Will Be Apolitical, Impartial - - IGP Disu

[Vanguard] The Inspector-General of Police (I-G), Mr Olatunji Disu, says the police will be professional, apolitical and impartial before, during and after the Aug. 15 governorship election in Osun. [...]

Nigeria: ICPC Report - Atiku Demands Names of Villa Insiders Behind Fake Agency Scandal

[Vanguard] ABUJA: Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress ADC, Atiku Abubakar, has demanded that the Presidency names the insiders allegedly connected to the fake Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council PFIPC scandal, describing the interim report of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences [...]

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