The venture capital industry is grappling with a challenging landscape due to a lack of initial public offerings and mergers & acquisitions activity, which has dried up liquidity. Venture capitalists Edith Yeung of Race Capital and Larry Aschebrook of G Squared highlighted these issues at the Web Summit in Lisbon. While buzzy AI companies like OpenAI and Wiz attract substantial investment, traditional exits like IPOs remain scarce, restricting VCs' ability to cash out. Yeung emphasized that liquidity is crucial for VCs, enabling them to reinvest. Aschebrook noted that despite high funding in AI, much capital remains illiquid. Both investors also see potential outside AI, in sectors like cybersecurity and crypto.
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00:00It's Benzinga, bringing Wall Street to Main Street.
00:02The venture capital industry is grappling with a challenging landscape due to a lack
00:06of initial public offerings and mergers and acquisitions activity, which has dried up
00:10liquidity. Venture capitalists Edith Young of Raise Capital and Larry Ashbrook of G Squared
00:16highlighted these issues at the Web Summit in Lisbon.
00:19While buzzy AI companies like OpenAI and Wiz are attracting substantial investment,
00:24traditional exits like IPOs remain scarce, restricting VC's ability to cash out.
00:31Young emphasized that liquidity is crucial for VCs, enabling them to reinvest.
00:36Ashbrook noted that despite high funding in AI, much capital remains illiquid.
00:41Both investors are seeing potential outside AI in sectors like cybersecurity and crypto.