In our first FUNDstar Vod/pod of 2024, we sit down with leading VC, Sam Nasrolahi at InMotion Ventures, the Corporate VC arm of Jaguar Land Rover. She’s a super intelligent and very direct investor and she certainly knows mobility from a very strong background at BP. I certainly learn’t a lot in this 26 minute Podcast Sam conducted with Anthony and I, pre Xmas 2023.
In terms of InMotion Ventures, the fund was originally set up in 2016 to focus on Mobility, but more recently, when Sam joined, (last August) this has changed to focus on a number of industry agnostic areas in mobility.
In this pre-Christmas Vod/Pod Sam tells us more about these areas, so listen on if you want to find out more about this fascinating and importantly, very active VC on:
===> How they invest in Electrification, Sustainability, Climate-Tech, Industrial-Tech, Automation AI platform and AI in Enterprise, globally.
===> Stage-wise the focus is on Pre-Seed to Series B, but Seed to Series A is the sweet-spot
===> They interact with the whole JLR and Tata that they can reach out to in the Cloud, AI and Automation expert areas
===> Pre-Seed and Series B deal-flow seem to predominate in 2023, with Seed and Series A being light
===> They are broadening their activity in the EU, particularly Germany and France. France is very strong in AI and Robotics, with Germany great in Manufacturing / Industrial Tech
===> Israel remains a strong focus still for them
===> Some good genuine, Generative AI opportunities have appeared in Infrastructure and niche areas like compliance
===> Cloud native companies are of particular interest to Sam
Naturally we discuss the market and current trends, which is of interest to all. Sam believes (and hopes) there will be a potential pick up in VC investing in 2024 and AI / Enterprise Infrastructure could be a particularly powerful driver behind this. Sam is particularly excited by the complexity of this area, which she’ll be delving into more in 24!
In conclusion:
Sam is a very busy lady – as you can gather by the passion she expresses in her role, but she is very keen to connect with any founders or VCs that find this session interest DM me or Sam on LNKD.