Specter Monitor is a data-driven newsletter for investors interested in learning about the latest market trends, signals, and opportunities. Our audience includes some of the most legendary VC investors in the world. We’ll work hard to bring you actionable insights into what’s happening in today’s markets while celebrating data-driven wins and predictions. ✨

🔮 Talents of the Week

Specter tracks real-time top talents movements across the world to detect actionable investment opportunities before anyone else.

🪄 Predicted:

Anton Marin (EU, 2022): Co-Founder & CTO at Praktika.

• Featured by Specter on: 2022 - Week 16.

• Advantage on Latest Funding Round: 761 Days.

• Description: Praktika offers an automated 1-1 tutorship powered by generative AI Avatars.

• Prev. Experience: Cloud Engineer @ TWAICE, Backend Engineer @ relayr, Big Data Engineer @ Rakuten, Co-founder & CTO @ Cleverbots - AI-Based Solutions for Business, Researcher @ Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, Junior Software Engineer @ Alfa-Bank.

• Total Funding: $36.5M / $35.5M Latest Series A on 05-2024.

• Notable Investors: Blossom Capital, Blue Wire Capital, Creator Ventures.

👻 Opportunity:

Emma Burrows (EU, 2024): Founder at Stealth Startup.

• Featured by Specter on: 2024 - Week 17.

• Prev. Experience: Sequoia Scout / Angel Investor @ Sequoia Capital, Chief Technology Officer and Board Member @ Stripe Payments UK Ltd, Angel Investor / Advisor @ Blossom Capital, Head of Engineering, London @ Stripe, Director of Engineering and Digital Experience @ Charlotte Tilbury Beauty, Technical Lead / Manager @ Google, Software Engineer @ Google, Product Manager @ Google.

• Total Funding: N/A.

• Notable Investors: N/A.

*Please note: To preserve the exclusivity of our premium solutions, Talent Signals in this public newsletter are delayed by at least 1 month. Specter clients enjoy a six-month lead over any other database, gaining early access to thousands of new talent signals each week. Reach out today to secure your competitive advantage! ⚡

🎱 Strategic Signals

Inspired by Michael Lewis’ Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game - Strategic Intelligence is a stealth engine that tracks online and social behaviour of corporate insiders and leading investors.

🪄 Predicted:

Farcaster (US, 2021) - Featured by Specter on: 2024 - Week 05.

• Advantage on Latest Funding Round: 104 Days.

• Description: Farcaster is a social network that helps coders, fitness enthusiasts, and meme makers find people based on their interests.

• Total Funding: $150M / $150M Latest Series A on 05-2024.

• Notable Investors: a16z crypto, Haun Ventures, Paradigm, Standard Crypto, Union Square Ventures, Variant, Archetype.

👻 Opportunity:

Jack Zhou (US, 2023): Founder & CEO at Stealth Startup.

• Featured by Specter on: 2024 - Week 20.

• Prev. Experience: Head of Algorithms and Machine Learning @ Instacart, Franchise Co-Founder @ Code Ninjas, Head of Data Science @ Spin (Ford Motor Company), Founder & CEO @ Eyespage,Director of Data Science @ AppLovin, Chief Scientist, Games Advertising @ Chartboost.

• Signal: Increased VC Interest in 05/2024.

🍒 Cherry-Picked Companies

Specter tracks the alternative data performance of millions of companies and, on a monthly basis, flags the ones who are likely to increase in valuation.

🪄 Predicted:

DeepL (EU, 2009) - Specter Rank: 3,415📈

• Description: DeepL is a deep learning company using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) for several language translation products. 

• Total Funding: $400M / $300M Latest Series C on 05-2024.

• Notable Investors: Index Ventures, IVP, Benchmark, Teachers’ Venture Growth, ICONIQ Growth, Atomico, WiL (World Innovation Lab), Bessemer Venture Partners, b2venture.

• 6 Months Growth: Web 14.13%; Team: 32.69%; Social: 8.1%.

👻 Opportunity:

Gridware (US, 2020) - Specter Rank: 28📈

• Description: Gridware provides a grid monitoring system of sensors and software for the power distribution grid. The system centers around a low-cost hardware platform that is easily and permanently deployed to power poles.

• Total Funding: $15.8M / $10.5M Latest Seed on 06-2023.

• Notable Investors: True Ventures, Fifty Years, Liquid 2 Ventures, Convective Capital, Bragiel Brothers, Lowercarbon Capital, Wireframe Ventures, Hawktail Management, Rebel Fund, AISprouts, TRAC, Kindergarten Ventures, CITRIS Foundry, Y Combinator, Soma Capital, Anorak Ventures.

• 6 Months Growth: Web: 80.15%; Team: 17.65%; Social: 172.4%.