Good morning Sifted reader,

Since news broke that events company Hopin had sold its flagship product and CEO Johnny Boufarhat stepped down, some industry folk have been quick to label it a fable for the greed and FOMO-fuelled excesses of the tech world in 2021. But is Hopin’s story entirely a failure? That’s what we get into today.

Also on the agenda:

A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR SANA

What do top tech executives think about the future of AI?

From the future of human creativity to AI investment and business strategy, execs from OpenAI, NVIDIA, Sequoia Capital, Spotify and more discussed it all at Sana’s AI Summit.

Watch now

🎤 Was Hopin really such a failure? Even though VCs piled in with "dumb money" and virtual events took a battering after the lockdowns, some savvy acquisitions and business nous from founder Johnny Boufarhat begs the question: is it as doom and gloom as people are making out?

⚡️ Could a breakthrough superconductor transform tech — and will it? Three Korean scientists have claimed to have created the first ever room-temperature superconductor, a technology that could impact anything that runs on electricity. Use cases span everything from nuclear fusion to medical scanning, but scepticism is rife.

💰 VC is no longer a game of prediction and patterns. Lily Shaw of OMERS Ventures reckons AI will change everything venture-related — here's what the new rules could be, and how investors can keep up.

💸 15 European founders turned VC partners.

🌳 What policy changes would climate tech leaders implement? Founders and investors share what they'd action if they were in office, ahead of October's Sifted Summit.

🎙 The hurdles that tripped up Hopin, an exodus of female investors from VC and a £20bn giant underwater electricity cable: it's all on the latest episode of the Sifted Podcast.

A graph showing the top countries for VC funding in AR and VR startups. The UK comes out on top by a wide margin

✨ The UK streaks ahead when it comes to AR and VR funding. With the metaverse projected to be worth a whopping $120.2bn globally by 2030 and European startups set to create an estimated 860k new jobs by 2025, the sector is buzzing — and the UK is the place to be. Discover the trends to follow, the most active investors and the angels you need to know about in our latest briefing. (Exclusively for subscribers)

How are climate tech startups securing funding?

Join Sifted’s Freya Pratty and Dr Clea Kolster from Lowercarbon Capital as they discuss the future of climate tech investment and the strategic choices VCs are making.

RSVP

How to put together great investor updates

Communication with investors doesn’t stop when the cheque's signed: your backers expect to be kept up to date with your startup’s progress throughout its journey. Investors and founders share their top tips on what to include in the memo. Here's a taste:

Tailor the format. “First of all, it's very important that you speak to investors about the format they like,” says one VC — some might prefer an email while others like a presentation.
What to include. It needs an executive summary of key updates, a detailed KPI dashboard, outlook for the near future, planned product launches and any requests you may have for investors.
Keep it snappy. Investors are generally looking for “what the company is working on right now, what are the next milestones and what is our progress towards those milestones,” says one partner.

More Startup Life stories from around the web: How to get your product onto the App store | Are Gen Z ready to join the C-suite? | The inconvenient truth about productivity (paywall)

For insights on how (and how not) to run your business sign up to Sifted's Startup Life newsletter, dropped into your inbox every Wednesday.