As market conditions shift, so does deal flow. Join guest expert James Heath and Outlander’s Leura Craig for a deep dive into shifts in deal assessment and the startup ecosystem in 2023.

James Heath is the Investment Principal at dara5, a Multi-Family Office for next-generation families. dara5 invest in Pre-Seed to Series A funds as an LP and growth companies from Series B onwards. The firm invests across the US and Europe, across most tech sectors. James is responsible for the deal origination, due diligence on all investments and presenting opportunities at IC.

Before joining dara5, James worked at PwC for seven years, where he initially trained as a Chartered Accountant before setting up and running PwC’s Corporate Accelerator. James worked with Series A B2B SaaS companies on creating sales and marketing functions, go-to-market strategies and fundraising. Following this, James spent several years working with start-ups on fundraising strategies, working on fundraises across Europe between £5m - £20m.

Leura Craig is a former founder and experienced investor who previously bootstrapped two startups as the founding CEO. Her last startup, Laurel & Wolf, raised $30M from CRV, Benchmark, and other top investors, then scaled to serve tens of thousands of customers across the US.

From 2015 to date, Leura has invested in dozens of early-stage companies and advises founding teams on product, operations, customer growth, design, hiring, and product-market fit. Her current investing focus includes future of work, future of commerce, hardware/robotics, and AI. She is passionate about diversity in venture and works to fund and support diverse founders from non-traditional markets.

Leura serves on the Dress for Success Atlanta board and was named a Forbes 30 under 30 and Goldman Sachs’ “100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs.”

Shifts in Deal Vetting & Funding in 2023 with James Heath, Investment Principal, dara5