Author: David Teten

Coolwater Capital is doubling down on its mission to support the next generation of emerging fund managers.

Coolwater Capital is the leading platform for emerging VCs to launch, fundraise, and institutionalize with confidence. Coolwater’s accelerator is designed to make fundraising more efficient, connect GPs to top-tier LPs, and build lasting firm infrastructure.

Over the past five years, Coolwater has refined every aspect of its program—curriculum, structure, and community—into a rigorous experience that delivers real outcomes. While the program is centered on fundraising, Coolwater places equal emphasis on helping you build a firm designed to scale over time. This is where you learn the playbook, refine your edge, and co-build your venture firm alongside peers and leaders from across the capital stack.

Interested in applying? Mail info(@)coolwatercap.com and mention David Teten referred you. 

Why Coolwater Capital?

Proven Track Record
We’ve helped launch 300+ VC funds that have collectively raised over $5B. More than 50 of our alumni have gone on to close second funds.

Unmatched Network Access
Tap into our proprietary network of 3,000+ LPs—including family offices, endowments, pension funds, HNWIs, and global institutions—through curated programming, events, and our managed community.

Expert-Led Training
Our accelerator includes content from 300+ select domain experts and institutional LPs, equipping you with the knowledge and frameworks needed to raise and manage a fund successfully.

Alumni Community & Ongoing Support
Our support doesn’t end when the cohort wraps. Graduates of the program stay connected through ongoing education sessions, curated events, co-investment opportunities, and peer-to-peer knowledge sharing. We continue to invest in building an engaged, collaborative network of fund managers committed to growing together.

Diversity & Inclusion
Coolwater is proud to back a diverse community: 25% of our GPs have female partners, and 46% have partners from underrepresented backgrounds.

We’re proud to support the next wave of great investors. Let’s build the future of venture—together!

A friend from UTI International shares this with me:

We are pleased to invite you to join our second India Immersion Trip, taking place in Mumbai from 16th to 19th November 2025.

This exclusive trip is designed for investment professionals to gain deeper insight into India’s economy, financial markets, and cultural backdrop through interactions with a broad range of distinguished speakers and thought leaders. We believe this immersive experience will offer a valuable, first-hand perspective on India’s ongoing transformation and future potential.

• Accommodation, Meals, Mumbai Airport Pick-up/Drop-Off: To be borne by UTI AMC
• Flights and Visa: To be arranged and paid for by clients
• Event Duration: 2.5 days

• Guest arrival and check-in: 16^th November (Sunday)
• Event starts: 17^th November
• Event concludes post-lunch: 19^th November
• Check-out: 19th

• No. of Client/Prospect Attendees: 40
• Client Profile: Key investment decision-makers, Overseas LPs (allocators)
• Agenda: The agenda will feature speakers from diverse backgrounds offering a well-rounded perspective on the Indian economy.

(The speakers in the last immersion trip included the Chief Economic Advisor, former SEBI Chairman, CEOs of portfolio companies, and members of our investment team)

Participants are requested to arrange their own flights, and we are happy to assist with visa requirements if needed. Once in India, you will be our guest, with accommodation and meals provided by us. Please let me know if you can attend, I am happy to provide more information as it becomes available.

Contact: sameer.agarwal(@)utifunds.com

Brief Firm Background:

UTI Investments Background: Formerly known as the Unit Trust of India, the firm is the oldest and one of the largest asset managers (USD 250 billion in AUM) in India. We are a listed company in India and T Rowe Price is the single largest shareholder at ~23%. Some of the interesting strategies (all are focused on India) managed by the firm are i) India Quality Growth strategy:  quality-growth equities strategy (55-60 stocks, ~10% turnover, ~USD 4.5bn in AUM, estimated capacity of ~USD 8bn) ii) India Innovation strategy: a highly concentrated “spicy growth” equity strategy (focused on innovation growth, 22-25 stocks), iii) traditional fixed income, iv) private credit strategy.

SuperVenture North America is back in New York this November!

200+ attendees. 75+ influential LPs. 100+ industry leading VCs. 

Build new partnerships with leading LPs from North America venture capital’s most influential and fastest-growing firms, with AXIAN Group, Nationwide Ventures, New Jersey Economic Development Authority, NF Trinity Limited, Omidyar Network, Rabobank and many more already confirmed to attend.

Book now and save. Free for LPs.

Remember to quote VIP code FKR3637VVC for 10% off!

Where AI, data, and expertise converge

Join leaders from Google, Stripe, UBS, Accenture, Carlyle, Johnson & Johnson in Brooklyn for three days of real-world AI playbooks, leadership lessons, and hands-on demos. Headliners include Nick Saban on building winning teams, and a fireside chat with former Goldman Sachs Chairman & CEO Lloyd Blankfein and AlphaSense founder/CEO Jack Kokko. 

Save your spot with 15% off: Register through this link to claim your discount → [Register now]

I hope you’ll join other family offices and impact investors in Manhattan, during Climate Week, at the Transformative Ventures Family Office Meta Gathering/Impact Summit:

Sept 25-26: Transformative Ventures Family Office Meta Gathering
This is the final call for applications to our private investor convening. We have only a handful of spots left for family offices, philanthropists, and impact investors ready to collaborate on systems-level change.
Apply Here: https://lu.ma/mh7sk6n5

Sept 27-28: The Transformative Impact Summit
Join the global ecosystem of changemakers, innovators, and leaders for two days of unparalleled connection and collaboration in NYC.
Get In-Person Tickets: https://lu.ma/uj11ezkm

Can’t be in NYC? You can still be part of the experience! Join us online through our official live stream of all mainstage talks and panels.
Register for the Live Stream: https://luma.com/1imje3rq

Build First and Company Ventures are hosting a half-day, in-person workshop in New York City on Thursday, September 19, from 1–5 p.m. called Vibe Coding for VCs.

This program is designed for venture investors and operating partners who want to get closer to the code behind their portfolio companies and better understand how AI is actually built.

Why attend?

• AI fluency is a new baseline. Learning AI is less like picking up a new tool and more like acquiring a new language.
• Hands-on practice. You’ll learn a proven AI design framework (developed with Decoded Futures) that has already been used to build 100+ custom GPTs and 50+ mini-apps.
• Structured build time. You’ll build something together, then split into an “AI Power Hour” where you’ll create your own faster project, with technical specialists on hand to help troubleshoot.
• Practical outcomes. You’ll leave with new context on AI architecture, frameworks, and a working build you’ve coded yourself.

Why it matters for VCs
Understanding the builder’s perspective is critical for investors. As AI reshapes how we work, operate, and collaborate, it will also reshape what it means to be a founder—and how VCs assess, support, and fund them. This workshop is a chance to experience that shift firsthand.

Logistics

• Date/Time: Thursday, Sept. 19, 1–5 p.m.
• Location: Company Ventures, New York City
• Hosts: Bethany Crystal (Build First) with Matt Harrigan and Sanice Embleton (Company Ventures)

About the facilitator

The workshop is led by Bethany Crystal, a VC-turned operator with 15 years of experience in tech. She previously worked at Union Square Ventures and Variant Fund, supporting early-stage founders across dozens of portfolio companies. As an operator, she has led strategy, community, and scaling efforts at organizations like the Uniswap Foundation, and Tech:NYC. Today she is the founder of Build First, focused on helping investors and executives gain practical fluency in AI by building.

Registration

You can register through Build First (AI-powered) or Luma (classic)
Special Offer: Use promo code TETEN20025 for $100 off registration.

Request admission

Curated by Angelo Robles—a family office advisor with over two decades of experience—alongside Alexander Galambos, a leading European family office liaison—this experience is built by families, for families.

I’m honored to be one of the speakers at this curated event. On September 15-17, you’ll experience:

• Distinguished speakers, including Chris Voss, Former Chief Hostage Negotiator, FBI, Harvard Professor and CEO & Founder, Black Swan Group; Andrew Brenton, formerly CEO of the private equity subsidiary of The Bank of Nova Scotia
• BATTLE OF IDEAS: One stage. Two perspectives. No safe takes. A real debate.  Battle of Ideas is a face-to-face showdown between two thinkers with radically different views on the issues that matter most to families of wealth, from investing and governance to AI, inflation, geopolitics, and freedom.
• Actionable strategies you can apply immediately to protect, grow, and evolve your family enterprise
• A curated circle of world-class families and wealth creators—real operators, not spectators
• Unfiltered insight into what’s working (and what’s not) from those on the front lines of generational wealth
• Immersive environments that elevate both the conversations and the connections—from elegant receptions to private family-led sessions

We conclude (September 17th) with an extended private member luncheon at one of New York City’s finest steakhouses—an intimate, high-caliber gathering curated exclusively for our members.

Request admission

Over the course of three hours, we’ll hear directly from top family office investors as they share bold conviction plays across:

• AI – Breaking down the full stack:
  Chips → Data Centers → Models → Deployment Infrastructure → End Applications.
  We’ll explore where the alpha is—whether it’s NVIDIA and GPU monopolies, cloud-sovereign infrastructure, custom LLMs, or the arms race for deployment into enterprise and consumer ecosystems.
• Crypto – Including Bitcoin, yield-bearing stablecoins, and the likely future financial rails (yes, we’re talking Ripple Labs)
• Real Estate – Tactical opportunities in a post-rate-shock landscape

Explore the full agenda and speaker briefs here: Full Program & Speaker Details

Venture: RSM US LLP
151 West 42nd Street, 19th Fl, New York, NY 10036
4 Times Square, 19th Floor
New York, NY 10036

​Join us for Global VC Demo Day in New York, where 7 selected VCs, including OrangeCollective.vc, will present to a room of institutional and HNWI prospective Limited Partner investors.

RSVP

​​If you are an active VC currently raising—or planning to raise—LP capital in the next 18 months, or an active LP allocating to the venture capital asset class, get in touch to join us at one of our full-day Global VC Demo Day events. These will be held throughout the year in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, New York, Miami, London, Dubai, and Singapore. Details: https://www.7bc.vc/events. For inquiries, contact info@7bc.vc.

​LPs do not pay any fee to attend and VCs are selected only from merit to pitch or attend Global VC Demo Day.

​Special thanks to our host, Brown Rudnick, and our sponsor, Zive AI. 

Culture Shift Labs is convening a curated circle of family offices, other institutional investors, and AI founders for a Deal-Making Summit on September 11-12 in NYC. Admission is complimentary for qualified investors managing over $100m of family or institutional assets. If you’re interested in speaking or attending, contact us. I’m honored to chair this event.

You can see the agenda and request an invitation here.

Among our confirmed speakers, who collectively manage well north of $230b:

Foundations/Institutions

• Dail St. Claire, CEO, Episcopal Church Foundation ($15b AUM)
• Sophia Tsai, Managing Director, Trinity Church ($6b endowment)
• Valerie Red-Horse Mohl, Deputy CIO of Responsible Investing, Bureau of Asset Management, Office of NYC Comptroller (>$194b+ AUM)
• Danielle S. Goonan, VP, US Economic Opportunity, at Rockefeller Foundation

Family offices

• Russell Deakin, CIO, Aceana Group (single family office)
• Jessie Ai, Head of Investments, Forman Family Office
• Omar Woodard, Executive Director, HRS Management (single family office)
• Alain Gamas, The Gamas Family
• Steve McClurg, CEO, Canary Capital

Venture capitalists/other investors

• David Teten, Partner, Orange Collective; Co-founder and Chairman, Action Tank
• Camila Clarke, CEO, Clarke Capital
• Alan Mattamana, Partner, Fairview Capital ($1.6b AUM)
• Luis Valdich, Founder/Managing Partner, VIM Investors
• Jonathan Machado, Managing Director, Samsung NEXT
• Raamel Mitchell, Director, AI & App Innovation, Microsoft
• Urs Cete, Founding Partner, 1745 Ventures
• Rohini Chakravarthy, Managing Partner, NewBuild VC
• Rami Reyes, Co-Founder & Managing Director, NextEquity Partners
• Jalak Jobanputra, Founder & Managing Partner, Future\Perfect Ventures

Thought leaders

• Ben Bilbrough, CEO and Cofounder, Action Tank
• Yael Eisenstat, Policy Director, Cybersecurity for Democracy
• Marcos Soler, Executive Director, Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law
• Gerardo Berthin, President, Freedom House

You can see the agenda and request an invitation here.

About Culture Shift Labs and the Deal-Making Summits

The Deal-Making Summit is an annual invite-only series that takes place in Silicon Valley, New York, Boston and London. These are the only Summits of their kind that curates 100-300 diverse tech executives, entrepreneurs, investors, innovators and social impact leaders in order to enable deals, collaborations and wealth creation (our mission). Over the last 11 years, we’ve enabled over $2B into the hands of entrepreneurs, executives, fund managers and non-profit leaders that attend. The Deal-Making Summit is a signature event of Culture Shift Labs, a social impact and social innovation management consultancy established in 2006.

David Siegel, former CEO of Meetup and Investopedia, and Founder & Chairman, Israel Tech Mission, shares this fantastic opportunity:

We are launching our first free (aside from flight) investor tech mission to Israel, due to a generous sponsor who is solely focused on bringing more tech investors to Israel.

The fully funded mission to Israel for institutional investors, taking place September 7–11, timed to coincide with Jefferies TechTrek, the most exclusive investor conference in Israel. Access to TechTrek is included with the mission, and this year’s keynote speaker is Bill Ackman.

All trip costs are fully covered (except for flights), thanks to a generous supporter (and previous participant) who stepped up to fund the mission in hopes of driving more investment into Israel’s high-tech economy.

We’re specifically looking for institutional investors, multi-family offices, fund managers, and allocators with a strong interest in investing in Israeli innovation as a driver of economic growth.

If someone comes to mind, please forward them this application link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeupQoj639be3EdGQawiuGDhcUHrWaYHzX35VTgGSKmZiEjUg/viewform

For questions, DM Israel Tech Mission Executive Director David Nakar

(BTW, I published an essay in the Observer on “How Investors (and Tech Execs) Can Fight Terror”, which I posted on my blog .)