Diagon

Huge shout out to Jason Kalira and the The Westly Group on raising their $100m seed fund! I'm proud to share that Diagon was one of the first few deals out of this fund. I hope to have several other incredible founders join us in this portfolio. As an early stage founder, I can tell you definitively it ABSOLUTELY matters who you select as your investor. The firm matters! The right firm can open up doors with customers and industry partners that you might never be able to open on your own. The right firm can also draw upon their LP base to create opportunities that are mutually beneficial for all parties. The partner matters! It doesn't matter if you partner with a top-tier VC if your partner sucks. The right partner will consider themselves an extension of your team. They'll spend time with you to make sure you're tracking the right metrics and actually help you achieve them. If you're a founder building in the manufacturing, renewable energy, automotive, or mobility sectors I encourage you to check out this fund. Congrats Jason!!! 💵🎉🚀

Movers & Makers: American Dynamism event was a huge success! We brought together over 200 manufacturing & supply chain leaders (the largest such community in Silicon Valley) for an incredibly insightful discussion on the re-shoring and near-shoring of industrial manufacturing. Key Highlights 1. The Carrot & The Stick - Government incentive programs are incentivizing North American manufacturing. The Carrot: IRA, Chips Act, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) etc. The Stick: Tariffs on imported products like EVs, batteries, and semi-conductors. 2. Manufacturing Strategies Vary - Manufacturers consider the nature of their products and their consumer markets to make the best decisions on manufacturing strategies. Some manufacture in-house, others contract to well-equipped contract manufacturers, others near-shore. 3. Competition with Nations - The largest manufacturers (companies like Intel Corporation) compete with state-backed companies like Samsung and TSMC with the full weight of the Taiwanese and South Korean governments behind them. Billions of dollars of US government incentives are a drop in the bucket compared to entire governments that control interest rates, currencies, and monetary policy. Public Policy Expert Panel Greg M. (JLL), Jan Sramek (California Forever), Mookie Hojiwala (Embrava Group), Teddy J. (Boundary Stone Partners), Jack Slagle Manufacturing Expert Panel Will Drewery (Diagon), Mark Schwager (Monarch Tractor), Alexey Dubov (Mighty Buildings), Keith Flynn (Anduril Industries), Jerry Bautista, PhD (Intel Corporation) Huge thanks to Ashley Tarver, Arijit Chatterjee, and the Microsoft team for hosting us at your beautiful Silicon Valley campus! Shout outs: Greg Smyth (Diagon), Alan F. Bucio (Diagon), Shridharan Muthu (Diagon), David Sesi (JLL), Greg M. (JLL), Jason Kalira (The Westly Group), Megan Cain (The Westly Group), Rodolph Lapointe, Jose Cabrera (📸), Ashley Drewery (The Drewery Family 🙏🏾💙), and many more! Stay tuned for the next event. We've got some exciting surprises in store. 😉😎

Movers & Makers is gearing up to be one of the best manufacturing events of the year. Microsoft has agreed to host at their beautiful new campus in Silicon Valley on Thurs 5/30. The theme for this event is American Dynamism: Re-shoring [and Near-shoring] of Industrial Manufacturing. Leaders from across the industry will be sharing perspectives and lessons learned from their manufacturing journeys. We'll also discuss the new tariff regime that was recently announced by the Biden Administration. You won't want to miss it! Secure your spot using this link: https://lu.ma/qtiy1yod Manufacturers Anduril Industries Lunar Energy Moxion Power Mighty Buildings Tesla Rivian Lucid Motors Joby Aviation Antora Energy Mitra Chem Ample Aurora Startups Heliux Westwood Aerogel Rosotics Arkestro Solideon Diagon Investors The Westly Group Valia Ventures Foster Ventures Schematic Ventures Innovation Endeavors Porsche Ventures BMW i Ventures Autotech Ventures General Catalyst Sponsors Diagon JLL The Westly Group Microsoft We hope to see you there!

I am honored to represent Diagon this year as a finalist in the SXSW Pitch Competition! We competed in the Enterprise & Smart Data category alongside 7 other incredible founders. Huge thanks to everyone that came out to support us!

Some manufacturing journeys span the globe, and that couldn't be more true for Shridharan Muthu. From his childhood in Tamil Nadu, India to his position as CTO of Diagon, Muthu has been looking for a way to make change. Lucky for us, he found it in the manufacturing industry. Read all about his journey here: