Brian Walsh

Head at WIND Ventures
On the record
Represented by:
Share profile 
Bio
Edit

Brian Walsh, is the head of WIND Ventures, the newly established CVC arm for COPEC, a leading energy and retail corporation and one of the most valued brands throughout Latin America. Brian has two decades of venture capital experience in the San Francisco Bay area and, most recently, was a Senior Expert at McKinsey & Company where he was a Senior Expert advising Fortune 500 clients on how corporations can best engage startups.

Recent Quotes
Sign up to view all
  • We see SPACs becoming the preferred choice for venture-backed entrepreneurs and venture Boards given benefits in time, complexity and, now, ability to raise as much capital as a traditional IPO. As a consequence, we predict SPACs will outpace traditional IPOs on a gross proceeds / transaction metric in 2021 and beyond.

    We predict LatAm will surpass other, much longer standing, VC hubs in 2021 via total invested capital, starting with the Middle East. LatAm has all the fundamentals (large pop, highly connected and urban, etc) and is entering the summer (vs winter) season. We predict this continuing where LatAm surpasses other hubs, including the UK.
    LatAm and the Middle East are both ‘up and coming’ startup regions
    -Middle East, however, has long been positioned as a ‘huge’ opportunity
    -Invested capital is growing 45% annually from 2015 to 2019
    -While, LatAm has just very recently ‘entered the scene’ Its invested capital is growing almost 2x as fast over the same time period
    -Given the favorable dynamics in LatAm, we see this trend continuing in 2021 as the New Normal settles in with LatAm overtaking the entire Middle East region with total invested capital as early as 2021.

    We see electric vehicle (EV) adoption accelerating in 2021 and beyond driven by lower battery prices, more EVs from different OEMs coming to market and increased government support. As a consequence, we predict EV sales will take over 5% of global new car sales in 2021.

  • Thoughts on the Future of Retail:
    Frictionless, cashless & personalized are themes that will accelerate due to COVID-19
    -In-store shopping for many sectors will return, especially for grocery, as attention to economics return
    -Paying others to shop for you means paying a lot more
    --It also means being ‘ok’ with mistakes and bad substitute choices
    --For the organic, gluten-free, kosher, ‘anything specific’ shopper of today, this can be an inconvenience
    --Over the years, outsourced grocery shopping has only captured a very small % of the market
    -Convenience store markets will continue to grow globally
    -Bi-furcation of those offering a new standard in ‘convenience’ via tech vs those maintaining course will grow and be more evident to consumers

Employment
Sign up to view all
Popularity