README FILE
v2.0.5
We’re relentlessly focused on one thing: investing in and supporting the best companies and funds in the world. Period.
We believe a small handful of companies define each generation. We exist to fund these companies at the earliest stages, when the idea is far from consensus, and partner with them for decades.
To achieve that goal, we have an open mandate and take a full-stack approach. One that's long-term, multi-stage, and global.
We spend the vast majority of our time investing directly across private markets. And we supplement that focus by investing through funds alongside great GPs, via purchases of secondary sales, by acquiring minority interests in general partnerships, and investing in what we call "new frontiers." Over the years those new frontiers have included early investments in crypto mining (which led to our investment in Bison Trails) and private credit (which led to our investments in Dave, Empower, and Goldfinch).
We are patient, risk-on capital for building what's next.
As a firm, we focus on 6 core themes that range from early-stage venture capital to new frontiers like crypto and private credit. These themes add structure to our absolute return focused "go anywhere, invest in anything" mandate.
1
Venture capital
We back founders building what's next with as little as $50K and as much as $1M. Historically, 97% of our investments are in Seed through Series A stage companies. We're generalist investors with a deep interest in financial infrastructure, AI infrastructure, full-stack solutions to difficult problems, and frontier technologies.
2
Family of funds
In 2019, we founded Ligature: The Design VC to scale our impact. Ligature is focused solely on early-stage venture capital, combining our focus on fintech and frontier technologies with hands-on design support for portfolio companies. To date, we've deployed more than $10M and earned top-decile returns every year since inception.
3
New frontiers
Many of our best investments have been in new ideas and markets we thought were ahead of their time. In 2015, we began investing in private credit which led to early investments in Empower, Dave, PayJoy, and Aspire. In 2018, we invested in Bitcoin, made investments in early ICOs like Filecoin, invested in teams like Quantstamp, and mined our own tokens which later scaled to multi-million dollar mining campuses powered by pre-negotiated renewable power in partnership with Bison Trail (now a part of Coinbase).
4
Limited partnership interests
We back extraordinary investors by investing alongside them in their funds as limited partners. When we do, we typically invest through sidecar vehicles created for investors that add tangible value. We're investors in funds from NfX, Weekend Fund, Not Boring, Supercharge.vc, Designer Fund, and GEM Realty.
5
General partnership interests
We invest in world-class GPs in search of liquidity and a great long-term partner. As a GP ourselves, we have deep experience in fund strategy, due diligence, portfolio construction, capital formation, and investment strategy. We enjoy working directly with our GPs to add alpha. To date, we've acquired stakes in Polychain and Designer Fund (Fund I and II).
6
Secondary markets
Over time, we've broadened our mandate to include purchases on secondary markets where we're focused on acquiring both private shares and LP positions. We complete diligence in days (not weeks), make firm offers quickly, and close without surprises. Our goal is to be the acquirer of choice for early-stage investors and LPs in need of liquidity.
We believe a small handful of companies and investors define each generation. Our mission is to partner with these intensely focused teams and individuals for decades.
COMPANIES
We invest out of our own permanent pool of capital, which puts us in sharp contrast to 99% of investors. We are extremely long-term oriented, high conviction, and patient. Which is built into our structure and capital base.
It’s often said that the quality of any form of capital is ultimately only as good as its origin. Most funds are inherently short-term focused by necessity, because they don’t have the luxury of time.
We do. Our capital is long-term aligned. It is not bound by term, liquidity needs, and a throng of voices or approvals. Which is also why we can move quickly, invest in anything, and honor our commitments.