December 2024
Investing in the Invisible: The ROI of Supporting Pre-Seed Founders
At Visible Hands, we’ve built a foundation backing underrepresented founders, focusing our resources at pre-seed. According to KPMG’s Venture Pulse Report from 2023, “early stage” usually means dedicating 10-50% to seed and less than 10% opportunistically to pre-seed investments. The status quo is broken, with a clear funding gap at the earliest stages of company-building. As more seed funds expand upmarket, we see room for a rising cohort of institutional pre-seed firms to fill this gap. The shortage of dedicated pre-seed funds is particularly evident for women founders and founders of color, who often face even greater systemic barriers to accessing capital. Enter Visible Hands: We are dedicated to bridging the funding gap for entrepreneurs with big ideas but with limited networks and resources. We focus on pre-seed for a couple of reasons:
To partner with founders at a critical stage of infancy to tangibly add value. At this stage, we can offer intensive support beyond capital. Our hands-on approach, through advisory, operational support, and mentorship, helps founders build scalable systems and foundations for their startups that will attract future funding. It also results in an average 92 NPS score from founders.
To deliver outsized financial returns to limited partners. Pre-seed investments have a unique ability to capture significant equity at a lower entry valuation, maximizing the upside for LPs. Investing at the pre-seed stage empowers diverse entrepreneurs, fostering a stronger ecosystem that not only drives superior returns but also enhances LPs' impact by generating both social and financial capital.
For more on our approach to partnering with founders at pre-seed, check out this recent piece from VH Co-Founder & General Partner Yasmin Cruz Ferrine on strategic support.Interested in learning more about our Fund II? Let’s schedule a time to connect on how you can join us in investing in visionary founders before the crowd and building an exceptional pre-seed fund for all.
Q4 VH PORTFOLIO SUPPORT DASHBOARD
Below is a high-level look at completed tasks and projects by our investment team to support our portfolio companies throughout Q4, including things like investor introductions, fundraising support, hands-on project support, hiring support etc.
VISIBLE HANDS IN THE NEWS
Yasmin Cruz Ferrine was featured in an interview by Fidelity for Startups also known as Fidelity Private Shares with Kristen Craft.
VH Venture Partner Nancy Torres was recently recognized as one of Toigo Foundation's Top 35 Rising Leaders.
Justin Kang was featured on the F*ck Saving Face podcast to speak on representation in VC.
VH PORTFOLIO FOUNDERS IN THE NEWS
Alphonzo Terrell of Spill was featured in TechCrunch and in the November 2024 issue of Inc. Magazine!
Yami Payano of Sign-Speak was featured in Forbes and in Banking Finance!
Brandon Mitchell of WriteSea was featured in RollingOut and in Cheddar!
Todd Baldwin and Sarah Nesheim of Crafted were recently chosen for Forbes' 30 under 30 List!
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