Inicio Ventures

We are a VC firm that accelerates early-stage Latin American startups on three fronts: investment, knowledge transfer, and community building. We bet on projects with the greatest potential from their ideation, so that they can grow and scale exponentially, generating a positive and measurable impact on the economy and society. We are formed by a team of 15 people who are distributed across 7 different areas.

January Ventures is a VC fund focused on angel/pre-seed in the US & Europe. We are replacing the friends & family round and re-writing the networks in venture. We believe the founders of the next decade will look fundamentally different: more female, more diverse and more distributed. We back founders based on their tenacity and ambition, not their pedigrees or who they know. Our vision is an equal opportunity tech ecosystem. Our firm is built on the principles of transparency and access, and we back founders based on their tenacity and ambition, not their pedigrees or who they know.

Since its founding in 2009, H/L Ventures has forged a new way to build companies. H/L Ventures’ unique approach combines Daily Active Engagement with every portfolio company and a focus on investing in growth, impact, and diversity. Today, H/L Ventures manages a family of companies and funds that together comprise a holistic company-building ecosystem. At the heart of this system is H/L Studio, which was among the first venture studios to include social impact in its investment thesis. That venture studio is now supported by our opportunity fund, CityRock Ventures, and our managed services group, H/L Strategies, among other entities. Our team has pioneered an innovative, effective model that aligns the interests of entrepreneurs, investors, other stakeholders, and society to succeed together. At H/L Ventures, we apply these three key elements across our studios and funds: DAILY ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT WITH FOUNDERS H/L Ventures’ involvement with our portfolio companies is as hands-on and supportive as possible throughout the entrepreneurship journey. This is the hallmark of H/L’s approach: we hold ourselves to a standard of virtually daily contact with every company in our portfolio, on an open-ended basis. This is not the empty promise of a website value-added page, but the core of our investment thesis. We host weekly calls with our senior portfolio team and each team of founders, which leads to daily activities involving our staff, Venture Partners, EPIRs, advisors, and network of service providers. All of this is in a supportive mode, meant to ensure that whatever needs our portfolio companies have, we remain actively relevant and helpful, every day. This care is given to all portfolio companies, regardless of which H/L Ventures vehicle is engaged. A POWERFUL ECOSYSTEM We respond effectively and proactively to our portfolio companies via a powerful team and community. Organized in a hub-and-spoke model around our core portfolio staff, four key communities help us co-build companies: Venture Partners & EPIRs, Advisors, Member Partners, and our affiliated Trusted Partner Network. Our team is shared across all our family of studios and funds. ACCESS TO CAPITAL From inception to exit, we provide many different forms of capital. Pre-Series A start-ups benefit from the H/L Studio model, where they enjoy access to virtually every form of capital, including human capital, social capital, networks, experience, and time. H/L does not normally invest in Pre-Seed rounds, focusing on our broad range of value-add services as we build a deeper relationship together via our Studio. We do however offer $100,000 in funding at the formal Seed round stage for our Studio companies [1, see Footnote], as well as an opportunity to leverage our extensive networks of co-investors to benefit the team’s fundraising efforts. Our opportunity fund, CityRock Venture Partners, invests at Series A and Series B. CityRock funds both qualifying studio portfolio startups and companies that come to us from outside of the studio pipeline, provided they fit our thesis and pass our standard due diligence process. Regardless of placement in the H/L Ventures ecosystem, all of our portfolio companies enjoy full access to our venture studio resources.

Visible Hands is a venture capital firm on a mission to highlight and invest in the limitless potential of overlooked founders. We envision a world where talent and execution - not race or gender - are the key predictors for success. Our Manifesto Our world is changing. Our communities are changing - they are becoming stronger and more vibrant in their diversity, and face fresh possibilities and challenges as a new generation looks increasingly different from the last. We believe that as new opportunities arise, anyone should have the chance to seize them. The best solutions come from those closest to the problem - as our problems evolve, so should the problem-solvers. We believe that investing in women, people of color, and other underrepresented groups is key to creating a more prosperous and equitable future for everyone. We celebrate the bold, the curious, and the irrational. We applaud those with big dreams, and who choose the harder, riskier path in relentless pursuit of pushing forward what is possible. We also acknowledge that being a risk-taker often comes from a position of privilege - opportunity and wealth gaps persist along racial and gender lines, and access to financial and social capital too often determines which ideas are nurtured to grow. We believe that we must first acknowledge that the playing field was built to be unequal in order to change it. We know that we must change it. High-growth entrepreneurship should not be reserved for the privileged few. We need to shine a light inwards on our collective blindspots, and cast out a wider and more inclusive net to find and support existing talent. Instead of relying on unseen market forces, we’re taking matters into our own hands. No one should have to look a certain way to be deemed deserving; great entrepreneurs are all around us but we must choose to see them. By sharing our privileges with those not born into it and manufacturing fairness where it doesn’t yet exist, we can fundamentally change access to wealth and opportunity in this generation. This is our open call for anyone who feels stuck on the outside looking in: We see you. We value you. We need you. Your perspective is unique, your lived experience is invaluable, and your potential is limitless. Never doubt that your voice matters and that you deserve to be heard, even if it can feel like it doesn’t. We believe that good ideas, regardless of who or where they come from, should rise to the top, and we will fight alongside you to get them there.

We aim to back the next wave of founders building the tools and platforms that will facilitate the shift from analogue to digital practices. We have a long and successful track record of investing in founders and companies providing highly scalable, digital technology solutions. We cultivate enduring partnerships with founders, providing early-stage investment from the inception of a mere concept on paper and offering comprehensive support throughout every phase of growth. This support goes beyond funding, encompassing genuine humility and hands-on assistance for both founders and their teams. About 1818 1818 is an innovative Venture Capital firm focused on early and growth stage digital technology companies. Typically, we are amongst the first to invest, and we always personally invest in everything we do. We partner with companies that have significant growth potential, and founders who have the vision, determination and commitment to achieve it. Providing capital is the first step of what we do. With a team comprised of entrepreneurial and motivated individuals, we serve an active role in our portfolio companies to ensure each business thrives to deliver the best possible results for our investors. Founded by a Serial Entrepreneur 1818 Venture Capital was founded in 2012 by Richard Avery-Wright, a highly accomplished and successful serial entrepreneur. Following in the footsteps of his ancestors who pioneered the Avery weighing scales in 1818, Richard has founded and co-founded several businesses himself. Among his notable ventures are Pie Funds Management, RAW Capital Partners, Castle Point Funds Management, Wealthify, and his latest endeavour, 1818 Venture Capital. The clients of 1818 Venture Capital reaped the rewards of Wealthify's successful exit, which resulted in a 22.5X return. Why 1818? Founded by entrepreneurs: Our team and network consists of highly accomplished entrepreneurs, enabling us to possess a deep understanding of nurturing and expanding early-stage companies. Alignment with investors: 1818 personally invest in every single investment opportunity offered to our investor base (and on the exact same investment terms), ensuring alignment and confidence in our selection process. Unparalleled investment standards: Our process allows us to meet with over 1000 Founders a year, yet we only typically invest in 10-15 new businesses per year, thus our bar for investment is extremely high. Empowering diverse founders: Our focus lies on supporting underrepresented founders and businesses with a positive social purpose. We believe that purpose-driven founders are more engaged and motivated and are therefore more likely to succeed compared to purely profit-focused ones. Competitive fee structure: Our fees are simple and highly competitive and we do not charge an annual management fee. Instead, we charge a one-time 5% fee upon entry, which covers the life of the discretionary managed account. A typical fund would charge 2% per annum over the 10-year life of the fund. Exposure to 'winners': Our venture portfolios exhibit a high level of diversity. They provide exposure to both promising new investments and what we believe are existing 'winners' (1818 portfolio companies that are experiencing exceptional growth). This helps establish a well-balanced risk profile and a diverse range of investment exposure.

New York Ventures supports high-growth companies and their partners to use technology to solve important challenges in areas of strategic interest and importance. We actively look to provide greater access to venture capital for regions, industries and individuals, including women and minority entrepreneurs and fund managers. Our goal is to build a robust startup ecosystem across New York State, leveraging public and private sector assets. New York Ventures is actively deploying over $300 million of capital through equity programs for both direct and indirect investment. In 2022, New York was awarded funds via the U.S. Department of Treasury State Small Business Credit Initiative, which helps us to support our several programs. Venture Capital Program Funds Pre-seed and Seed Matching Fund: $30 million fund for investing in venture backable start-ups at the early stages of their development NYS Innovation Venture Capital Fund: $135+ million fund for investing in venture-backable startups from Seed through Series B Emerging and Regional Partner Fund: $102 million fund for investing in diverse and emerging venture fund managers or managers who invest in undercapitalized regions in NYS Community and Regional Partner Fund: $52 million fund for investing in venture fund managers who operate or partner with mentor-based programs like accelerators Impact NY Ventures programs and companies create impact in numerous ways, but we are proud of the range and diversity of companies and managers that all our programs have supported since 2011. 224 companies: More than 55% located outside of New York City $135M+ invested by NYS, matched by $900M+ from the private sector 43.3% portfolio companies started and/or led by women or minorities Team The New York Ventures team has extensive experience as investors and entrepreneurs, with offices in New York City, the Southern Tier, Western NY and the Capital Region. In addition, we regularly collaborate with our partners within the Small Business and Technology Development Division who help entrepreneurs at all stages of growth and development. Jennifer Tegan - Managing Director Silvia Garcia Codony - Assistant Vice President Karan Mehta - Senior Director Ryoko Nozawa - Senior Director Josh Nelson - Director Zack Pecenak - Director Audrey Chisholm - Assistant Director Elaine Chen - Operations Associate Thomas Halpin - Project Associate