Relapse Venture Capital

Transpose Platform Management was co-founded by Alex Bangash and Trang Nguyen in 2015. The firm backs ambitious entrepreneurs creating today’s most disruptive venture structures. Transpose Platform Management seeks out the world’s most innovative companies and invests in tomorrow’s category-defining leaders.

Positive Sum helps founders build their companies and tell their stories. We devote time to meeting the most talented entrepreneurs and investors in the world, and we strategically deploy our network on behalf of our portfolio companies. What we look for in companies The creation of new businesses, especially those fueled by technology, can lead to Positive Sum outcomes: where companies, customers, and investors all win together. Our team searches for such companies, with the following criteria guiding our way. Life’s Work: We look for founders doing their “life’s work.” We always ask how the founding team came upon the problem they are solving and assess the alignment between that problem and their own path in life. We find that these founders tend to be driven and obsessive, they tend to build domain knowledge quickly, and they tend to be disagreeable, with their own clear point of view for how things ought to be. We love these qualities. Ultimately, we find that founders doing their “life’s work” become magnets for talent and have the perseverance necessary to survive and thrive in difficult periods. Synchronized Team: Speed is an unbelievable advantage for young companies. Teams that communicate well ship products faster. We look for smart and efficient team communication, chemistry, and the right mix of business and technical talent. Market Signal: We can evaluate teams directly, but markets help us evaluate products. We look for clear signals from customers that a given idea or product is valuable. We deeply respect a market signal even if we don’t yet understand what is behind it, but then seek to understand the customer’s motivation in a deep way. A Compounding Customer: The question “will customers use this product often, and will the product get better and more valuable as they do?” is at the center of our investigation. Products that get embedded in their user’s lives or workflows tend to be more defensible. Compounding has to start somewhere, and our experience suggests that companies focused on “one thing” early on maximize the odds they can do more things in the future, because the customer grows to love them for the original solution. Profit Persistence: We want to invest in companies that can earn enormous profits over time. The odds of this happening go up when 1) a business demonstrates (or we can foresee) positive unit economics, 2) the business model can scale with demand and 3) the product gets harder for others to copy as it grows. We look for all three components. Timing, Alignment, and Impact: We focus intently on why now is the right time to build this company. New technologies, changes in regulation, cultural shifts, and other enabling factors create opportunities for unnatural growth in a business. We always look for alignment between a company and the world at large. We also want great alignment between our two teams. We hope to have decades-long relationships with the companies we support, so the fit between Positive Sum and the founding team is paramount. We make fewer investments than many comparable funds so that we can be closer with portfolio companies and spend more time with each of them.

Contrary is a venture firm, backed by the world's most iconic entrepreneurs, that identifies and invests in exceptional talent. We invest up to $2M in a small number of startups each year, and work closely alongside them to build enduring businesses. We're built like the startups we serve. We combine sophisticated software, a world-class talent team, and scouts to identify and invest in the world’s top talent – first – and then relentlessly support them from seed to scale. Because at the root of every category-defining startup are exceptional people.

The VC next door for your path into the world. We believe that anyone with the right idea, ambition and execution can build a category-defining company. Bringing 'Made in Germany' to the digital age Germany has a longstanding reputation for first-class engineering, for high quality products that have a global impact. We believe that the label 'Made in Germany' needs to arrive in the digital age. We believe that the brands shaping the future will be tech companies. And we believe that some of these tech companies can and must be built here. Since our foundation in 2013, we've been supporting daring entrepreneurs from the German-speaking regions in building global category leaders that will shape the decades to come. Investment focus We get in early - from Pre-Seed to Series A. Our main expertise lies in supporting early-stage tech startups in their first crucial decisions: from setting up a finance department to the first executive hires. With our industry network, hands-on approach and our supporting functions such as marketing and finance, we help to turn a business idea into a fully-fledged company. As a VC firm with people on the ground in Cologne, Berlin, and Munich we have a deep-rooted network in the German tech scene. That’s why we strongly focus our investment activities on Germany and the German-speaking regions. That doesn’t rule out deals elsewhere - but we certainly need extra conviction then. Track record We have supported companies on their journeys from Seed right through to IPO. 44 active Capnamic investments 350 million EUR of capital under management 900 million EUR of funds raised by our portfolio companies We believein entrepreneurs changing the world: But they can’t do it all on their own. That’s why we try to play our part by being sparring partners available at all times, by opening doors, or simply by having your back. in empathetic honesty: We have a ‘Bullshit Buzzer’ in our main meeting room for a reason. We’re going to be completely honest with the founders we work with, and they in turn can depend on our loyalty and support. We won’t leave your side when the first rain drops fall. in team, timing, technology: A strong team is the core of every successful startup. But for an idea to thrive, it also needs the right timing and a defensible technology. If you have the three Ts, there’s a good chance you’re at the start of something big. in making our network your network: Having started as a multi-corporate VC with LPs from some of the biggest national and international corporations, we value a strong network above most other things. in realness not the hype: Not every company that gets massive funding has the substance to last. We always form our own opinion and we even tend to get skeptical when things are hyped. But once we’re convinced of a business idea, we give it everything we’ve got. in sparring not steering: We do our best to be active partners, coaches and mentors on an equal footing. But at the end of the day, nobody knows their product, company and market better than the founders.

Pioneer Fund combines capital, expertise, connections, and support from 300+ Y Combinator alumni. All of us have invested in Pioneer Fund. Quick decisions We are founders first and know how painful a drawn out process is for founders. We endeavor to make decisions within 48 hours after meeting with founders. All verticals Our team consists of founders from companies in every field. We are interested in the future. All geographies We invest in all regions and invest in strong founders no matter where they are located. Our own decisions We don't invest based on what other investors are doing. We make our own decisions. Power of the network With backing from 300+ YC alumni and limited partners throughout the world, we have connections to industries and regions that we can use to help our portfolio founders grow and expand. Founders first We are all founders and YC alumni.

One Way Ventures is an early-stage venture capital fund, operating in the U.S., focused on backing exceptional immigrant founders. After 20 years of angel investing and three years as Managing Director of Techstars Boston, One Way co-founder Semyon Dukach noticed a trend: immigrant-led companies repeatedly outperformed the rest of his portfolio. While immigrants only make up 14% of the U.S. population, they start 24% of startups, and founded or co-founded more than 50% of America’s billion-dollar startups. The general partnership is joined by Eugene Malobrodsky (Anchorfree, $300M raised) and Lex Zhao (Bridgewater, Vestwell). Today, One Way Ventures has over $100M under management and has backed immigrant founders from over 30 countries.