Stage Zero VC

Pillar VC is a venture capital firm based in Boston investing in companies at formation and seed stage with $350 million under management. We believe VC doesn’t have to be the darkside –– we’re happy to own common stock, the same security as the founders we back, and we’re committed to helping founders develop as leaders. We're doing things differently at Pillar. We’ve been involved in building startups for many years. We’ve been investors and we’ve been investees. We’ve had our share of successes and failures. We saw that the traditional VC way was broken. The term VC itself evokes an evil empire - the dark side - a painful lack of alignment between investors and entrepreneurs. In a business where trust is paramount, the dark side created a world that put us at odds with those we needed to trust most. Pillar is fixing that. Our radical hypothesis. If we give founders the investment and support we would have wanted, we'll end up in a really good place. We're aligning incentives with interests and capabilities with needs. We’re delivering the breadth and depth of experience that matches what entrepreneurs want and need. Instead of hoping our own experience aligns with these needs, we gathered a dream team of remarkable CEOs - 40 driven, insightful, connected Founding Pillars - who have been there, done that, and are still there, doing that as we speak. These leaders, co-founders of our fund, know startups and big technology like nobody else. And we won't stop there. We’re going to align our every decision with the interests of our community. This is the starting point of a new way - a capability that will be larger than our small team. Success will take a shared commitment to push for greatness in everything we build - and in how we build it. In doing so, we want to create the next generation of big, important, lasting technology companies. So, if you have a big, ambitious idea you can’t stop thinking about, or if you have a company you want to take to the next level, or if you simply want to be part of something exciting and new, please reach out.

We are Nevada’s statewide startup accelerator & incubator. We enable entrepreneurs to develop and scale ideas from MVP to revenue-producing businesses, invest our own capital, then connect founders to additional growth capital. Get Help Funding Your Startup You have an amazing idea, and you’ve researched it and are positive there’s a market out there that’s waiting for this product or service. The only trouble is that you have no funding to get from Point A to Point B. You may not even know how to begin looking for investment sources. That’s okay because our accelerator makes an initial investment, then gives you the sales, marketing, development, and other tools to position yourself with early stage investors to raise additional capital. As you progress, we connect you with our network of angel investors and other capital sources. Become A Nevada Investor An idea paired with the right investor and mentor can become the next big industry disruptor. You’ve heard the stories, but you’ve never had the chance to do it yourself. You can change that by learning what it takes to successfully invest in business startups. Angel investing is riskier than other types of investments, but done properly, the rewards of making a great return while impacting our community makes it worthwhile. StartUpNV’s mission is to educate individuals on what it takes to be a good angel investor and make smart, successful investments. We’re establishing the angel investing ecosystem in Nevada, and you can be part of this bigger movement. Be The Good In The World. Ready To Invest While Making A Difference?

+VC is a venture capital firm focused on investing in tech and tech-enabled startups across the MENA region and its diaspora, taking an early leadership role with founders to set them up for success. We invest our first check at the seed stage and can follow-on the best performing portfolio companies all the way through to Series A. Our Experience As fund managers covering the MENA region, we’ve been investing in the region since 2010. With over 200 transactions under our belt as a team, we know what works and what doesn’t. We’ve been the first money in, and we’ve seen companies through to exit. These collective experiences make us empathetic towards the founder’s journey and it’s why we say that we’re the ones that work for our founders, not the other way around. Our Investment Thesis Our investment strategy is quite unique, and for good measure, employing a two-pronged approach to balance investing early and often in the non-obvious emerging market entrepreneur. The first prong of our strategy involves targeting 100-120 initial investments for risk diversification, we invest an average size of $100k at the seed stage and our follow-on allocation can go up to $0.5m. Our initial fund allocation will be split 50% for initial investments and 50% for follow-ons depending on the final fund size. We’ve developed an almost intuitive rubric whereby, we’re not only fast to make investment decisions, we use processes that enable us to move faster – because we know that closing a funding round quickly can mean life or death for a young startup company. While investing at high frequency and high volume may seem less serious to some, we know that our selection and due diligence processes are still more rigorous than most. +Founders Founder focused is a term that gets used a lot. Through our collective experience starting our own companies, and working at top firms such as Google, 500 Startups, Admob and Tenmou, we understand what it means to create an environment in which our founders not only receive investment and guidance, but feel like they are part of a community dedicated to continuous development and growth. +Values Investing in startups is our mission and we love to back missionary founders. As true trailblazers in the MENA region, our responsibility to invest fairly in diverse and inclusive companies extends throughout our portfolio and we’re proud that a quarter of our previous investments have at least one female founder. As investors, we aspire to promote and enhance our portfolio of companies founded by people of all backgrounds and we recognize the need to build startup ecosystems with diversity and representation at the core. Our Future Together +VC goes beyond offering funding, to including operational resources and support through our unique growth model. +Growth will be available to all our portfolio companies to offer value-add at any stage throughout their startup journey, where they will receive curated coaching and mentorship from former entrepreneurs and a breadth of online resources.​ FAQs How are we different? We’re obsessed with building community with our founders, and helping you be a part of something bigger. Our team has worked together for 4 years now, and have invested in over 180 startups over the past 3 years with boots on the ground across 4 MENA countries. Most of us have been in your shoes before and always make an effort to treat founders the way we would want to be treated. Aside from an investment, you’ll get a lot more out of us, including in-depth training on the subjects that matter most at your stage, and availability of dry powder to help take you to the next level. Unlike most regional funds, our roots stem from Silicon Valley and we have vast networks in the US and across the entire region, not just one country or another. What do we have to offer? We typically invest around $200,000 at the seed stage, with follow on investments up to $1m in the next round up to Series A, in around 20% of our portfolio. We offer standardised, founder-friendly terms and legal docs, and do our best to help our startups raise their full rounds through introductions to our network. That’s the job of a lead investor. But being a part of +VC is not just about the investment – we know that there is a level of skill and knowledge that only experienced practitioners can impart, and that these skills can immediately improve the trajectory of most startups. Every startup we invest in gets to participate in our +Growth curriculum, with lectures, one-to-one mentorship sessions and community engagement aimed to accelerate their growth and impart a growth mindset on the company. Our mentors are world class, people who have built startups themselves and speak from experience and practical expertise. You’ll also be added to part of something bigger. Our +Community offers something more – with a big group of other founders in your sector and city – to network with, get and receive advice from, and just have other founders cheering you on during your successes and supporting you in the tough times. We also run an annual, invite only +Portfolio Summit, where we run workshops, community building activities, and invite investors and LPs from our network to attend. Who are we looking for? If you’re a team in the MENA region or from the MENA region, obsessed with execution, and have launched a product with users or customer traction, we want to talk to you. Especially if you’re working on something different not yet seen in our region. We invest across sectors so long as technology is the product, means of distribution or business model. We’re looking for founders tackling real problems for large markets. We also have a bias towards those tackling the UN’s sustainable development goals (SDGs) and with an lense on non-financial factors of environment, social and governance (ESG). There’s no single formula for success, but the ideal founding team would consist of 3 founders, the coder, the growth marketer and the subject matter expert. Of course, success comes in many forms, we simply feel this is the best combination for success and handling the multitude of functions and resources needed at the earliest stages. We don’t invest in ideas or products alone – we want to see that you know how to acquire users or customers first, and ultimately, that the market is responding positively to your solution.

The studio creates conditions for effective commercial implementation of a project, by dividing its resources between different projects. Benefits of working with the studioWe give access to network and experts: We have gathered the best experts, who greatly diversify the development of any project. Usually, startups cannot afford experts of this level. We reduce risks: We have already tested different ideas and selected the best ones according to market demand and expert opinion. We help with financing: We cover most of the costs for creating an MVP and help you get through to the next round. We focus on the results: We are able to break the glass ceiling not through bureaucracy, but by using a scientific approach and a pragmatic understanding of market conditions. Scale it and close the funding roundChoose an idea: We conduct a preliminary assessment, determine potential prospects, relevance, and timeliness. Validate: In 1-2 month, using external experts and our own team. We create a prototype of the product, which we then try to sell, to determine the vision of the market, gather insights from competitors, summarize primary indicators of unit economics. Create MVP: During 4-8 months, we gather real feedback from our customers. We quickly create a functional version of the product. Then, we test it, launch it, and collect feedback from our customers. Scale it and close the funding round: We are looking for areas of improvement and creating a clear operation structure.The project attracts external investments, receives approval or is consolidated by a corporate structure.

We invest early - sometimes when a company is no more than an idea. Our focus is B2B technology-enabled companies. Who: We look for coachable founder teams with a deep understanding of the industry and technology and we celebrate a hustler and hacker mentality. What: We push when we see potential and take a hands-on approach following a proven playbook and problem-solving toolkit, enabling you to spend more time on the core business. When: We prefer to be the first established investor, typically before or at the pre-seed round. We create the most value for you when engaging early.

Beta Boom is led by two general partners, Kimmy and Sergio Paluch. Yes, they share a last name because they are married and have been partners in life and business for over twenty years. They are both passionate about making the world a better place through technological innovation and giving overlooked founders a fair shot at fulfilling their visions. Kimmy and Sergio have two boys, Rafael and Adrian, who were Beta Boomers from the beginning, hanging out with founders in Beta Boom’s office over the summer of 2018. Rafael wants to work for Beta Boom one day and Adrian wants to be a professional footballer (soccer player). We'll work alongside you from day one. A lot of VCs say that they’ll be there for you, but few are as involved as us and most give generic startup advice. Depending on what you need, we support you on getting things done across product development, sales, marketing, and fundraising. We meet you where you are. Not literally, but figuratively. We work with you and your team to figure out where our support can be most impactful. If your team is strong on engineering and marketing, but need help with sales, that’s what we’ll help with. If your team is great at sales but needs help with engineering and marketing, that’s what we’ll focus on. If all you need is fundraising support, that’s all we’ll do. Focus on the "how" not "what." We don’t like telling founders what to do or spouting useless startup advice. You know your business and customers better than we ever will, and you should make decisions for your company. Plus, you don’t need dark overlords. What we try to help with is the “how.” How do you set up your CRM for fundraising? How do you test marketing channels? How do you generate sales leads? How do you reach out to investors or get introductions? Collaboration sessions rather than lectures. We do collaboration sessions to work through challenges or get stuff done. We don’t lecture you. For example, in a collaboration session we might work on your positioning, review usability testing plans, improve your investor tracker, edit your cold sales emails, etc. When we say we work alongside you, we mean it. Vetted experts at your fingertips. Beta Boom has an extended network of vetted experts that we’ve worked with or our portfolio companies have worked with and loved. We do this so you don’t have to waste time searching for effective support, and can get things done while you build your permanent team. Here are examples of the kinds of experts that you’ll have access to, among others: Growth marketers that can help with setting up and running Google, Instagram, and Facebook ads; Lead generation experts that can get you qualified sales leads via email campaigns; Sales coaches that can help you set up your CRM and walk you through sales conversations; A near-shore engineering firm that specializes in APIs and securely handling large data sets.