Very Serious Ventures

Very Serious Ventures is an angel group and early-stage investment fund that invests at the pre-seed and seed stages. It is led by Joe Greenstein, Rachel Sheinbein and Chase Adam, and its principals have made early-stage investments in more than 250 companies as angels. The firm's stated approach is to invest across a broad range of startups rather than a narrow set of sectors, and to support founders as people as well as company builders.

Portfolio patterns reflect that breadth. The sectors the firm identifies include mental wellness and coaching (BetterUp), consumer wellness and meditation (Calm), education technology (ClassDojo), event ticketing (Eventbrite), payroll and benefits for small businesses (Gusto), online education and streaming (MasterClass) and real estate technology (Opendoor). Many recent investments sit alongside these marquee names, indicating continued deployment across stages and categories rather than a closed track record.

The firm describes its ethos in plain terms: it invests in people it admires, building things it wants to see in the world, and tries to have fun, help people and, if possible, not go broke. Beyond capital, it nominates founders for programmes such as Leaders in Tech and Grove. The limited partners have committed to donating all returns to charity.