Afore Capital

We lead pre-seed and seed rounds. We commit meaningful amounts of capital to empower founders to build the future before it becomes obvious. Deep Partnership We are company builders. We have built products, teams and companies in Southeast Asia. We care about your vision and product in a deep way. We believe that hands-on support makes a difference. Unparalleled Network We provide access. We have spent our entire careers at the intersection of technology, entrepreneurship and venture. Our network is comprised of world class founders, investors and technologists.

Motivate Ventures invests in pre-seed and seed stage startups. We have been successfully building and investing in startups since 2003. Our energy and inspiration comes from working with exceptional founders to build tomorrow's greatest companies. Target first check size is $500k-$2mm and ours is typically the first professional capital in a business. We target 15%+ ownership and 10x+ returns on each of our investments. OUR APPROACH MVC invests in optimism, ingenuity and humanity’s insatiable desire to creatively improve. We back incredible founders with strong domain knowledge who are tackling real, durable problems. We look for opportunities with very high growth potential in large and growing markets. Warm email intros from other professional investors are best or entrepreneurs can reach out and tell us more about their startup and its funding needs here: www.motivate.vc/funding

firstminute capital is a $320m sector-agnostic seed fund backed by 120 unicorn founders, including over 20 founders of $10bn+ businesses. Our General Partner Brent Hoberman is a double unicon founder. Yet, we are more than a fund. We’re an ecosystem of entrepreneurs from all over the world who, facilitated by firstminute capital’s team, come together to help one another, turn vision into reality and create the future. Our community is our edge. It is the source of the transformational support we offer to our partners who are warmly welcomed inside. An invitation into the firstminute capital community is secured by those with a special kind of spirit, not just a solid spreadsheet. A rare breed driven by a powerful characteristic we call, ‘Magnetic Ambition.’ Those with it often don’t recognise it in themselves, yet they are propelled forward by it, every day. We see it in their ability to capture hearts and minds with their vision, their belief and their commitment. When we find a founder with Magnetic Ambition, we open the door to the firstminute capital community and we give them everything they need. At your service What can founders expect from working with us? First of all, our 9-person investment team will fight for founders. Between us, members of the team have backed 10 unicorn startups at seed; we have IPO-ed companies; we have started companies; we have fundraised ourselves and we have failed and picked ourselves up again. So we are all here to help with advice, strategy brainstorming, product workshops, introductions to customers, raising a Series A or just being there for you in the tough times as well as the good times. If we can't help, we'll know someone in our extensive network who can and we'll make that intro. On top of the investment team, founders also get the whole "platform" team, which is another 11 people dedicated to helping founders scale their business and help with areas such as hiring and marketing. Our goal is to be the most helpful seed fund in Europe. We love to help founders build. Network effects At firstminute, we see ourselves as collaboration catalysts. We act to unlock the value our the community and bring our own expertise to bear when the time is right. Thanks to our 120 unicorn backers as well as a network of top CEO supporting us, firstminute has an extensive global reach. We like to bring on our investors - some of the top angels in the world - into our deals and as advisers to supercharge companies. firstminute's co-founder is Brent Hoberman, who after founding and exiting two unicorn startups himself created a network of companies under the 'Founders' umbrella. These include a world-class event series called Founders Forum as well as a consultancy, a recruitment firm, a charitable arm and Europe's largest incubator-accelerator. This whole ecosystem is part of our network, which helps with everything from sales introduction to finding top talent. We also have a large investor network to help with that Series A fundraise and beyond, having done deals with our friend at funds such as Tiger Global, Sequoia, Benchmark, a16z, Coatue and Atomico. Being part of our community, with our events and parties with some of the biggest names in tech and business, means you will be working with the best. We do an annual retreat for founders as well as regular drinks and dinners. Every year we hold our flagship summit in London which brings together firstminute investors, portfolio founders, partners from the top US and European multi-stage funds, and friends who are all bright lights in the tech community. Read more about that here.

To understand us as investors, it’s important to know the core beliefs and values that guide us. Technology has the power to transform the world. We believe in technology’s ability to solve problems and disrupt the global landscape - across industries, disciplines, populations, and continents. Whether it’s improving service delivery, democratizing access to resources, simplifying collaboration, or tackling other social challenges, we want to help today’s innovators make a difference. We’re committed to supporting your vision for making society and the world a better place. Mission-driven founders form the nucleus of a generational company. We back mission-driven entrepreneurs - those who will stop at nothing to solve a deep pain point that they know well. It’s this passion, even obsession, that can inspire, create, and lead strong teams through all the ups and downs of building an iconic business. We want to work with partners who are ready to go after big things and we're dedicated to helping them turn their vision into reality. You can build a large company in any location. While talent and great ideas can exist anywhere, opportunity is not always equally distributed. We aim to help bridge that gap - empowering entrepreneurs in any location to find the opportunities they need to realize their vision and grow successful businesses. Every entrepreneur deserves a fast, open, and respectful process. We know that every minute you spend fundraising is one less minute spent building your business. That’s why we strive for a turnaround time of just a few days. We value your time and keep things moving briskly, so you can stay focused. We can make the greatest impact as a Seed investor. The seed stage is the most formative time for a startup and often, where you need the most support. This key stage is where we believe we can add the most value - whether it’s helping you with hiring, finding product market fit, building your company culture, or getting your next financing round. We lead or co-lead with an investment of $500k - $1.5m and often back our startups through multiple rounds. An investor should be your biggest cheerleader and most trusted partner. We’re committed to building strong relationships with all of our entrepreneurs. That begins with earning your trust - something we strive for from the very first meeting. Our job is to support you and act as your biggest advocate, but we also never shy away from asking the important questions and providing tough feedback when necessary. Having run our own companies, we pass on as much of our operations knowledge as possible to help you build a successful venture. Our ultimate goal is simple: to be the first investor called when a founder needs advice. We never stop learning. We will never stop challenging ourselves to be better mentors, attract the right deals, and pick the best opportunities. We’ll always work tirelessly to help our founders be their best selves and make the biggest impact. It’s been our mission from day one.

Our new step as former entrepreneurs and business angels. We have been working in the startup industry for more than 20 years, launching our own companies, mentoring some of the most successful tech startups and investing as business angels in more than 150 projects. Thus we have decided to go a step further and launch Encomenda Smart Capital: a fund where we keep investing in seed digital companies with further resources and money but the same philosophy that we had as business angels. We help entrepreneurs for free in making strategic decisions, scaling organizations, implementing financial planning, defining new business opportunities, seeking new talent, analyzing their main KPIs and preparing their companies for next funding rounds. Our initial investment ranges from 100K€ to 350K€, and we can invest up to 1,8M€ per company.

Exceptional early talent is the greatest leading indicator of a company’s potential. Since 2017 our partners have backed or founded companies with over $1B of enterprise value. We’ve taken companies from napkin sketches to thriving businesses, hired world-class talent and raised capital from top-tier investors. From these experiences, we’ve learned how to identify great talent early, allowing us to lean in well before data, revenue, and sometimes even a deck. We lead pre-seed rounds in founders who:Are magnets for top-tier talent Have the clear, pragmatic vision needed to build a world-changing company, and Are a ton of fun to be around We blend the network of a top-tier fund with the value-add of your most impactful angel. We tailor founder support to optimize for impact. We can be high touch, high energy, or write a check and get out of the way.