The Philosophy

Startup Haven Ventures is a pre-seed venture fund. While we do sometimes make direct investments, we principally invest through the Startup Haven Accelerator. If what you see below resonates loudly with you, your team and startup, please drop us a line. Note that elements of the information included here are subject to change.

Who We Are

• We are a team of experienced, no-nonsense startup founders and operators.
• We understand the startup experience because we all have lived it.
• We want you to succeed, even if we can’t invest.

What We Invest In

• We invest primarily (>80%) though the Startup Haven Accelerator programs. In exceptional circumstances (<20%) we invest directly into startups who have not completed one of our accelerator programs.
• We invest in founders with discipline. Of course, we love to see that discipline aimed at intractable problems in meaningful markets and with vision and passion.
• We invest in capital-efficient business models that can make material progress with limited resources. E.g., software, platforms, marketplaces, SaaS-enabled everything, AI/ML, cybersecurity, etc.
• We invest in teams who have built something and who have achieved some early element(s) of progress/traction/commercialization.
• We invest in founders who can tell a cogent story about how they can use our capital to achieve their next, right strategic milestone. “Cogent” is a technical term for us.
• We currently only invest in founders residing in, and running companies domiciled in, North America.

What We Don’t Invest In

• Capital intense businesses that require significant resources in order to get a product to market. Examples can include ‘hard’ hardware, biotech, anything brick and mortar.
• Highly-regulated businesses that require long lead times and/or significant investment in order to attain compliance. Examples can include medical device, pharma, biotech (FDA); banking, crypto and other financial services (SEC, FinCEN); energy tech (EPA); food and agriculture (FDA, USDA).
• Business that provide consumables that are considered pharmacological, nutritional, functional, dietary, therapeutic, etc.
• Vices. Examples can include alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, pornography, gambling.
• Services-based businesses for which a significant element of the value delivered to customers comes from selling people’s time.

How We Add Value

• We do not invest in companies that we don’t think we can help or in founders who don’t want us to help.
• Our team is comprised of experienced founders who have mentored, advised and invested in hundreds of venture-scale startup founders.
• We listen, mentor, advise and connect. As founders ourselves, we can also relate, console and kvetch.
• We leverage the Startup Haven network of more than 2,000 vetted venture-scale founders and investors to connect our founders with what they need.

What We Believe

The Portfolio