Venture Mechanics is a coworking space and innovation center for startups and entrepreneurs in the Pacific Northwest.

Venture Mechanics Bellevue

Covering the industry of new and emerging VC Funds, launching right here in the PNW.

The venture capital industry is experiencing a tectonic shift in momentum as new "Micro VC" funds are launching at a frenetic pace to fill in the gap in early stage capital sources, as mega-funds continue to move upmarket in deal size. A new lineage of venture capitalists are launching these small, predominantly angel and family office-backed micro funds, promising founders more hands-on assistance, and offering LPs a ride that's much closer to a front row on the bus.

In this first of its kind summit in the PNW, we're going to hear from the panel of some of Portland and Seattle's most experienced emerging fund managers about why this new trend is happening, what are the advantages and challenges that VC micro-funds face in today's landscape, and the future outlook for this innovative new entrants in the pre-seed and seed stages of venture capital.

The panel will be followed by ten Pacific Northwest-based emerging fund managers giving their pitch to the LPs in the audience. Afterwards there'll be ample opportunity for investors to engage with each fund manager at their own table during the networking reception.

The panel discussion kicking off the evening include the following active managers of Seattle-based emerging funds:

These emerging VC funds are confirmed to be 

VC Micro-funds, or more broadly, "emerging venture capital funds," are technically those with under $50M of assets under management. Under this threshold they can operate under a lighter set of SEC regulations. But in point of fact most of the new micro funds we see forming in the Seattle market these days are raising between $3M and $10M for their first vintage fund; with more experienced operators, perhaps on their second vintage fund, raising up to $20M AUM. 

These new funds are being formed to cater to the monumental increase in the number of startups that are typically underserved in in the pre-seed to seed stages, and thus their investment sizes tend to be anywhere from $25K to $500K per deal, but usually in the range of $100K-$200K. They are often managed by specialized domain experts who have deep-rooted networks in a particular industry and are guided by a governing set of beliefs to improve the world via ethical means. Via their micro-funds, they develop a track record of success and build enduring VC firms, with the intention of raising sequential funds that are larger and larger. 

Summit on Emerging "Micro" VC Funds