The first Summit on Emerging VC Funds held April 2nd, 2024 was epic, and we look forward to repeating this event on a regular schedule. To learn about future events please sign up for LaunchPad Press.

The venture capital industry is experiencing a tectonic shift in momentum as new "Micro VC" funds are launching to fill the gaps 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 access to higher risk and return potential.

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:

• • Moderator: Jonathan Azoff, Co-founder and General Partner of SNØCAP Ventures
  • Evan Poncelet, Co-founder and Managing Partner of the Dreamward Ventures
  • Amish Patel, Founder, Managing Director, Conduit Venture Labs
  • Jessica Kamada, Managing Partner, Swizzle Ventures
  • Peter Mueller, Co-Founding Partner at Breakwater Ventures

These emerging VC funds are confirmed to be presenting to LPs at this event (so far):

• • Jolene Anderson, Co-founder/Managing Director of VectorPoint Ventures
  • Ben Eidelson, General Partner of Stepchange
  • Madin Akpo-Esambe, General Partner of Tacoma Venture Fund
  • Evan Poncelet, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Dreamward Ventures
  • Amish Patel, Founder, Managing Director, Conduit Venture Labs
  • Leilani Walkush of Indigenous.vc
  • Keith Laepple of VentureUs
  • Christeen Rico at Archangel Impact Capital
  • Isaac Kato of TwoRavens

What are micro-funds?
VC Micro-funds, or more broadly, those with under $50M of assets under management, invest early and operate under a lighter set of SEC regulations. Typically, these firms are run by first-time fund managers, referred to by the industry as Emerging Fund Managers. Represented at the Summit are local managers, raising between $3M and $10M for their first vintage fund; with more experienced operators, perhaps on their second vintage fund, raising upwards of $30M 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 opportunities that they are uniquely positioned to see before the broader market. Via their micro-funds, they develop a track record of success and build enduring VC firms, with the intention of raising subsequently larger funds.