Despite the decline in investment in startups in 2022, venture capital funds of all sizes are still being attracted. However, many of them are not managed by Solo General Partners (GPs), and while this trend is growing, even fewer are managed by women or non-venture capitalists.
That makes Nichole Wischoff exceptional: Her solo venture capital firm, Wischoff Enterprises, closed a second $20 million fund, a significant increase from the first $5 million fund. The goal is to invest in 25-30 US startups in the pre-seed or seed stage.
Wischoff intentionally capped her previous fund because she was still working full-time as a novice trader in March, she told TechCrunch. Now fully committed to his fund, he plans to write larger checks for up to $1 million, higher than his previous limit of $300,000.
This new fund will also be “heavily B2B based,” Wischoff said. “I tell people I invest in unattractive companies!”
She is particularly interested in companies applying an embedded fintech or AI/ML component in large legacy industries. “However, I have a great weakness for industrial automation. Anything that makes up the bulk of US GDP is of great importance to me.”
In addition to fintechs
Wischoff’s current portfolio includes companies such as Coast Pay, Loop, Nuevo, Trustlayer and Vesta – a strong fintech bias given Wischoff’s background. However, the second is set to extend that range. “I know fintech well, but I don’t want to be labeled a fintech,” he said.
Before becoming a solo GP, Wischooff was an early contributor to lending platform Blend Labs, which went public in 2021, and was part of the founding team of One Finance, a neobank acquired by Walmart earlier this year .
The acquisition of One resulted in a “massive bottom line” for Wischoff, which led her to invest in an angel for the first time while working in fintech construction. Built before they released their own fund of external LPs.
Sponsors of this new fund include Peter Thiel, Lee Fixel, Yahoo co-founder Jerry Chen, Bain Capital, Byers Capital, Cendana Capital, Crossover, Insight Partners.
Several of these angels and funds also supported Wischoff’s first fund, but the profile of his Limited Partners (LPs) has evolved over time.
According to the summary of an analysis conducted by Wischoff, family offices now make up more than half of his second fund, compared to about a third of his first fund. For example, his latest fund is backed by Four More Capital, the family office of the late American industrialist and philanthropist Henry Crown.
“I wish VCs were more open to building their LP,” Wischoff said in an email. In the same spirit of transparency, he added that it took him seven months to raise his second fund, compared to two months for his first.
His second fund’s first investment was in tech-focused startup Stelluna, founded by two women with aerospace and defense backgrounds, whose goal is to help engineers and hardware buyers “reduce defects and add parts faster.” ways”.
If Wischoff’s upcoming investments are similar to Stell’s, her portfolio could be on track to support what she calls “the American dynamic…the real thing,” a topic we’ll discuss with her in a separate issue shortly. interview.
Source: La Neta Neta
Jason Jack is an experienced technology journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in computer science and engineering, he has a deep understanding of the latest technology trends and developments. He writes about a wide range of technology topics, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, software development, and cybersecurity.
