Featuring Grayhawk Capital and Bonfire Ventures
Hey there! Welcome back to Connect’s VC Connection, our Venture Capital newsletter. Where we showcase exceptional VC firms, giving you better insight into their areas of focus and investment criteria. We hope that this newsletter will shine some light in the deep waters of Venture Capital.
This week we are showcasing Grayhawk Capital and Bonfire Ventures. Two firms with a focus on B2B Software companies
The VC Connection is a semi-regular, ongoing newsletter where we profile funds that we have developed relationships with. If you would like to see other firms we know, feel free to browse through our curated VC List, “Other VC Firms.”
Grayhawk Capital is an early stage venture firm based out of Scottsdale, Arizona. Since 1995, the year Grayhawk was founded, they have made 53 investments, with 6 IPOs and 26 acquisitions of their portfolio companies. Grayhawk continues to grow and invest into new portfolio companies every year and currently manage $550M of total assets under their firm.
The firm primarily invests in disruptive B2B software solutions across a number of different verticals, such as healthcare IT, cybersecurity, fintech, business productivity, communications, and customer centric software. They typically look for investments that are capital efficient, with $2M to $6M in ARR, and addressing a $1B+ global market. In November last year Grayhawk closed their third fund totalling $76M. With this new funding Grayhawk is looking to invest in innovative companies that fit their thesis.
Thesis: Early Stage B2B Disruptive Software Solutions
Industry: Mobile Computing, Cloud/Saas, Enterprise Software, Security, Business Intelligence, FinTech, Healthcare IT
Location: Scottsdale, AZ
Stage: Seed and Series A
Initial Investment: $2M to 3M
SD Portfolio Companies: SOCi and StackIQ
Notable Investments: MX Logic, Totango, QCSI, AccountNow, and Lucid
Bonfire started in 2017 by Jim Andelman and Mark Mullen back when LA had a much smaller venture community. Andelman and Mullen combined their forces and started the firm to establish themselves within the growing LA venture community with the mission to improve the amount of B2B SaaS companies making it from Seed to Series A.
“All capital is not created equal” is written right when you enter the Bonfire website speaking to the value that Bonfire brings to their investments. Bonfire limits the amount of investments they make with each fund in order to better support their founders, with the goal of being responsive, trusted, and supportive. When it comes to investing in companies Bonfire sees their investments as long term two-way partnerships. Where they make sure they like you, you like them, and that your team has a strong narrative that they believe has the potential to become iconic brands.
VC firms come in all shapes and sizes, with different goals and motives. However, we can tell you now Bonfire is one of the firms you want on your team. They don’t only invest, they partner, assisting you in crossing the chasm between Seed and Series A.
Thesis: Seed Stage B2B SaaS companies
Industry: Software, SaaS
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Stage: Seed and Series A
Initial Investment Size: $1M to 5M
SD Portfolio Companies: Zingle, Raken, Arcuity Ai, and Wildfire
Here at Connect, our mission is to help San Diego’s incredible startup companies grow and succeed. One way we do that is by connecting our startups to venture capitalists. If you are interested in getting connected with our network, we recommend you apply to our program, Springboard. In this program, you will get the opportunity to speak with expert advisors.
Keep on charging forward,
The Connect Team