The VC Connection #7

Aug 25, 2022

Featuring Counterpart Ventures and Longley Capital

Helllllooooo! Welcome back to another edition of 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 got two amazing firms investing in the growing opportunities here in Southern California, Counterpart Ventures and Longley Capital.

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.”

“Counterpart – one of two parts that complete, or compliment one another.” Counterpart Ventures acts as a trusted partner to their founders, hand in hand to build generational companies. From building the right team and surrounding their founders with exceptional talent, to developing the sales engine and go-to-market strategy, Counterpart diligently assists the companies they invest in to make sure they succeed. They get out of the way when times are good and are first call to their founders when times are tough.

Counterpart invests in Seed and Series A B2B SaaS startups in traditional sectors such as finance, HR, healthcare, mobility, supply chain and logistics as well as emerging sectors such as remote work. Specifically looking for maniacal founders who will run through any obstacle. Founders who are obsessed with every aspect of the business, determined to succeed. We examine the attributes of founders, largely making our investment decision based on the foundational team.

Additionally, Counterpart has developed the Counter Club, a growing community of established and emerging Corporate Venture Capitalists. Counterpart’s GP’s bring 2 decades of CVC experience to the fund, sharing their playbook on how to successfully run and scale a CVC fund over time. As a result we have cultivated relationships with CVCs around the world that act as potential customer or partnership introduction for their portfolio companies. They are one of the best traditional VCs out there with CVC roots.

Typically investing $1-5M with a preference to lead and take board seats. Counterpart is excited for what Southern California has to offer with the growing Tech scene and the many opportunities arising here within our community. Dedicated, motivated, understanding, and driven, Counterpart strives to partner with the right founders and build generational companies.

Thesis: B2B SaaS Companies Solving NonTrivial Problems or Filling Gaps Within Large Markets
Industry: B2B SaaS, IoT, Mobility and Marketplace Technologies
Location: San Francisco, CA
Stage: Seed and Series A
Initial Investment: $1M-5M
SD Portfolio Companies: Cloudbeds

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In 2017, Steven and Denise Longley, both San Diego locals, took a look around them and saw an opportunity in San Diego. They realized San Diego had a large pool of talent developing incredible companies, however, there were not many institutional investors funding them. San Diego has since become one of the fastest and most significant innovation markets in the US. Longley was founded to serve this opportunity and support the growth of their portfolio companies, with 80% of their portfolio being companies based in San Diego.

Longley invests in Seed and Series A companies focused on solving problems leveraging Technology. As technology generalists they are focused on meaningful opportunities tackling big and impactful problems led by great people. The environment, education, healthcare, food, sleep and agriculture are all themes where they see opportunities. They have adopted a high-touch interactive approach with their investments to mitigate risk and provide their companies an opportunistic response to changes within their industry. They have established nearshoring expertise and their network of venture partners and LPs lead some of the world’s largest and most significant companies.

Thesis: San Diego Enterprise Technology Companies
Industry: Software, Saas, Artificial Intelligence, FinTech, Digital Health, Environment
Location: San Diego, CA
Stage: Seed and Series A
Initial Investment Size: $500K-$1M
SD Portfolio Companies: AlwaysAI, Copia Wealth, Fluid Power Ai, GoSite, GroGuru, Iridia, Lab Fellows, Manscaped, Rev, and OmniSync

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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

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