We’ve raised $700M across two funds to invest in early stage founders

I’m excited to share that Initialized has raised $700M across two vehicles in a single, oversubscribed close — a $530M core fund for new investments in companies at the earliest stage and an opportunity fund of $170M that will allow us to make additional follow-on investments within our portfolio. This brings our total assets under management to over $3.2 billion.

In our almost 10 years as a firm, we’ve funded more than 200 companies. 22 are unicorns worth more than $1B and five of those are now decacorns worth $10B or more. We’re proud to have invested in each company at its earliest stage, when it was just an idea and a few people starting out.

Investing early, when companies are valued below $20M, takes conviction and an ability to believe in people and ideas before it is obvious. There are no numbers to prove it’s a good investment. Conviction at this stage means we believe in the founder, sometimes even before they do, and it’s at this early stage in a company’s journey where our team can help the most. We don’t wait for other investors to say yes, and that’s a big reason why Initialized is different.

“The Initialized team has been instrumental in the growth and direction of Clipboard Health. Every partner has contributed their expertise and it’s been a delight working with each of them throughout our journey. When Garry said Initialized wanted to lead our round, I was ecstatic. It’s that kind of conviction that makes them amazing advisors and investors.”

Wei Deng, Founder and CEO, Clipboard Health

I’m grateful for the team we’ve built. Everyone is here because they love working with founders and startups in those beginning days and years. We have experts in all the areas early-stage companies need help with the most: product, engineering, design, operations, legal, finance, hiring, community, public relations, sales, and how to tell your story and raise your next round. This is on top of the specialized expertise of our partners. One of the reasons we can help in the way we do is because we work as a team — no silos or lone wolves here. And we love doing it.

When we meet a founder to hear about their company, idea and vision, we ask ourselves: If this company were to wildly succeed, would we choose to live in that world? I’m so thankful to have a partnership where that matters.

“The Initialized Capital team has been a true ally in our mission to help a billion people over the next 10 years. Not only are they responsive, but they have helped us close talent, set up media campaigns, get introduced to potential partnerships, coaching for people leadership, and more. Many VCs talk about being there to help, but few are as action oriented as the Initialized team. Most importantly, they understand what it’s like to be a founder. I highly recommend Initialized without reservation to anybody who wants to work with them.”

Ruben Harris, Co-Founder and CEO, Career Karma

So what areas are we most focused on in 2022 and beyond? I sat down with our investment team to talk about funding the next generation of truly great startups here.

Jen Wolf, Brett Gibson, Alda Leu Dennis, Parul Singh, and Kim-Mai Cutler discuss product market fit, crypto, web3, and the future of fintech, healthtech, housing, climatetech, and sustainability. We continue to be interested in AI, outcomes as a service, and drug discovery, among many other areas. What we do know is that the future isn’t something investors prognosticate, it is something a builder builds. If you have a need that needs solving and the ability to create the solution, we feel a duty to hear it out. We are guided by the realization that if customers and talented employees can be convinced, then so can we. 

People say there’s too much money chasing too few people and too few good ideas. Based on everything I’ve seen the last 10 years, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

There are infinite problems to solve and an incredible number of smart people to solve those problems. We feel blessed and lucky to be able to fund them with some of the world’s best institutions, endowments, and foundations supporting us, and I can’t tell you how thankful I am for this opportunity. 

As Brian Armstrong at Coinbase says: We are still at only 1% of the progress bar.