The Venture Collective.

Empowering Founders Who Are Leaving a Legacy.

Who We Are.

TVC is a transformational, early-stage venture firm backed by world class entrepreneurs and business leaders. We invest our capital, time, and network into fast-growing companies with global potential for huge, positive impact.

The Unfair Truth About Capital.

Last year, less than 3% of VC dollars* went to female-led companies and more than 75% of founders were white. We want to bridge the gap for those who aren’t born with a pre-existing network and community, making capital accessible to the best talent, regardless of race, gender or background.

The Venture Collective is a gateway to creating equal opportunities for anyone with the will and determination to succeed. We are your infrastructure.


*Fortune, Funding for female founders

The Valley of Death.

Incorporation through Series A is where the greatest number of high-potential companies fail to succeed. This is not usually because the founders don’t have great ideas, but instead because of time-consuming and expensive distractions, which take focus away from finding early signals of product market fit.

This is when founders need the most help, but also currently the time when the least VC dollars are spent on operational support. We are changing that. We're a support first investor.


Read more

The TVC Approach.

  • We invest early with conviction.
  • We personalize our support.
  • We focus on milestones, not time.
  • We are your most founder-aligned investor.

Our Team.

Paula Sutter
Chairwoman
  • CEO, TSG Fashion Group
  • President, Diane von Furstenberg
  • thredUP Board Member
Elliot Richmond
Partner
  • Partner, Moelis & Co
  • Director, Investment Banking, Merrill Lynch
  • 70+ angel investments
Ollie Horsnall
VP, Clients
  • Investment Partner, YYX Capital
  • Principal, Creator Fund
  • Business Development, Rosslyn Analytics
Nicholas Shekerdemian
Founding Partner
  • 2x Founder: Headstart, Teaching by the Top
  • Thiel Fellow & YC, Summer 2017
  • 25+ angel investments
Cat Hernandez
Partner
  • Partner, Primary Ventures
  • Head of Due Diligence, PeopleTech Partners
  • VP People, Chartbeat
Stephanie Sarelakos
VP, Investments
  • Founding Member, Walmart eCommerce Incubator
  • Senior Manager, Jet.com
  • Financial Markets Advisory, BlackRock
Gina Kirch
Founding Partner
  • Director, BlackRock
  • Forbes 30 Under 30
  • Yale University Advisory Board
Triin Linamagi
VP, Investments
  • 4x Founder: Jobatar, CashOnGo, MyJar, Bahoui
  • Investment Lead, Founders Factory
  • Head of Ecosystem, Startupbootcamp
Oliver Birch
VP, Product
  • 2x Founder: ML, Normann
  • Investor, Octopus Ventures
  • Entrepreneur First, LDN3

Our Past Investments.

The TVC team has a proven history of investing in great companies alongside world class VCs and founders. Examples include:
A neuroanalytics company that measures emotion and attention to optimize advertising and entertainment.
www.sparkneuro.com
Really comfortable shoes made with responsibly sourced, premium natural materials.
www.allbirds.com
Missions to the International Space Station today. The world’s first commercial space station tomorrow.
www.axiomspace.com
Creating the future of individualized pet health tech.
www.getdiglabs.com
Creating slaughter-free, real luxury leather at scale using tissue engineering.
www.vitrolabsinc.com
Bringing precision therapies, used in humans, to dogs with cancer.
www.fidocure.com
Pioneering female-first innovation in tech to improve the lives of women around the world.
www.elvie.com
Leveraging synthetic biology and AI to develop novel therapeutics for the world's most lethal cancers.
www.helixnano.com

The Collective.

A global network of founders, operators, and investors who are committed to sourcing and supporting TVC’s portfolio companies.

Kristin Thayer

  • Senior Director, 1stdibs.com
  • Former: Head of Travel Partnerships, Uber; Partner, Andreessen Horowitz

Lisa Wang

  • Founder & CEO, The Global League of Women
  • Former: Founder & CEO, SheWorx (Acquired by Republic)

Joe Braidwood

  • Co-Founder & COO, Scener
  • Former: First Employee & CMO, SwiftKey (Acquired by Microsoft)

Kenny Herman

  • SVP, Business Development, Olo
  • Former: EVP, Strategy & Business Development, Slice

Deepak Kasthwal

  • CFO, YYX Capital
  • Former: CFO, Ola; CFO, Cleartrip

Madelaine Czufin

  • Director of Platform & NY City Director, Vinetta Project
  • Former: Operations, Greycroft

Adam Devine

  • CMO, AnyVision
  • Former: CMO, WorkFusion; Director of Strategy, Dentsu

Greg Arrese

  • Founder & GP, Ride Ventures
  • Active angel (120+ investments, including Petal, Youku, Starship, OfferUp, Lunchclub and TrueWork)

Jesper Theil Thomsen

  • Co-Founder & CEO, SOUNDBOKS
  • Thiel Fellow; YC Alum

Erica Dorfman

  • VP, Cash & Capital Markets, Brex
  • Former: Head of Finance & Operations, Tally Technologies; Co-Head of Capital Markets, SoFi

Pitch Us.

If you're in the early days of company building and our ethos speaks to you, get in touch by creating an application on the TVC Platform.

See you on the other side!

Contact Us.

Our team is pretty easy to find online, but if you'd like to get in touch with us for press inquiries, membership applications, co-investment opportunities or otherwise via email, please contact us below.

We look forward to hearing from you!