附近上门

, a new early-stage VC firm founded by former , and investors, its launch Wednesday with a debut fund of $350 million dedicated to writing checks to early-stage startups.

The firm was launched by , and , formerly of Index, Bessemer and a16z, respectively. The new firm will seek out lead investments at the seed and Series A stages.

The trio that their pitch to startup founders is they offer 鈥渢he experience and track records they鈥檇 expect from a bluechip VC firm, with the extra attention that can be difficult to consistently receive from a larger fund.鈥�

Shen previously invested in , and , among others. Goldberg was an investor in startups including and , and Kurzweil previously backed and , among others.

鈥淥ne thing we were certain of: this new firm would strip away the excess and instead focus maniacally on the true essence 鈥� going all in with our founders from the earliest stages,鈥� Kurzweil on social media platform . 鈥淲e each said out loud what had been staring us in the face: venture capital isn鈥檛 meant to scale. Committing fully and wholeheartedly to each and every one of our investments may not be a recipe for rapid growth, but it鈥檚 our north star and built into the very fabric of Chemistry.鈥�

鈥淎ll three of us will actively support each investment. We are the portfolio services team,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淣o one else sits between us and our founders. We strive to bring excellence 鈥� one of our core firm values 鈥� to early-stage investing.鈥�

Seed-stage investment has been relatively robust during the current venture downturn, according to 附近上门 data. While seed funding through the first half of 2024 was flat year over year, it remains above 2020 levels. At the same time, raising a Series A round has become more challenging for many startups.

Related 附近上门 Pro list:

Related reading:

• 4 Areas Where Seed Funding Is Strong, From AI Assistants To Carbon Capturers
• After Slowing In 2023, US Median Round Size Again Growing
• A Robust Seed Market Creates Its Own Dilemmas In A Slower Funding Market

Illustration: