Garrett Ransom

At Outlander VC, we’re committed to backing the bold. As one of the key funding partners of LvlUp Ventures, Outlander VC focuses on visionary game-changers and industry disruptors who aren’t afraid to challenge the status quo. - Led by former founders: Our team has built and scaled companies to thousands of people and hundreds of millions in revenue. We understand the journey and are ready to get hands-on. - $150M Fund III: Outlander VC is deploying $150M over the next three years to fuel early-stage startups. Focus: - Industries: Agnostic (we back disruptors across all sectors). - Stage: Pre-Seed and Seed. - Geography: United States-based startups. If you're ready to disrupt your industry and scale, let's connect. We're here to help build something truly transformational. #VentureCapital #OutlanderVC #LvlUpVentures #Startups #PreSeed #Seed #Entrepreneurship #Innovation #Disruption #Scaling

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Did you know that YC founders get a secret weapon… and it’s not what you think. “Bookface” is YC’s internal social network. It was needed because YC had funded larger batches and the hardest part of a community is knowing who is in it and who you can trust and ask for help. On the platform, founders share real methods and advice that would break if it were shared widely It’s secret knowledge shared with a trust-first community - answering 80% of the questions a founder can have about building and selling a product, be it to clients, candidates or investors. Before the platform, if you had a B2B startup, you had to reach out cold to potential customers. Now there are over 1000 YC companies you can sell your service to and all of their contact information is in Bookface. As a result, YC alumni companies are often over 50% of your new sales during YC. It’s superpowers like this that make YC deals so attractive compared to the norm. You are investing in a founder with a 10x network already!

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One month left to apply!!!! Apply to NETI's Climate Tech Bootcamp Cohort 3.0, a pre-accelerator program powered by Riffle Ventures, Climate Tech Bootcamp, OHUB and Greater New Orleans, Inc. – GNO, Inc. part of H2TheFuture, a Build Back Better Regional Challenge of The Economic Development Administration. This bootcamp is a 10-week pre-accelerator program for climate tech and new energy entrepreneurs in the United States that have an interest in building in or expanding to South Louisiana. ‍ Five (5) founders from the program will pitch for a $100,000 (US) investment on the terms of their current round. Application is in the comments and here's a quick overview as well: - 📆 When: September 3 - October 31, 2024 - ⏰ Deadline to Apply: August 27, 2024 - 💻 Location: Virtual - 🆓 Cost: Free. The $5,000 per person fee is waived thanks to GNO, Inc. and The Economic Development Administration's Build Back Better Regional Challenge. - 💰 Funding: Up to $100,000 US (equity investment) in current round to the top startup selected at the end of the cohort. - 🈺 Cohort Size: 25-30 entrepreneurs - 🌍 Cohort Geography: United States - 📈 Stage: We welcome applicants from multiple stages, though having a minimum viable product is ideal.

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💥 𝗡𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮-𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀 ‘𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗻’ 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁 $𝟭𝟭𝟬𝗺 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 🦄 Nigerian 🇳🇬 startup Moniepoint Group just closed $110 million in new financing, and it has landed Google’s Africa Investment Fund as a new investor. The Series C round was led by Development Partners International (DPI)'s African Development Partners (ADP) III fund. Other investors, including African private equity firm Verod Capital and existing investor Lightrock also participated. Moniepoint, also backed by QED Investors, British International Investment (BII) and Endeavor Catalyst, has raised over $180 million since its launch in 2015. According to the Financial Times, the round makes Moniepoint a unicorn — a private company with a valuation of $1 billion or more. The African fintech was last valued at nearly $800 million in a QED-led round two years ago. Full release on TechCabal: https://lnkd.in/ejDTftc4 #Africa #Unicorn #Nigeria #Fintech #Payment #POS

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Summary: Harlem Capital, a venture capital firm focused on backing diverse founders, is raising its largest fund to date of $150 million. This would be its third fund and is a testament to the industry's continued support for diverse communities. Key takeaways: Harlem Capital was founded in 2015 with the goal of supporting diverse founders. The firm has $174 million in assets under management and has made investments in over 80 companies. The successful raising of the $150 million fund would be a show of success for both Harlem Capital and the industry's continued focus on diversity and inclusion. #venturecapital #vc #venture #diversity #dei

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RVP Mythbuster: A common misconception is that Revelry Venture Partners only invests in New Orleans & Louisiana. Wrong! We hang our hat in New Orleans proudly, and LOVE supporting our local ecosystem, but our mandate is to invest in and with our national network of excellent founders and VC partners. Fund I deal breakdown below (as of Q2'24). This mix will be updated as we continue to deploy this and subsequent funds.

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Excited to join Blackout Tuesday # 18 at LocalGlobe this coming Tuesday centered around the theme: 'Increasing Venture-backed Black Founders: Journey from Seed to Series A and Beyond'. This event will focus on the challenges Black founders face when scaling startups and provide insights on navigating growth stages from Pre-seed to Series A. After a panel of founders sharing their experiences, the breakout session will dive into practical strategies for scaling. ✏ Register here: https://lnkd.in/eHZpMDN2 Launched in 2020, Blackout Tuesday aims to: 1. Increase Black representation in VCs 2. Boost venture funding for Black founders 3. Elevate Black employees in venture-backed companies 4. Support Black GPs 5. Increase Black or Black-aligned LP representation Balderton Capital Phoenix Court Blackout Tuesday

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Boldstart Ventures Raises $250M for Fund VII boldstart ventures, based in Miami, US, has successfully closed $250 million for its seventh fund, Boldstart Ventures VII L.P., with support from 68 investors. Led by Founder and General Partner Ed Sim and GP Eliot Durbin, Boldstart invests early in enterprise tech founders, often collaborating with them before incorporation. The firm specializes in "inception rounds," providing initial checks between $500k and $5 million and maintaining ample capital for follow-on investments. Boldstart’s portfolio includes leading enterprise-focused startups such as Snyk, Blockdaemon, Kustomer, BigID, and Superhuman. If you are experiencing difficulties in raising fresh capital and would require warm introductions to new LPs, contact G+QUANT🤝     ▶ Please use G+QUANT's link for inquiries and fund decks, or send your inquiry to [email protected] #VentureCapital #BoldstartVentures #EnterpriseTech #EarlyStageFunding #InceptionRounds #EnterpriseStartups #MiamiTech

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✨ Breaking: BFM Fund Announces New Fund.- BFM Fund A seed-stage fund focusing on founders who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color, promoting diversity in venture capital. https://www.bfm.fund Please share to let other #Founders know For the ❤️ of Startups #Fusion42 #Startups#Venturecapital

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Who gets the money, not black people, not Indigenous, not women, not anyone at the edges or left out of building the economy and finance as usual. The money, the vast thick majority, floods to the same dudes at the center; trust funded, family backed, familiar to the money and wielding the same extractive noises and bluster. Then there is the genius of 10,000 years, the creative, innovative, resilient, artists who have had to stay alive despite every blow and extraction. These spaces are rich in culture, rich in creatives, loaded in new ways, old ways and integrated ways to transform. These are the people and places where money must flow, from hearts that must open, to transformations that can heal, well, everything. #extraction #dudes #broculture #money #investing and #exhaustionoftheedges #edges #edgefinance #innovationforreal #creativityfordecades #transformationliveshere

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Want a front-row seat to the frontier of tech? We’ve got the role (or two) for you! We’re expanding our frontier-tech team at Blackbird by hiring a Frontier Tech Investments Associate and Foundry Fellows! Got questions? We've got answers... 1️⃣ What are the roles? 🧪 Associate = a full-time VC investment gig in our Blackbird Investments team, working directly with me. We’re looking for someone with a science and/or engineering background and more curiosity than they can handle. You’ll grow your own investment brand and practice, support our portfolio founders, and will help build Foundry, our early-stage frontier-tech accelerator. ✨ Foundry Fellow = a casual/contract gig in our Blackbird Investments team, ~15h per week for 3 months. The Fellowship is ideal for PhD students and ECRs who want to learn more about startups and VC. You’ll go deep on emerging areas relevant to your expertise (or curiosity!), get a front-row seat to groundbreaking companies in those areas, build out your non-academic network, and develop a solid writing practice. 2️⃣ Why are you hiring? We love frontier tech, and we’re ready to grow our team. 3️⃣ Wow, it’s so great that you’re starting to look at deep tech! Look, we get it: we don’t make a lot of noise about our frontier tech investing. Buuuut we’ve been deep-tech investors since we backed Tim Kentley-Klay to found Zoox back in 2014—we’ve been on incredible journeys with PsiQuantum (building the world's first utility-scale quantum computer right here in Australia!), Inventia Life Science (transforming drug discovery with high-fidelity cell models), Remedy Robotics (surgical robots for remote endovascular procedures), Opto Biosystems (minimally-invasive neural implants to treat cancer), and more. We believe that frontier technologies, and great frontier-tech investing, will be part of the solutions to the greatest problems humanity faces today. 4️⃣ When do applications close? May 31st at 11:59pm AEST. 5️⃣ I have more questions! I’m sure you do! Clare Birch and I are hosting an AMA to answer any and all questions about these roles. Want to know what a week in the life of our team looks like? What’s keeping us up at night? What our ideal candidate looks like? Come along and find out - registration link in the comments 👇 Apply for these roles: Associate - https://lnkd.in/gCfj4EUJ Foundry Fellowships - https://lnkd.in/gj6ATZVZ If you know anyone that we should meet, send me their details! Cameron Elise Ben Andrew Robin Joseph Adelaide James Olivia Lucinda Raghav Jesse Christie Mohamed Tom Amee Pablo Haya Loong Hon Joshua Benjamin Megan Harry Denzil Matthew Diana Daniel Tom Deanna Justin Amar Lilly Stone Thomas

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Los Angeles is buzzing with venture capital activity, ready to back the boldest entrepreneurs across industries like tech, fintech, and biotech. If you're aiming to elevate your startup in LA, here's where you might find your perfect investor match. Leading LA Venture Capital Firms: ✅ Mucker Capital - Big on software startups, investing in companies like AuditBoard and Honey. 🚀 ✅ Upfront Ventures - Specializes in ecommerce and healthcare, with investments in GOAT Group and Parachute Home. 🏪 ✅ Baroda Ventures - Eyes on consumer internet and SaaS markets, backing firms like Amplify. 💡 ✅ ScOp Venture Capital - Focus on SaaS, helping companies scale with investments in Cloverleaf. 🌐 ✅ Crosscut Ventures - Largest seed-stage VC in LA, invested in Boosted and Inspire. 🌱 ✅ Anthem Venture Partners - Biotech and fintech enthusiasts, with investments in TrueCar. 🔬💳 ✅ Arena Ventures - Backing consumer and fintech disruptors like CityMall and Aaptiv. 🚀 ✅ Canyon Creek Capital - Supports technology firms showing market traction like HoneyBook. 💻 ✅ Frontier Venture Capital - Investing in media and tech that enhance global well-being, like Syndio. 🌍 ✅ Karlin Ventures - Funds innovative solutions in software and ecommerce like StrikeAd and Wallaby. 🛒 🔗 Discover the full list here: https://lnkd.in/dtxqpiRy Explore opportunities, connect with industry leaders, and start your journey in LA’s thriving startup ecosystem today! 🚀 #VentureCapital #Startups #LosAngeles #Innovation #Entrepreneurship

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I love YC Demo Day season. It’s an insane concentration of driven founders building something they deeply believe in at the frontier of tech. I know it's more trendy for VCs to complain about YC. But I believe Garry Tan when he says 5-10% of companies become worth a billion dollars. Maven’s hit rate from YC is even higher: 16% have had $B+ exits, and we’re trending toward a 40% graduation rate from Seed to Unicorn with investments we’ve made alongside YC. Since Maven’s founding in 2013, we’ve funded 12 YC startups out of the 66 companies we’ve invested in. Here are a few: Cruise: acquired by GM for $1B+ Embark: $4B SPAC, acquired by Applied Intuition Chariot: acquired by Ford before Series A May Mobility: raised $300M+ in follow on funding, including from Toyota Carrot Fertility: raised $100M+ in follow on funding, including from CRV and USVP Daybreak Health: Series A from Lightspeed, Series B from USV Moment Robotics: acquired by Cruise founder Kyle Vogt’s new company, The Bot Co (Maven is an investor) Our strategy differs from other YC investors. Many funds build a YC “index fund”, investing in many startups per batch. It’s not a bad move. But we focus on concentration, meeting all the companies in our thesis area and investing in one or two. Gratefully, I think every company from the list above can point to Maven as one of their most trusted partners that made a difference: intros to customers, closing follow-on funding from top VCs, connecting key hires, and offering genuine care and advice in both the best and toughest of moments. What are we looking for in a YC investment? 1) Team - a technical product team with startup DNA and hustle that can achieve a bold vision. Brilliant, determined founders no one would bet against who are ambitious enough to build an iconic company. 2) Vision worth fighting for - what are you bringing into the world that is worth all the time, effort and money required for success? Why aren’t existing solutions good enough? Are we proud to help bring this idea to the world? 3) Massive market - because of the valuation premium YC demands, even a $B outcome may not return today’s average Seed fund. Honestly, that math sucks. In order to pay the premium, we have to believe that if we’re right, we’ll be wildly successful. 4) Consumer trend - Maven invests in tech companies addressing emerging consumer trends. Even if some investments are B2B or B2B2C, they are always grounded in a consumer insight: autonomous vehicles in 2014, fertility care in 2017, mental health in 2020. Today, we’re looking at consumer applications of AI and frontier consumer health. Many successful companies we fund are outside of YC as well – like Zoom, Hello Heart, Epic!, Class, Wildtype. So we match YC’s Unicorn % across the rest of our portfolio, too 💪 YC founders in consumer tech and digital health: if you want to build an iconic company that delivers a positive impact for millions of consumers - I can’t wait to talk to you!

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We wired our 300th SPV this week via Riverside Ventures 💰💸📈 This does not include deals I have co-syndicated, as most know this is a model I am bullish on and expands the exposure for LPs. I’m not going to do a “10 key learnings from 300 SPV’s” post, ya know… all that stuff you’re supposed to do or whatever here. I cover it weekly via Last Money In Media 🙂 The best curated syndicated deals for accredited investors can now be found via Deal Sheet (our new, paid product). Feeling very motivated from the 300 deals we’ve done! Excited for the next 300 SPV’s and awesome founders/companies to back ahead! We don’t lead rounds or set terms but we are definitely open for business. Onwards & upwards for Riverside Ventures, Last Money In Media, and Deal Sheet...

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Charles Hudson is hands-down one of the sharpest minds in early-stage investing. As the Founder and Managing Partner at Precursor Ventures, Charles has backed over 375 companies and supported more than 400 founders. → His portfolio includes hits like Clearco, Juniper Square, and Carrot → He's helped founders raise over $175 million across four funds → He's an active leader in the VC community, serving as the 2023-2024 Chair of the NVCA Board of Directors But even with all of his successes and accolades, what really sets Charles apart is his founder-first philosophy. He's not looking for "coachable" founders who hang on his every word. He wants founders who are decisive, independent thinkers. He believes his job is to give founders what they need, not impose his own agenda. Charles is the kind of investor every founder wants in their corner. One who shows up, follows through, and builds genuine relationships over time. And on this week’s episode of Minimum Viable Podcast, he's sharing his insights on what makes for a truly productive founder-investor partnership. Founders, this is a conversation you’ll want to hear. — What's the #1 quality you look for in an investor? Tune in to the full episode when it drops this Wednesday to hear much more from Charles and learn how to make the most of your investor relationships.

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Great time on the Embracing Erosion podcast w/Devon O'Rourke! We talked about: 🚀 How to scale a company from concept to 9-figure exit 🔄 How to break away from the traditional consulting model and apply product approaches ⏩ Why it’s important to iterate quickly and often with messaging 💸📈What signals are important to pay attention to when investing in startups and much more!

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Thanks for another informative post, Daniel. Urgent Action Needed: Please add your your name to this letter before 5pm ET Today! 🔗https://lnkd.in/grrzAeWG With the dramatic decline in funding to Black founders and outright racist-sexist attacks on Black women funders in the recent Supreme Court Fearless Fund decision, I join you in urging signature of The Center for American Entrepreneurship & Engine | Advocacy & Foundation’s letter urging US Congress to pass: The Community Development Investment Tax Credit Act to boost investment in Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs). "The legislation would create a new tax credit for private sector investors that make equity or equity equivalent investments in, or that provide long-term patient capital (i.e., loans with a minimum term of at least 10 years) to CDFIs." Expanding American Entrepreneurship Act: "The legislation would raise the cap on funds organized under a 2018 sub-category of section 3(c)(1) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 from $10 million to $50 million, and double the number of permitted investors from 250 to 500. Together, these changes will enable emerging fundmanagers to raise larger funds." Time to move from being shell shocked to concerted community action that truly advances equitable capital access for all US Americans. Black Philanthropy Month The WISE Fund

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Coming soon on Aug 1: "Transformation to a Fresh Tomorrow." This is theme of our 3rd Annual Web3 Investor Day, as we welcome the innovators and investors convening in Chicago for these discussions around the next generation Internet. Our theme reflects the optimism, determination and commitment investors and innovators have solidified off the depths of the bear markets to drive success in the bull markets. Broader investor optimism suggests that fresh institutional funds into Web3 across both tokens and equity may endure.  Across adoption metrics, customer interest and developer activity, Web3 seems to have normalized. It’s refreshing to see the transformation and next evolution of Web3 and it’s refreshing to meet many of you on August 1.  And yet, even with the improved optimism from last year, there still remain open questions in the development and adoption of our next generation Internet:  1. the balance of speculative versus productive investor capital in this current cycle 2. the productive role of liquid trading capital in fostering Web3 innovation 3. the attractiveness of venture investments in follow on financings 4. the role of policy and regulation that may enhance innovation 5. the continued developer activity to improve the underlying infrastructure 6. other Web3 recovery characteristics in target customer use cases. We remain committed to navigating regulatory shifts, fostering investor optimism, and building the customer use cases for Web3.  Physical spaces enhance our innovation conversations.  In person relationships foster our collaboration.  Relationships drive breakthrough innovations.  Reach out to Rizza Torres at Decasonic if you would like to join us! #web3investorday #web3 #venturecapital

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New podcast with Betr CEO Joey Levy: we share all our insider secrets of how we’ve raised hundreds of millions of dollars of venture capital. This is a no-bs, real talk episode from guys in the trenches today. For fundraising, should you try to “buddy-buddy” investors and then guilt-trip them to invest? I will tell you first hand that guilt-tripping works, but it’s virtually always a bad investment. You can probably pull that style of fundraising off, but it won’t work on experienced investors. Go to https://lnkd.in/e5m6DNYR for the full show.

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