We’re witnessing a growing trend in pre-seed funds, providing crucial support to budding ideas. Today, pre-seed startups have a fresh avenue for capital infusion, but there’s a unique condition—Suzanne Fletcher must have previously invested in the founder.
Zelda Ventures, initiated by Fletcher at the end of the previous year, operates on a simple premise: investing in companies founded by individuals she supported in the past. Drawing from her experience managing the Stanford StartX fund and being a general partner at Prime Movers Lab, Fletcher has accumulated over 350 investments, with notable successes in Sourcegraph, Hive, Alation, Turing, Dexterity, and Orca Bio. Thirty of her portfolio companies have successfully exited, including Nearpod, Osmo, and Sweep.
Named after the iconic video game character known for hunting treasure, Zelda, based in the Bay Area, launches with $33 million in capital commitments.
Fletcher’s ambition is to be the primary investor in these novel concepts. She observes the departure of angel investments, the initial capital for startups, from the ecosystem in recent years. Simultaneously, larger funds that traditionally focused on early-stage investments shifted their attention to larger deals.
This shift creates an opportune moment for smaller pre-seed funds to play a crucial role, according to Fletcher.
As a generalist pre-seed fund, Zelda seeks founders driven by passion and commitment. Fletcher looks for individuals capable of assembling a dynamic team and executing their ideas, while also delving into the motivation behind their next venture.
“The idea needs to be laser-focused on the market size,” she emphasized. “It’s a generalist approach but with a specific lens. When considering serial entrepreneurs, especially those whose previous ventures I’ve invested in, the prior knowledge becomes crucial. I seek someone committed for the long haul, aiming to create a business with generational impact.”
Building the new fund required a year of fundraising, involving 446 meetings with limited partners, and 80 ultimately signed on, including Randy Eisenman, co-founder and managing partner of Satori Capital.
Meanwhile, Fletcher has already invested in 10 companies from the new fund, such as Andromeda Surgical, Pointable, and Redcoat AI, with plans to invest in a total of 40 companies.
“What I’ve created is a boutique, early-stage, and experienced entrepreneur product,” Fletcher explained. “I’m very clear on its purpose—to assist for the first 18 months and guide startups toward Series A.”
