OmniVL

Thank you for having us! It was a blast!

Hi Sabrina here. We really appreciate this question! We have very carefully thought through our fund strategy for our Fund 1. Our thesis, investment stage, # of checks, and deployment strategy all align with what we love to do, our strengths, and the market returns. We would love to keep a lot of these similar as we invest into Fund 2 and beyond so that we can keep honing our craft and building upon our strengths. That said, I’d love to expand our thesis to include more companies that fit into our mission of “Unlocking Human Potential” outside of strictly the industrials space. We’re very passionate about finding a way for everyone to live their best lives. We want to enable a world where people don’t need to worry about the tedious tasks of daily life and instead have the flexibility to focus their time on what they really enjoy and what really inspires them.

Hey, Simon here! Great questions!
Q1/Q2: Patents aren’t the primary factor for us in deciding whether or not to invest. You’re correct in noting that patents can be expensive and might not always be necessary at the early stages of a company. However, we do value intellectual property (IP) as it can significantly enhance a company's defensibility and market position. IP can take various forms, such as provisional patents, which offer a cost-effective way to protect an invention for one year without public disclosure, trade secrets, or proprietary data. Each of these has its own merits and suitability depending on the startup's strategy and sector.
Q3: Very daunting! But it was also a forcing function to accelerate my career into VC and ultimately led me to where I am today! Hard pivots are just that - hard, but if done correctly can lead to a greater outcome. I am very appreciative of the friends and colleagues who supported me through one of the most challenging times of my life! Sabrina Paseman, Lucas Whipple and other professional and life-mentors to name just a few. I now focus on passing-on these learnings as well as all the learnings I have gained in the realm of invention, IP and career transition to the founders who are willing to listen :)

We believe that the biggest opportunities are where the biggest problems exist. Climate is a problem. Inefficient and unsustainable manufacturing is a problem. Leveraging Data effectively is a problem. Global Health is a problem.
Most LPs (Limited Partners) spent the first half of 2023 in recoil from the macroeconomic changes and downturn in the public markets. Venture valuations tend to lag - VCs are slower to mark down their valuations and some startups legitimately don’t need to fundraise at a new valuation for a while. This led to a so-called denominator effect where their total portfolio (denominator) shrunk faster than the venture capital portion which led to a perception of over-allocation into venture. High-interest rates also pose a challenge as LPs have more options to get “good enough” returns with lower risk. In Q3 and Q4 we’ve definitely seen LP interest pick up, especially from international LPs that were generally less exposed to venture and are sophisticated enough to understand that the pre-seed and seed markets are still strong.