6-Factor Investment Thesis

At Allied Venture Partners, we follow a strict 6-Factor Investment Thesis, honed by many years of investing in early-stage technology startups.

1) Software and Technology-focused

We invest in venture-scale startups enabled by software and technology due to its highly scalable nature and low capital requirements, thus allowing for quicker experiments, faster validation and scale.

We are industry agnostic with the exception of Bio/Med/Health, Climate, Cannabis and GovTech.

Our geographic focus is North America (i.e. companies registered in the USA or Canada), with a maximum post-money valuation of $25M USD. Our average check size is $100k - $350k USD.

2) Great Team with Strong Domain Expertise

We invest in startups with strong founding teams, thus ensuring they possess the passion, desire, unwavering focus and determination to execute their vision and see their product exist in the world.

Strong teams should boast the necessary technical knowledge, experience, and complementary skill sets to achieve initial scale (i.e. founder-market fit).

Additionally, founders should have a clear roadmap of the strategic positions they must fill following the capital raise to minimize talent gaps, and possess the self-awareness to recognize if/when the business might outgrow their abilities.

We strive to invest in the most credible, resilient, driven and knowledgeable founders who are excited to surround themselves with talented people.

3) Post-Revenue with Signs of Early Traction

We invest in startups that have built (at minimum) an MVP and have begun generating cash sales from outside customers (i.e. strangers, not friends or family).

We typically invest in a startup once they have reached $3k-$5k MRR and can show 3–6 months of consistent revenue growth, with the ability to obtain feedback and reviews from early customers.

Such traction will provide strong initial signs of product-market fit (i.e. solving a legitimate pain point among a large-enough consumer segment/target market).

Note: If your startup is pre-revenue, we still encourage you to complete the application form and get on our radar.

4) Early-Stage (Seed to Series A)

We invest in startups that have yet to raise their Series A (i.e. Pre-Seed, Seed, Seed+, or actively raising Series A).

Doing so will ensure we capture meaningful ownership at a reasonable valuation, thus minimizing dilution from subsequent funding rounds and creating greater long-term value for stakeholders.

Furthermore, we will only invest in a startup where the founder has granted us pro-rata rights alongside our investment, allowing us to support the company long-term while maintaining our equity percentage in follow-on rounds.

5) Capital Efficient with a Path to Profitability

We invest in startups where the founders have a clear focus and appreciation for capital efficiency, with a minimum runway of at least 16 months following the capital raise.

The company should show early evidence of attractive CAC, whereby additional venture capital funding will simply optimize and scale the company’s growth-engine flywheel and subsequent competitive edge, thus improving CAC:LTV towards sustained profitability.

As venture investors, this focus on capital efficiency and improving unit economics will help ensure the long-term profitability and sustainability of the business, therefore increasing the company's attractiveness for future funding or acquisition.

6) Meaningful and Sustainable Differentiation

We invest in startups that have found a unique and meaningful way to differentiate themselves in the marketplace, thus creating a larger pie as opposed to a larger piece of the same pie (i.e. no "me too" products or services).

Although not always required, the ideal startup will possess some type of IP or technological moat, providing a competitive edge towards meaningful and sustainable differentiation.

Have questions? Please visit our respective FAQs for Founders and Investors

For a list of featured podcasts & articles covering the Allied investment thesis, visit allied.vc/news