Dace Ventures’ team seeks to invest with entrepreneurs who share our focus on digital media, consumer marketing and mobile services.  Dace looks for companies with compelling innovation, first mover advantages and an opportunity for our partnership to add value at key inflection points of growth.

We seek to understand your vision, your BIG idea. We know that great teams and vision create success.  We will openly work with both first-time and serial entrepreneurs to share insights and contacts at a seed-stage to strengthen plans.  In growth stages we seek to apply our operating experience and networks to improve execution and spur business development.

We have aligned our fund strategy and team strengths to enable Dace to become the ideal investor for early-stage companies with capital-efficient business models.  We have no minimum funding size, though we generally invest from $250,000 to $3 million in an initial financing, with substantial reserves for follow-on’s.  We seek to work with passionate entrepreneurs who can build great teams to take best advantage of transformational forces in the Next Wave.

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YOUR VISION
We know that teams and entrepreneurial vision create success.  That’s why we are particularly interested in getting to know you and your team, independent of your business plans.  We expect entrepreneurs to truly understand their business and market opportunity, not to mention requisite challenges to overcome.  We are glad to meet with you while your written and formalized plans are still in development.  We openly will share insights and contacts at the seed-stage to help collaborate on strengthening your business and team.

With vision should come clarity.  We feel that enterpreneurs’ ability to clearly explain their vision generally reflects a focus upon and insights to customers, business models and competitive threats.  We want to invest in entrepreneurial teams that are aiming at BIG ideas, building Next Wave businesses that can gain leadership advantages in large market opportunities.

You should feel free to approach us once you feel you have a vision well-defined, even before you’ve developed a detailed financial and go-to-market plan.  We are entrepreneurs as well, and will roll-up our sleeves to work with both first-time and serial entrepreneurs to improve plans.

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YOUR PLAN
At the earliest seed-stage, we will consider investing before a full business plan has been developed.  However, in many cases together defining important milestones to grow your business, including identifying key needs to fill in a management team, is required before we invest.  There is no single format which we prefer, but we will appreciate your ability to explain your goals and innovations in clear concepts and fewer words.

Our primary goal is to understand both what financial capital you will need and the additional value which we will be able to apply from our networks, insights and operating experience.  You should be able to answer how a new investment round maps to significant goals and objectives which your business will require to reach key inflection points of growth and increase your company value.

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DILIGENCE & INVESTMENTS

Our due diligence process has three basic steps which we conduct while sharing continuous feedback:

1. Refining vision for team requirements, product(s) and business model(s)

2. Customary due diligence, including reference checks and technology, market, legal and financial reviews

3. Term-sheet development and investment, including syndication with co-investors (as applicable)

Normally this process will require at least 2-3 meetings between your leadership team and ours, in addition to your completed financial model and plans.  We would also have at least one on-site visit to meet your entire team.  There are no secret tests involved.  We are open, honest and collaborative.  These are values we want to foster in our working relationship in general.  We will often create valuable introductions to our network as part of our diligence process, in advance of taking a formal decision on whether we will invest.

After satisfying all questions from our partnership, and having an aligned vision towards company-building, we will present a term-sheet to explain the amount we will be willing to invest and under what conditions.  Our investment terms always emphasize shared risk-taking and shared rewards that motivate teams to significant success.  Following final diligence steps and legal agreements, we’ll team together to build the Next Wave of innovation together.