Alethia Venture Partners
Investment Criteria
What we look for in the founders and companies we back.
We Back Founders, Not Just Companies
At Alethia Venture Partners, we believe the most important variable in any early-stage investment is the quality of the founding team. We look for founders with rare combinations of domain expertise, intellectual honesty, and the relentless drive to build something that matters.
We operate two focused funds — Fund I targets Alcohol Beverage, Non-Alcohol Beverage, and Consumer Packaged Goods; Fund II targets Fintech, Real Estate Tech, Health Tech, and Bank Tech. Each fund brings deep operator networks and proprietary deal flow in its respective category.
We are long-term partners. We do not manage to a fund cycle. We manage to outcomes.
Investment Stage
Seed & Series A & B
Initial Check Size
$50k – $1M
Follow-on Reserves
Up to 2x initial check
Geography
North America (primary), Global (selective)
Board Involvement
Board seat or observer on all investments
Decision Timeline
30-90 days from first meeting
What We Look For
Across both funds, these are the universal signals we look for in every company we consider backing.
Exceptional Founders
Founders with deep domain expertise, intellectual honesty, and the resilience to navigate the inevitable challenges of building a company from zero.
Proven Brand or Product Velocity
Early evidence of consumer or customer pull — whether that's sell-through rates, reorder velocity, user retention, or organic word-of-mouth growth.
Clear Distribution Path
A credible, capital-efficient strategy to reach customers at scale — whether through retail, DTC, enterprise sales, or platform partnerships.
Strong Unit Economics
A clear path to positive contribution margins with evidence of product-market fit and early signals of efficient customer or consumer acquisition.
Exit Readiness
We invest with exits in mind. We look for companies with realistic paths to strategic acquisition or IPO within a 3–7 year horizon.
Scalable by Design
Business models built to scale — not just locally or regionally, but with the architecture to grow nationally and, where relevant, globally.
What Each Fund Looks For
Beyond our universal criteria, each fund has its own set of sector-specific signals that matter most to us.
Opportunity Fund I
Beverage & CPG
Premium Brand Positioning
We back brands that command a premium price point with a clear reason to believe — whether through ingredients, provenance, founder story, or design.
Retail & On-Premise Traction
Early velocity in key retail accounts or on-premise venues signals real consumer demand. We look for brands already earning shelf space and reorders.
Category Leadership Potential
We invest in brands positioned to define or lead a category — not just participate in one. Alcohol, Non-Alcohol, and CPG each have white space we actively seek.
Operator-Led Teams
The best beverage founders have lived the industry. We prioritize teams with hands-on experience in production, distribution, or brand building.
Opportunity Fund II
Technology
Fintech & Bank Tech Innovation
We look for companies reimagining financial products, payments, lending, or banking infrastructure with a clear regulatory path and strong early adoption.
Real Estate Tech Disruption
Proptech platforms with data-driven differentiation — whether in underwriting, transaction, management, or marketplace — that address real friction in the market.
Health & Wellness Tech
Digital health platforms with measurable outcomes, strong user engagement, and a credible path to reimbursement, enterprise, or DTC scale.
Defensible Technology
Proprietary data, network effects, or switching costs that create durable competitive advantages and protect margin as the company scales.
How We Work
01
Discovery Call
A 30-minute introductory conversation. No pitch deck required. We want to understand you and your vision.
02
Partner Meeting
A deeper dive with the full investment team. We explore the market, product, and team in detail.
03
Due Diligence
A focused 2-week process covering financials, customers, technology, and competitive landscape.
04
Term Sheet
If we are aligned, we move quickly. We aim to issue a term sheet within 4 weeks of first contact.
Think You Are a Fit?
Start with a discovery call. No pitch deck required.