VTF Capital

The barriers to creating real things is lower than ever We want to help build those great companies At the same time the window of opportunity to redefine the role of physical places in commerce is prime We want to help define how people interact with their worlds for the next 100 years

Commerce is not as simple as selling things online Great commerce is a collection of smart systems and brilliant financial planning Long-lasting commerce companies are parts operations, technology, design, people and finance

The bulk of our partners’ company experience centers around commerce We’ve built products from scratch and at extreme scale We love it We’re excited by the opportunity to help innovative ideas become 100-year companies

The definition of commerce is broad We believe it to be all aspects of how people buy the things they need and want People’s needs include many types of products, tangible and intangible Companies that deconstruct inefficient or expensive categories of products are equally as exciting to us as companies figuring out how to make the dying brick and mortar retail world vibrant again

What do you do for your portfolio companies? What kind of investor are you?

In a word: hustle We are operationally-focused investors More important than the capital we invest, we bring our experience and network and work tirelessly to help you achieve your company’s goals

What types of companies does VTF Capital invest in?

Our companies see their products as solving a deep-rooted problem rather than just making a sale

We invest in companies in a variety of industries but get particularly excited about commerce Most of our companies create, build and sell products, experiences and tools that challenge commerce in the physical and digital worlds

We invest in early and mid-stage companies serving consumers and SMBs with revenue-positive unit economics, often vertically integrated commerce, retail technology and SaaS companies surrounding the commerce space

A company we invest in typically generates revenue in one of three ways Our experience is that young companies that focus on earning revenue from more than one of these categories experience growth challenges

The companies we invest in generally have a unique technical advantage adaptable well beyond the product they sell to the world and/or a complete and unique ownership of their supply chain In this way they are more about what you don’t see than what you see

COMMERCE – COMPANIES THAT MAKE AND SELL PHYSICAL AND EXPERIENTIAL PRODUCTS TO PEOPLE.

• Are often digital-first, vertically-integrated, first-party merchants of products that leverage technology to more nimbly manufacture and market their goods
• Define categories of products and, for third-party retailers, categories of shopping
• Produce products that define new product categories distributed at efficient scale
• Have a deep sense of purpose beyond making a sale, this is especially important for third-party commerce companies
• Have a long-term stair step vision for how to build a large, lasting company
• Use complex systems and data analysis to maximize every opportunity to build a long-term business

PHYSICAL COMMERCE – COMPANIES THAT BUILD INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY FOR PHYSICAL COMMERCE.

• Build innovative technologies that enhance physical shopping experiences
• Enable more efficient and innovative use of physical spaces to enable in-person and digital commerce
• Simplify the logistics linking manufacturer, retailer and consumer

COMMERCE INFRASTRUCTURE – COMPANIES BUILDING TECHNOLOGY PRODUCTS AND SERVICES THAT ENABLE GREATER ACCESS AND EFFICIENCY IN COMMERCE.

• Build tools to help retail companies build their businesses more efficiently
• Focus on leveraging technology innovation to make commerce simpler, more intelligent and more secure

What do we not invest in?

• Companies directly or indirectly focused on gambling, gaming or nightlife entertainment
• Companies, especially physical product companies, that have not produced and sold a usable MVP to customers whether it be a physical product or an intangible technology product
• To help companies like this we invested in Dragon Innovation