Venture First

venturefirst.com

VCMatch tracks Venture First as an investor focused on Enterprise SaaS, Vertical SaaS, and Data Infrastructure companies, Seed and Series A rounds, United States, Australia, and New Zealand markets, and $50m to $100m check sizes. Upload your deck to compare your startup against the full private matching profile.

Check Size

$50m to $100m

Stages

Seed, Series A, Growth, Late Stage

Focus Areas

Enterprise SaaS, Vertical SaaS, Data Infrastructure

Geography

United States, Australia, and New Zealand

Investment Thesis

Venture First combines traditional investment capital with embedded financial services to partner long-term with entrepreneurs and drive asymmetric returns. They emphasize an “integrated hybrid approach to investment performance,” using CFO services, valuation, accounting, transaction support, and operating partners to de-risk investments, accelerate growth, and nurture an entrepreneurial ecosystem rather than only providing passive capital.

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Investment Focus

Who should take a closer look

Venture First is most relevant for founders raising Seed, Series A, and Growth rounds in Enterprise SaaS, Vertical SaaS, Data Infrastructure, and Digital Health, especially across United States, Australia, and New Zealand, with public check-size signals around $50m to $100m.

Focus statement

VF operates across Private Equity (digital transformation of mature, cash-flowing companies), Venture Capital (primarily Data & Technology companies in "fly-over" states), and Specialty Credit (creative, special-situation lending). They seek companies that are capital-efficient, often overlooked by coastal capital markets, or present unusual lending/credit opportunities with asymmetric return potential.

Value Add

Integrated hybrid model: investment capital plus in-house financial services (CFO Services, Accounting, Valuation, Transaction Support) to actively steward portfolio companies.
Geographic and niche focus: targets promising, capital-efficient companies in "fly-over" states and other market segments neglected by coastal VCs.
Multi-asset strategy: runs 5 funds and a suite of SPVs across Private Equity, Venture Capital, and Specialty Credit to match different risk/return profiles.
Risk-focused playbook: emphasis on capping risk and actively nurturing portfolio companies, claiming "very few negative return investments over the past 15 years."
Creative credit structures: engineers bespoke lending solutions (example: barrel-focused lending in craft whiskey) to create "win-win" outcomes and optimize returns.
Alignment via services: charges competitive rates for services but often includes "long-term equity or bonus incentives for complete alignment."