IVP

IVP is a growth-stage venture firm focused on breakout technology companies that have already reached product-market fit and are scaling quickly toward category leadership. The firm typically invests at the Series B inflection point and beyond, leading or co-leading concentrated bets where strong metrics, customer love, and a compelling why-now story support the potential for outsized fund-returning outcomes.

Evaluation weights

How much weight this firm places on each dimension. Totals 100%.

Metrics-led · 42%

Metrics

42%

Revenue, growth, and unit economics

Market

27%

Size, timing, and competitive landscape

Team

12%

Founder experience and execution ability

Product

19%

Differentiation and technical quality

Prefers post-PMF companies over early experimental risk
Strong bias toward efficient growth rather than growth at any cost
Looks for category-defining upside large enough to matter to a concentrated fund
Values customer-validated traction over founder narrative alone

Pitch difficulty

How hard it is to get a meeting and close funding from this firm.

Funded / yr: 26Deals closed in a typical year.
Led / yr: 10Rounds led in the last 12 months.
Pitches / yr: ~7436Decks reviewed in a typical year.
Acceptance rate: 0.3%Share of pitches that get funded.

Estimated — public data is not fully disclosed.

Why it's hard

Concentrated portfolio with about a dozen new investments annually
Focus on breakout Series B/C companies with validated metrics and PMF
Large check sizes and frequent lead-investor/board-seat posture raise conviction threshold
Requires potential for outsized scale, often 3x-25x growth from entry

IVP is a concentrated growth investor that makes relatively few new investments each year, usually after product-market fit is firmly established and metrics support a breakout trajectory. Because the firm writes large checks, often leads rounds, and seeks companies capable of category dominance and fund-returning outcomes, the bar on growth quality, retention, leadership, and market scale is exceptionally high.

Green flags

What drives a yes for this firm.

Clear product-market fit validated by strong customer love and direct customer references
Fast organic growth paired with efficient sales motion and healthy unit economics
Retention quality, especially strong net dollar retention and expansion ARR dynamics
An ambitious leadership team with vision, execution ability, and readiness to scale
A credible why-now narrative showing timing advantage and path to category dominance

Red flags

What kills deals and gets a fast no.

Weak or unproven product-market fit masked by spending
Poor retention, weak expansion behavior, or low-quality ARR composition
Inefficient growth with deteriorating sales efficiency or shaky unit economics
No credible why-now narrative or limited path to category leadership
Capital-intensive or structurally low-efficiency model without durable scaling advantages

How to win

Patterns that lead to successful pitches.

Show a tight metric package: growth rate, Magic Number, NDR, expansion ARR mix, and strong unit economics
Prove deep customer love with reference calls, retention cohorts, and examples of mission-critical usage
Frame a compelling why-now story tied to clear market timing and category formation
Demonstrate that the management team can scale the company from breakout momentum to market dominance
Position the company as a likely leader in one of IVP's core sectors such as SaaS, AI, fintech, infrastructure, or consumer internet

Fund strategy & identity

Who they are and how they operate.

Invest behind post-PMF companies showing breakout velocity and scalable economics
Lead or co-lead sizable rounds and work closely with management through board involvement
Concentrate capital in companies that can grow 3x-25x from the investment entry point
Prioritize efficient growth over growth at any cost, especially in software and internet models
Use long-duration platform support to help companies progress from scale-up to public-market readiness

Firm identity

Growth-stage specialist with strongest emphasis at Series B/CHigh-conviction, concentrated investor that backs roughly a dozen new companies per yearActive lead/co-lead investor that frequently takes board or board observer seatsOperator-oriented partner with deep support in hiring, GTM, finance, and IPO prepUS- and Europe-focused platform with expanding presence in Europe including Israel

Investment focus

Industries, themes, and typical ARR expectations.

Industries

Enterprise SoftwareCloud InfrastructureAI/MLFintechDigital HealthGamingConsumer Internet

Investment themes

Application SaaS and enterprise software category leadersEnterprise infrastructure, security, and developer platformsAI-native products and infrastructure with mass-market or enterprise pullFintech platforms with durable network effects or operating leverageDigital health companies with proven traction and scalable distributionConsumer internet platforms with breakout engagement and monetizationGaming studios and platforms with global hit potential

Typical check by stage

Series B$20M-$50M

Series C$25M-$75M

Growth$50M-$150M

Typical ARR by stage

Series B$3M-$10M

Series C$10M-$50M

Growth$40M-$100M+

Investment thesis

Core beliefs and strategy behind their investing approach.

IVP’s core belief is to "supercharge growth in breakout companies" at the inflection point where momentum can be turned into market dominance. The firm concentrates on a small number of high‑velocity businesses, allowing it to apply deep operational support. Sector focus includes application SaaS, enterprise infrastructure, artificial intelligence, fintech, digital health, gaming, and consumer internet. IVP targets companies that have already achieved product‑market fit and are scaling revenue from the low‑single‑digit millions to hundreds of millions, typically at the Series B stage, with selective participation in later rounds. Geographic emphasis is on North America and Europe (including Israel), supported by a London office opened in 2023. IVP avoids pre‑PMF risk and capital‑intensive, low‑efficiency models that lack demonstrated traction. Value is created by leading or co‑leading rounds, taking board seats, and providing hands‑on assistance in hiring, go‑to‑market strategy, finance, and IPO preparation, leveraging a multi‑fund, multi‑decade platform to help portfolio companies capture category leadership.

Decision patterns

How they evaluate and make investment decisions.

IVP invests in founders who are ambitious, have a clear vision, and can demonstrate product‑market fit, organic growth, and strong customer love. A compelling "why now" narrative is essential. Quantitatively, the firm evaluates growth rate, sales efficiency (Magic Number), net‑dollar retention, new versus expansion ARR, and unit economics. Qualitatively, IVP spends extensive time with the management team to gauge leadership quality and execution capability, and it talks directly with customers to verify market traction. The firm looks for businesses that can scale dramatically—potentially 3‑25× larger on key fundamentals—providing upside that can return a large portion of the fund. Deal‑breakers include weak product‑market fit, inefficient growth, unclear vision or timing, shallow customer love, poor retention metrics, and business models that lack durable efficiency at scale.

Risk appetite

IVP has a high‑conviction, aggressive approach at the Series B/C inflection point, leading or co‑leading most deals once metrics validate product‑market fit and scalability. The firm’s concentrated portfolio—about a dozen new investments per year—means each investment must have the potential to generate outsized returns. While aggressive in taking the lead, IVP remains disciplined, emphasizing efficient growth, strong retention, and clear path to category dominance. This balance reflects an aggressive stance on high‑quality opportunities while maintaining strict metric‑driven discipline.

Notable investments

Key portfolio companies and why they fit the thesis.

CoinbaseLead
Clear category leader in crypto; IVP led the 2017 Series D to accelerate scaling during hypergrowth, matching IVP's growth-stage, market-dominant thesis.
AmplitudeLead
Product-analytics platform at a growth inflection; IVP led the Series C to back a product-led category leader and scale GTM.
VoltLead
Leading European open-banking/real-time payments infrastructure; IVP led the Series B, aligning with its fintech focus and European growth push.
Wonderful
AI agents for enterprise, expanding globally; IVP participated in the Index Ventures-led Series A, fitting its thesis around breakout infrastructure/AI software.
Discord
High-velocity, network-effect consumer platform; IVP has participated in multiple Discord rounds but did not lead (the $150M Series E was led by Greenoaks).
Dropbox
Iconic enterprise software at scale; exemplar of IVP's long-running growth-stage SaaS investing.
Slack
Category-defining productivity platform; IVP-backed company aligned with PLG and market leadership themes.
Twitter
Global consumer network; emblematic of IVP's consumer category leadership bets at growth stage.
Snap
Consumer social at massive scale; fits IVP's thesis of backing breakout category leaders.
Datadog
Observability leader in enterprise infrastructure; consistent with IVP's enterprise and developer tooling focus.

Co-invested with

Other firms in this catalog who've backed the same companies.

Partners

Advisory Partner

Senior Associate

IVP

IVP senior associate focused on enterprise, government and industrial technology.

EnterpriseGovernmentIndustrialSeries ASoftware

Public voice

Notable statements and public positions.

Perplexity is intensely building a product capable of bringing the power of AI to billions. The team possesses the unique ability to uphold a grand, long‑term vision while shipping product relentlessly. – Cack Wilhelm, General Partner, IVP
We take board seats in two‑thirds of the companies that we invest in… We’re active partners. – Eric Liaw, General Partner, IVP
In the majority of companies that we invest in, we’ll take a board seat or board observer seat… We’ve helped nearly 140 companies through that [IPO] process in our history. – Ajay Vashee, General Partner, IVP

Lightspeed Venture Partners is a global, lead-oriented venture platform that backs category-defining companies from Pre-Seed through Growth, with especially strong conviction in AI, enterprise infrastructure, fintech, consumer platforms, and health/bio. The firm combines thesis-driven early investing with the capacity to write very large follow-on checks, aiming to support winners from first check to IPO through deep operating partnership and long-duration capital.

AI/MLBiotech & Life SciencesCloud InfrastructureConsumer InternetCybersecurityDeveloper ToolsDigital HealthEnterprise SoftwareFintechHealthcare

RRE Ventures

0.5%

Team-led ·6 stages

RRE Ventures is a New York-based boutique venture firm focused primarily on early-stage technology investing, with strongest emphasis on Seed through Series B and a willingness to commit early as a lead or co-lead. The firm is conviction-driven and founder-first, backing technically strong teams at major technology inflection points across enterprise, fintech/crypto, AI, digital health, consumer, robotics, and space.

AI/MLCloud InfrastructureConsumer InternetCrypto & Web3CybersecurityDefense & AerospaceDigital HealthEnterprise SoftwareFintechHardwareMedia & EntertainmentRobotics & AutomationSpace Tech

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