Philosophy
Great companies rarely look obvious at the start. They look strange, early, or too small. Our work is to recognise conviction in the people who see it first — and to be useful long before the outcome is clear.
About the firm
A firm built around the founder, not the fund.
We started Connect Club Network in 2014 with one conviction: the earliest capital should come with the most attention, not the least. Twelve years and four funds later, nothing about that has changed.
Mission
To be the most useful early partner a founder has. Not the loudest voice in the room, and never a passenger on the cap table. We take a small number of positions each year so that attention is never rationed.
Approach
We lead pre-seed and seed rounds from $500K to $6M, reserve heavily for follow-on, and decide in weeks rather than months. One partner owns the relationship from first meeting through every subsequent round.
Capital is abundant. Judgement, patience and a partner who answers the phone are not.
What we believe
Four commitments we are willing to be measured against.
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01
Answer quickly
A clear yes or no within seven days of the deep dive, with our reasoning either way. Silence is the one thing an early founder cannot afford.
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02
Concentrate attention
Eight to ten new investments a year across the whole partnership. Small enough that every founder knows exactly whose problem they are.
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03
Stay through the middle
The interesting part of company building happens between the announcement and the outcome. We reserve capital and calendar time for it.
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04
Own our mistakes
We publish what we got wrong to our LPs and say it plainly to founders. A partnership that cannot be honest about a bad call is not much of a partnership.
History
Twelve years, four funds, one strategy.
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2014
Fund I — $60M
Two partners, one office in New York, and a mandate to lead the first institutional round in companies other funds thought were a year early.
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2017
Fund II — $140M
San Francisco opens. Daniel Okonkwo joins to lead infrastructure after selling his own company. First dedicated reserve pool for follow-on.
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2020
Fund III — $230M
London and Singapore open, sharing a single investment committee. The operating platform is formalised under Thomas Cole.
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2023
The Foundry
Our accelerator runs its first cohort: twelve companies, $500K each, and a partner assigned for the full twelve weeks.
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2026
Fund IV — $310M
Backed by returning institutions and forty of our own founders. Same strategy, same check sizes, same number of investments per year.
Global network
Local partners. Global reach.
Four offices, one investment committee, and a mentor network of operators who have built at scale on five continents.
- New York
- Headquarters · Fintech, Enterprise
- San Francisco
- AI, Developer Tools, Infrastructure
- London
- Europe & Middle East coverage
- Singapore
- Asia-Pacific coverage
- 380+ mentors
- Operators, scientists and category executives
- 1,400+ intros
- Customer and hiring introductions made in 2025
Backed by long-horizon capital
- University endowments
- Global foundations
- Sovereign funds
- Family offices
- 40+ of our own founders
Building something early?
Send a short note. Every message is read by a partner, and we reply within two business days — including when the answer is no.