The people
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Working at ff Venture Capital
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On the TechTO stage
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About
John Frankel founded ffVC in New York in 2008, after 21 years at Goldman Sachs and having invested at seed since 1999. The firm's own site says it has funded over 150 seed and early-stage companies and focuses on emerging industries "with a strong focus on AI, Manufacturing, Energy, Robotics, and Security." Frankel has served on more than 35 boards and led investments in more than 80 companies, among them Indiegogo, Cornerstone OnDemand, Distil Networks, Skycatch and 500px.
The model Frankel described on the TechTO stage in February 2019 is deliberately concentrated. The firm's typical first cheque was four to seven hundred thousand dollars for about ten percent of a company, written pre-revenue or very early — before technology risk and product-market fit are resolved — with follow-on through to roughly a $50M valuation. His argument for that engagement was a number: about 90% of seed-funded companies never reach a Series B, against about 50% of ffVC's own portfolio across ten years of data. Those figures are as given on stage in 2019 and are not restated as current.
Backers
Not applicable — ffVC is itself an investor. Its limited partners are not published.
Quick answers
What does ff Venture Capital invest in?
Seed and early-stage technology companies from New York, currently concentrated on AI, manufacturing, energy, robotics and security. The firm says it has funded over 150 companies since John Frankel started it in 2008.
How does the firm work with founders?
Actively. Frankel told TechTO the firm tends to lead rounds and sit on boards rather than follow, and tied that to its Series B graduation rate — roughly half its companies against an industry figure closer to one in ten, on ten years of its own data as of February 2019.
What was John Frankel doing before ffVC?
Twenty-one years at Goldman Sachs across technology development, reengineering and capital markets, having begun his career in London at Arthur Andersen. He read mathematics, philosophy and logic at New College, Oxford.