Studio VC

What Studio VC does

Studio VC is a privately held, early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2016 and headquartered at 530 5th Avenue, 9th Floor, New York, NY. The firm positions itself as an active operating partner to founders rather than a passive capital provider, marketing a "scrappy entrepreneurs and investors" identity that emphasizes hands-on collaboration with portfolio companies. Its stated customer segment is founders and startup entrepreneurs pursuing "breakout potential," with the firm's value proposition centered on capital plus strategic and operational partnership.

The firm operates with a very lean team of 1-10 people. The known team consists of co-founders Liam Lynch (Managing Member) and Joseph Coyne (Managing Partner), supported by Lillian Anselmi in Portfolio & Investor Relations. The firm's business model is conventional early-stage VC economics — it raises capital from LPs, deploys it into portfolio companies, and earns returns through exits and carried interest. No fund size, AUM, management fee structure, or LP composition is publicly disclosed.

Studio VC's publicly visible portfolio consists of three companies: Splash That (event management platform, 2016), Urbanr (hospitality technology, 2016), and Smilo (2017). No new portfolio companies, fund closes, geographic expansions, product launches, or M&A activity have been disclosed in the input data. The firm does not sell technology products or services to end customers, has no disclosed AI/ML capabilities, and operates a minimal digital presence anchored by its portfolio showcase and team pages.

Name

Studio VC

Legal name

Studio VC

Website

https://Studio.VC

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Studio VC is a privately held, early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2016 and based in New York that invests capital and provides active operational partnership to early-stage founders building transformative companies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital

SIC

Investors, Nec (6799), Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Venture Studios / Company Builders (FSANAAAH)

Keywords

• Venture capital investing
• Early stage funding
• Startup capital
• Seed stage investment
• Founder partnership

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Studio VC is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests capital in growing companies and partners actively with founders to help build transformative businesses. The firm combines a scrappy entrepreneur mindset with investor resources to support portfolio companies through hands-on operational guidance. Its portfolio includes event management, hospitality technology, and consumer brand companies such as Splash That, Urbanr, and Smilo.

Product overview

Studio VC is a venture capital firm that operates as a single, unified investment platform rather than a product company with modular offerings. The firm actively partners with founders to create transformative change, providing capital investment and operational support. Their investment portfolio consists of three portfolio companies: Splash That (event management platform), Urbanr (hospitality technology), and Smilo (likely a technology or consumer brand). Studio VC does not develop or sell technology products or services to end customers; rather, it provides investment and partnership services to early-stage companies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Venture Capital Investment Services Studio VC provides early-stage venture capital funding combined with active operational partnership and hands-on guidance to founders building transformative companies. The service targets growing companies with breakout potential and includes strategic guidance alongside capital deployment.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves4 records

Direct peers

• Lerer Hippeau: NYC-based early-stage venture capital firm investing in seed and Series A startups across consumer and enterprise. Highly comparable to Studio VC as a generalist NYC seed investor with operating DNA and a hands-on approach with founders.
• Founder Collective: Seed-stage venture capital firm founded by experienced operators, with a strong presence in NYC. Comparable to Studio VC as an operator-led, founder-friendly seed investor backing early-stage companies across sectors.
• Notation Capital: NYC-based early-stage (pre-seed and seed) venture capital firm investing in technical and complex founders. Directly comparable to Studio VC as a small, thesis-driven NYC seed fund targeting transformative early-stage companies.
• Betaworks: NYC-based startup studio and seed investor that builds and backs early-stage companies, often in media, consumer, and frontier tech. Comparable to Studio VC given its hybrid studio/investor model and active partnership with founders, similar to Studio VC's "Build" orientation.
• ENIAC Ventures: NYC-based seed-stage venture capital firm leading rounds in early-stage software and mobile startups. Comparable to Studio VC as a NYC-headquartered, founder-focused early-stage investor backing companies at breakout stage.
• ERA (Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator): NYC-based early-stage investor and accelerator backing seed-stage technology companies. Comparable to Studio VC as a NYC seed investor providing capital and active support to founders building transformative companies.

Broad incumbents

• Techstars: Global accelerator and early-stage investor operating programs across multiple cities including NYC. Comparable as a broader incumbent in the early-stage funding and accelerator space, though it operates a structured cohort model rather than Studio VC's bespoke partnership approach.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments41 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Studio VC