Progression

What Progression does

Progression is a San Francisco-based, pre-seed and seed stage venture capital fund founded in 2020 by alumni of musical.ly and TikTok, self-branded as "the TikTok alumni Fund." It writes first checks in early-stage founders building AI-native consumer and prosumer products, deploying capital through Progression Fund II, L.P. (GP: Progression Fund II GP, LLC). The fund is managed by General Partners Matt Lee and Vincent Diallo and Partner Tomoya Ogawa, with operational offices in San Francisco (headquarters) and Tokyo (regional office for Japanese LP relations under SPBQII notification).

The firm's core offering is threefold: first-check investment capital, a WhatsApp-based TikTok Alumni Community that spans eight global cities (SF Bay Area, Los Angeles, New York, London, Singapore, Seattle, Boston, Shanghai) with channels for deal flow, product-building, and jobs, and ongoing portfolio support leveraging alumni operator experience. The portfolio includes 40+ seed-stage investments such as Perplexity (AI-native search), Procode AI, Prophetic, Candle, Lu.ma, Omeda Studios, Palmstreet, and Permanent Agriculture. Distribution and sourcing rely on direct founder applications via progression.fund, the alumni community, an Insights/podcast series, and active X and LinkedIn presence.

Economically, Progression earns standard venture fund revenue — management fees on committed capital (typically ~2% of AUM annually) and carried interest (typically ~20%) on successful exits. The fund does not develop proprietary technology products; its differentiation rests on the TikTok alumni network for deal access, diligence, and portfolio support, and on branded diligence frameworks such as its public Responsible AI scorecard.

Name

Progression

Legal name

Progression Fund II, L.P.

Website

https://progression.fund

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Progression is a San Francisco-based pre-seed and seed venture capital fund, founded in 2020 by TikTok and musical.ly alumni, that writes first checks in founders building AI-native consumer and prosumer products and supports them via a global alumni community network.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital / Seed-Stage Investing

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Early-Stage Venture Capital (Series A/B) (FSANAAAB)

Keywords

• Venture capital
• Seed stage investing
• Pre-seed funding
• Consumer AI startups
• Startup fund management

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Management Fees: VC funds typically charge management fees on committed capital, typically 2% of assets under management annually.
2. Carried Interest: Performance-based carried interest (typically 20%) from successful portfolio company exits, representing the bulk of VC fund returns.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Progression is a pre-seed and seed stage venture capital fund that writes first checks in visionary founders building AI-native consumer products that transform the lives of everyday consumers and prosumers. The fund operates as the "TikTok alumni Fund," leveraging its alumni community network as a sourcing, diligence, and deal-winning advantage, and deploys capital from a limited partnership (Progression Fund II, L.P.) through its general partner entity (Progression Fund II GP, LLC).

Product overview

Progression is a venture capital fund (the 'TikTok alumni Fund') based in San Francisco that operates as a single unified offering rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. The fund provides early-stage investment capital ('first checks') to visionary founders building AI-native consumer products, combined with exclusive access to the TikTok alumni community network. The core services include Investment/Funding Services for capital deployment, the TikTok Alumni Community for networking and deal flow, and Portfolio Support leveraging the alumni network for strategic advantage.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Progression Fund II, L.P. (First-Check Investment Capital)
• Portfolio Support Program

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Forerunner Ventures: Early-stage venture firm focused exclusively on consumer brands and consumer-tech companies. Directly comparable to Progression as a thesis-driven consumer seed/Series A fund with similar deal-size discipline.
• Lerer Hippeau: Seed and early-stage venture fund specializing in consumer internet, commerce, and media. Comparable thesis and stage to Progression, both writing first checks in consumer-tech founders.
• Cowboy Ventures: Seed-stage fund focused on consumer products, enterprise software, and mobile-first companies founded by repeat operators. Same seed-stage consumer focus and similar first-check discipline as Progression.
• Betaworks: Venture studio and seed investor that builds and backs consumer-facing companies at the intersection of culture and technology. Closely comparable to Progression given its consumer-AI and consumer-internet orientation.
• Maveron: Consumer-only venture fund backing early-stage companies across commerce, education, fintech, and health. Same pure-consumer thesis as Progression, with similar stage and check profile.
• True Ventures: Seed-stage venture firm backing consumer and enterprise founders from day one. Comparable stage, check size, and relationship-driven community model to Progression.
• Bonfire Ventures: Seed-stage venture fund focused exclusively on consumer commerce and consumer-tech businesses. Comparable stage, thesis, and portfolio construction to Progression.

Broad incumbents

• Andreessen Horowitz (a16z): Multi-stage venture firm with a large dedicated consumer practice and significant AI investments. Competes for the same consumer-AI founders Progression targets, but at scale across stages and sectors.
• Lightspeed Venture Partners: Multi-stage global VC with strong consumer practice and active AI seed programs. Larger and broader than Progression, but competes directly for the same AI-native consumer founders at seed.
• Khosla Ventures: High-conviction early-stage investor with consumer and AI focus. Overlaps with Progression at the AI-native consumer seed layer, though it operates across many more sectors and stages.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/progressionfund
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/progressionfund

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

Investments46 records

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

Frequently asked questions about Progression