Progression
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.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2020
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
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.
Progression firmographics
Firmographics- 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
Progression industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Venture Capital / Seed-Stage Investing
- SIC
- Investment Advice (6282)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Early-Stage Venture Capital (Series A/B) (FSANAAAB)
Keywords
Where Progression is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Progression business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Management Fees: VC funds typically charge management fees on committed capital, typically 2% of assets under management annually.
- 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
Progression product offering
Product offeringCore 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
Companies that use Progression
Customer profileSegments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Progression technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Progression partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators1 record
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Progression competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect 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
Progression social profiles
Digital presenceProgression financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Progression leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Progression funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Progression M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments45 records
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Progression
What does Progression do?
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).
Is Progression a public or private company?
Progression is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Progression founded?
Progression was founded in 2020. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Progression based?
Progression is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does Progression make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Management Fees are the primary driver. The others are carried Interest.
Who are Progression's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Forerunner Ventures, Lerer Hippeau, Cowboy Ventures, Betaworks, Maveron, True Ventures and Bonfire Ventures. Broad incumbents are Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Lightspeed Venture Partners and Khosla Ventures.
Does Progression have an API?
No public API is recorded for Progression.
What industry is Progression in?
Progression's product category is Venture Capital / Seed-Stage Investing. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSANAAAB, Early-Stage Venture Capital (Series A/B). Its SIC code is 6282.