Motivate Venture Capital

Name

Motivate Venture Capital

Legal name

Motivate Venture Capital

Website

https://motivate.vc

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Early-Stage Venture Capital

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (52394)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Early-Stage Venture Capital (Pre-Seed/Seed) (FSANAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Venture Studios / Company Builders (FSANAAAH)

Keywords

• Venture capital funding
• Pre-seed investments
• Seed stage capital
• Early-stage startups
• Startup funding

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

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, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Management Fees: VC firms typically charge management fees on committed capital (typically 2% annually) to cover operational expenses and team compensation.
2. Carried Interest (Carry): VCs earn carried interest (typically 20%) on profits from successful portfolio company exits after returning capital to LPs.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Motivate Venture Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests $250k–$1m at the pre-seed stage and $1.5–3m at the seed stage into North American technology companies. Beyond capital, the firm provides founders with experience, connections, and operational support, and has created FUSE, a novel call-option funding instrument that gives investors the right to invest in a startup at predefined terms on or before a future date.

Product overview

Motivate Venture Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm that operates multiple seed funds (Fund I, Fund II, Fund III) investing $250k-$3M in pre-seed and seed stage North American technology companies. The firm offers founder support services including a Funding Inquiry portal and Job Board for portfolio companies. Additionally, Motivate has developed FUSE (Future Security Option), a novel startup funding instrument that provides investors optionality to invest at predefined terms. The firm's portfolio includes companies focused on: document AI (Lazarus AI), manufacturing automation (Valiot, Fulcrum), financial services (Mesh, Attain, Sarna, Nmbr), social impact (ReloShare/Safe Stays), cybersecurity (Inca Digital, Lazarus Enterprises), B2B data (The Swarm), blue-collar staffing (VeroSkills), and business succession (Rowan).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Motivate Seed Fund II: Second venture fund of Motivate Venture Capital, an $81M vehicle for pre-seed and seed stage investments.
• Motivate Fund III

Quantifiable outcome

• Fund II raised $81M
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers21 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

AI capability8 records

Feature1 record

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Techstars: Global accelerator and early-stage investor running multiple funds and programs. While much larger and accelerator-led, it directly competes for the same pool of pre-seed founders in North America.
• Antler: Global early-stage VC and founder accelerator co-creating ventures from inception. Comparable to Motivate's venture co-creation approach and pre-seed focus, though with much larger global scale.
• 500 Global (500 Startups): Large-scale early-stage venture firm and accelerator operating worldwide. Competes at the pre-seed and seed stages in technology with comparable check sizes and founder support services.

Direct peers

• Pioneer Fund: Pre-seed and seed VC fund investing in technology companies at the earliest stages. Comparable small check sizes and stage specialization make it a relevant peer for Motivate's pre-seed pipeline.
• Behind Genius Ventures: Pre-seed-focused fund investing at the earliest stages of company building with a founder-first thesis. Direct peer in stage and approach, particularly relevant to Motivate's pre-seed strategy.
• Susa Ventures: Early-stage seed VC investing in technology companies with a founder-led, hands-on approach. Comparable stage focus, check size, and operator-style value-add for portfolio founders.
• Lerer Hippeau: New York–based seed-stage VC investing in pre-seed and seed technology companies across the US. Direct competitor for early-stage founder deals with similar check sizes and a founder-led investment philosophy.
• Hustle Fund: Pre-seed and seed VC firm investing in software and technology startups with small checks. Highly comparable stage focus, geographic overlap in North America, and similar founder-first support model.
• Crosscut Ventures: LA-based seed-stage VC investing in technology companies. Comparable pre-seed/seed strategy with founder partnership model and similar fund-size profile to Motivate's Seed Fund II.
• Embedded Ventures: Early-stage VC investing at pre-seed and seed in technology, with a focus on deep tech and B2B software. Comparable stage focus and North American geographic footprint.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/motivatevc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/motivatevc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments100 records

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

Frequently asked questions about Motivate Venture Capital