What Connetic Ventures does

Connetic Ventures, operating as Connetic RIA LLC from Covington, Kentucky, is an AI-native venture capital firm founded in 2018 that deploys a proprietary AI analyst named Wendal to evaluate pre-seed and seed funding applications. The platform conducts structured 20-minute AI-led conversations with founders and assesses them across eight psychological dimensions — resiliency, grit, leadership, dark triad risk, temperament, accountability, conscientiousness, and humor — backed by a proprietary dataset built over seven years spanning 25,000+ founders, 15,000+ companies, 4,000+ real venture outcomes, and 320,000+ data points. Connetic writes $250K–$500K checks into software-driven businesses valued at $15M or below and reports investing in 250+ companies across 34 U.S. states, Canada, and Mexico, with 46% of portfolio CEOs identifying as women or minorities.

The firm's core technology includes the Venture Mind Index (proprietary founder-aptitude scoring), TeamPrint (team dynamics and breakup-risk assessment), an AI Diligence Room for automated document review and anomaly flagging, and a Tracxn integration for automatic company data enrichment. Product surface extends into Hiring Intelligence for portfolio-company recruiting. The team is small (11–50 employees) and led by Managing Partner Brad Zapp and Partner Chris Hjelm, supported by Principal JD Audena, Lead Developer Hannah Creech, and Valuation Analyst Lily McCormack.

The business model combines three streams: management fees and carried interest from VCAFX, a 40-Act interval fund Connetic advises; software licensing of Wendal to external VC funds via annual subscriptions (full Platform) and per-assessment API pricing (TeamPrint API, launching soon); and equity returns from portfolio investments. Distribution mixes a self-serve web funnel for founder applicants, direct enterprise sales for Wendal licensing, and intermediary distribution through financial advisors via VCAFX. Marketing is primarily digital and content-driven, anchored by the monthly Connetic Signal newsletter and active LinkedIn and Twitter presence.

Name

Connetic Ventures

Legal name

Connetic RIA LLC

Website

https://conneticventures.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Connetic Ventures is an AI-native venture capital firm operating Connetic RIA LLC from Covington, KY, using its proprietary Wendal AI analyst to evaluate pre-seed and seed founders and write $250K–$500K checks into software-driven businesses across North America, while licensing the Wendal platform to other VC funds.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles (525)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

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

Keywords

• Venture capital
• AI-driven investing
• Founder assessment
• Pre-seed funding
• Startup diligence

Headquarters

HQ city

Covington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Venture Capital Management: Connetic Ventures serves as investment adviser to VCAFX, a 40-Act interval fund providing access to venture capital strategy. Generates revenue through management fees and carried interest from fund investments.
2. Wendal Platform Licensing: Licenses Wendal AI platform to other VC funds. Two tiers: TeamPrint API (per-assessment pricing, no subscription required) and full Wendal Platform (annual subscription with fund-level pricing). Includes AI founder conversation, deal review dashboard, AI Diligence Room, and lifecycle deal tracking.
3. Investment Returns: Returns from equity investments in portfolio companies. Writes $250K-$500K checks at pre-seed and seed stage into software-driven businesses valued at $15M or below. Generates returns through exits and follow-on value creation.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Connetic Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm that deploys its proprietary AI analyst, Wendal, to screen, score, and diligence founder applications. It writes $250K–$500K checks at pre-seed and seed into software-driven businesses valued at $15M or below, and separately licenses the Wendal AI platform (TeamPrint API and full Wendal Platform subscriptions) to other venture funds.

Product overview

Connetic Ventures operates as an AI-native venture capital firm with its core product being the Wendal AI Platform—an autonomous AI analyst that evaluates funding applications through conversational interviews and psychological assessments. The platform includes proprietary tools: Venture Mind Index (founder aptitude scoring), TeamPrint Assessment (team dynamics profiling), and AI Diligence Room (document analysis and anomaly detection). The company offers two licensing tiers: TeamPrint API (per-assessment pricing for integration into existing VC workflows) and the full Wendal Platform (annual subscription for complete AI-driven investment operations). Additionally, Connetic serves as investment adviser to VCAFX, a 40-Act interval fund, and publishes The Connetic Signal as a monthly market insights newsletter.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Wendal AI Platform
• TeamPrint API
• VCAFX Interval Fund

Quantifiable outcome

• 92% of founders receive a clear yes or no within 3 business days
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

AI capability7 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• ECHELON PartnersminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerECHELON Partners publishes RIA M&A Deal Reports that Connetic references in their market analysis. Connetic uses ECHELON's research data on RIA consolidation trends and M&A activity to inform their investment thesis around wealth management infrastructure.
• TracxncoreTechnology or IntegrationTracxn provides the highest coverage private company database used for automatic data enrichment in the Wendal Platform. When a company is in both Wendal and Tracxn systems, automatic enrichment triggers with data deeper than Pitchbook, Crunchbase, or other providers.
• SchwabminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSchwab publishes the annual RIA & AI Research Study which Connetic references for advisor technology and AI adoption data. The 2026 study found that 63% of advisors are using AI.
• T3 / Inside InformationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerT3 / Inside Information publishes the annual Software Survey which Connetic references for advisor technology adoption data. The 2026 survey collected 2,906 responses on CRM, financial planning, and portfolio management software usage.

Scale indicators16 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Zetta Venture Partners: Early-stage fund focused on AI-first companies with a quantitative, thesis-driven approach. Comparable to Connetic in combining AI-centric investment thesis with smaller-team, founder-friendly check sizes.
• Tribe Capital: Data-driven venture firm that applies quantitative product analytics (NPS, retention) to investment decisions. Comparable to Connetic in using proprietary data science to inform venture decisions across stages.
• SignalFire: Early-stage VC that built proprietary AI/ML tooling (Beacon) for sourcing, scoring, and portfolio support. Closely comparable to Connetic in combining an AI-native sourcing platform with active investing at pre-seed/seed stages.
• EQT Ventures (Motherbrain): Multi-stage venture arm of EQT Group that developed Motherbrain, an in-house AI platform for deal sourcing and signal detection. Comparable to Connetic in deploying proprietary AI tooling across the investment lifecycle.
• InReach Ventures: Europe-based early-stage VC that uses proprietary AI sourcing to find and evaluate startups at pre-seed/seed. Closely comparable to Connetic in pitching an AI-first, no-network-required approach to early-stage investing.
• Antler: Global early-stage VC that runs cohort-based founder sourcing and uses structured evaluation processes to find founders outside traditional networks. Comparable to Connetic in democratizing access and applying consistent methodology at pre-seed.
• Bloomberg Beta: Early-stage VC backed by Bloomberg that uses data-driven, thesis-led investing. Comparable to Connetic in being a smaller, technology-forward fund with proprietary research and tooling supporting investment decisions.
• Contrary: Research-driven VC fund that uses proprietary data, technology, and published research to inform investment decisions. Comparable to Connetic in leveraging technology and structured evaluation to differentiate sourcing and diligence.

Emerging players

• All Turtles: Venture studio/seed investor that builds and invests in AI-enabled products with structured founder support. Adjacent to Connetic in operating at the intersection of AI tooling and early-stage investing.

Regional players

• Caruso Ventures: Early-stage venture firm applying technology-enabled sourcing in select geographies. Comparable as a smaller, technology-forward fund deploying AI or data tools in early-stage deal flow.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/conneticventure
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/connetic-ventures

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments123 records

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

Frequently asked questions about Connetic Ventures