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Afore Capital , a firm that claims to be the prominent consecrate pre - seed investor , was institute on theidea that the first checkinto a new inauguration should be larger than what most accelerator and early - stage investor were offering . When Afore raised its third $ 150 million fund in 2022 , the house write checks ranging from $ 1 million to $ 2 million , which general partners Anamitra Banerji and Gaurav Jain argued helped companies produce faster .
The firm ’s scheme shape . Today , its 200 - company portfolio has a collective valuation of over $ 13.5 billion , and over the last twelvemonth , Afore lay claim it has come back $ 47 million ( 1x its first store ) to its limited partners . Since the firm was establish in 2017 , Afore has invested in startups like Modern Health , BenchSci , Neo Financial , New Lantern , andHightouch , which come together an $ 80 million round at a $ 1.2 billion valuation this workweek .
Despite Afore ’s early success , Banerji and Jain say that not all vernal startups necessitate as much working capital as the firm has been offering . On Thursday , Afore is unveiling its fourth $ 185 million investment trust and a new strategy , which the firm is call pre - seed 2.0 . The spouse delineate the elegant investment approach with one tidings : flexibleness .
“ We can indite a small check , we can write a bounteous check , but the idea is , we require to help you get the business off the ground , ” Banerji say .
For the founders who already know what they desire to build , the business firm will still consider investments up to $ 2 million . However , Afore also wants to take a stakes on aspiring entrepreneur who have yet to come up with a concrete inauguration idea . Those hoi polloi may not need as much financing because , in many case , they have yet to leave their jobs or are still university scholarly person .
Afore has launched an eight - week Founders - in - Residence ( FIR ) program for the founding father still in their ideation stagecoach . The business firm claims that FIR is very different from an gas pedal like YC . Each cohort consist of only five to eight founders who are give way an opportunity to search startup ideas . “ The destination is to invent . The finish is to build . The goal is not to fund-raise , ” Jain said .
Unlike YC , which declare oneself standard terms to each company , Afore seek to customize each investment funds for its FIR founders , depending on the startup ’s needs .
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“ We ’re the polar opposition of an gun . Or we ’re not taste to quicken anything . We are trying to invent a production alongside our founders , ” Banerji said , add that the firm wants to give startup a chance to pivot or iterate without time pressure .
From its 4th investment firm , Afore will gift in approximately 35 to 40 pre - seed company and 50 to 75 founder that go through its FIR program .
