Elizabeth Weil, founder of Scribble Ventures, has successfully raised $80 million for the firm’s third fund, marking its largest capital raise to date. Just as remarkable is this accomplishment’s timing, amid a stressful period in the venture capital ecosystem. It’s particularly helpful for new managers who came up during the funding boom of 2020-2021. The firm’s ambition to develop an inclusive community-based production pipeline was laudable, yet singular in a hyper-competitive field.
Scribble Ventures makes early stage investments of $750k-$1.5M per deal. Rather than dictating strict ownership requirements like most firms, Scribble Ventures encourages working with other investors to cover every angle. This unique model enables the firm to foster connections that serve the double mitzvah of its portfolio companies and its investors.
Weil saw a particularly powerful opportunity to leverage Scribble Ventures’ collaborative model. She thinks that the fundamental shift underway toward artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the startup ecosystem in permanent ways. She described the need for patience this way, “Being a harvester is being a venture capitalist.” This underscores the need to intentionally cultivate community within the field.
The true power of Scribble Ventures lies in its ever-expanding network, dubbed the “Scribble Network.” This ecosystem is home to key leaders such as Maggie Hott, who currently directs go-to-market strategies for OpenAI. It features Jim Everingham, Meta’s Vice President of Engineering, and Sheila Vashee, Figma’s Chief Marketing Officer justeatout.com. This network makes an incredible addition to our deal flow, offering due diligence support and very often writing checks in parallel with Scribble Ventures.
Weil’s impressive pedigree is an indispensable component to the firm’s credibility and reach. She received an A.B. Across her career, she has held influential positions at leading firms, including as a partner at Andreessen Horowitz and in corporate development at Twitter (now X). Her stints at other Silicon Valley mainstays such as IVP and Menlo Ventures only further enhance her deep experience in the industry.
Scribble Ventures exceeded its hard cap of $75 million! They bumped the roadshow period out an additional three weeks, a move that reflected deep investor confidence in their stall and strategic vision. The firm has previously made successful early bets on companies such as Whatnot, a live auction platform valued at nearly $5 billion as of January, as well as Atmo, focused on AI-driven ultra-precise weather forecasting, and Poolside.ai, a generative AI company founded by GitHub’s former CTO in Paris.
Weil stressed the importance of her firm’s team-oriented strategy. As she put it, “We reorient our founders around the question, ‘Who in our extended network would you like to meet?’” That access to this free-wheeling channel of networked experience creates a unique space where founders are introduced to the key industry players. She continued, “For them to see that market list and that menu and then be able to communicate via text with this person? That’s amazing!”
Scribble Ventures’ debut fund, which was raised in 2020, is already showing early performance of a four times multiple. The success is due, at least in part, to early distributions to investors from their crypto positions in Mysten and Aptos. As Elizabeth Weil navigates the complexities of the venture capital landscape, her firm continues to thrive through collaboration and strategic networking.
