In partnership with

The Rise of the Minimal Viable Fund Approach: How Small Funds Reshaped Investing in 2024

A quiet revolution unfolded in venture capital last year, but it wasn’t in the realm of mega-funds or unicorns. Instead, 2024's most fascinating story centered on how first-time fund managers demonstrated that smaller could indeed be smarter.

Research conducted by Decile Group, spanning 850 new funds, highlighted a compelling trend: two-thirds of these funds targeted commitments under $10 million. This “minimal viable fund” approach disrupted conventional venture capital norms, proving that nimble capital deployment paired with a focused investment thesis could rival, if not outperform, the more diffuse strategies of larger funds.

A closer look revealed the business model behind this phenomenon. Fund size often serves as a proxy for both strategy and stage exposure. Larger funds, for instance, typically allocate 60-70% of their capital to Series B and later-stage investments, leveraging dollar-cost averaging in follow-ons where company prospects are clearer. However, smaller funds, particularly those with sub-$10 million commitments, found their strength in earlier-stage investments, often pre-seed and seed rounds. These stages are less about scaling established traction and more about identifying and nurturing potential – a space where micro VCs thrived by focusing on deep domain expertise and underappreciated niches.

The driving force behind this transformation was the individuals leading the charge. Former operators, entrepreneurs, and even industry outsiders utilized their unique perspectives to uncover opportunities that larger, more generalized funds often overlooked. These managers concentrated on specific sectors, geographies, or founder profiles, creating a new playbook for venture investing.

Relationship dynamics within these funds also underscored the shift. Funds with a tight-knit network of 26-50 limited partners tended to outperform those with sprawling LP bases. This “sweet spot” allowed for meaningful engagement between fund managers and their investors while reducing the administrative overhead typically associated with larger funds.

The implications of this micro VC movement extend beyond just fund size or focus. It’s a redefinition of what success looks like in venture capital. Smaller funds have shown that deep market insights and specialization can outweigh the advantages of a large war chest. For entrepreneurs, this evolution means a greater diversity of smart capital options, while for the industry at large, it represents a future where depth of insight may prove more critical than fund size.

Ultimately, 2024 demonstrated that the venture capital landscape is no longer solely dominated by those with the biggest funds but by those with the sharpest focus and strongest understanding of their chosen domains.

For Investors =================================

Discover a variety of venture opportunities in promising startups, experienced venture funds, and a broad-scope approach to accessing the upside of AI innovation with Ignite’s fund-of-funds. Fill out this quick form to share your preferences, and we'll connect you with ideal opportunities.

If you really want to know about Agents:

💵Bay Area Startups Secured Over $843M

Biotech and medtech were at the JP Morgan conference this week, with little funding activity in either sector. This week marked the return of cryptocurrency to megadeals with $150M Series C for Phantom. Crypto deals have been mostly absent over the last year, starting to reappear a few months ago. The new administration's positive stance on cryptocurrency should result in a resurgence of funding to startups in that arena.

Disappointing: This week saw the first tech and AI IPO of 2025 when Blaize, a developer of edge AI solutions that enable real-time data processing at the source for applications like surveillance and autonomous security systems, went public at a $1.2B valuation via a SPAC merger with BurTech Acquisition. SPACs can be a faster, less expensive way to go public, but historically, they frequently do not do well once there. And that's been true for Blaize, they are now trading well below their IPO price, down by almost half at end of business today.

So few exits: The latest Pitchbook-NCVA Monitor offers 2024 figures on exits – and the lack thereof - in the US VC-backed startup ecosystem. They report 1249 exits in 2024 (up 10%) and $149B in exit value (up 24% over 2023). But for context: that's less than half of the $312B in 2019.

So many companies: The US now has more VC-backed private companies than ever before, including unicorns worth a combined $2.7 trillion, and more than 1300 companies whose last value was more than $500M. At those valuations, the most likely exit for these companies is through an IPO, in an IPO market that has been largely absent for almost 24 months. The good news is that a few tech companies that did venture into the IPO market last year - Reddit, Rubrik, Ceribell and Astera Labs - have performed very well since then and may motivate more of the VC backed companies who have already filed and are waiting for the right time.

Follow us on LinkedIn to stay on top of Bay Area startup fundings, exits, executive & investor activity.

Early Stage:

• Eve Legal closed a $47M Series A, handles the heavy lifting of legal cases—from intake to resolution–for plaintiff lawyers.

• Cyclarity Therapeutics closed a $10.3M Series A, develops simple and direct interventions to provide the first true disease-modifying treatments for age-related diseases such as atherosclerosis, hypercholesterolemia, heart failure, and macular degeneration.

• Lady Technologies closed a $6.5M Series A, changing the status quo for women, families and society by enabling every woman to access total agency over her health.

• David AI closed a $5M Seed, provides proprietary training data for Audio AI, powering leading AI models through sourcing, generating, and labeling high-quality, non-publicly-available audio datasets.

• Rockfish Data closed a $4M Seed, the industry’s first outcome-centric synthetic data generation platform that helps companies unlock data to tackle data silo bottlenecks.

Growth Stage:

• Loft Orbital closed a $170M Series C , builds the space infrastructure that lets any company, government or institution harness the benefits of space.

• Phantom closed a $150M Series C, with Phantom's friendly wallet, you can buy and hold the top cryptocurrencies, trade the hottest memecoins, create and collect NFTs, and build your digital asset portfolio—all in one place.

• Instabase closed a $100M Series D, automates complex workflows, empowers users with conversational AI agents, and drives insights through enterprise search.

• Qventus closed a $85M Series D, at the forefront as a provider of AI-based software automating care operations in both OR and inpatient settings for more than a decade.

• Clear Labs closed a $30M Series D, provides a fully-automated, turnkey NGS platform that integrates DNA sequencing, robotics, and cloud-based bioinformatics and analytics.

Whats happening in and around AI Infrastructure

Every two weeks, Infra Insider newsletter doesn’t just keep you informed—it keeps you ahead. A collaboration of IgniteGTM & Fílos Technology, and the most trusted voices in the industry, this isn’t just a newsletter; it’s your competitive edge.

What You’ll Get

💡 Ideas that Matter
From breakthroughs in data center design to energy innovations, every insight is a step ahead of the competition.

🌎 The World at a Glance
On-market, off-market—global availability and strategic land acquisitions simplified for you.

🔍 Actionable Intelligence
Not just noise. Real strategies. Real opportunities. Delivered straight to your inbox.

🤝 Partnerships that Change Everything
Deals and expansions that shift the landscape—and how to position yourself for them.

Why Infra Insider?

Because you don’t have time to sift through noise. You need clarity. Precision. The kind of expertise that bridges strategy with action. Infra Insider delivers just that, built on decades of know-how in power infrastructure, land development, and data center operations.

📬 Subscribe now. Let the rest scramble. You’ll already be ahead.

Around The Valley

CXO insights 🧬 AI For Life Sciences 🧬 JAN14

On a pivotal evening during JPM Healthtech Week, Supermicro and AMD hosted CXO Insights, an exclusive gathering of leaders and innovators at the forefront of life sciences and healthcare. This event brought together some of the brightest minds to explore how AI is not just transforming the industry but actively shaping the future of patient care.

As AI redefines what’s possible—accelerating drug discovery, decoding genomics, and advancing research—its timely adoption is critical to improving patient outcomes and saving lives. However, these opportunities do not come without significant challenges. Integrating advanced technologies, fostering adoption, and navigating the evolving regulatory landscape are essential for ensuring AI’s potential translates to real-world impact.

Key Highlights

💡 Dr. Prasanth Reddy underscored the need for strong advocacy in Washington to drive regulations that accelerate, rather than hinder, AI’s integration into life sciences. He emphasized that forward-thinking policies are essential for enabling innovation that improves healthcare outcomes.

🔬 Success Stories in AI for Life Sciences: Eric Frazier of Supermicro and Tony Nunes of AMD highlighted real-world examples of how AI is driving breakthroughs in healthcare, demonstrating its potential to revolutionize the industry.

🤝 Panel Discussion on AI-Driven Breakthroughs: Moderated by Dr. Qing Zhang, MD, MBA, this dynamic conversation explored how AI is being leveraged across diverse applications to advance research and innovation. Esteemed panelists included:

• Adityo Prakash, CEO of Verseon

• Pankaj Kedia, CAIO of Biossman

• Jared Goodner, CTO of Akido Labs

• Adrien Châtillon, CEO of Actipulse Neuroscience®

• Carl Brown, GM of Supermicro

Their insights reinforced the notion that collaboration between technology providers, healthcare innovators, and policymakers is essential for driving meaningful change.

Why This Matters Now

The integration of AI into life sciences has never been more critical or timely. With rising global healthcare challenges and an urgent need for better patient outcomes, the ability of AI to accelerate research, enhance diagnostics, and enable personalized treatments holds transformative potential. Events like CXO Insights create a unique platform to align thought leaders, innovators, and decision-makers to turn this potential into reality.

Together, we’re shaping the future of healthcare and ensuring that innovation reaches the patients who need it most.

Thank You

A heartfelt thank-you to all the speakers, panelists, and attendees who contributed to the success of CXO Insights. Your dedication and expertise are the driving forces behind innovations that will save lives and redefine what’s possible in healthcare.

#LifeSciences #AIInnovation #Healthcare #JPMHealthtechWeek #Supermicro #AMD

What’s Next?!

What We’re Listening To:

Your Feedback Matters!

Our mission is to provide an insider's view of Silicon Valley's undercurrents – insights often overlooked by mainstream sources. While many newsletters offer broad market overviews, we focus on delivering a unique, in-depth understanding of the local ecosystem. We share behind-the-scenes conversations, introduce key players we meet at events, and offer exclusive insights.

Your feedback is crucial in helping us refine our content and maintain the newsletter's value for you and your fellow readers. We welcome your suggestions on how we can improve our offering. [email protected] 

Logan Lemery
Head of Content // Team Ignite

10x Your Outbound With Our AI BDR

Imagine your calendar filling with qualified sales meetings, on autopilot. That's Ava's job. She's an AI BDR who automates your entire outbound demand generation.

Ava operates within the Artisan platform, which consolidates every tool you need for outbound:

• 300M+ High-Quality B2B Prospects

• Automated Lead Enrichment With 10+ Data Sources Included

• Full Email Deliverability Management

• Personalization Waterfall using LinkedIn, Twitter, Web Scraping & More

Book a demo and supercharge your sales team