Sorenson News
Today, we’re thrilled to announce Sorenson Capital’s latest $150M early-stage fund, Ventures III. We know fund launches are typically about numbers, and we’re digging into the intentionality of ours.
Ventures III is a testament to consistency, our perennial superpower in a venture reality that changes every single day. Through over two decades of fast-moving market cycles and fleeting trends, we’ve focused on what we know best. Ultimately, our targeted fund sizes, consistent investment focus, and our tenured team have set us ahead of the curve.
Fund Size: The Power of Staying Nimble
We have deliberately maintained a consistent fund size over time to execute our Ventures strategy. Our journey began with a $110M Ventures I, followed by a $150M Ventures II. Now, with our $150M Ventures III, we’re remaining just as measured in our next chapter.
While we meet with thousands of founders every year, we’ll invest between $1M – $10M in 25 – 30 companies out of Ventures III – that number is driven by our mission to maximize the impact we’re able to have on the companies we invest in. For us, it’s personal. We are an intentionally focused fund from the outset. No matter the company, we support them from whiteboard to exit.
Supporting founders from the outset means that we’re in the weeds, partnering closely with them to execute go-to-market strategies, develop product offerings, source their first customers, and provide informed perspectives on industry trends. We’re committed to being a true part of every team we invest in, innovating alongside talent – and that means sticking through every journey with a personal interest in a strong outcome for everyone. This has led to major feats, like Palo Alto Networks’ acquisition of Talon just last year, while still securing positive outcomes for our companies in an industry that is otherwise unprotected from downside.
Sector Expertise: Cybersecurity and B2B Software
In venture, it’s easy to move with the trends, but winning is about years in the game and building market context, so we can leverage our knowledge of the past to better inform smarter investments in the future. We’re not tourists – we’re seasoned investors with a clear view of how to win. We have high conviction in the transformative innovation within our two focus areas – cybersecurity and B2B software – and our actions since inception are a testament to our commitment and our strategic advantage today. We did not run towards crypto, or jump on the neobank boom.
Our software expertise is powered by our co-founder, Rob Rueckert. He has spent his career entrenched in both the early and late stages of investing. Rob applies his early experience as an engineer and managing company exits at Intel Capital during the early internet era, to the way he primes companies he backs from day 1. His investments include high-caliber category movers, LearnLux, Moov, Socure, and Traceable (acquired by Harness). Our co-founder, Ken Elefant, has established himself as a top-tier cybersecurity investor. Primed by his six years in operational roles at technology companies, Ken began his venture capital career at Battery Ventures in 1999. His investments in Bridgecrew (acquired by Palo Alto Networks), CloudKnox (acquired by Microsoft), Planera, and Talon (acquired by Palo Alto Networks) are evidence that studying the industry for decades results in an unparalleled understanding of how innovation evolves across the backdrop of different market contexts.
So far, we’ve already backed 9 companies as part of Ventures III, four of which include:
- Andromeda Security, which is safeguarding companies against human and non-human identity breaches
- Bureau, the trust network that facilitates global end-to-end identity verification, compliance, and fraud prevention for new-age businesses
- Jump, the AI tool for wealth managers and financial advisors that automates notetaking, compliance, and CRM updates
- SmartSuite, a unified and collaborative work management platform
Extraordinary Founder Support
Investing isn’t only about cutting checks to high-potential companies. We believe in targeting early-stage companies where our expertise and support can have the most impact. And, as subject matter experts in our strike zone, we bring a unique perspective to our partnerships. We collaboratively work alongside our founders, in an industry where it’s too widely accepted for VCs to step into an advisor role, defining value by their breadth of insights rather than deep expertise that moves the needle.
Armed by our involved partnership style and our deep subject expertise, we plug in with an eye toward where our work will be additive. We collaborate with founders to:
- Establish product-market fit
- Hire the appropriate leadership at every stage
- Land their first customers and partners
- Support go-to-market efforts throughout the scaling journey
We’re both investing in early companies with inherently valuable intellectual property out of the gate and building the product’s value throughout our partnership. Our product-centered approach ensures that our portfolio companies – even in their early days – offer real value to customers.
Focused on the Future
As we embark on this next chapter with Ventures III, our unwavering focus, support, and performance set us apart. As venture ebbs and flows, we will continue to back category-defining B2B software companies across AI; B2B Software; Cybersecurity; and DevOps & Infrastructure.
The commitment to our strategy enables us to build a different type of venture firm – one that uses our consistency as our superpower. As we look toward the future ahead, we’re thrilled to bring our tried-and-true approach to the next generation of transformative innovators. If you’re building an early-stage or growth-stage company, please reach out – we’d love to hear from you!
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