This deep dive was initially published in our VC Stack newsletter. Make sure to subscribe here to not miss any future episodes.
As venture capitalists, we understand the importance of a well-designed website for startups. A clear representation of a company's values and mission can help build customer trust. It's also beneficial to make it easy for customers to understand the product, make purchases, set up demos, or start subscriptions, as this can positively impact sales and revenue.
The same principles apply to a VC website. While the goals may differ, the impact remains. If you want to communicate your investment strategy, attract a talented team, increase deal flow, and establish trust as a reputable fund, investing in your website can be the stepping stone to get there.
As a visitor, you can tell when a website effectively meets your needs, even though design preferences may be subjective. Great design enhances this experience. When searching the internet and Twitter (X) for discussions about the top venture capital websites, two very distinct design types caught my attention.
On one end, there are websites like Very Serious Ventures or Calvalry Ventures. These websites juxtapose VC’s prestigious reputation with low-ego and startup scrappy design. Sharing in minimal pages their thesis, portfolio, team, and contact info. No crazy animations and complicated messaging here - just the bones.
On the other side of this design pendulum, is something like the websites of Yamauchi No.10 Family Office and Pace Capital. These websites lean on the more playful side with odes to the early internet and gaming. In a different way, they too are combating venture capital's closed-door past by bringing new energy into their funds with dynamic animations and creative layouts.
Somewhere in between we have clean-cut, bespoke websites like those of La Famiglia and Fabric VC. Of course, among all of these, these are websites that may not cause buzz online but still get the job done. Other examples that lean more toward the simple yet effective side include Cherry Ventures and Pillar VC.
While eye-catching visuals can offer a strong first impression they are just one aspect of design. The clarity of website copy and ease of navigation are two pivotal elements that significantly shape the overall quality of a successful VC website.
Considering a redesign of your fund's website? Run through the following questions to create a framework for your team. The websites listed in this deep dive can also provide inspiration so be sure to browse the pages and see what stood out (for better or for worse).
Spacecadet is The Marketing VC, fueling a better future with a mix of money + marketing expertise. The are well known for their own branding and marketing stunts.
Blackbird is a venture capital fund based in Australia and New Zealand. We invest in every type of technology from software to space, unified by the biggest of ambitions. We have more than 7 billion dollars under management and a portfolio of over 100 companies.
Trust Fund is an early-stage venture fund investing in companies that demystify the complexities of business building. We back products that enable founders to focus on solving problems for their users, not themselves.
Neu Venture Capital is an early stage investor based out of New York City. We both lead and follow into investment rounds and can help syndicate. We like to be involved with our companies, sometimes accepting seats on the board, but always available to help.
Root Ventures is a San Francisco-based hard tech seed fund managing $300M+ AUM. As engineers ourselves, we specialize in leading initial funding for founders tackling new technical opportunities. Our initial investments typically range from $2-3M.
El Cap is an early-stage VC firm focused on backing deeply technical founders building near collisions of innovation and behavior change in B2B, cloud infrastructure, AI, developer tools, and web3 markets.
RRE Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm headquartered in New York City. We define the scope of our investment horizon as products or services enabled by information technology. We invest across the United States and in select overseas geographies.
We invest in people who change the way the world works. Since our founding in 2003, we’ve invested in companies collectively worth $450B+, including Salesforce, Veeva, Box, Yammer, and Zoom.
Interested in learning more about VC website design and gathering inspiration for your own fund? Check out these additional resources!