While many investment firms are struggling to raise capital, San Diego–based Blueprint Equity pulled in $333 million in just 12 days — by betting where others wouldn’t.
Blueprint Equity — founded in 2018 by Bobby Ocampo and Sheldon Lewis — deploys a goldilocks strategy between high-risk venture capital and established growth equity.
“We try to have a strong pack of horses,” Ocampo told the Union-Tribune on Thursday after announcing the $300 million raise earlier this week.
Blueprint looks to invest in early-stage companies that have a proven track record and plenty of room to grow. “We like where we play,” Ocampo said. “We can generate venture-like returns with private equity downside.”
Blueprint has invested in 24 different funds and has only reported one loss. Most of Ocampo’s companies return four to five times on their investment, some companies up to 10 times what they put in.
No, there is no “special sauce,” said Ocampo. “We just want to be the best at what we’re doing, quietly do our job and raise funds in 12 days.”
Blueprint has garnered a global following for beating the market and paying off investors. They’ve performed so well, they had to turn investors away, a rarity for 2025.
Today, investors aren’t putting money in the market because they aren’t getting money out. Venture capitalists raised half of what they did last year because, on aggregate, investors haven’t turned a profit since 2022, according to PitchBook.
“The joke from investors is like, don’t take more money, but take more of mine,” Ocampo laughed.
Both institutions and individuals are vying for room in Blueprint’s portfolio.
Today, Blueprint has over $600 million under management.
Ocampo and Lewis’s office is located in downtown La Jolla (Blueprint Equity)
In his La Jolla office, Ocampo admitted that his investments — business-to-business software — aren’t sexy, “but very lucrative.”
There is nothing special about software specifically, but after years of developing contacts in this silo, it’s become Blueprint’s specialty, Ocampo said. “I’m not smart enough to start investing in biotechs.”
While the firm is based in San Diego, none of its investments are here, though Blueprint is looking locally for its next round.
Blueprint has just under two dozen employees, including eight new hires this year. “They make a lot of calls,” said Ocampo, describing how they hunt for companies to invest in.
When investing in a company, Blueprint looks for $1 million to $7 million in annual revenue, over 75% growth year-over-year, and a founder with “celebrity status” in their respective industry.
“All of our founders look the same,” explained Ocampo. “He or she has been in the industry for five to 20 years. They are solving a problem that they witnessed firsthand in their industry. They tend to be very product-led, and they have this unique insight about the category that no one else has.”
Oh, and the startup has to be monogamous. Blueprint doesn’t want its companies to have any other investors to answer to.
Blueprint generates most of its returns through secondary sales — buying early-stage companies, growing their revenue to $10 million to $15 million, then selling them to larger investment firms.
“The later stage of growth equity is very well traveled,” said Ocampo, making it almost a guaranteed sale once a company hits that revenue range. “It’s why we exist,” he said.
Blueprint’s first fund raised $75 million and has deployed a majority of its capital, producing returns on the north side of 400%. The second fund has yet to deploy much of its capital, and the latest fund just closed $333 million.
To be exact, that’s $333,333,333.333. The founders like that number.