\u201cThe more I thought about it, the more I realized I was against much of the unicorn obsession,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s just so one-dimensional. Listen, I\u2019m all for making money, and I think elephants can be worth far more than a billion dollars. But people should be looking at traits beyond valuation to determine success. I\u2019ve seen so many people gloat: \u2018I backed eight, ten unicorns.\u2019 I\u2019m like: \u2018what, you came in at the Series B?\u2019 It wasn\u2019t about the multiple, it wasn\u2019t about the underlying health of the business.\u201d<\/p>\n
So, Wenger\u2014who\u2019s a three-time founder, including of exited startups Mistaken for Bacon and Mahkana\u2014came to a decision: \u201cAileen [Lee] owned unicorns. I want to own elephants.\u201d Elephants, she said, emphasized resilience, solid business fundamentals, and longevity, rather than making a point of chasing sometimes-ephemeral billion-dollar valuations. On Beehiiv in 2023, she first published her \u201celephants, not unicorns\u201d thesis and it went viral, resonating in a landscape where profitability for all but the most sought-after AI darlings is key. Her goal was that the writing would serve as a branding bat signal. (Her essays have drawn in more than one million views, she told Fortune. Wenger, who also worked as Worklife Ventures\u2019s head of platform, has more than 90,000 followers across social media platforms.)<\/p>\n
\u201cI want people to find me online, identify with my point of view, and seek me out,\u201d said Wenger. \u201cI want to have my brand and our firm be bigger than me. You can only have so many meetings in one day, so this was a way to reach people. You can also timestamp ideas: \u2018I was calling this back then, look at the date.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Wenger kept up the wildlife theme, in some sense, when she started Park Rangers Capital in 2023. Now, after raising from 130 LPs, she\u2019s closed the firm\u2019s first fund at $4.3 million, and there are some early prospective winners in her portfolio like Superpower, Clay, and Beehiiv.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI really wanted to create a broader analogy about what I want to see change in venture,\u201d said Wenger. \u201cWhen I was a founder, I always felt like the relationship between the VC and founder was a little funky. The VC shouldn\u2019t be the star of the show, it\u2019s actually the founder who\u2019s building. So, the analogy is that the founders are the national parks of the world. They\u2019re majestic. They have life in them\u2026 And VCs are the humble park rangers. They\u2019re stewards of the land. They make sure no one\u2019s littering. They let you in, let you out, protect and serve.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wenger wanted to evoke \u201cintegrity, service, and humility\u201d with the name. It was a characteristic act of narrative-making that resonated with Jacob Peters, founder of $300 million health tech startup Superpower.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s proving that brand, content, and conviction can compound just like capital,\u201d he said via email. \u201cWhile most investors wait for reputation to happen over decades, Erica is deliberately building it through ideas that resonate.\u201d<\/p>\n
To start, Park Rangers have been writing checks between $100,000 and $200,000. But General Atlantic\u2019s Anton Levy\u2014known for backing Alibaba, Uber, Snapchat<\/a>, and Slack\u2014said via email that Wenger will keep punching above her weight.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve only known Erica for a few years, but Erica is a force of nature in the best way,\u201d said Levy, co-president, managing director, chairman of the global technology group at General Atlantic. \u201cShe\u2019s a hustler in the best sense of the word\u2026 relentless, creative, and deeply connected to the founders she backs. What makes her unique is that she doesn\u2019t just talk about community and distribution, she lives it. She\u2019s built a brand, a platform, and a network that most firms multiples her size would envy. \u201c<\/p>\n Term Sheet asked Wenger the central question of this series: what\u2019s next?<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, it\u2019s continuing to build out our distribution, building out a really well-respected and beloved firm,\u201d she said. \u201cThe way we ask our founders to build their own distribution\u2014that\u2019s the ultimate moat\u2014we\u2019re doing the same thing as a firm. My philosophy is that software is a commodity, as is capital. So, to stand out in this next decade, you have to be an incredible storyteller and go-to-market leader. You have to have a great brand, great content, and be very human. As a fund, we\u2019re mimicking what we tell our founders to do.\u201d<\/p>\n See you Monday,<\/p>\n Allie Garfinkle Joey Abrams curated the deals section of today\u2019s newsletter. Subscribe here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Venture Deals<\/p>\n – CHAOS<\/b> Industries<\/b><\/a>, a Los Angeles, Calif.-based developer of threat-detection and anti-radar software for the defense industry, raised $510 million in Series D funding. Valor<\/b> Equity<\/b> Partners<\/b> led the round and was joined by 8VC<\/b> and Accel<\/b>.<\/p>\n – Gopuff<\/b><\/a>, a Philadelphia, Penn.-based courier service, raised $250 million in funding. Eldridge<\/b> Industries<\/b> and Valor<\/b> Equity<\/b> Partners<\/b> led the round and were joined by Baillie<\/b> Gifford<\/b>, Equalis<\/b> Capital<\/b>, and others.<\/p>\n – Alembic<\/b><\/a>, a San Francisco-based developer of a causal AI platform designed to provide marketing analytics for C-Suite executives, raised $145 million in Series B funding. Prysm<\/b> Capital<\/b> and Accenture<\/b> led the round and were joined by Silver<\/b> Lake<\/b> Waterman<\/b>, Liquid<\/b> 2<\/b> Ventures<\/b>, and others.\u00a0<\/p>\n – Parallel<\/b><\/a>, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based company developing infrastructure designed to enable AI agents to access and think with the web, raised $100 million in Series A funding. Kleiner<\/b> Perkins<\/b> and Index<\/b> Ventures<\/b> led the round and were joined by Spark Capital and existing investors.<\/p>\n – Fabric8Labs<\/b><\/a>, a San Diego, Calif.-based developer of advanced additive manufacturing facilities that can create metal parts that cannot be created with traditional manufacturing, raised $50 million in funding. NEA<\/b> and Intel<\/b> Capital<\/b> led the round and were joined by existing investors Lam Capital<\/b>, TDK<\/b> Ventures<\/b>, SE<\/b> Ventures<\/b>, and others.<\/p>\n – CloudX<\/b><\/a>, a San Francisco-based AI-powered advertising platform for mobile publishers, raised $30 million in Series A funding. Addition<\/b> led the round and was joined by DST<\/b> Global<\/b>, Terrain<\/b>, and others.<\/p>\n – sunday<\/b><\/a>, an Atlanta, Ga.-based payment platform designed for restaurant hospitality, raised $21 million in Series B funding from DST<\/b> Global<\/b> Partners<\/b> and others.<\/p>\n – Vend<\/b> Park<\/b><\/a>, a Boston, Mass.-based AI-powered parking technology and operations company, raised $17.5 million in Series A funding. Blue Heron Capital<\/b> led the round and was joined by Nuveen\u2019s<\/b> Real<\/b> Asset<\/b> Ventures<\/b>, Communitas<\/b> Capital<\/b>, and others.<\/p>\n – Anzen<\/b><\/a>, a San Francisco-based AI-powered distribution platform for commercial insurance, raised $16 million in Series A funding. Madrona<\/b> led the round and was joined by Sandbox<\/b> Industries<\/b>, SNR<\/b>, Andreessen<\/b> Horowitz<\/b>, and others.\u00a0<\/p>\n – Milestone<\/b><\/a>, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based platform for measuring the adoption and impact of AI coding tools, raised $10 million in seed funding. Heavybit<\/b> and Hanaco<\/b> Ventures<\/b> led the round and were joined by Atlassian<\/b> Ventures<\/b> and angel investors.<\/p>\n – Obello<\/b><\/a>, a San Francisco-based AI-powered graphic design platform, raised $8.5 million in seed funding. Obvious<\/b> Ventures<\/b> led the round and was joined by Baukunst<\/b> and others.<\/p>\n – Bindwell<\/b><\/a>, a San Francisco-based company using AI to develop pesticides designed to be safer, raised $6 million in seed funding. General<\/b> Catalyst<\/b> and A<\/b> Capital<\/b> led the round and were joined by SV<\/b> Angel<\/b> and Paul<\/b> Graham<\/b>.<\/p>\n – Skycore Semiconductors<\/b><\/a>, a Copenhagen, Denmark-based developer of power integrated circuit technology for data centers, raised \u20ac5 million ($5.8 million) in seed funding. Amadeus<\/b> APEX<\/b> Technology<\/b> Fund<\/b> led the round and was joined by First<\/b> Momentum<\/b>, M\u00e4tch<\/b> VC<\/b>, and Balnord<\/b>.<\/p>\n – Cronvall<\/b><\/a>, a Helsinki, Finland-based industrial procurement marketplace, raised \u20ac3.9 million ($4.5 million) in funding from Greencode<\/b> Ventures<\/b>, Stephen<\/b> Industries<\/b>, and Innovestor<\/b>.<\/p>\n – Vida<\/b><\/a>, an Austin, Texas-based AI phone agent operating system for enterprises, raised $4 million in Series A funding. Trammell<\/b> Venture<\/b> Partners<\/b> led the round and was joined by Timechain<\/b> and others.<\/p>\n – Theo<\/b> Ai<\/b><\/a>, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based legal AI platform designed to predict the outcomes of cases, raised $3.4 million in a seed extension. Run<\/b> Ventures<\/b> led the round.<\/p>\n – Greenshoe<\/b><\/a>, a Chicago, Ill.-based AI platform designed for SEC disclosure automation and investor relations, raised $3 million in seed funding. AIX<\/b> Ventures<\/b> led the round and was joined by Hearst<\/b> Level<\/b> Up Ventures<\/b>, Blueprint<\/b> FTC<\/b>, Service<\/b> Provider<\/b> Capital<\/b>, and others.<\/p>\n – Preveta<\/b><\/a>, a Los Angeles, Calif.-based AI-powered care navigation platform designed for specialty care, raised $2.4 million in a Series A extension. Navigate<\/b> Ventures<\/b> and Sovereign<\/b> Capital<\/b> led the round and were joined by Bullpen<\/b> Capital<\/b> and TMV<\/b>.<\/p>\n – Sensetics<\/b><\/a>, a Princeton, N.J.-based haptics and touch data company, raised $1.8 million in pre-seed funding. MetaVC<\/b> Partners<\/b> and Fitz<\/b> Gate<\/b> Ventures<\/b> led the round and were joined by Blue<\/b> Sky<\/b> Capital<\/b> and AIC<\/b> Ventures<\/b>.<\/p>\n Private Equity<\/p>\n – TSG<\/b> Consumer<\/b> acquired a minority stake in Pura Vida Miami<\/b><\/a>, a Miami, Fla.-based all-day cafe and lifestyle brand. Financial terms were not disclosed.<\/p>\n Exits<\/p>\n – Cognizant<\/b> agreed to acquire 3Cloud<\/b><\/a>, a Chicago, Ill.-based Microsoft Azure services provider, from Gryphon<\/b> Investors<\/b>. Financial terms were not disclosed.\u00a0<\/p>\n – Investcorp<\/b> acquired Kanawha<\/b> Scales & Systems<\/b><\/a>, a Poca, W.V.-based provider of calibration, maintenance, and repair systems for industrial weighing systems and automated control solutions, from American<\/b> Equipment<\/b> Holdings<\/b>, a portfolio company of Rotunda<\/b> Capital<\/b> Partners<\/b>. Financial terms were not disclosed.<\/p>\n Funds + Funds of Funds<\/p>\n
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