Join Diaspora Ventures!
Hello ! 👋🏼
Since July 2020, we have launched Diaspora Ventures, the first Rolling Fund dedicated to supporting and financing the best French, and now European, entrepreneurs in the US.
We have already raised several million dollars from about 30 entrepreneurs and investors, such as: Breega, Xavier Niel, Chris Allexandre, Fred Laluyaux, Alexis Bonillo and many others... The Rolling Fund model allows us to welcome new investors every quarter and more and more of you are joining the Diaspora adventure. Thanks to you, our investment capacity increases every quarter.
If you want to join the Diaspora adventure and invest with us as a Limited Partner, apply here.
But first, some information about the fund and the thesis of Diaspora Ventures...
An investment thesis that relies on 20+ years of experience in the US
Our goal is to help the most ambitious tech entrepreneurs of the European diaspora from the very beginning of their venture in the US. We invest $100-150k in their first round of funding. We are sector agnostic, but our requirement is to fund Europeans whose first market is the US.
Since July 1, 2020, we have interviewed over 1,000 founders and invested in about 30 startups, including:
A new generation of investors for a new generation of entrepreneurs
We are not traditional investors. We are first and foremost entrepreneurs and operators and we continue to be operators while investing through Diaspora. This unique status gives us an advantage and a unique attraction for European entrepreneurs who can identify themselves in our day-to-day activity as operators. We have invested as business angels in more than 500 startups for 10 years and we have chosen to create Diaspora in order to share our dealflow with you.
Carlos - General Partner
Carlos Diaz has lived in SF for the past 10 years. As an entrepreneur, he created his first startup, Emakina, at the age of 23, which went public in 2006. He then created blueKiwi, the first French SaaS with which he moved to Silicon Valley in 2010 before selling it two years later to ATOS.
After a new startup, Carlos launched in SF the startup acceleration program The Refiners which he led with Pierre Gaubil and Géraldine Le Meur for four years.
After more than 70 investments, Carlos continues to invest with Diaspora Ventures. Passionate about podcasting, Carlos is now launching his new startup Uncut.fm to allow podcasters to interact with their audience.
Marvin - Partner
Marvin Liao is a Partner & Board member at Game Groove Capital, an International Gaming Holding Company. He was previously a Partner at VC Fund 500 Startups, running the SF based accelerator & directly investing in Seed stage startups. He has invested in over 414 Pre-seed & Seed stage startups like Aircall, ManyChat, Shippo, Eaze, Printify, Embroker, Indio (Acquired), Backlot Cars (Acquired).
Marvin also spent 10.5 years at Yahoo! as an executive focused on expanding their businesses across Asia, Europe, Latin America and the United States in his career at the company.
Marvin presently serves on the Investment Committees/Advisory boards of several Venture Capital funds. He also mentors at numerous accelerator programs around the world.
The diaspora of entrepreneurs with a “je ne sais quoi”
Here's what some of our portfolio founders say:
Barbara Belvisi (Interstellar Lab)
“Diaspora Ventures is above all a team of entrepreneurs with incredible experience, who are always ready to provide good advice and who are not afraid to give honest and frank feedback (...) this is what we need as early stage founders.”
Eve Halimi and Anam Lakhani (Alinea Invest)
“We are thrilled to be accompanied by Diaspora, especially given the team's operational and entrepreneurial experience. We also knew that Ilan and Carlos have a lot of experience coaching Y Combinator startups. Since we were just accepted to YC, we thought Diaspora would also be an ideal partner.”
Redouane Ramdani (Snipfeed)
“We decided to approach Diaspora because I have known Carlos for a long time. He has helped us a lot from the creation of Snipfeed to our multiple pivots.”
Welcome among Diaspora Ventures investors
We strongly believe that it is possible to build a community of LPs and founders sharing common interests around the Diaspora thesis. We want to break down the archaic barriers that usually exist between entrepreneurs, GPs and LPs and create first and foremost a community that helps each other.
We are looking for people who are willing to :
Supporting the founders of the portfolio. We are very attentive to the possibility of creating links between our founders and LPs.
Share the deal flow. We are particularly interested in expanding our network and meeting founders you truly believe in.
Offer your expertise. We value people with extensive experience and knowledge in specific industries or fields.
If you can identify yourself, join us 😊
You may have other questions. Here are some of them...
Why are you launching a public fundraising?
The venture capital industry is opaque. To invest in a fund as an LP, you generally have to "know someone". Our wish is to democratize tech investing and allow a wider audience to have access to our deals. We want to make Diaspora Ventures more accessible to people who have fewer networks and who are not part of our immediate community, even if it is their first investment in a fund.
What size will the fund be?
We have not deliberately set a target size. The Rolling Fund mechanism allows us to be able to raise funds on an ongoing basis. Today we deploy about $600,000 per quarter.
Past performance is always indicative of future performance, right?
No! It is important that all LPs understand the risks of venture investing. You can lose all of the funds invested.
How much of a paycheck do you accept from private investors?
We accept a minimum investment of $5,000 per quarter (minimum 4 successive quarters). The minimum commitment is therefore only one year renewable. This minimum period allows us to ensure that our investors have exposure to a diversified portfolio of start-ups.
Do I need to be accredited?
Yes, our fund is registered in Delaware (US) and the SEC (US Securities and Exchange Commission) requires investors in funds to be Accredited. More details on accreditation here.
What is the structure of the carried and management fees?
The fund is a standard 2 and 20 model. Our carried interest is 20% and the management fee is 2% per year over 10 years.
How do you assess the LPs?
We have a limited number of positions for LPs. We are looking for people from different communities or professions than our own to complement the support we provide to founders. It is important for us to bring in LPs who are truly motivated to get involved and support the startups in the portfolio.
