2048 Ventures is an early-stage venture firm founded by Alex Iskold and Paul Sethi recently announced it raised $27 million for its first fund known simply as Fund I. This fund was actually oversubscribed.
Iskold is known for being a managing director of Techstars NYC and he previously launched companies like GetGlue and AdaptiveBlue. And Sethi was previously co-founder of Robuzz and the CEO of Redbooks.
According to TechCrunch, 2048 is planning to write checks between $300,000 and $500,000 for startups that are differentiating in sectors such as fintech, healthcare, cybersecurity, hardware, genomics, AI, biotech, etc. 2048 is based in New York, but the company will invest in startups based nearly anywhere, but especially in the U.S. and Canada.
“There’s capital efficiency, hunger and drive that you can really sense — the founder who hasn’t yet had that big exit and really wants to execute,” said Iskold via TechCrunch.
The duo told TechCrunch that they are looking for first-time founders and serial entrepreneurs. However, there is “no single formula” for what they are looking for.
“We’re playing very nicely with the other players in those ecosystems. We’re the ones who are bringing other angels to the table and other institutions that will invest at the early stage with us,” added Sethi.
2048 has made a number of investors already, but it is undisclosed until the fundraising rounds are finished. Some of 2048’s limited partners include the founders of MongoDB, DoubleClick, Github, Rackspace, MakerBot, Meetup, Stratasys, DigitalOcean, SendGrid, Plated, Photobucket, DataLogix, DigiWeb, CloudLock, Carbon Black, Payfone, SiteCompli, DreamHost, MindBody, Seamless, and StubHub.
