From small steps to giant leaps
$100K-$300K Investments for Pre-Seed Founders
Our active portfolio
"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."
Your journey starts here
Submit your startup
Take a few minutes to complete our submission form and include your deck. Bonus points if you add a 1-minute video pitch!
Video call & follow-up
If we think your company is a good fit, we’ll schedule a call to meet your team and learn more about your vision.
Know within two weeks
Expect a decision within two weeks of our first meeting. During this time, we’ll follow up with additional questions and complete due diligence.
Meet Your Partner, Billy
Every investment is a partnership, and a benefit of working with a boutique venture firm is a single point of contact. Billy Draper has been working in Venture Capital for more than a decade, and founded Path to back ambitious founders at the earliest stages. Prior to investing, he worked in Operations at Facebook and Design at ApartmentList
"He’s really passionate about the products he invests in, and he’s proven time and time again that his commitment is real. Even during times of uncertainty, Billy has been there for us. He’s one of the few that are brave enough to invest in what they truly believe in, and it shows. - I'm a placeholder, ignore me, I get replaced."
"He’s really passionate about the products he invests in, and he’s proven time and time again that his commitment is real. Even during times of uncertainty, Billy has been there for us. He’s one of the few that are brave enough to invest in what they truly believe in, and it shows."
"Billy understands what it means to build something truly ambitious & new. He has a kind of product foresight that is surprisingly rare, even in VC. He's genuinely helpful, but not overbearing. Highly recommend working with Path if you get the opportunity!"
"Since partnering, Path has been supportive and insightful on any issue we've discussed. As a founder, I love working with investors with a passion for the future of industrial commerce, strong instincts, and a wide network (in that order). We found all 3 with Path and are glad to have them in our corner."
"Billy is the kind of investor that every founder wants to work with. He was the first to say "yes" in our round, leading the way for others to follow. He is supportive, even when things are tough. And he is genuinely helpful, making introductions and guiding us through tough decisions."
"Billy has been amazing to work with. He came on board as an investor three rounds ago, right in the early days when we were still figuring out PMF. Back then, growth was a couple of years away, and it wasn’t easy to get calls with next-stage investors, but Billy really stepped up. He made some great introductions—sometimes to people he already knew, but also to others he didn’t know and still went out of his way to connect with because they were a good fit for our industry. He’s also a great person to bounce ideas off of. We’re really glad to have him on our cap table!"
Common Questions
Everything you need to know about Path Ventures.
Our first check is typically in the range of $100K-$300K.
Between a $4M-$10M post-money. This will vary depending on the company and the circumstances.
Most of our investing is done in the US and Canada, but we’re always open to international opportunities.
We’re happy to make our decision before a lead is in place, and we can set terms and lead if it’s a smaller round with a number of checks, but most of the time we are 2nd or 3rd largest check in a round.
The majority of this fund will be deployed as first checks, but in some cases we will follow-on or spin up an SPV to continue participating in later financings.
Most of our deals are done on a standard post-money SAFE note for speed and simplicity, but we also love a priced equity round if the dynamics and timing make sense (typically for larger raises).
We’re very much a generalist firm - but are currently drawn to categories like financial tech, enterprise SaaS, consumer tech, property tech, and legal tech. Focus areas will shift and evolve.
You need a deck URL and the submission form should take you under 3 minutes. We’d love to see a 1-minute video pitch as well, though not required.