I’ve Joined Expanding Capital
I’m thrilled to share that I’ve joined Expanding Capital as a Partner!
We’re a growth-stage venture capital fund that invested in breakthrough companies like Coinbase, Astra Rockets, Bolt, and Clover Health.
Our mission is to invest in The Americas, starting with North America, to drive exponential outcomes that advance our health, economic and social systems.
I’ve always been a founder and growth-stage operator so I wanted to share why I’m excited about Expanding Capital and what I’ll be focusing on.
On Investing
Professionally, I’ve felt most comfortable operating in industries that err on the side of uncharted.
In 2010, I was intrigued by the notion of selling direct-to-consumer and by the rise of ecommerce. I co-founded Sole Bicycles, one of the first digitally-native vertical brands. To date, we’ve sold hundreds of thousands of bikes, direct and through retailers like Target.
About a year later, with the growth of mobile and social, I also co-founded and led Community Development at Humin, a consumer app that was named “100 Greatest Apps of all Time” by Business Insider. Humin used machine-learning algorithms to understand and make sense of the data surrounding our relationships and contacts. Humin was acquired by Tinder/IAC — they swiped right on us!
While at Humin (and after), I was following the mainstream proliferation of machine learning, artificial intelligence and the rise of messaging. I joined early at Snaps, a conversational artificial intelligence SaaS platform that’s now used by AT&T, New Balance and Uber. At Snaps, I ran new Business Development and Partnerships. Snaps was recently acquired by one of our partners, Quiq.
I’m on the lookout for trends, changing market dynamics and emerging business models — always. Now, as we come out of the pandemic, it’s become clearer and clearer to me how important this next generation of technology-powered high-growth businesses are going to be.
That’s why when I was given the opportunity to join Expanding Capital, I jumped at it. Joining Expanding Capital feels like a great adventure at the forefront of progress. I believe founders are tactical futurists; individuals who seek to actively envision and build business to enable a better future. I feel grateful that I can gain exposure & learn from these visionaries on a daily basis and be in a position to support their visions and growth with our investment capital.
On Expanding Capital
Exponential innovation crosses and often blurs lines between sectors, and borders.
As a fund, we’re sector agnostic and seek investments across any number of verticals. Increasingly, venture is verticalizing into a narrow sector focus. While that approach is intriguing, we at Expanding Capital believe the best companies emerge at the intersection of multiple technologies being utilized to attack persistent challenges, and data support a generalist approach for outsized later-stage investments. This wider investment mandate resonates with my own cross-industry interests and experiences. I also believe the personal success (and failures) I’ve acquired founding and operating companies for the last decade in different industries strongly positions me to support founders across categories.
We also have an international scope and presence. This is a key competitive advantage. We’re backed by some of the most influential groups of Brazilian and South American investors and private equity funds. To propel our portfolio companies, we provide strategic assets, like introductions into select Fortune 100 consumer brands and growth in the LatAm region. We conduct market deep dives and entry strategy, provide legal and regulatory help, partnership development and GTM acceleration. Today, we’re focused on US-based growth-stage investments and helping these companies expand in LatAm. We’re also closely watching the maturing startup scene in the LatAm region.
On my focus
We’re living in extraordinary times and I’m seeking founders whose businesses can have an undeniable positive impact on society.
While still remaining opportunistic, I’m especially interested in companies focused on commerce enablement, logistics, remote-work and micro-AI. I’ll be sharing my POV and research on these areas in more detailed blog posts.
The majority of ventures Expanding Capital invested in exceed $5M ARR. I’m looking for CEOs with clarity, high conviction and initial metrics that prove product-market fit.
Finally, in order to maximize value for our stakeholders (both entrepreneurs and LPs), I’m looking for operators who might seek growth in LatAm and can benefit from the collective experience and assets we bring.
I’m excited to roll up my sleeves and support founders. I’m also eager to work alongside Daniel, Leo, Christian, and Afonso, my experienced Partners at Expanding Capital. If you are building a growth-stage company, interested in expanding your TAM across The Americas, and would like to connect I can be reached at jonathan@xcap.vc
