Bullpen Capital pioneered "post-seed" funding: the gap between a seed round and a supersized Series A. They do one thing and do it well — early-stage financing for people and companies that have found product-market fit but are overlooked for no good reason. Their best companies are misunderstood, operate in non-obvious or out-of-favor markets, and are led by founders left behind by the latest Silicon Valley fads — underestimated because of their geography, school, network or sector. Bullpen uses data plus operating and financial metrics to find pre-consensus, undervalued companies and back them with capital, coaching and time to reach a big A round.
Founder conviction and clarity around a real, often unfashionable problem that mainstream VCs underestimate or don't understand; the problem should be one others have written off.
“When we first met Luke and Ryan, their deep conviction and clarity around the problem they're solving were immediately compelling.” — Arro is reimagining how credit is built in America
“Bullpen funds a lot of really strong companies that others don't understand or whose value is somehow obscured.” — Eric Wiesen
“Nearly half of Americans lack access to affordable credit. The FICO credit scoring system – which underpins credit access in the U.S. – relies on opaque algorithms and outdated metrics which fail to capture true creditworthiness.” — Arro is reimagining how credit is built in America
A genuinely different approach to a large market — a smart, defensible way to play a category, often technical and non-obvious — rather than a me-too product.
“a combination of multiple early and enthusiastic customer wins, a different approach to a large market and a strong syndicate around our lead that included multiple specialist funds” — Announcing our investment in OpenLattice
“We believe Andrew's approach of being a device-agnostic and cloud-agnostic technology layer that powers all of this new category is a smart way to play into this category.” — Wenz Xing
“Using a combination of modern software techniques, machine learning and an understanding of how government agencies buy technology, OpenLattice went to market in 2018 with a series of applications for criminal justice administration, behavioral health, pretrial incarceration and others that solve specific, critical needs for local government.” — Wenz Xing
A large market that consensus underestimates — ideally one VCs personally don't touch. Bullpen prizes objective, data-driven market sizing that overturns lifestyle-driven assumptions.
“the lottery business in the US is larger than all of the Music, Film, Video Games, Books, and Sports Tickets COMBINED” — My Favorite Slide from 35 Years in Tech
“Since venture capitalists don't buy lottery tickets (or take the bus, etc.), they had NO IDEA how big of a market opportunity JackPocket was attacking.” — Paul Martino
“We still use data to find startups in underappreciated places and industries.” — Eric Wiesen
Demonstrated product-market fit — multiple early, enthusiastic customer wins or strong usage — typically a company already doing meaningful revenue that just needs capital and time to reach a supersized A.
“Companies where product market fit had been achieved but a 'super sized' round didn't make sense to the company or its founders, either for reasons of exit optionality, a belief that an even bigger value inflection point was imminent or because a well-functioning syndicate was already in place.” — Warming up in the Bullpen
“a combination of multiple early and enthusiastic customer wins, a different approach to a large market and a strong syndicate around our lead that included multiple specialist funds” — Wenz Xing
“Within weeks of launching, Rainway amassed hundreds of thousands of users. Each active user spends 20+ hours per week using Rainway.” — Wenz Xing
Underestimated, out-of-network founders with deep conviction — Bullpen ignores school, location and sector pedigree and actively wants founders other VCs passed on.
“We don't care where you're located, what school you attended or how unsexy you have been told that your industry is.” — New Partner, New Fund, and Still Looking for Underdogs
“we want to hear from founders who have been underestimated by other VCs” — Eric Wiesen
“Andrew embodies the entrepreneurial spirit of Silicon Valley despite not having fallen from the right 'Tree.' That's why he is a Bullpen founder.” — Wenz Xing
Real value creation and capital efficiency — Bullpen distinguishes headline metrics from the numbers that show what's actually happening, and uses both financial and operating metrics to avoid vapor valuations.
“use of both financial and operating metrics to assess true value creation and to avoid vapor valuations” — Despite Uncertain Times, Bullpen Raises New Fund
“differentiates between the metrics that catch everyone's attention and the less straightforward numbers that represent what is really happening” — Eric Wiesen
“finding pre-consensus companies that are undervalued for any number of reasons” — Despite Uncertain Times, Bullpen Raises New Fund
A contrarian, against-consensus position in a category competitors and other investors misjudge — being right AND non-consensus is where Bullpen sees the edge.
“Being 'right' doesn't lead to superior performance if the consensus forecast is also right.” — Why it pays to be contrarian
“a too common way to try to make money in venture is to have even more irrational people invest after you do.” — Richard Melmon
“a combination of multiple early and enthusiastic customer wins, a different approach to a large market and a strong syndicate around our lead that included multiple specialist funds” — Wenz Xing
Timing and environment awareness — a non-consensus thesis whose moment is arriving, where consensus hasn't yet inflated valuations and a category shift creates the opening.
“By abstracting away the complexity of the hardware from the content, streaming has the power to change the distribution model for the entire gaming industry.” — Announcing our investment in Rainway
“Being 'right' doesn't lead to superior performance if the consensus forecast is also right.” — Wenz Xing
“transforming it from a static judgment of the past into a dynamic, forward-looking system that doesn't just assess creditworthiness, but actively improves it” — Arro is reimagining how credit is built in America
A right-sized post-seed raise (not a premature supersized round) that buys capital, coaching and time to reach a credible Series A — with a clear reason the round makes sense now rather than a bigger one.
“Filling this Post-Seed gap, Bullpen injects small amounts of capital that propels startups towards a supersize A round.” — Bullpen Launches Fund IV and Heads to the Playoffs
“launching Bullpen Fund V, another $130 million fund that will make post-seed and small Series A investments.” — Eric Wiesen
“Not every company smoothly fits into the seed → 18 month → $10M+ Series A format that has emerged as the 'standard' in 2015.” — Eric Wiesen
“the lottery business in the US is larger than all of the Music, Film, Video Games, Books, and Sports Tickets COMBINED”
“Bullpen funds a lot of really strong companies that others don't understand or whose value is somehow obscured.”
“Being 'right' doesn't lead to superior performance if the consensus forecast is also right.”