IVP is a growth-stage venture firm (Series A through pre-IPO) that backs market-leading, high-growth technology companies right as they approach an inflection point. In their own words, they 'exist for the Exceptional' and have 'a knack, an obsession for spotting breakout companies before the rest of the world appreciates them' — partnering deliberately with roughly 10 companies a year and 'helping them convert momentum into market dominance.' They get to conviction through a blend of quantitative metrics (ARR growth, sales efficiency, retention) and qualitative judgment of team and market, with an intense focus on AI pioneers across enterprise infrastructure, application SaaS, fintech, digital health, and consumer.
A real, urgent shift in the world that makes the opportunity newly possible ('why now'), and products that redefine what a thing is rather than incrementally improving it.
“I'm compelled by understanding why now—what has shifted or changed in the world that allows this opportunity to exist.” — Tom Loverro | Team | IVP
“There hasn't been a frictionless consumer platform for creating, discovering, and listening to music until Suno.” — Eric Liaw
“Cape isn't confined to a specific sector - it sits across all of them. It's the connectivity backbone that government, private enterprise, and everyday consumers all run on.” — Somesh Dash
A distinct, identifiable technological advantage and a product that delivers 'magical moments' by fundamentally redefining the category, not a marginal improvement.
“You don't deliver magic by making the old thing 30% faster, but rather by fundamentally redefining what that thing is.” — Magical Moments in AI Products | IVP
“I gravitate toward companies with distinct, identifiable technological advantages.” — Tom Loverro
“LangChain is unique in creating an open source, model-agnostic, end-to-end platform that developers love and trust.” — Tom Loverro
“Its proprietary 'voice pipeline' supports local dialects and accents, featuring self-healing loops that enable AI agents to debug other AI agents.” — Alex Lim
A large addressable market and ideally a category that is being created or transformed; market size is an explicit driver of the valuation multiple.
“the total addressable market (TAM). Objectively, it is the maximum amount of revenue a business could generate by selling its product and service in a specific market.” — SaaS Fundraising Playbook | IVP
“The multiples that investors are ultimately willing to pay for a company is influenced by several factors that drive their conviction in the company's long-term performance. This includes the company's growth rate, capital efficiency, and strength of its core SaaS metrics.” — Michael Miao
“Prediction markets are transitioning from a consumer phenomenon to a true financial asset class.” — Eric Liaw
Demonstrated product-market fit shown through growth and retention. ARR growth and sales efficiency are key drivers of conviction; later-stage entry means real momentum is expected.
“A company consistently growing at the 90th percentile for a decade would generate over $600M in ARR by year 10.” — SaaS Fundraising Playbook | IVP
“A good NDR for an enterprise SaaS company is 120%+ with best-in-class companies above 130%.” — Michael Miao
“Kalshi fits that lineage in both ways, scaling to over $50Bn in annualized volume up nearly 1000% year over year.” — Eric Liaw
“LangChain counts a third of the Fortune 500 as active users” — Tom Loverro
Exceptional, often 'n of 1' founders — driven, disciplined, technical operators with intellectual rigor and persistence; team strength is the single most important part of the evaluation.
“The most important part of any company evaluation is the investor's assessment of the strength of the management team.” — SaaS Fundraising Playbook | IVP
“From our first meetings with Bar and Roey, it was clear that they are exceptional operators: driven, disciplined, and technical.” — Alex Lim
“Their combination of intellectual rigor, regulatory persistence, and operational excellence makes them uniquely equipped to lead this new financial frontier.” — Eric Liaw
“CEO John Doyle is an 'n of 1' founder, a U.S. Army Special Forces veteran” — Somesh Dash
Capital-efficient growth and strong unit economics — sales efficiency (Magic Number ~1.0x), healthy CAC payback, and strong gross margins that drop profit to the bottom line.
“The generally accepted benchmark is that a Magic Number of 1.0x is the most efficient ratio between S&M spend and ARR generation.” — SaaS Fundraising Playbook | IVP
“A company with 85% gross margins sends a lot more gross profit dollars down to the bottom line than a company with 60% gross margins.” — Michael Miao
“A good payback period to target is between 12 to 18 months.” — Michael Miao
“This includes the company's growth rate, capital efficiency, and strength of its core SaaS metrics.” — Michael Miao
A path to market dominance / category leadership and a durable moat from out-shipping competitors and changing user behavior irreversibly — ideally inventing a new category rather than fighting in an existing one.
“We're deliberate by design—backing just 10 companies each year, helping them convert momentum into market dominance.” — IVP - Our Approach
“Kalshi is the first to make them accessible, regulated, and scalable” — Eric Liaw
“Magic decays...companies win by out-shipping the decay curve.” — Zeya Yang
“The products that win are part of a broader irreversibility shift because the software permanently changes user behavior.” — Zeya Yang
A clear inflection driven by a real, recent shift — a technology, regulatory, or behavioral convergence that opens a genuine window right now.
“I'm compelled by understanding why now—what has shifted or changed in the world that allows this opportunity to exist.” — Tom Loverro | Team | IVP
“The convergence of AI's growing energy appetite, falling launch costs, and proven laser transmission technology has created a real window.” — Somesh Dash
“Enterprise software is entering an agentic era. AI agents are beginning to replace repetitive workflows and directly handle customer and employee interactions.” — Alex Lim
“The inflection point here is undeniable” — Somesh Dash
Founders who manage cash and runway responsibly, then go on offense — raising and deploying capital aggressively behind what is working once runway is secure.
“So IF your cash is under control and your runway is secure, start thinking aggressively.” — Time for Offense | Tom Loverro - IVP
“Create budgets with stage-gates that unlock additional spend — e.g., if sales hits their target in H1, they unlock $M in extra spend for H2.” — Tom Loverro
“When a new thing is working, pour gas on it.” — Tom Loverro
“I gravitate toward companies with distinct, identifiable technological advantages.”
“We partner with entrepreneurs right as they approach an inflection point—the moment when identifying and equipping an organization with the right ingredients can make an astronomical difference in its trajectory.”
“To win, AI products have to deliver Magical Moments – outcomes that exceed the expectation line so dramatically that they reset the user's mental model.”