The Ventures team is led by seasoned investment professionals with successful startup experience and strong personal networks. In addition to financial capital, investment expertise, and strategic support, Mindgrub Ventures portfolio companies can exchange equity for product development services.
Many of our existing partners have worked with our award-winning team of engineers, designers, product owners, and go-to-market strategists to help them turn great ideas into remarkable digital experiences.
The Mindgrub Ventures team is considered family to Tetragram. Their level of expertise and support is unparalleled, which is paramount for any startup as they scale.
Mindgrub Ventures truly values business innovation and creativity, and is determined to work alongside the customer to help them succeed. Their positivity and professionalism made every aspect of the product development process seamless for Magikmo.
Since SpotWash joined the Mindgrub Ventures portfolio, the momentum to achieve our short and long-term goals as a company has been tremendous. The team, guidance, and support have been and continue to be invaluable.
Treble is built on the philosophy that great business relationships propel you forward. That’s why we’re so excited to work with Mindgrub Ventures: they make us better than we were.
Are you an investor looking for your next breakthrough opportunity?
Is your company a fit for Mindgrub Ventures? Read more about our investment guidelines below.
Companies that are a great fit for Mindgrub Ventures are:
We also look for opportunities where a relatively small capital investment can help a company achieve a substantial milestone by removing a good amount of risk (and thereby gain a corresponding step up in valuation).
Typical Mindgrub Ventures service capital rounds are between $50,000 and $300,000.
Founders should be able to describe the company’s intellectual property and/or means by which the company will keep competitors from imitating their products or services.
Companies should provide some external validation of the value of the company’s intended products or services. This can include:
We prefer opportunities that address a clear unmet need in the market or have a clearly defined competitive advantage over existing products. Preference will be given to ideas that are designed to disrupt a market or are focused on the merging of man, data, and machine for the improvement of the overall human experience.
Companies engaging with Mindgrub Ventures should have a readily identifiable product which provides a proof of concept for the product’s efficacy or utility. For a service company or IT product, founders must at least come prepared with a prototype algorithm and/or a simulated presentation of the final product (vaporware).
Will the company operate remotely, work with consultants, or be co-located? Are resumes available to demonstrate the management team’s relevant skills and experience? If the team lacks a particular skill, have individuals been identified to fill those areas of critical need? Please address each of these questions when presenting documentation to the Mindgrub Ventures investment committee.
When articulating how Mindgrub Ventures will realize a return on our investment, the plan should include the timing of a possible exit, a list of potential acquirers, similar acquisitions that those purchasers have made, and the valuations of those acquisitions. As a general guideline, we are seeking a potential return of at least 5x in 5 years or about 40% annual ROI.
Our threshold for investment is $1 million in valuation, and we are unlikely to invest in anything over that threshold unless favorable terms balance the risk.
When selecting companies, the Mindgrub Ventures team takes into account several other considerations not detailed above, including your go to market plan, competitors, production operations, and human resources. These issues should be addressed directly – the more transparency the better.
If you feel, based on the investment guidelines detailed here, that your company could be a fit for Mindgrub Ventures, complete the form below to connect with a member of our team. Prior to acceptance, portfolio companies will be required to submit an executive summary (one page front and back), a pitch deck (no more than 10 slides), and a 5-year pro forma.
Vijay Lakshman is a 30-year veteran of the software development industry, having successfully delivered global projects in deadline-oriented environments with budgets ranging up to $100MM.
His expertise spans multiple development methodologies with an in-depth knowledge of the video game, mobile, and EdTech industries. Vijay’s multi-faceted background draws from both his creative talent, his proven business education, and his ability to deliver high-value returns to investors.
Todd Marks, two-time EY Entrepreneur of the Year nominee, member of Baltimore magazine’s 40 under 40, and one of The Daily Record’s Most Admired CEOs of 2019, is the founder and CEO of Mindgrub Technologies. Mindgrub, a member of the Inc. 5000 for eight years running, is a technical agency and creative consultancy that specializes in award-winning mobile, web, and marketing solutions. Marks founded Mindgrub in 2002 and has since overseen projects for clients such as Exelon, Wendy’s, DELL, Under Armour, Yamaha, Crayola, Geico, The Economist, University of Maryland, and NASA.
