Founders with insight
The best companies we see start with a founder who understands a customer’s problem better than anyone else does, often from having lived it.
AVenture capital
Patient capital for ambitious founders.
We invest Caldrion’s own capital in founder-led companies solving specific problems for specific customers, and we stay for the long term.
- Capital
- Our own
- Decisions
- Weekly committee
- Horizon
- No fund life
- First feedback
- Within 72 hours
Criteria
What we invest in
Published criteria. Where a detail depends on the company and the round, we say so rather than quote a range.
- Themes
- Applied AI, travel, community, specialist informationAnd technology-enabled businesses where Caldrion’s experience gives us an informed view
- Business models
- Recurring revenue, client fees, membershipModels where the customer pays for an outcome they value
- Stage
- Early stage: companies with a product in the market, or close to launch, and first evidence that customers want it.
- Geography
- Primarily the United States, and Australia and the wider Asia-Pacific region through our Sydney office.
- Investment size
- Sized to the company and the round. We discuss amounts case by case and do not publish a fixed range.
- Lead or participate
- Discussed case by case, depending on the round and on what the company needs from us.
- Follow-on
- Because we invest our own capital and have no fund life, we can consider follow-on investment in later rounds. Each follow-on is a new decision, made on the company’s progress.
We aim to give initial feedback within 72 hours of receiving a complete package.
01Investment philosophy
Specific problems, durable companies.
We favor companies that know exactly who their customer is, solve a problem broad platforms leave open, and can earn that customer’s trust over years.
Evidence over narrative
We look for what customers have done: signed up, paid, returned, referred. Early evidence counts; we don’t expect scale before a company is ready for it.
Patience by design
With permanent capital and no fund to return, we can hold through a company’s growth and support it in later rounds when the progress warrants it.
02Where we invest
Themes and business models.
Our four themes come from the companies we have built and backed. We also look at technology-enabled businesses where Caldrion’s experience across real estate, credit, financial markets and collectibles gives us a view.
Target themes
Preferred business models
- Recurring revenue. Subscriptions, memberships and retained services.
- Client-paid services, enabled by technology. Where software and AI make expert service more personal and more efficient.
- Information and tools. Specialist products people return to before every decision.
- Aligned incentives. We are wary of models that make money against the customer’s interest, such as undisclosed commissions or paid placement presented as advice.
03How we evaluate
Seven questions we ask every time.
These shape our first review and our diligence. A strong answer to a few of them matters more than adequate answers to all of them.
- 01
Founder insight
What do you know about this customer and problem that others don’t, and how did you learn it?
- 02
Customer demand
What have customers done that shows they want this: paid, committed time, come back, asked for more?
- 03
Market potential
How many customers have this problem, how often, and what is solving it worth to them?
- 04
Differentiation
Why will customers choose you over existing options, including doing nothing, and what keeps that true?
- 05
Commercial model
Who pays, how much and how often; what it costs to win and serve them; how the economics improve.
- 06
Capital requirements
How much capital the plan needs, what it buys, and the milestones it reaches.
- 07
Execution ability
What the team has shipped, how fast it learns, and who else it needs.
04The process
From submission to transaction.
Decisions are made by a small internal investment committee that meets weekly. We need no outside approvals and no fundraising to close.
- 01
Submission
Send your company through our form with a link to non-confidential materials.
- 02
Review
The investment team reviews every complete submission. We aim to give initial feedback within 72 hours of receiving a complete package.
- 03
Founder discussions
If there is a potential fit, we meet the founders to understand the customer, the product and the plan.
- 04
Diligence
We sign an NDA and look closely at customers, product, numbers and team, focused on what matters for the decision.
- 05
Decision
The investment committee decides. We explain our reasoning either way.
- 06
Transaction
We agree terms, complete documentation and fund. Our word holds: we don’t re-trade agreed terms.
What to prepare
- A short deck or memo: problem, customer, product, model, team, plan
- Traction to date, with the numbers you track
- The round: amount, use of funds, other investors
- A product demo or access, if you can share it
What helps us evaluate
- Specifics over adjectives: named customer types, real numbers
- What you have tried that didn’t work, and what you learned
- The risks you see, and how you plan to reduce them
- Links, not attachments: a deck or data room link is ideal
05Support
What an investment can involve.
Founders lead their companies. Our support is offered, not imposed, and draws only on what Caldrion and the studio actually do.
Investment team
Strategic input
A sounding board on strategy, pricing, fundraising and governance, from people who also build companies.
Caldrion network
Introductions
Introductions to customers, partners, co-investors and advisers where we can make them credibly.
Caldrion network
Recruitment
Help finding senior hires and advisers, through our network and specialist recruiters.
Studio team, on request
Product strategy
Defining the customer, the proposition and what to build first, then what to build next.
Studio team, on request
Design
Brand identity, product and interface design, and websites that explain the business clearly.
Studio team, on request
Engineering
Web products and internal tools built and run on modern cloud infrastructure, with security and privacy built in.
Follow-on
Because we invest our own capital and have no fund life, we can consider follow-on investment in later rounds. Each follow-on is a new decision, made on the company’s progress.
Our role in a round
Discussed case by case, depending on the round and on what the company needs from us.
06Questions
Before you submit.
Whose capital do you invest?
Caldrion’s own. Caldrion is a single family office and principal investor with no outside investors, so there is no fund, no fundraising cycle and no fixed fund life behind our decisions.
Do you sign NDAs before reviewing a company?
Please start with non-confidential materials. We sign NDAs promptly when there is mutual interest, usually before diligence.
Will you invest in a company that competes with a studio venture?
We tell you early if we see a conflict with a company we have built or backed. If we do, we say so rather than continue the review.
Do I need a warm introduction?
No. Every submission through the form is read by the investment team. An introduction is welcome, but it is not required.
Can the studio help a company we invest in?
Yes, where it is useful and you ask for it. The studio’s product, design, engineering, AI and distribution capabilities are available to portfolio founders on terms we agree together.
Venture capital
Submit your company.
Tell us about the customer, the product and the evidence so far. We aim to give initial feedback within 72 hours of receiving a complete package.