
Seed-focused investor expects surge of new start-ups
Rob Biederman, Co-Founder of Asymmetric Capital Partners, shared his bullish outlook with Crunchbase News.
Here’s some good news for early-stage start-ups.
The Co-Founder of a seed-focused venture fund that launched its inaugural $105 million fund just two years ago is bullish on the prospects for new start-ups later this year and into 2024.
In an interview with Gené Teare of Crunchbase News, Rob Biederman of Asymmetric Capital Partners said “the pre-seed stage has gotten more competitive over the last two years — not less so” since the firm was founded. The fund has invested more than one-half of its capital in just two years, writing checks between $100,000 and $150,000 to 43 portfolio companies and another 18 exceeding $1 million.
Asymmetric invests pre-revenue, pre-traction, and sometimes even before a founder has an idea. That’s atypical of most seed investors who like to see some customer adoption or “traction” of a product before they will invest. “We’re willing to compromise on traction because we’re able to think critically about ecosystems,” Biederman said. “The market actually probably over-values traction a little bit and relatively undervalues people. We’ll never compromise on people.”