First Round Capital
First Round Capital
San Francisco, California, United States
San Francisco, New York
Stage
Debt, Early Stage, Seed
Type
Venture Capital
Description
First Round is a pre-seed, seed or Series A, venture firm dedicated to fostering a vibrant community of tech entrepreneurs and companies like Uber, Square, and Warby Parker. They use custom-built software, unique in-person experiences, and a variety of services to help small companies grow big, continually reimagining the role of venture capital. First Round also supports diversity through their Diversity Term Sheet Rider.
Mission
It’s never too early to reach out, but it can be too late. We don’t see divisions between angel, seed and pre-seed — we’re interested across the board and find that founders’ needs are the same early on. In fact, most of our 300+ companies came to us when they were a couple of people and an idea.
We believe in the power of technology to change the world. We back exceptional companies from the very start. But that hasn’t always been the case. When we started First Round over 15 years ago, seed-stage investing wasn’t yet a thing and most doubted it would stick around. Founders-turned-investors were odd balls. And a “Platform Team” that provided services beyond the check was a new idea. These days, a Platform Team is table stakes. Every VC out there promises access to individuals and networks that set founders up for success. Even multi-stage and mega growth firms now dabble in seed-stage investing, backing companies that are no more than a couple of people with an idea.
Beauty Investments #
1
Primary Sector
Tech/Consumer/Beauty
Beauty Exits #
- 0
Last Beauty Invest
BEAUTY PORTFOLIO
| How to Apply? | Contact Email: info@firstround.com Initial meeting post app screening: 45 min-60 min Follow up with another partner with domain expertise Partner Meeting: Tell your story to all partners in 1 hour post reference/diligence calls Final Decision: 24 hours, 50% companies that make it to Partner Meeting |
| Criteria |
Investing at the earliest possible stage, First Round offers a growing number of services and products to help founders build companies from scratch. We don’t split angel, seed and pre-seed funding into separate categories — we’re interested in providing the same support across the board. From Uber and Roblox to Notion and Square, this is how we’ve helped 300+ companies start up.
The biggest factor in our decision-making is always the founding team. How innovative, resourceful and resilient are you? What’s your superpower? Why are you going to be the ones to prevail where others won’t? What moments in your history show that you thrive off the beaten path? Of course, we evaluate product and market too, but to be honest, we mostly look at that to evaluate the strength of founders too. Looking at what you’ve done already for this company — and before in your career — gives us a record of hundreds if not thousands of decisions you’ve made to get to where you are today. And that’s where success lives or dies in this industry: the ability for founders to make really quick, good decisions. We want to understand how you do it, and we give that a lot of weight. Idea: Contrarian Insight|Strong group of early passionate customers| Market attractiveness| |
| Resources Breakdown | Funding Terms |
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IMPERATIVE: CULTURE & VALUES
Delayed Gratification
Founder-Market FIt
Admit Unknowns
Good Storytelling
Rate of Execution/Roadmap creation
TBD
BEAUTY FUNDER FIT SCORE
Resources
Education
Accelerator
Network
1:1
2.25/10
*This score calculates the likelihood of any beauty brand getting funded by the investor. The score gives weights to number of beauty investments, recency of beauty investment, number of beauty exits, inclusivity inclination, resources offered, etc.
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LEAD DETAILS
Lead Contact
Josh Kopelman
Title
Founder and Partner
Email Id
Twitter Handle
JUMP CONCLUSION
First Round Capital focuses on early-stage technology ventures, particularly in software and artificial intelligence, with a geographical emphasis on California and New York. Their portfolio frequently includes sectors like FinTech, healthcare, and biotechnology, along with emerging technologies such as generative AI, cybersecurity, and cloud services. They favor collaborative investments and demonstrate a commitment to diversity, targeting early-stage startups with strong growth potential in tech hubs and a focus on inclusive leadership.
An Aoid Beauty Funder Fit, you are better off not prioritizing FRC.