SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Pure Ventures (formerly Alpha Bridge Ventures), an early-stage venture capital firm dedicated to empowering founders' personal and professional growth, announces the close of a new $20 million Fund II. This new capital allows the firm to continue executing its core mission around founder mental health/wellness, while expanding the team by hiring Alicia Zeng as their Director of Ops. Pure Ventures provides portfolio companies access and subsidies to a wide range of personalized services through Pilea (formerly Atlas), an integrative leadership and wellness coaching platform co-founded by Dr. Kari Sulenes and Pure Ventures.
Pure Ventures operates under the thesis that healthy founders yield healthy returns. The firm strategically invests in early-stage companies having already built a diverse portfolio with companies such as Atomos, Juneshine, Oats Overnight, Zbiotics, and MUD/WTR, among others.
“Our work has been battle-tested, proven, and emphasizes that the wellbeing of founders is crucial for building sustainable company success and financial impact," said Howie Diamond, Pure Ventures Managing Director and General Partner. “The integration of Pilea's platform and the addition of Alicia to the team further solidifies Pure Ventures' commitment to fostering a more human-centric and less transactional approach to investing. We believe this unlocks the highest potential for outsized returns and its power to reshape the VC landscape.”
Together, Pure Ventures and Pilea are pioneering a new culture in venture capital and aim to redefine success to encompass personal wellbeing alongside financial growth. Through comprehensive support, Pure and Pilea provide founders with dedicated teams to help them overcome challenges frequently associated with the entrepreneurial journey, such as burnout, stress, anxiety, co-founder conflict, financial hardship, and depression.
"Startups shape our future. Founders are disrupting and building businesses that drive culture, society, the health of our planet, and the wellbeing of people," said Dr. Kari Sulenes, co-founder of Pilea. "We see that people who are future-building are often doing so at the expense of themselves. We are partnering with funds like Pure Ventures to create a world where empowered and supported leaders build successful companies that prioritize the wellbeing of people and our planet."
Pilea, now operating independently and widely accessible, adopts a personalized approach to fostering healthy interpersonal dynamics, resilience, and personal and professional development in founders and leaders, all while addressing people-related challenges that can undermine startup success. With a proven track record of supporting numerous founders, Pilea empowers members of the startup community to become leaders who cultivate an ecological work environment — one that is beneficial for self, others, and the environment. Pilea and Pure Ventures are committed to providing founders with the necessary support to build world-changing companies.
“I believe founders are not born, they're forged. In early stage investing, so much of our diligence criteria centers on assessing the resilience, problem solving-ability, and adaptability of the founding team as the company grows,” notes Alicia Zeng. “Given how critical this is to the success of our portfolio, it only makes sense for us to invest resources beyond capital to support founders throughout their journey.”
With 10 years of strategic and operational experience with consumer brands, Alicia brings invaluable expertise in ads, analytics, team scaling, and building resilient global supply chains. She runs an ecommerce startup in the beauty space called Lilac St., and played a pivotal role as the second employee at YC-backed personal care startup L. Fem Care. Alicia previously held positions at Google and McKinsey. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Princeton University.
About Pure Ventures Pure Ventures is a California-based, early stage VC firm run by seasoned GPs and experienced operators. The fund invests in consumer sectors (CPG, e-commerce, D2C, subscription, marketplaces, etc.) as well as in deeper tech realms such as Defense, Energy, Biotech, AI, Robotics, Aerospace, and more. In direct correlation to their stage focus, Pure Ventures also devised a world-class founder support program, Pilea, that helps founders improve their overall health, wellness, and leadership development. Learn more about Pure Ventures at https://pureventuresvc.com/ or follow us on LinkedIn. Learn about Pilea at https://joinpilea.com/.
