Our Thesis.
Sierra Ventures invests in the future of The Enterprise. We invest early – primarily Seed and Series A – and look for proven product market fit, disruption in the market, and strong IP. We tend to lead investment rounds and reserve capital for follow on rounds to support our entrepreneurs as they grow.
We believe that partnership is paramount.
We work closely with all of the entrepreneurs we invest in, guiding them with expertise and capital to help their companies grow and deliver on their promise. We understand that great companies don’t get built overnight, and we don’t mind rolling up our sleeves and getting our hands dirty. In fact, we enjoy it.
Sierra’s Investment Focus
Core Enterprise
Data/AI
The volume of data has exploded, and with the emergence of the cloud, new tools are being developed with many data infrastructure software platforms focusing specifically on artificial intelligence (AI) & machine learning (ML). We’re excited about companies that make it easier to ingest, access, and analyze data.
Vertical SaaS
Many industries that rely on excel or pen and paper have been forced to dramatically increase the pace of technology adoption. Vertical SaaS represents the shift to specialization where software is business-specific and is designed for a specific domain.
Sub-sectors within Vertical SaaS include FinTech, EnterpriseApps, and Security.
Next-Gen Infrastructure will be the core connecting fabric for all future technology capabilities. Wide-scale improvement is needed in order to enable applications to run consistently in almost any location across the globe. Organizations have expedited infrastructure modernization strategies which continues to drive growth in the sector.
Next-Gen Technologies
Adoption of Health software has been faster than ever before due to the pandemic tailwind and technology trends that put the consumer in charge. New tools are being developed to reach patients creating opportunities with Pharma, Providers, and Payers. We anticipate a dramatic shift towards more value based care (payer / provider) and digitization and decentralization (pharma).
Web3 promises to make the internet as accessible, open sourced, secure, and decentralized as possible with the goal of benefiting the people engaging, not central organizations. We are looking at the full Web3 ecosystem including Decentralized Applications (DApps), Decentralized Finance (DeFi), Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs), Cryptocurrencies, and more.
A sub-sector we focus on within Web3 includes Blockchain.
Digitally non-native industries like Manufacturing, Supply Chain, and Logistics are seeking ways to find cost parity and production reliability while adhering to increasing demand across the globe. Humans alone will not be able to keep pace with these market trends and automation will be a key driver in movements like Industry 4.0.
Sub-sectors within Industrial Automation include Robotics and Devices.
The ubiquity of smartphones has enabled consumers to access goods and services with relative ease and companies are tuning into customer needs and engaging with their increasingly loyal customer base, leading to viral adoption patterns. Additionally, Consumer social platforms have allowed individuals to express themselves and make money doing it, giving more power to the “Creator Economy”. We are interested in Creator Economy and mission driven D2C Applications & Marketplaces.
A fast growing eCommerce market has been bolstered by the pandemic and every part of the value chain is seeing disruption. The eCommerce software market is driven by market trends like headless eCommerce and ReCommerce. B2B eCommerce has exploded globally and we think the US market will catch up in the coming years.
A sub-sector we focus on within eCommerce is Marketplaces.
Digital and tech-enabled learning has been accelerated in the classroom and the boardroom by the pandemic and social trends such as “the great resignation”. Trends like VR/AR and the Metaverse becoming mainstream combined with the price of enablement devices like smartphones, tablets, and computers decreasing to make technology more accessible than ever have created a market that is ripe for EdTech to flourish.
CASE STUDY
Series A Investment
Hiro Yoshikawa and Kazuki Ohta founded Treasure Data, a cloud-native Customer and Device Data Processing Platform. Sierra Ventures led the Series A Round in 2013 and the company was acquired in 2018.
CASE STUDY
Seed Investment
Varun Badhwar and Gaurav Kumar founded RedLock, a public cloud security company focused on mitigating risks for enterprises on their migration to the cloud. Sierra Ventures led the Seed Round in 2016 and the company was acquired in 2018.