Bill Gates, one of the Village Global backers. Image: JStone/Shutterstock
New early-stage firm Village Global is attracting tech leaders such as Mark Zuckerberg, Marissa Mayer and Bill Gates.
Village Global is a new seed and pre-seed venture capital fund that combines capital and mentorship.
The firm describes itself as a non-traditional VC fund, operating as a network to give businesses “connected capital”.
In a blogpost, Village Global highlighted some of its key financial backers, and it reads like a who’s who of Silicon Valley luminaries, from Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and VMware’s Diane Greene, to Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates.
The emphasis on Village Global as a collaborative network is clear.
“To be sure, Village isn’t just about successful people imparting pearls of wisdom. It’s also about learning from one another in a community, and applying network intelligence to today’s biggest entrepreneurial opportunities.”
Hidden gems
Village Global hopes to discover “hidden-gem entrepreneurs” with the help of network leaders such as former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, former Symantec CEO John Thompson, and a plethora of other tech and business experts.
The post also outlined the diversity of the people on its expert panel, from ethnicity and gender, to sector and geography.
The remit for applying to the fund is broad, with Village Global simply saying that it is looking for entrepreneurs using “software and IT to transform global industries”.
Early investment is a key element of the company’s structure. “We invest early. We love being the first money in. Pre-seed and seed stage are our sweet spots, then we’re here to follow on and connect you with other investors as you grow.”
In the works for several months
Co-founder of Village Global, Erik Torenberg, is an investor and former member of Product Hunt’s founding team.
Rumblings around the Village Global story have been ongoing for months, with TechCrunch reporting that Torenberg and one of his partners, Ben Casnocha, were teaming up as early as April this year.
Competition among early-stage funds is fierce but, with Village Global’s pedigree of mentors and leaders on its side, it could change the game for a lot of young tech companies.
Bill Gates, one of the Village Global backers. Image: JStone/Shutterstock
