Baroda Ventures — Investment Thesis & Preferences

Baroda Ventures Research

Investment Thesis

Baroda Ventures is David Bohnett's personal investment vehicle, founded in 1999 and based in Beverly Hills, California. The firm believes in partnering with scrappy entrepreneurs who are passionate about building lasting businesses. Core to their investment philosophy are three principles: intellectual honesty, personal integrity, and design excellence. The firm focuses exclusively on pre-seed and seed stage companies and works side-by-side with founders to provide not just capital but operational support and strategic guidance.

Sector Focus

Baroda Ventures invests across multiple consumer and enterprise sectors:

Primary Focus:

Consumer internet and e-commerce
Mobile applications
SaaS (Software as a Service)
Digital media and entertainment
Blockchain and web3

Geographic Specialization: Strong preference for Los Angeles-based companies, reflecting the firm's deep roots in the Southern California startup ecosystem. They work extensively with the LA startup community through partnerships with accelerators like Amplify LA, Launchpad LA, and Koh Founders.

Design and Product Excellence: The firm has a distinctive focus on well-designed products and exceptional user experience, which differentiates their investment thesis from pure technology plays.

Stage Focus

Baroda Ventures explicitly targets pre-seed and seed stage investments:

Pre-seed: Early-stage companies with founders and initial product concept
Seed: Companies with working product and initial customer traction

Typically, they avoid later stage rounds and follow-on investments, preferring to be early believers and initial backers.

Check Size

Based on analysis of their portfolio and public filings:

Minimum check: $1,000,000
Maximum check: $5,000,000
Typical investment range: $1M-$3M for seed rounds

Their check size indicates a preference for meaningful positions at seed stage, allowing them to provide real capital and be active partners with portfolio companies.

Lead Tendency

Baroda Ventures demonstrates a mixed lead tendency. Analysis of their portfolio shows:

Peter Lee often leads or co-leads seed financing rounds for significant portfolio companies (MNTN, ID90T, Embrace, Crexi, Field Day)
They appear comfortable both leading rounds and participating as strong syndicate members
Their managing partner Peter Lee serves on boards of multiple portfolio companies, indicating active post-investment involvement

Recent Activity

Baroda Ventures shows a moderately active deployment phase, though the firm is no longer aggressively deploying at the pace of some early-stage competitors:

Recent Highlights (2020-2022):

Fluence (Seed, Feb 2022) - Educational software focused on psychedelic therapy training
Embrace (Seed, ~2018-2020) - Mobile experience platform that raised $20M in Series A from NEA and Greycroft

Portfolio Company Exits (Last 5 Years):

MNTN (IPO on NYSE) - Digital marketing platform
SurfAir (IPO) - Premium air travel service
Blade (IPO) - Urban air mobility platform
PolicyGenius (Acquired by Zinnia) - Online insurance broker
Gem (Acquired by Blockdaemon) - Blockchain infrastructure
Multiple other acquisitions across portfolio

Fund Status: Based on market activity data, Baroda Ventures appears to be in a maintenance mode relative to early deployment years. Last documented investment was in early 2022, suggesting the fund may be between deployment cycles or focusing on existing portfolio. No documented investments in 2025-2026.

Notable Recent: The firm's historical exit record shows strong returns with multiple IPOs and strategic acquisitions, validating their early-stage investment thesis.

Portfolio Highlights

Baroda Ventures has built an impressive portfolio of 49+ investments with multiple successful exits:

Public Companies:

MNTN (IPO) - Leading digital marketing platform
SurfAir (IPO) - Premium air travel
Blade (IPO) - Urban air mobility
Digital Brands Group (IPO) - Digital-first retail brands

Strategic Acquisitions:

PolicyGenius → Acquired by Zinnia ($100M+ reported acquisition)
Gem → Acquired by Blockdaemon (blockchain infrastructure)
Chromatik → Acquired by TakeLessons (music platform)
DogVacay → Merged with Rover.com (peer-to-peer pet care)
Pathmatics → Acquired by Sensor Tower (mobile intelligence)
Lettuce Apps → Acquired by Intuit (SMB SaaS)

Active Portfolio:

Embrace - Mobile experience platform ($20M+ raised subsequently)
Crexi - Commercial real estate platform
Field Day - Local marketing platform
Gallant - Stem cell banking for pets
Healthvana - Mobile healthcare records
ID90 Travel - Airline employee travel solutions

Investment Process and Decision Making

Process: Founder-led with partnership structure. David Bohnett, as founder, maintains significant strategic oversight. Peter Lee manages day-to-day portfolio and sourcing as Managing Partner.

Decision Timeline: No specific public information, but their role on portfolio company boards suggests they complete due diligence within 6-8 weeks for seed stage deals.

Typical Involvement: Board seat participation (Peter Lee on MNTN, ID90T, and other major portfolio boards). Active advisor and operational supporter to portfolio companies.

Founder Preferences

Baroda Ventures targets entrepreneurs with specific characteristics:

Ideal Profile:

Scrappy, resourceful founders with deep passion
Technical or product-focused founders
Emphasis on personal integrity and intellectual honesty in founder team
Experience building in Los Angeles startup ecosystem (strong preference)
Founders with design sensibility or appreciation for well-crafted products

Explicit Preferences:

Early-stage, ambitious founders
Founders willing to build lasting, sustainable businesses vs. quick flips
Teams that value feedback and strategic input

Team and Expertise

David Bohnett - Founder:

Founder of GeoCities (acquired by Yahoo! in 1997 for $3.6B)
One of the early web pioneers and builders of the modern internet
Multiple exits and investments including Xdrive.com, Wireimage.com, Stamps.com
Los Angeles Technology Leader of the Year
Deep network across LA tech ecosystem
MBA in Finance (University of Michigan), BS in Business Administration (USC)
Started career at Accenture

Peter Lee - Managing Partner:

Manages Baroda Ventures investment portfolio and board relationships
Co-founder and Managing Partner of Embark Ventures (pre-seed/seed focused)
Previous investor at Clearstone Ventures and Prism Ventures
VP of Operations & Product Management at Goldpocket (acquired by Ericsson)
Manager at McKinsey focusing on digital media, consumer electronics, internet
Product Manager at Microsoft (wireless devices) and Virtual Ink (acquired by Dymo)
BS and MS in Engineering Product Development from MIT (Tau Beta Pi Honor Society)
MBA with honors from Harvard Business School
Extensive MIT and Harvard network

Paul Moore - Director of Special Projects:

With firm since 2001 (22+ years tenure)
Handles sourcing, deal screening, market analysis, due diligence, and deal closing
Provides operational support to portfolio companies
BS in Finance from California State University, Northridge
MBA from USC Marshall School of Business (BSEL Fellow)
Deep understanding of firm's portfolio and operational needs

Strategic Advisors:

Bill Bohnett
Christian Olson

The team combines deep venture capital experience (Peter Lee's background in structured VC), technology entrepreneurship (David Bohnett's GeoCities legacy), operational excellence (Paul Moore's 20+ year tenure), and network strength across LA tech.

Geographic Focus

Baroda Ventures is distinctly Los Angeles-focused:

Headquarters in Beverly Hills, California
"Particular interest in Los Angeles based companies"
Active partnerships with LA accelerators (Amplify LA, Launchpad LA, Koh Founders)
Deep networks in Southern California startup ecosystem
While they invest outside LA, the firm shows strong regional bias

Warm Introduction Requirement

While not explicitly stated, Baroda Ventures appears to operate on warm introduction basis given their boutique size (3 investment professionals) and selective thesis. Given David Bohnett's prominence and their focus on relationship-driven investing, a warm introduction would significantly improve reception probability.

Fund Strategy and Philosophy

Core Beliefs:

"Power of well designed products" - Design excellence is a competitive advantage
"Scrappy entrepreneurs" - Bootstrap mentality and resourcefulness matter
"Lasting businesses" - Long-term value creation over quick exits (though exits demonstrate flexibility)
"Intellectual honesty" - Transparent, candid relationships with founders
"Hustle" - Hands-on, scrappy ethos from founders

Why Pre-seed/Seed: Allows them to back passionate teams early, provide meaningful operational input, and build deep relationships with founders. Their portfolio success validates this approach - many of their seed investments went to major exits, suggesting strong founder picking ability.

Competitive Position

Baroda Ventures operates as a boutique pre-seed/seed investor with exceptional historical returns. They're distinct from larger seed vehicles (Sequoia Scout, Benchmark) through their LA focus and founder-led structure. They face competition from other LA-focused seed funds and micro-VCs but maintain strong advantages:

Proven exit track record (multiple IPOs)
Founder pedigree (David Bohnett's network and credibility)
Operational expertise across team
Deep LA ecosystem integration

Future Outlook

Based on available information:

Last documented investment in early 2022 (Fluence)
No new investments publicly announced 2022-2026
Likely between deployment cycles or managing existing portfolio
Potential upcoming fund raise given successful track record
Continued focus on LA ecosystem given consistent thesis and network

Summary

Baroda Ventures represents the personal investment vehicle of David Bohnett, one of internet's pioneering entrepreneurs. Through Managing Partner Peter Lee and veteran director Paul Moore, they deploy capital into scrappy pre-seed and seed teams building well-designed consumer and enterprise products, with strong LA ecosystem focus. Their portfolio success across multiple IPOs and strategic exits validates their founder-picking ability and hands-on investment approach. The firm operates with a high-touch, relationship-driven model that prioritizes intellectual honesty, integrity, and long-term value creation.