Collective Global Research
Investment Thesis
Collective Global is a next-generation venture platform designed to bridge premier institutional capital and the innovation economy. Founded in 2023 by Sheel Tyle and Daniel Adamson, the firm operates across three distinct investment strategies: Elevate (GP stakes in elite venture managers), Amplo (early-stage direct venture investing), and Tactica (opportunistic co-investments and direct deals). The firm launched in November 2023 with more than $1 billion in assets under management, co-owned by leading pension funds including Orange County Employees Retirement System (OCERS), the City of San José Retirement System, and UK pension fund Railpen.
The firm's core thesis is that institutional capital historically has had poor access to venture returns due to structural barriers — fragmentation of the asset class, geographic clustering of top managers, and the relationship-driven nature of deal access. Collective Global seeks to solve this by creating a global consortium of aligned institutional allocators who collectively gain access, information, and relationship advantages that no single pension could achieve alone.
Strategy: Three Pillars
Elevate — GP Stakes in Venture Firms
The Elevate strategy acquires stakes in top-tier venture capital firms. By owning a share of the management company, Collective Global's institutional partners receive returns tied to the long-term success of the manager, access to co-investment opportunities, and a deeper relationship that goes beyond a traditional LP commitment. In April 2024, Collective Global made its first Elevate investment: acquiring a stake in Drive Capital, the Columbus, Ohio-based firm founded by former Sequoia Capital partners that manages $2 billion and has invested in companies like Duolingo and Sidecar Health. The total potential commitment to Drive Capital could reach $750 million. Collective Global is seeking up to $1.2 billion for the Elevate vehicle.
Amplo — Early-Stage Direct Venture
The Amplo platform makes direct venture investments at the Seed and Series A stages. Partner Sam Garcia leads the Seed/Series A practice and serves on the boards of multiple portfolio companies. Amplo has invested in artificial intelligence, fintech, energy resilience, mental health, and enterprise software companies across 6 continents. The portfolio spans over 50 companies globally.
Tactica — Opportunistic Mandate
The Tactica strategy provides an opportunistic venture mandate that allows Collective Global to pursue co-investments alongside its GP stakes partners and other attractive opportunities in venture growth companies.
Stage Focus
The firm invests across the full venture lifecycle:
- Early stage (Seed, Series A) — primarily through Amplo
- Venture growth and later stage — through Tactica and Elevate co-investments
- GP stakes — through Elevate (acquiring ownership stakes in established venture managers)
Check Size
For direct/Amplo investments at Seed and Series A stages, check sizes are not publicly disclosed. Given the institutional backing and portfolio composition, individual deal sizes likely range from $1M to $25M for direct investments. For the Elevate GP stakes strategy, commitments are substantially larger — the Drive Capital commitment may reach $750 million in total.
Portfolio Highlights
Representative Direct Investments (Current)
- Harmonic (harmonic.ai) — AI-powered market intelligence platform
- VAST Data (vastdata.com) — AI data infrastructure and storage
- Emerald AI (emeraldai.co) — AI company
- Lila AI (lila.ai) — AI platform (Lila Sciences; Daniel Adamson on board)
- Lightyear (lightyear.ai) — AI company
- Axion / Axion Ray (axion.com) — AI-powered operations
- Antares Industries (antaresindustries.com) — Aerospace and defense
- Perk (perk.com) — Consumer/fintech
Prior Direct Investments
- Robinhood (robinhood.com) — Fintech
- Shield AI (shield.ai) — Defense AI
Additional Amplo Portfolio Companies
- Lightyear, Flume, Kredi, Tradespace, Wizehire, Steno, Doxel, Legalpad (acquired by Deel)
GP Stakes Investment
- Drive Capital (drivecapital.com) — First Elevate investment (April 2024); up to $750M commitment; Columbus, Ohio-based firm founded by former Sequoia Capital partners
Team
- Daniel Adamson, Founder & Co-CEO — Former Chairman of Capital Constellation (deployed $3B+ to next-gen PE managers), Senior Advisor and Senior MD at Wafra, senior positions at Ares Management and Bridgewater Associates, began career at McKinsey. Yale BA (summa cum laude), Oxford MPhil (Marshall Scholar), Yale JD. Serves on World Bank External Advisory Board, Yale President's Council, Stanford Research Initiative on Long-Term Investing. Co-host of Stanford-affiliated podcast "Don't Get Fired" profiling CIOs of institutional asset owners.
- Sheel Tyle, Founder & Co-CEO — Stanford graduate at 19, Harvard Law JD, State Bar of Texas. Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2013. Co-Owner and Alternate Governor of the Portland Trail Blazers (purchased March 2026, part of Rip City Rising group). Trustee of the Society for Science; board member of Greater Houston Partnership, Baylor College of Medicine, JFK Presidential Library.
- Anand Radhakrishnan, Partner, COO & CFO — 20+ years at Investcorp ($50B+ AUM) as Head of North American Technology Partnerships and COO of North American PE Group. Previously Carlyle Group Venture Capital and Robertson Stephens (Technology M&A). MIT SB in EE/CS, Harvard MBA with Distinction. Published NLP research from MIT AI Lab.
- JP Schnapper-Casteras, General Counsel & CCO — Stanford Law (Pro Bono Distinction), Harvard Kennedy School MPP. Outside counsel to Amplo since 2020 advising on $125M+ in early-stage financings. Clerked on US Court of Appeals (4th Circuit and Armed Forces). Chair of the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights.
- Jennifer Johnson, Chief of Staff — Previously supported senior management and Business Development at Wafra; earlier roles at Mack-Cali Realty and Harris Corporation supporting C-suite leaders.
- Carole Cheung, Principal, Finance — 15+ years in fund management and financial reporting. Formerly Executive Director at Affinius Capital and H/2 Capital Partners. Started career in public accounting at KPMG (Hong Kong and Chicago). CPA and FCCA (Fellow of ACCA). Graduate of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
- Sam Garcia, Partner (Amplo) — Leads Seed/Series A practice. Lecturer at Harvard Law School teaching VC Business Diligence. VP at LatinxVC. Board seats: Lightyear, Flume, Kredi, Tradespace, Wizehire, Steno, Axion Ray, Doxel. University of Texas at Austin (Business Honors), Harvard JD.
- Adam Robbins, Partner — Formerly Director at Wafra focused on Capital Constellation ($3B+ deployed). Previous roles at World Economic Forum, World Bank, International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds, and Amundi Asset Management. Executive Fellow at Panmure House (Edinburgh Business School). Colby College BA, Tufts Fletcher School MIB.
- Henrik Nordlander, Partner — Former Co-Head of Alternative Investments at the Third Swedish National Pension Fund (AP3), overseeing $19B+ AUM across 100+ fund investments and directs. Earlier at Swedfund International (emerging markets investing from Nairobi). Stockholm School of Economics (Master's), Lund University (Bachelor's).
Board Partners
- The Honorable Julia Gillard AC — Former Prime Minister of Australia
- Rt Hon Sir John Key — Former Prime Minister of New Zealand
- Alec Ross — Former Senior Advisor for Innovation at the US State Department; author
- Chris Olsen — Co-Founder of Drive Capital (Collective Global's first GP stakes investee)
- Paul Fielding — Board Partner
- Katherine Kwun McLane — Board Partner
Unique Ownership Structure
Collective Global operates a distinctive co-ownership model where institutional investor partners own the management company alongside the founding team. Founding asset owners include OCERS ($20.8B AUM), City of San José Retirement System ($8B AUM), and Railpen (~£34B AUM). This structure creates deep alignment between allocators and managers beyond typical LP/GP dynamics.
Geographic Focus
Collective Global invests globally, with portfolio companies on 6 continents. The firm is headquartered in New York, with global LP relationships across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and beyond. The Elevate strategy specifically targets geographic diversification beyond Silicon Valley, as demonstrated by the Drive Capital investment in the Midwest.
Recent Activity
- November 2023: Launched with $1B+ AUM; announced Elevate GP stakes strategy targeting up to $1.2B
- April 2024: First Elevate investment — acquired stake in Drive Capital (up to $750M commitment)
- September 2025: Sheel Tyle spoke at IPEM Paris 2025
- March 2026: Sheel Tyle joined Portland Trail Blazers as Co-Owner and Alternate Governor