Endurance28 Research
Overview
Endurance28 (formerly SVLC) is an early-stage venture capital firm based at 39 Mesa St., Ste. 207, San Francisco, CA 94129, with deep roots in Mexico and Latin America. It was founded by Consuelo Valverde, who the firm describes as the first Latina immigrant to found an early-stage VC firm. Its tagline is "Entrepreneurs first" and it calls the founders it backs "ambitious rebels". The name comes from Shackleton's Endurance expedition and its crew of 28, a metaphor for inclusive leadership and the collective strength of a team.
Investment Thesis
The firm invests across three themes, each stated on its strategy page:
- Climate & Environment ("We cannot make money on a dead planet"): environmental resilience and climate action through science and technology.
- Health & Well-Being ("Improving healthcare for all"): prevention, diagnostics, treatment, access and efficiency.
- Digital Economy ("Putting digital economy in reach"): empowering SMBs, breaking down financial access barriers, and fostering meaningful work.
A PayPal Ventures LP describes the thesis as "happy people, happy planet". The firm says it searches for opportunities where others are not looking, and focuses on what it does not know more than what it does.
Stage Focus
Early stage, preferring to partner with founders from day one. The Crunchbase profile describes seed and early-stage investing. The site does not publish round-stage rules.
Check Size
Not published on the site. Left blank rather than inferred.
Lead Tendency
Not stated. Recorded as unknown.
Decision Process
The firm describes a rigorous, bias-reducing framework. A three-pillar fit check and founder screen come first. The first call is entirely about the founders' story, with no deck or financials. The second call is a business deep dive. The team then produces an Opportunity Score (ambition, vision, leadership, execution speed, cap table) followed by a Decision Analysis: market map, business model, life stages and probabilities, sensitivity analysis, and a probability-weighted MOIC. An LP describes the framework as borrowed from oil and gas investing.
Recent Activity
The latest page shows portfolio news: Biomakers raised an additional $8M (January 2026), Encellin announced interim clinical results in type 1 diabetes, and Ares Materials announced a first close of its Series B. A Founders Retreat was held in Moab, Utah in 2025. Third-party profiles cite roughly 18 to 26 investments and a Fund III (SVLC Fund III on Crunchbase). Fund size and deployment status are not stated on the site.
Portfolio Highlights
The portfolio page lists 33 founders' companies grouped under the three themes. Clip, the Mexican payments company and the first angel investment of Valverde, became a unicorn and anchored the first fund. Other companies include Encellin (cell encapsulation), Ares Materials (flexible materials), Biomakers (oncology data), Finless Foods (cell-based seafood), Nebia, Jüsto (grocery delivery), Cubbo (fulfillment), Fiado, Prixz, Holoclara, Torch Sensors, Cascade Bio, Equator Therapeutics, Compound Foods and Micro Meat.
Team
- Consuelo Valverde: Founder & Managing Partner. Electrical engineer (University of Miami), Kauffman Fellow, two master's degrees, former head of a state innovation office in Mexico.
- Jared Campbell: General Partner, Climate. Two decades of engineering including DARPA-funded work; ultra-endurance athlete.
- Jessica Chao: Venture Partner.
- Paul Hung: Venture Partner.
- Victoria Otamiri, Daniela Guerra, Carmiña De La Peña, Sofia Guerra, Garrett Dempsey: team members (titles not captured).
- Advisory board: Cristina Mittermeier, Cynthia Cannady, Rob Wirszycz, Xavier Baillères.
Founder Preferences
Founders first. The firm values the founder's story and values, nonlinear thinking, leadership and talent gravity, and removing pattern-matching bias. It invests in diverse founders, including outside Silicon Valley, and says it has performed in the top 5 percent since inception.
Limited Partners
Named LPs include PayPal Ventures, IPG (a multi-family office) and Twelve Hundred VC.
Geographic Focus
San Francisco and Silicon Valley, with a strong cross-border focus on Mexico and Latin America, and global founders.
Gaps
No stated check size, fund size, or lead policy. Portfolio company domains and stages were not given on the page and are left null.