Motivate Venture Capital Research
Investment Thesis
Motivate Venture Capital backs incredible founders with strong domain knowledge who are tackling real, durable problems with very high growth potential in large and growing markets. Founded in 2019 by David Wieland and Lauren Deluca — both serial entrepreneurs with Kellogg MBAs and Notre Dame connections — the firm has grown to $124M in AUM across two funds. Their philosophy emphasizes optimism, ingenuity, and creative improvement, partnering with founders who combine passion for their mission with deep expertise in the problem space.
Motivate operates as a generalist early-stage fund with a heavy lean toward B2B software and automation for legacy industries. They have developed particularly deep conviction in fintech, manufacturing automation, enterprise SaaS, and vertical software for sectors that have been underserved by technology — financial services, insurance, manufacturing, logistics, and healthcare.
Stage Focus
Motivate invests exclusively at pre-seed and seed:
- Pre-Seed: $250K–$1M, comfortable as first institutional capital
- Seed: $1.5M–$3M, targeting approximately 15% ownership
They rarely invest from a cold pitch without prior founder relationship. Most successful investments come through their 500+ co-investor network and warm introductions. They reserve follow-on capital for executing portfolio companies.
Check Size
Typical investment range: $250K–$3M
- Pre-seed: $250K–$1M
- Seed: $1.5M–$3M (targeting ~15% ownership)
- Average seed round size across portfolio: $6.18M
Geographic Focus
North America, with a stated belief that "geography has little to do with success — great companies are everywhere." The majority of portfolio companies are based in the US (Chicago, NYC, Boston, DC, SF Bay Area) with meaningful Canadian exposure (Toronto, Calgary).
Lead Tendency & Decision Process
Motivate both leads and participates in rounds depending on stage and circumstances. They led the pre-seed round for Mahalo ($2.6M) and are comfortable leading seed rounds. For larger Series A follow-ons in portfolio companies, they participate as an existing investor.
Decisions are made by the managing partners (David Wieland and Lauren Deluca) in partnership with General Partner Andy Will. The firm can "move quickly as necessary" and is described as nimble. Warm introductions through their co-investor network significantly accelerate the process.
Fund Status & Recent Activity
Motivate is currently deploying from Motivate Seed Fund II, an $81M vehicle announced in November 2023 (2022 vintage). They made 8 investments in 2025 and 1 in early 2026, suggesting active deployment. The fund targets North American pre-seed and seed-stage technology companies across multiple sectors.
Recent portfolio news:
- Mesh (portfolio unicorn): Raised $75M Series C and reached $1B valuation (January 2026)
- Obviant: $7.1M round for defense procurement intelligence (June 2025)
- The Swarm: $8M total funding backed by HubSpot Ventures (May 2025)
- Mahalo: $2.6M pre-seed led by Motivate (2025)
- Dyania Health: $10M Series A (November 2024)
- nmbr: CAD $7.6M for embedded payroll (September 2024)
- HubiFi: $2.5M seed for accounting automation (August 2024)
Portfolio Highlights
Motivate has invested in 83+ companies over ~7 years. Notable portfolio companies:
Breakouts / Notable:
- Mesh (SF, CA): Crypto network for secure business payments — reached $1B unicorn valuation in January 2026
- Hallow (Chicago, IL): Catholic meditation and prayer app — one of the most downloaded faith apps globally
- Banyan (acquired by BILT): Receipt data infrastructure — successful exit
Active Portfolio (selected):
- Fulcrum (Minneapolis): Cloud ERP for small manufacturers
- Attain (Chicago): Earned wage access platform
- Lazarus AI (Boston): AI data extraction from any media without prior training
- Valiot (Austin): AI-driven manufacturing automation
- Inca Digital (DC): Crypto and financial market threat detection
- Dyania Health (Jersey City): NLP for clinical research with real-world data
- HubiFi (Columbus): Automated revenue recognition and reporting
- Obviant (DC): Government contracting intelligence
- qBraid (Chicago): Quantum computing ecosystem platform
- Quiltt (NYC): Single API for embedding fintech experiences
- ReloShare (Chicago): Software for social service agencies
Past / Angel Investments (pre-fund): Chime, Robinhood, Public.com, Pipe, TradingView, Home Chef (acquired)
Team
David Wieland, Founder & Managing Partner: Serial entrepreneur — founded InnFlux (hotel WiFi/telecom), PowerSurge Webhosting, iEstates (digital media), and RIVS (video hiring, acquired). 150+ early-stage investments including Chime, Robinhood, Pipe. BA Government & Philosophy (Notre Dame), MBA (Northwestern Kellogg), Harvard Executive Education in VC/PE.
Lauren Deluca, Founder & Managing Partner: Serial entrepreneur — co-founded Oxford Intelligence Partners (FinTech, sold to Q4 in 2015), Victory Networks (trading infrastructure, sold to QuantHouse in 2017), and Sumo Capital (proprietary trading). Focused on early-stage fintech and SaaS. BA Notre Dame (2001), MBA Northwestern Kellogg (2015).
Andy Will, General Partner: Founded Willpower VC; led investment team at Zeal Capital Partners; roles at Listen Ventures and JP Morgan (Equity Derivatives). BS Finance (Notre Dame), MBA (Chicago Booth). Kauffman Fellow, Class 28.
Jackson Bubala, Partner: Senior Associate at Manifold Group; led early-stage fintech investments. BA Government (Dartmouth). Focused on fintech and enterprise software.
Courtney Trunk, Head of Platform: MBA Associate at Chicago Ventures; West Loop Ventures (B2B fintech); VP at Duff & Phelps. BS Finance (University of Illinois), MBA (Northwestern Kellogg).
Bonnie Kearns, COO: Investor Relations at Centana Growth Partners; BD at FTV Capital. BS International, Resource & Consumer Economics (University of Illinois). Joined 2023.
What They Don't Invest In
Motivate explicitly avoids: incrementally-better solutions in crowded markets, technology dependent on third-party data access, declining market trends, poor capital stewardship, solutions looking for problems, and products requiring long pre-market development cycles.
Founder Preferences
Strong domain expertise, passion, resilience, resourcefulness, and sales ability. Teams with healthy dynamics and strong culture are essential. They prefer founders who are deep subject matter experts in their market.