Responsibly Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
Responsibly Ventures is a PreSeed VC Impact Fund based in Huntington Beach, California, founded in 2021 by Zécca J. Lehn. The firm backs remarkable teams building startups at the intersection of Sustainability and Social Good, using the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as guideposts for investment selection. Their thesis is that positive impact and venture-scale returns are not mutually exclusive — in fact, their "impact moat" framework argues that mission alignment creates a unique strategic advantage that reduces risk and builds durable competitive positioning.
The fund operates on a 14-year time horizon (longer than the typical 10-year VC fund), reflecting a patient capital approach aligned with the longer development cycles of impact-driven businesses.
Sector Focus
Responsibly Ventures targets two broad categories:
Sustainable Tech: Companies addressing environmental challenges, including:
- Climate tech and clean energy (EV infrastructure, solar energy investment, battery technology, corporate decarbonization)
- Circular economy and waste reduction (surplus food, reusable packaging, e-waste recycling)
- PropTech for climate risk (disaster-resilient insurance data)
Social Good Tech: Companies addressing societal challenges, including:
- Digital health and patient engagement automation
- Edtech and AI-powered personalized learning
- Privacy and cybersecurity (zero-knowledge encryption, deepfake defense)
- Sustainable consumer goods and marketplaces
- Community-focused social platforms
The firm explicitly avoids vice categories and unethical business models. Portfolio companies are required to address multiple UN SDGs, with the fund having backed companies covering SDGs 3 (health), 4 (education), 7 (clean energy), 9 (innovation), 11 (sustainable cities), 12 (responsible consumption), and 13 (climate action).
Stage Focus
Responsibly Ventures invests exclusively at Pre-Seed. This is core to their identity — they seek to be the first institutional capital into impact-driven startups, providing the optionality needed to reach venture-scale exits while managing impact-related risks.
Check Size
Typical check size ranges from $25K to $250K, with a sweet spot of approximately $100K. This reflects the nature of pre-seed investing and the fund's targeted $10M fund size (raised under 506c designation).
Lead Tendency
As a small pre-seed fund with checks typically under $250K, Responsibly Ventures primarily participates in rounds rather than leading. They serve as an impact-aligned first-check investor that helps founders establish credibility with subsequent capital sources.
Recent Activity
As of 2025, Responsibly Ventures has deployed capital into 22+ portfolio companies. Their most recent publicly confirmed investments include:
- April 2025: Blind Insight (zero-knowledge searchable encryption APIs)
- August 2024: Climatize ($1.75M pre-seed round — renewable energy investment platform; Responsibly Ventures participated alongside Myriad Venture Partners, Climate Capital, and Techstars)
Portfolio Highlights
Notable portfolio companies span climate tech, circular economy, digital health, and privacy tech:
- It's Electric (itselectric.us) — Curbside EV charging infrastructure for cities; 9 cities granted, 5 live
- Climatize (climatize.earth) — SEC-registered renewable energy investment platform; 240,968 Mt CO₂ avoided projected
- Goodie Bag (goodiebag.co) — Surplus food marketplace; 140K+ bags saved
- Kidsy (kidsy.co) — Children's goods circular marketplace; 1M+ lbs diverted from landfill
- Lumi (lumicup.com) — Reusable aluminum cups; 200K cups shipped, 37,500 lbs plastic avoided
- Blind Insight (blindinsight.com) — Searchable encryption APIs (zero-knowledge privacy)
- Deep Trust (deeptrust.ai) — AI-powered deepfake and social engineering threat detection
- VMind (vmindai.com) — AI compute acceleration for faster, cheaper, greener AI
- Zenthos Energy (zenthosenergy.com) — Aluminum-CO2 battery alternative
- Jungle (jungleai.com) — AI-powered personalized learning platform
- Hana Health (hana.health) — Patient engagement and care coordination automation
- Quantum (quantum-ec.com) — Corporate decarbonization energy impact simulation
Team
Zécca J. Lehn — General Partner Founder and sole GP of Responsibly Ventures. Background as an environmental economist and data scientist before transitioning to venture capital. Lehn applies frameworks from CFA ethics training to evaluate founders with non-judgmental, data-driven rigor. Active on social media as @zecca_lehn.
Rebekah Bastian — Advisor Exited co-founder and authentech lead. Brings operator experience to the advisory bench. LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/rebekahbastian.
Gilberto Gandra — Advisor Executive with 20+ years in responsible technology across global markets. LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/gilberto-gandra.
Decision Process
Responsibly Ventures uses a streamlined process designed for pre-seed speed:
- Data review (application or referral)
- Connect with team
- Execute with portfolio support
Applications are open directly through their website, and they accept both cold applications and warm introductions. As a solo GP firm, decisions are made by Zécca J. Lehn alone.
Geographic Focus
US-only. Portfolio companies must be headquartered in the US or planning to become US-based. Portfolio concentration is in California (LA, SF Bay Area), New York, Colorado, and other major US tech hubs.
Community
The firm has built posi2ive, a partner community of 10,000+ impact-aligned investors and founders focused on social good and sustainability impact measurement. This community serves as a deal-flow and co-investor network for Responsibly Ventures.
Key Differentiators
- Impact Moat Framework: Proprietary lens for evaluating whether a startup's mission creates durable competitive advantage
- 14-Year Fund Structure: Longer patient capital horizon than traditional VC
- Open Applications: Level playing field; cold applications explicitly welcomed alongside warm intros
- SDG Scoring: Every portfolio company must address multiple UN SDGs
- posi2ive Network: Proprietary 10,000+ member impact community for deal flow and support