Science

Science Inc. Research

Investment Thesis

Science Inc. is a Santa Monica-based venture capital firm and startup studio founded in 2011 that identifies entrenched markets and societal shifts and invests in disruptive companies with new ideas and highly focused teams. The firm operates with a unique hybrid model combining traditional venture capital investing with a studio model that co-founds and incubates companies from scratch. Science leverages operational expertise, predictive strategy, and a shared services platform to help founders scale highly profitable businesses.

The firm's core philosophy is "we see what others don't" - they source the strongest talent, provide operational guidance, and predict and invest in future societal shifts before they become mainstream. The founding team has collectively seen over $5B in exits and has worked together for 12+ years.

Sector Focus

Science invests across multiple consumer and technology sectors:

Consumer & E-commerce: Direct-to-consumer brands, subscription services, consumer products

• DTC brands: Dollar Shave Club, MeUndies, Liquid Death, Stance, OffLimits cereal, Urban Remedy
• Commerce: Arrive (recommerce platform), Plowz & Mowz (on-demand services)

Media, Entertainment & Gaming: Content platforms, influencer marketing, esports

• Gaming: PlayVS (high school esports), Mammoth Media (mobile entertainment)
• Media: Medium, Hello Society (influencer marketing), FameBit (brand content), Toonstar (web3 animation)

Food & Beverage: CPG brands, food tech

• Liquid Death (water), Empirical Spirits (distillery), Biite (drop culture food), SōRSE (cannabis-infused beverages), OffLimits (cereal)

Technology & Infrastructure: IoT, blockchain, fintech, developer tools

• Blockchain/Web3: Open3, TokenBot, RealBlocks, Superlocal, SpringRole
• Tech: Athena Security (gun detection), Linear Labs (smart motor), Fuze (IoT)

Marketplaces & Services: Pet care, event spaces, wellness

• DogVacay (acquired by Rover), EventUp, The Good Patch (wellness patches)

Notable Exclusions: The firm focuses on consumer-facing businesses and brand-building opportunities. They avoid deep enterprise infrastructure, pure biotech/hard sciences, and B2B SaaS without consumer angles.

Stage Focus

Science is a multi-stage investor with flexibility across the lifecycle:

• Seed: Primary focus for new investments, both from studio incubations and external deals
• Early-stage follow-on: Series A and beyond for existing portfolio companies
• Later-stage: Selective follow-on investments for proven winners

The firm has raised multiple funds: Science Ventures 2011 ($50M), 2017 ($75M), and 2020 ($50M). They also operate a Rolling Fund and Science Blockchain fund for specialized investments.

Check Size

Based on the fund sizes and portfolio composition:

• Seed investments: $500K - $3M initial checks
• Follow-on investments: Up to $5M+ for portfolio winners
• Studio incubations: Variable, often with significant operational support

The firm has helped portfolio companies raise over $400M in external capital.

Recent Activity

Fund Status: Funds from 2011, 2017, and 2020 appear to be largely deployed (marked "not accepting new companies"). The firm operates a Rolling Fund for ongoing deal access.

Recent Investments (2024-2025):

• Open3 (January 2025): Web3 products connecting consumers and brands via NFTs
• Final Boss Sour (May 2025): Latest investment per PitchBook data

Notable Portfolio Highlights:

• Dollar Shave Club: Acquired by Unilever for $1B (flagship exit)
• DogVacay: Acquired by Rover
• Bird: Went public via IPO (scooter sharing)
• Hello Society: Acquired
• FameBit: Acquired by YouTube/Google
• Medium: Major media platform
• Liquid Death: One of the fastest-growing CPG brands
• PlayVS: Official high school esports league

The firm has co-founded and invested in more than 60 companies.

Team

Managing Directors:

• Michael Jones: Co-founder, former CEO of Myspace and Userplane (acquired by AOL). Themes: social software, future of content, brand building. Current investments: Liquid Death, Mammoth Media, Pray.com, Lambs, Arrive. Past: Dollar Shave Club, Goodreads, HouseParty.

• Peter Pham: Co-founder, employee #5 at Photobucket (sold to MySpace for $300M), co-founder/CEO of BillShrink (acquired by MasterCard). Angel advisor to Nextdoor, Ring, Medium. Leads capital raising for portfolio ($400M+ raised). Themes: brand building, social software. Current: PlayVS, Liquid Death, Mammoth Media.

• Greg Gilman: 20+ years as executive, entrepreneur, investor, attorney. Former law professor at Pepperdine. Co-founder/Executive Chairman of RxVantage. Themes: fintech, regulated businesses, crypto/healthcare. Current: Mammoth Media, RealBlocks, Protego, Pray.

• Tom Dare: 20+ years in Internet companies, former VP Business Intelligence at MySpace, COO at Tsavo Media. Board member at PlayVS and Empirical Spirits. Themes: DTC commerce, marketplaces, social software. Current: PlayVS, Empirical Spirits, GoodPatch, Lambs.

Other Key Team Members:

• Priscilla Guevara: General Partner, Head of Investor Relations (15+ years finance, formerly ZX Ventures)
• James Hicks: Managing Director (former investment banker, 30+ IPOs managed)
• Robert Carter: CFO
• Talia Rosenthal: Principal

Geographic Focus

Primarily United States, with strong concentration in:

• Los Angeles/Santa Monica (headquarters)
• San Francisco Bay Area
• Selective investments in other US markets

The firm has historically focused on West Coast opportunities given their LA base.

Decision Process

Investment Committee: Partnership model with four Managing Directors making investment decisions collectively.

Decision Timeline: Not explicitly stated, but typical for seed-stage firms (1-2 months from first meeting to term sheet).

Warm Introduction: While not explicitly required, the firm's network-heavy approach and hands-on model suggest warm introductions are preferred. They accept cold pitches via [email protected].

Involvement Style

Science is highly operationally involved:

• Studio model: Co-founding companies from ideation
• Hands-on support: Strategy, operations, marketing, forecasting, team building
• Shared services: Media marketing, growth strategy, legal support
• Board seats: Common for portfolio companies

The firm has dedicated team members for media (Sarah Brand, Director of Media), growth strategy (Lindsay Weller), and operations (Tom White, Asset Manager).

Founder Preferences

Science seeks founders who:

• Identify with societal shifts and entrenched market disruptions
• Have strong brand identity and consumer insight
• Are coachable and welcome operational support
• Build in consumer-facing categories (DTC, media, gaming, food/bev)
• Can leverage Science's platform and expertise

Lead Tendency

Science often leads or co-leads rounds, especially for studio-incubated companies. For external deals, they may follow or co-invest depending on the opportunity.

Anti-Thesis

• Pure enterprise/B2B SaaS without consumer angle
• Deep tech, biotech, hard sciences (not their expertise)
• Non-branded commodity businesses
• Geographic focus outside US (rare exceptions)
• Companies that don't need operational support

Summary

Science Inc. is a unique LA-based venture firm blending studio incubation with traditional venture investing. With $175M across three main funds plus a Rolling Fund, they focus on consumer brands, media/entertainment, gaming, and food & beverage. Their hands-on, operational approach has produced notable exits including Dollar Shave Club ($1B), DogVacay, Bird, and multiple acquired companies. The four Managing Directors have deep operating experience and 12+ years working together, having collectively generated $5B+ in exits.