Side Door Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
Side Door Ventures (SDV) is a global, generalist venture firm that describes itself as "founders investing in founders" and backs "audacious founders building the future at the fringe." The site lists software, life sciences, space, frontier and deep tech, blockchain, logistics, gaming, media, security, food and financial services as areas of interest. The firm was founded in 2020 and lists San Francisco as its headquarters on LinkedIn and X, with team presence in Boulder, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Vancouver. The team calls itself a globally distributed group of former founders, biotech scientists, space engineers and growth operators. The FAQ says the partners have raised more than $100M for their own companies, scaled teams in several countries and had exits.
Fund Strategies
SDV runs four strategies, each with its own mandate:
- Seed Fund: up to $500K first checks into early-stage companies across frontier tech, life sciences, fintech and SaaS. About 50% of this flagship fund is reserved for follow-ons. A partner quoted by VC Sheet describes it as a roughly $30M fund writing 10 to 12 first checks a year, with 75% earmarked for follow-on.
- Michigan Fund: up to $1.5M lead checks, only into Michigan-headquartered seed-stage companies in manufacturing, advanced mobility, AI/ML, clean energy and deep tech. Third-party profiles put it near $95M, though that figure is unverified by the firm's own site. General Partner Edward Kim, a University of Michigan-Flint professor, launched it in 2024.
- Digital Asset Fund: up to $300K first checks into Web3 companies, both natively on-chain and at the crossover with traditional industries. The firm cites 40+ patents and over a decade in Web3.
- Opportunity Fund: up to $5M into Series A and later companies, writing first checks into new companies and supporting breakout companies from the Seed and Digital Asset funds. VC Sheet quotes a partner describing it as permanent capital writing 15 to 20 checks a year.
VC Sheet also quotes a fifth vehicle, a Y Combinator-focused fund with YC-alumni LPs. The firm's own site lists only four.
Stage Focus and Check Size
Stage range runs from pre-seed through Series B, with the center of gravity at pre-seed and seed. First checks run from $250K to $500K at seed, up to $1.5M for Michigan leads, and up to $5M (VC Sheet: $1M to $8M) from the Opportunity Fund. Goldi reports an average disclosed round size of about $5.1M across 33 rounds, reflecting the size of rounds SDV joins, not its own checks.
Lead Tendency
A GP quoted on VC Sheet says the firm "rarely leads rounds" and co-invests alongside trusted venture partners. The exception is the Michigan Fund, which explicitly writes lead checks. Recent evidence fits this pattern: SDV participated in, and did not lead, Fortastra's Series A (led by First In) and Scorbit's seed.
Recent Activity
- October 2026: participated in Fortastra's $30M Series A, led by First In with Upfront Ventures, Space Capital, Rsquared and ATX Ventures. Fortastra builds maneuverable spacecraft.
- March 2026: participated in the Myriad seed round (prediction markets embedded in media), alongside EVG, Verda Ventures and others.
- November 2025: participated in Scorbit's $5M+ seed. Scorbit is a Detroit connected-arcade gaming platform, which fits the Michigan Fund.
- 2025: Stablecorp, Validation Cloud, Torram Labs and others, per Goldi's tracker.
Deal pace looks lower than in 2023 and 2024, but the firm is clearly still active across several funds.
Portfolio Highlights
The firm claims 100+ portfolio companies. The site features Candela, K2 Space, Mysten Labs, Way, EtherFi and Varda, labeled by the fund that made the investment (Seed, DAF, Opportunity). Varda, which returned a satellite from orbit, is the standout, and Mysten Labs and EtherFi anchor the crypto side. Other investments reported by third-party trackers include Kintsugi, Foxquilt, Biosapien, Hivello, Liquidium, Asymmetry, Scallop, Kernel DAO, Pell Network, Stablecorp and Validation Cloud.
Team and Decision Process
Andrew Batey is the founder and general partner. He is also co-founder of Beatdapp, holds dozens of AI, ML and blockchain patents, and has early growth experience at Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Other general partners and partners include Daniel Dubois, JJ MacLean, Edward Kim and Blaine Riley. The site lists Turner Nashe, Jordan Croom, Drew Gonzales, Bryan Chow, Anastasia Hambali, Jay Fraser, Jackie Plashkes, Andrew Rodriguez, Ashwini Anburajan, Jesse Fast and Brian Rojas.
The published process has five steps. Step one is one or two founder calls, sometimes with a domain expert. Step two is deeper diligence by associates, who produce a recommendation. Step three is an investment committee meeting that agrees terms. Step four is legal review and signature. Step five is post-investment help from an expert network of former founders, operators, growth marketers and technical experts. Batey is reported to use internal systems so founders get fast answers, even a no.
Founder Preferences and Geography
SDV favors founders with unconventional or technical backgrounds working at the frontier: space, deep tech, Web3, life sciences and fintech. It is a global firm with a US center of gravity, plus a Michigan-only fund with a hard geographic requirement. Warm intros are not stated as required; the site invites direct contact.