STRUC Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
STRUC Ventures is a $5M pre-seed venture fund backing the next generation of consumer brands. The fund's core thesis is that the most defensible consumer brands of the future will not scale through paid acquisition — instead, they will grow through culture, community, and creators. STRUC Ventures looks for founders who achieve what the firm calls "Behavior Market Fit [BMF]™," a proprietary framework emphasizing earned distribution and sticky behavioral habits over paid growth.
Tagline: "Consumer is the future of venture."
Sector Focus
STRUC Ventures focuses exclusively on consumer brands with an emphasis on:
- Consumer packaged goods (CPG) and direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands that have genuine creator or community-driven distribution
- Consumer apps and social platforms that build habitual engagement through community and culture
- Creator economy businesses — brands and platforms that leverage influencer and creator networks as a primary growth channel
- Women's health and femtech consumer brands — consistent with portfolio signals from team member backgrounds
The fund does not invest in companies that rely primarily on paid digital advertising for growth. STRUC specifically backs brands with organic community-driven traction.
Stage Focus
STRUC Ventures invests exclusively at the pre-seed stage, writing the first institutional check for founders who are building products with early evidence of behavioral pull — i.e., customers return and recruit others without being paid to do so.
Check Size
With a $5M fund, typical pre-seed check sizes are likely in the range of $50K–$250K. Exact check size parameters have not been publicly disclosed.
Geographic Focus
STRUC Ventures targets startups in the US and EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa). The fund's GP has deep roots in Berlin and also operates in Los Angeles, giving genuine connectivity to both European and US consumer markets.
Lead Tendency
As a pre-seed specialist with a $5M fund, STRUC Ventures likely leads or co-leads the first institutional rounds for its portfolio companies. Exact lead preference has not been formally disclosed.
Team
Susie Trujillo — Founder & General Partner
Susie Trujillo is the founder of STRUC Ventures and previously ran STRUC, a boutique operations consultancy (founded 2014) that supported seed-stage consumer startups lacking a full-time COO. Her career spans:
- STRUC (since 2014): Fractional COO services to 100+ early-stage consumer companies. Built the proprietary "STRUC Method" operating playbook, which is now embedded in the fund's portfolio support model.
- Deal Partner at Ganas Ventures: Early-stage investing experience with Latine-founded consumer brands
- Angel Squad at Hustle Fund: Angel investing education and co-investment through Hustle Fund's partner network
- Advisor at Harvest Venture Partners: Strategic advisor on consumer portfolio companies
- Background in brand marketing: 12+ years building consumer brands; founding member of Dreamers // Doers; previously led brand partnerships and strategy at two AMEX-backed luxury travel and e-commerce companies
Based in Berlin; active in both the US and European tech ecosystems.
Additional Team Members
STRUC Ventures lists 7 employees on LinkedIn. Beyond Susie Trujillo, team members include Yohan Piragua, Brandon Simmons, and Nilah Mataafa (李娜), a femtech founder and Gen Z strategist focused on women's health and the intersection of creator culture and consumer health brands.
Decision Process
Susie Trujillo appears to be the primary decision-maker for STRUC Ventures as a solo GP fund. The firm's operations are lean, consistent with the fund's $5M size.
Founder Preferences
STRUC Ventures targets consumer founders who:
- Are building brands with genuine community-driven traction (not paid acquisition)
- Understand distribution through creators and culture
- Have evidence of "Behavior Market Fit" — where user behavior is habitual and social
- Are at pre-seed stage, likely pre-revenue or very early revenue
- US or EMEA-based, with openness to founders from underrepresented backgrounds (consistent with Susie's background at Ganas Ventures)
Portfolio
As a newly launched fund (founded 2026), STRUC Ventures has not publicly disclosed portfolio companies. Based on LinkedIn team associations, Nilah Mataafa — founder of Zahra, a consumer brand addressing menstrual health and period poverty — appears to be connected to the fund. No portfolio has been independently confirmed through press or announcement.
Recent Activity
STRUC Ventures is in the early stages of fund deployment and potentially still fundraising from LPs. The website features two calls-to-action: one for LP conversations (book a call with Susie) and one for founder pitch submissions (send deck to LinkedIn), indicating active LP fundraising and deal sourcing simultaneously.
Anti-thesis
STRUC explicitly does not back consumer brands dependent on paid acquisition funnels. The fund's entire thesis is premised on the failure of the paid acquisition model for new consumer brands.
Competitive Positioning
STRUC Ventures occupies a distinctive niche as a pre-seed consumer fund with operational DNA (from the STRUC consulting track record) and dual US/EMEA connectivity. This positions them differently from US-only consumer VCs and gives portfolio companies practical operational support through the "STRUC Method" playbook.
Contact
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: https://www.getstruc.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/getstruc
- Newsletter: STRUC Storm Report (signup at getstruc.com)
- Deck submissions: via Susie Trujillo's LinkedIn profile