Terrain Research
Overview
Terrain is an early-stage technology investment firm and creative partner to founders, launched in 2024 by Eric Stromberg and Willem Van Lancker. The firm describes itself as a seed-stage investor that works deeply with founders during a company's first year, functioning not just as a capital provider but as a true creative partner — helping shape narrative, brand identity, and company vision from inception.
Investment Thesis
Terrain's investment philosophy is captured in its "Call Your Shot" ethos. The firm backs founders who reject the standardized venture playbook of the 2008–2023 era — the "Startup Track" — in favor of founders with specific, high-stakes ambitions and the agency to execute against them methodically.
Terrain explicitly looks for:
- Mission clarity: Founders who identify a specific far-horizon vision and can articulate both success and failure criteria. Vague missions ("we want to be the next Google") are disqualifying.
- Agency and determination: Founders who map exactly where they are going rather than riding market waves or iterating toward an undefined destination.
- Intentional foundation building: Willingness to spend extensive time building the right product, customer base, and team before scaling — citing Figma's four-year pre-release development phase as exemplary.
- High-stakes orientation: Companies where the founding team believes "if we don't build it now, nobody else will" — existential, category-defining opportunities.
The firm positions itself at the frontier of what's possible: developer platforms, AI infrastructure, energy infrastructure, longevity, crypto payments, and enterprise automation. Portfolio selection is deliberately concentrated — Terrain works with a small number of companies per year, enabling deep involvement.
Stage and Check Size
Terrain invests at the earliest stage — pre-seed and seed — during a company's first year. The firm acts as a first institutional investor, writing concentrated early checks. Specific check sizes are not publicly disclosed, but given the portfolio profile and Terrain's positioning as a concentrated seed fund, checks are likely in the $500K–$3M range at seed.
Portfolio Highlights
Terrain's portfolio is small but high-conviction and has already produced notable outcomes:
Base Power Company (basepowercompany.com)
- Founder: Zach Dell, Justin Lopas
- Category: Residential energy storage and power infrastructure
- Terrain was an early backer; the company has raised $68M (Seed), $200M (Series B, April 2025), and $1B (Series C, October 2025) — reaching a $4B valuation in under two years
- Base Power builds battery-powered home energy service, targeting affordable, reliable electricity for all Americans
Bridge (bridge.xyz) — EXITED
- Founders: Zach Abrams, Sean Yu
- Category: Stablecoin payments infrastructure (API-based)
- Acquired by Stripe for $1.1B in October 2024 (closed February 2025) — Terrain's first notable exit
Parallel (parallel.ai)
- Founder: Parag Agrawal (former Twitter CEO)
- Category: AI agent web infrastructure ("a web built for AIs")
- Terrain was a seed investor; Parallel raised $30M in January 2024 and a $100M Series A in November 2025 at $740M valuation (led by Kleiner Perkins and Index Ventures)
Coplane (coplane.com)
- Founders: Chris Sperandio, Victor Mota, Scott O'Leary
- Category: AI-native enterprise back-office operations
- Raised $14M Seed (November 2025), participated by Ribbit Capital, Stripe, Optum Ventures, and Terrain
AIUC (aiuc.com)
- Founders: Rune Kvist, Rajiv Dattani
- Category: AI certification and insurance ("Certify & Insure AI")
- Raised $15M (July 2025), investors include Emergence Capital and Terrain
Eternal (eternal.co)
- Founder: Alex Mather
- Category: Consumer longevity/health — "Live Longer, Live Harder"
Fauna Robotics (faunarobotics.com)
- Founders: Rob Cochran, Josh Merel
- Category: Consumer robotics — "A Robot in Every Home"
Clasp (clasp.ai)
- Founders: Amar Jasarbasic, Zach Zhang
- Category: Employee benefits automation — "Zero Stress Employee Benefits"
CloudX (cloudx.io)
- Founders: Jim Payne, Dan Sack
- Category: AI-era ads infrastructure
Natural (natural.co)
- Founders: Kahlil Lalji, Eric Wang, Walt Leung
- Category: Payments infrastructure for agentic AI
Team
Eric Stromberg, Co-founder & Partner Eric is a serial founder and investor. He was the Founder & Managing Partner of Bedrock, an early-stage fund. Prior to Bedrock, he co-founded and was CEO of Oyster (a subscription books service acquired by Google, named TechCrunch's Best App of the Year). Eric also co-founded Check, an embedded payroll API platform, where he serves as Founder & Board Member. His personal and angel investment track record includes Flock Safety, Figma, Lattice, Plaid, Rinsed, Homebase, and Bridge. He holds a BA from Duke University and grew up in Bethesda, Maryland.
Willem Van Lancker, Co-founder & Partner Willem is a former founder and product designer. He co-founded Oyster with Eric Stromberg (acquired by Google). Before Terrain, Willem led incubations at Thrive Capital, partnering with founders on the earliest stages of companies including The Browser Company, Imprint, Cadence, and Garner Health. Earlier in his career, he was a designer at Apple and Google, where he helped lead the design for Google Maps' first iPhone app (now part of the permanent collection at New York's Museum of Modern Art). He also designed Rhode Island's state license plate and illustrated a U.S. postage stamp. He holds a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design.
Creative Partner Model
Terrain operates differently from most venture firms — it functions as a creative partner, not just a capital provider. The firm produces content (Screenshot Essays newsletter, WVL newsletter), runs programs like Free Agency (an 8-week startup ideation program), and created tools like Untitled.new to help founders develop ideas. The Terrain Invitational is an athletics-focused event program that builds community. This deep creative partnership distinguishes Terrain from traditional VCs.
Geographic Focus
Terrain is headquartered in New York, with the partners having roots in New York and the mid-Atlantic. The portfolio companies are primarily US-based, with Base Power in Austin, TX and others across the major US tech hubs.
Recent Activity
Terrain is actively deploying from its first fund (Fund I). Key recent events:
- Base Power's $1B Series C (October 2025) — major portfolio milestone
- Coplane $14M Seed (November 2025) — latest new investment
- AIUC $15M raise (July 2025)
- Parallel $100M Series A at $740M valuation (November 2025)
The firm also continues to build its founder-facing programs (Free Agency Season Three launched in 2025/2026).
Decision Process
Terrain operates as a two-GP partnership with Eric Stromberg and Willem Van Lancker making investment decisions together. The firm is highly selective, working with a small number of companies per year. There is no formal investment committee — decisions are made by the founding partnership.