Investor Profile: RareBreed Ventures — Thesis, Cheque Size & How to Apply

RareBreed Ventures is a Baltimore-based pre-seed fund with a deliberately contrarian address. Its pitch is that amazing startups exist everywhere, not only in Silicon Valley, New York and Boston, and that some of the best founders are building products for communities and markets that traditional venture capital does not understand, or has not bothered to understand. Founded in 2020 by McKeever “Mac” Conwell, the firm invests, as its own site puts it, in exceptional founders primarily outside large technology ecosystems.

The thesis has two strands. First, RareBreed Ventures backs software founders who have thought hard about customer acquisition and can show a unique or clearly repeatable way of winning customers. Second, it backs founders building physical products in verticals that have lacked innovation for a decade or more. Its manifesto is explicit that pre-seed founders may not know venture jargon or have a deep network, and that none of that makes them less fundable.

Cheque size is stated plainly on the firm's official website: RareBreed Ventures writes cheques of up to $250K as the first or one of the first investors in a startup. Its manifesto adds that $50,000 is enough to get great founders started but not enough to fully execute, which is why founders keep raising from angels, competitions and accelerators alongside its cheque. The firm's total fund size is not publicly disclosed in its official materials.

The portfolio reflects the outside-the-hubs thesis. EarlyBird, a fintech platform that lets families and friends gift investments to children, raised a $4 million seed round in which RareBreed Ventures participated alongside Seven Seven Six and others. Wove, an online jewellery company using three-dimensional printing to design custom rings, and Co:Create, a curated platform connecting tattoo collectors with artists, are also among its early bets. The firm describes its approach as concentrated, with a small number of first cheques that it supports closely.

Mac Conwell is central to the firm's identity. A former software engineer and two-time founder, he previously worked on the seed investment team at the Maryland Technology Development Corporation and as an entrepreneur in residence at the NewME Accelerator. He built much of RareBreed Ventures's early network in public, and the firm continues to share fundraising tactics and term-sheet lessons aimed at founders who lack traditional networks.

RareBreed Ventures does not run a formal accelerator programme, and it publishes no credits or perks catalogue. Its support is the cheque, the network, and the hands-on guidance of a partner who has been a founder outside the major hubs himself. Sectors are broad, spanning consumer, software-as-a-service, fintech and direct-to-consumer, with the common thread being the founder and the market rather than a single industry label.

How to apply for funding

RareBreed Ventures does not publish a public pitch form on its website; third-party directories list a warm introduction as the best way to get in touch. Founders should start at rarebreed.vc, study the manifesto, and approach through a mutual connection or through Mac Conwell's public channels, where he is active as Mac the VC. A strong approach shows a clear customer acquisition plan or a genuinely overlooked market, and states how a cheque of up to $250K gets the company to its next milestone.