Investor Profile: Wildcat Venture Partners — Thesis, Cheque Size & How to Apply

If your startup is unlocking value trapped inside an old industry, Wildcat Venture Partners funding deserves a close look. Based in San Mateo, California, and founded in 2015, Wildcat Venture Partners backs early-stage business-to-business and business-to-consumer technology companies using artificial intelligence, machine learning, the internet of things and cloud technology to disrupt industrial sectors. Founders asking how to get funding from Wildcat Venture Partners should know it is operator-led and thesis-disciplined: it wants large markets, proven teams and time to build conviction.

Investment thesis

Wildcat's central idea is the modern wildcatter: an entrepreneur who prospects for trapped value, refines it with data and technology, and monetises it as a category leader. The firm judges every opportunity through its Traction Gap Framework, built on four pillars: product, revenue, team and systems.

Sectors and stages

The firm invests in early-stage B2B and B2B2C startups across four core markets: digital health, edtech, enterprise software as a service, and fintech, with particular interest in alternative credit, payments and insurance. founding partner Bruce Cleveland has said roughly 5% of a given fund is reserved for seed investments, used mainly to get to know teams that could earn a full follow-on.

Fund size and cheque size

Wildcat's current total assets under management are not publicly disclosed in the sources reviewed for this profile, so no aggregate figure is stated here. What is on the public record is that in 2018 the firm was reported to be raising its second fund with a target of up to $120 million, more than tripling its funds under management at that time. Individual cheque sizes are not published as a standard range by the firm, so founders should discuss cheque size directly with the team once a thesis fit is established.

Notable portfolio

Wildcat's portfolio includes Earnest, the technology lender it backed at Series A, C3.ai, the industrial artificial intelligence platform, and Vlocity, the industry-cloud software company built for the Salesforce platform. Its fintech history includes two companies described in the firm's own investment writing as unicorns, Kabbage and Coupa.

Partners

Wildcat was founded by Bruce Cleveland and Bryan Stolle. Cleveland, author of Traversing the Traction Gap, previously worked at Oracle and Siebel Systems. Stolle focuses on fintech, edtech, quant marketing and elder-care technology, and previously founded Agile Software, creator of the product lifecycle management category. Geoffrey Moore, author of Crossing the Chasm, is also associated with the firm as a partner and adviser.

Programs, credits and perks

Wildcat does not run a public accelerator or publish a cloud-credits programme; its programme is its playbook. Portfolio companies get the Traction Gap Framework as an operating discipline, long relationship-building with partners who describe themselves as entrepreneur-first, and operator help through the stretch between product launch and proven traction. The firm says it averages six or more months getting to know an entrepreneur before investing.

How to apply for funding

No public application portal was identified for Wildcat Venture Partners, so founders should not expect a form-based route to a term sheet. The realistic path is a warm introduction from a founder, operator or co-investor in the firm's network, or a direct approach through its official website, wildcat.vc, with a concise deck covering market, team, product and traction-gap stage.