Laconia Capital Group is a venture capital firm focusing on pre-seed and seed rounds for transformative companies in the B2B software sector.

Laconia Capital Group

We lead investments in pre-seed and seed stage B2B software companies that transform how business is done. We support founders with the only things that matter in the early days: sales acceleration, operational execution, and capital strategy. Apply for funding here: bit.ly/laconiapitch



TowerIQ

PromoteIQ

Homer Logistics

Levelset

PageScience

xtraCHEF

LocalVox Media

Laconia

Founders often ask what makes a "sure" venture capital investment opportunity. While there's no universal answer, here's our approach at Laconia.

🧠 Our Focus
We invest in the digitization of legacy industries, targeting companies using technology to solve high pain-point problems and inefficiencies in existing markets. We back transformative, not incremental, solutions.

💸 Pre-Seed & Seed B2B Software
We invest in pre-seed and seed-stage B2B software companies in the US and Canada. Typically we invest $250,000 and $1,000,000 in rounds of $1M-$4M. We are happy to lead or co-lead rounds. Our sectors include fintech, e-commerce enablement, supply chain, hospitality tech, retail tech, digital health, and more.

Key Considerations
➡️ Capital Efficiency: We prefer companies that can achieve "break-even optionality" early. B2B models are typically more capital efficient than B2C.
➡️ Software Scalability: We focus on scalable software solutions and avoid capital-intensive segments like energy, agriculture, hardware, and two-sided marketplaces.
➡️ Business Resilience: We support companies intensely, focusing on those solving mission-critical problems with inevitable solutions.
➡️ Market Validation: We seek evidence of customer demand, product stickiness, and high retention to ensure the product is a "must-have."
➡️ Geographic Focus: We invest primarily across the US and Canada and can deploy up to 20% of our fund internationally.

💪 Our Strengths
We specialize in B2B software, leveraging our expertise in B2B sales, marketing, and business development. Our network allows us to provide key customer introductions early.

While no investment is a sure thing, understanding our strategy can help founders align their pitches and businesses with our criteria.

Does this sound like you? If so, reach out to us here: https://lnkd.in/gY6ZbSBa

Seed investing remains crucial and promising in venture capital. To maximize its potential, we need to address three key areas:

🔵Clarify Stages and Benchmarks
We need clear definitions for "seed," "venture capital," and other stages to ensure consistent discussions. Disaggregating return data will help create accurate benchmarks for different strategies. Setting ambitious targets that reflect seed investing's true potential will attract more LPs.

🔵Diversify Asset Allocation
Seed investing thrives on diversification due to its high mean return and outlier-driven nature. LP portfolios should be large to capture the upside, while GPs must balance discipline and diversification. Leveraging technological advances can enhance deal capacity and market coverage.

🔵Rethink Strategic Differentiation
Conventional differentiators like geographic arbitrage and network centrality often don’t correlate with returns. We need deeper analysis to identify what truly drives outperformance and provides structural advantages.

By refining definitions, optimizing allocation, and rethinking strategies, we can unlock the full potential of seed investing.

On Tuesday founders joined the Scroobious panel discussion for an engaging and insightful session on effectively pitching AI in their solutions. Mirit Lugassi, along with Brent Willess from Founder Collective and Claire Elizabeth Smith from SpringTide Ventures, shared their experiences and perspectives, providing invaluable tips on how to discuss AI with investors and highlighted common pitfalls to avoid.

Thank you to Scroobious for inviting Mirit, and for organizing a fantastic panel discussion. We look forward to more such collaborative and informative events in the future!

If you are a founder building in B2B software, reach out here: https://lnkd.in/gY6ZbSBa

At Laconia, we pride ourselves on more than just investing in companies—we invest in people. Since our journey with Ocrolus began, we have worked hand-in-hand to overcome obstacles and foster growth.

Our commitment goes beyond financial support to building genuine, lasting relationships with our portfolio companies. We are grateful to have done so with the team at Ocrolus.

Our very own Mirit Lugassi was on the Unlocking Venture Capital Podcast talking about:

👉 Leveraging a legal background in VC
🤝 Supporting diverse, underrepresented founders
🛠 And tackling systemic challenges in the VC industry

Listen to her episode, An Approach to Overcoming Barriers in the VC Space, here: https://lnkd.in/ggdkw4py

Here are some snippets from part 2 of Geri Kirilova’s recent conference presentation deck, where she highlighted critical realities shaping the venture capital sector:

➡️Despite a 2021 boom, macro conditions suggest reduced liquidity ahead.
➡️ A median seed stage post-money valuation of $17M may impress marketers but poses financial challenges.
➡️ Large funding rounds at high valuations contrast sharply with the majority of exits landing under $100M.
➡️ Though VC should outperform PE, the increasingly blurred definitions lead to underwhelming headline performance.
➡️ Strategy segmentation is crucial; without it, so-called VC returns risk investor disinterest.

Overall, strategic clarity and tailored approaches are critical to optimizing investment outcomes in today’s complex market.

COM:LACONIACAPITALGROUP

Laconia Capital Group