Act One Ventures Raises $73 Million for its 3rd Fund Amid Market Slowdown

Los Angeles-based VC firm nearly doubles AUM, will continue to back the best founders in business software

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Act One Ventures, the early stage venture capital firm that created the Diversity Rider, has finished raising its third fund. With $73 million in committed capital, Act One more than tripled the $23 million raised for its second fund and brought its total assets under management (AUM) to $148 million. The new fund comes at a pivotal moment for the venture capital industry, which is seeing significant contraction with firms shutting down or unable to raise new funds after several years of skyrocketing valuations and mega-funding rounds across all stages.

Act One is led by General Partners Alejandro Guerrero and Michael Silton. The pair began working together in 2013 at the UCLA Venture Fund, and both were software company founders prior to that. They have invested in a total of 47 companies since Act One's inception in 2016, with "founder-market fit" as the core element to their investing philosophy.

"We are grateful to our LPs for believing in us and the work that we have been doing together over the last eight years at Act One," said Guerrero. "Both Michael and I know what it's like to build software companies during down markets, and we are looking forward to working with the founders who will become a part of our family over the coming years with this new fund." 

Fund III will allow Act One to continue to back business software companies at the Seed stage, specifically those in vertical SaaS, fintech, compliance, and ecommerce infrastructure. The firm led four of the five deals made from the new fund so far, with initial checks ranging from $1 million to $2 million. Act One's $148 million in AUM is spread across three funds and more than 10 special purpose vehicles (SPVs), but it plans to reserve significant capital in Fund III for follow-on financing of portfolio companies.

About Act One Ventures: Act One Ventures is an early stage venture capital firm leading Seed rounds in capital-efficient companies with excellent founder-market fit. The firm is led by General Partners Alejandro Guerrero and Michael Silton, and their experience as software company founders allows Act One to help portfolio founders build scalable businesses while connecting them with the firm's network to bring in early customers. While Act One does not have a diversity mandate, over 70% of its portfolio companies are led by women and people of color — a testament to their diverse networks.

SOURCE Act One Ventures