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Collide Capital Attains Institutional Scale

Most early-stage venture capital firms fail to translate early performance into institutional scale. This usually happens because the data doesn’t support their thesis, LP conviction drops, and the firm struggles to raise further funds.

Founded by Brian Hollins and Aaron Samuels, Collide Capital is one of the few venture firms breaking that barrier. It has backed 75 companies to date after closing its inaugural $66 million Fund I in 2022. 

Hollins said it took them around 13 months to raise this latest fund, which they hope to deploy over the next 3.5 years. The landscape for many emerging fund managers is tough, but the team brings a track record and strong pedigree. Their experience includes Hollins’ decade at Goldman, Lightspeed, and Slow, while Samuels worked at Bain and Lightspeed and co-founded AfroTech, a major tech conference.

Samuels and Hollins started in 2019 with a $1.3 million proof-of-concept fund. This fund was built on the idea that their career-shaping communities, universities, and institutions could collaborate to identify and support the next generation of founders. The first fund validated that approach. 

“Fund I confirmed our belief that backing diverse founders at the intersection of fintech, supply chain, and future of work drives both meaningful returns and measurable impact,” Samuels said to ImpactAlpha. “When we combine early-stage operational support with underrepresented perspectives, we unlock solutions that scale commercially and socially.”

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With this new $95 million Fund II, the firm is doubling down and carrying early investors along. The New York-based firm will issue checks ranging from $1 million to $3 million to startups from pre-seed through Series A.

What Are the Next Steps

The Fund is expected to be invested in at least 30 companies over three and a half years. So far, it has backed five startups. Notable investments include New York-based Jelou, which helps small businesses in Latin America create AI agents for secure financial transactions, and San Francisco-based Sochi, which offers zero-interest financing for car insurance policies.

Collide Capital’s total portfolio includes more than 75 companies with five exits. “Those successes showed that when we combine early-stage operational support with underrepresented perspectives, we unlock solutions that scale commercially and socially,” said Samuels.

Furthermore, Fund II will expand Collide Campus, the firm’s moonshot training program launched in 2022. The initiative has provided 50 undergraduate engineering and MBA students with real-world experience in identifying promising companies, sourcing deals, conducting due diligence, and other vital investment training. 

Two of Collide’s MBA fellows have joined the firm as full-time employees, while others have joined firms like BEA Venture Fund and General Catalyst. Some of the program’s participants come from Harvard Business School and Stanford University, both of which Hollins and Samuels attended. 

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The new fund brings Collide Capital’s total assets under management to more than $170 million.

Main Image: Brian Hollins and Aaron Samuels, Collide Capital co-founders. Image Credit: Collide Capital

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