Hello Reddit!
We’re the team from Omni Venture Labs, trailblazers in industrials and manufacturing DeepTech. As a “first check” DeepTech VC led by former Apple product and manufacturing experts, we specialize in early-stage investing. We’re passionate about driving the digital transformation of industry through AI, Robotics, and Automation. With over 80 patents, our expertise lies in identifying and nurturing outlier technical founders with defensible IP at the inception of their journey.
Our approach as first-check VCs comes with unique pros and cons. The excitement of being at the forefront of innovation and shaping groundbreaking ideas from their earliest stages is unparalleled. However, it requires a deep understanding of the technical and market risks involved. We pride ourselves on being a hands-on, technical team, actively sharing our expertise and knowledge with founders in our portfolio companies to navigate these challenges together.
Our current investment criteria:
Fund Theme: Industrials DeepTech / Industry 4.0 (aka Digital Transformation of Industry)
Preferred Sectors: Digital Engineering Tools, Robotics/Automation, Sustainable Manufacturing, Supply Chain Tech
Stage: Pre-seed or earlier.
Business models: Mainly enterprise software, some enterprise hardware+software.
Check size: $100k-$1M.
Geography: Global.
Meet our team:
Simon Lancaster, Founding General Partner: With a rich history at Blackberry, Toyota, Google, and a significant tenure at Apple, Simon has amassed 56 patents. His expertise in consumer electronics and advanced materials has been instrumental in shaping products like the MacBook and iPad. At Arris Composites, he elevated its value to over $260M. Simon now channels his experience into supporting the next generation of tech innovators.
Sabrina Paseman, Founding General Partner: Sabrina is a Cornell graduate with 7 patents, recognized by Forbes and Business Insider for her impactful work. From developing medical devices to leading Apple’s Mac product design and engineering, she empowers human creativity through technology.
Lucas Whipple, Founding Venture Partner: Specializing in robotics, automation, and machine learning, Lucas’s background in advanced robotics R&D at Apple and consumer product consulting equips him perfectly for strategic advising and due diligence at Omni.
Join us to explore the thrills and challenges of early-stage investing, our hands-on approach with portfolio companies, and our vision for the future of industrial technology. Ask us anything about our experiences, investment philosophy, or revolutionizing industries through DeepTech!
Where do you currently see the biggest opportunities in todays environment? Have prospective LPs shown more interest in this environment given the reset in valuations?
We believe that the biggest opportunities are where the biggest problems exist. Climate is a problem. Inefficient and unsustainable manufacturing is a problem. Leveraging Data effectively is a problem. Global Health is a problem.
Most LPs (Limited Partners) spent the first half of 2023 in recoil from the macroeconomic changes and downturn in the public markets. Venture valuations tend to lag - VCs are slower to mark down their valuations and some startups legitimately don’t need to fundraise at a new valuation for a while. This led to a so-called denominator effect where their total portfolio (denominator) shrunk faster than the venture capital portion which led to a perception of over-allocation into venture. High-interest rates also pose a challenge as LPs have more options to get “good enough” returns with lower risk. In Q3 and Q4 we’ve definitely seen LP interest pick up, especially from international LPs that were generally less exposed to venture and are sophisticated enough to understand that the pre-seed and seed markets are still strong.