Vice Ventures, a Brooklyn, New York-based seed-stage venture capital fund investing in good companies operating in “bad” industries, has started its investment activity.
According to a SEC form, the firm is seeking $25m and no closing has been disclosed. Anyways, reports say that investors including Bradley Tusk and Marc Andreessen have already covered that sum.
Founded in Catharine Dockery in January 2019, Vice Ventures invests in companies making products that fall within vice industries, including alcohol, cannabis, sex toys and pornography, CBD, nicotine, caffeine, betting.
In the launch post, the same Dockery explained the approach and shared some rules which the firm uses as guidelines, including:
1) Good investments have founders and leaders who are ethical, open, and honest.
2) Good vice products are created for, marketed to, and consumed by consenting, responsible, and understanding adults who have power over their decisions.
3) Good vice products keep their consumers informed of how they may be affected by them.
4) Good vice companies care about their customers, and have real-world expectations for their behavior.
Given this, Vice Ventures invests approx. $500k in each of its portfolio companies, which now include:
– Recess, a beverage brand that infuses CBD and adaptogen into sparkling water
– Ten To One, a room maker,
– Bev, which sells California wine in a can, and
– Indose, a precision-focused cannabis vaporizer.
FinSMEs
04/07/2019