Keep your team small and your burn low while searching for PMF

Welcome to the 16th edition of The Get Funded! Newsletter—proudly serving over 2,570 founders! Here, we break down the latest insights from our weekly VC Office Hours sessions on Twitter/X and equip you with tools to help you ‘Get Funded’.

Missed this session? Listen to the recording here.
Want to join the next session? Check out the upcoming VCs and register here.

1. Overview:

This week, we hosted two insightful sessions with our fantastic guest investors:

• Session #1: Josh Muccio, Co-Founder of The Pitch and General Partner of The Pitch Fund
  The Pitch Fund is an opportunistic, generalist fund that invests $50K - $300K into the rounds of the pre-seed and seed stage founders that pitch on their hit business show, 'The Pitch'.

• Session #2: Antonia Dean, Principal at Black Ops Ventures

  ​Black Ops Ventures is the first seed fund built by Black founders to invest in Black founders; typically writing checks up to $1.5M to lead at the seed & pre-seed stage.

Local Event: Tulsa Founder Meetup

Join us in Tulsa for a laid-back gathering of founders. Here’s what to expect:

• ​Casual networking with fellow entrepreneurs

• ​Sharing ideas, challenges, and wins

• ​Building meaningful connections in a supportive space

​Come hang out and connect with like minded founders. RSVP here, spots are limited.

2. Office Hours Recap:

Key Takeaways from the VC Office Hours on January 10th:

• Session #1 - Josh Muccio, Co-Founder of The Pitch and General Partner of The Pitch Fund:

  • Stage: Pre-Seed and Seed
    Industry: Various (Fintech, SaaS, Consumer, and niche sectors)
    Check Size: $50K to $300K
    How to Apply: Apply here via The Pitch website to pitch on their show.

    Key Takeaways from Session:

    1. Strong Founder-Driven Vision: Josh emphasized backing founders who have a deep, authentic passion for their company's mission.

    2. Traction and Storytelling: Founders should focus on a strong narrative, engaging audiences with purpose, milestones, and unique personal connections.

    3. Hype and Momentum: The show helps founders close funding rounds by creating a public "forcing function" to build investor urgency and interest.

• Session #2 - Antonia Dean, Principal at Black Ops Ventures:

  • Stage: Seed
    Industry: Industry-agnostic with a preference for software
    Check Size: Up to $1.25M for leading rounds; $500K-$1M for participation
    How to Apply: Submit on the Black Ops Ventures website here or reach out to Antonia directly.

    Key Takeaways from Session:

    • Product-Market Fit is Crucial: Antonia emphasized the importance of being close to or having achieved product-market fit when seeking funding. Founders must convincingly articulate their journey and metrics that indicate scalability and market demand.

    • Tailored Partnerships: For companies in sectors like fashion, aligning with investors who understand the dynamics of your business is critical. Pre-screen VCs to ensure alignment and avoid potential conflicts of interest.

    • Simplicity and Execution: In consumer-focused solutions, reducing friction and making user experiences seamless are vital. Success often stems from the simplest solutions executed exceptionally well.

3. Funding Resources:

Resources of the Week:

• The National a2 Pilot Awards Competition

  Provides up to $200K in non-dilutive grant funding for technology projects that utilize artificial intelligence (AI) approaches and technology to improve care and health outcomes for older Americans.

  Deadline: 1/15/2025

• 757 Accelerate

  A 9-week-long mentorship-driven, milestone-based program; receive $20K in funding.
  Deadline: 1/24/2025

• Midwest House '25 SXSW Midwest Madness

  An opportunity to pitch during SXSW for a $10K prize and travel stipend.

  Deadline: 1/31/2025

• Village Capital: Women in Tech Accelerator

  An initiative to support women founders developing solutions to improve economic mobility and equitable access to essential services for women, families, and communities across the US with an opportunity for a $25K grant.

  Deadline: 1/31/2025

• South Park Commons (SPC) Founder Fellowship

  The Founder Fellowship helps entrepreneurs start a high growth, venture-backable startup with targeted support in the -1 to 0 idea phase; offering $400K in capital.

  Deadline: 2/2/2025

• VOA Futures Fund Community Health Incubator

  A 14-week accelerator with partnership opportunities for ventures in community health that provides a $15K grant and business training to help you scale.
  Deadline: 3/5/2025

• OHUB’s Climate Tech Bootcamp

  A 10-week pre-accelerator program for climate tech and new energy entrepreneurs from around the country that have an interest in building in or expanding to South Louisiana; opportunity to receive a $100K investment.

  Deadline: 3/28/2025

Book of the Week:

• How to Lead When You're Not in Charge by Clay Scroggins
  This insightful book unpacks the often-overlooked truth that leadership isn’t about a title—it’s about influence. Clay Scroggins provides practical guidance on how to cultivate leadership skills, develop a mindset of service, and drive change from any position within an organization. With real-world anecdotes and actionable advice, it’s a guide for anyone eager to lead, regardless of their formal authority.

• Why I recommend it: Leadership is about more than just a position; it’s about taking initiative, building trust, and fostering collaboration. Founders and startup teams can benefit immensely from learning how to lead effectively from wherever they stand. This book offers a fresh perspective and practical strategies to empower individuals to take ownership of their roles and drive impact, whether they’re at the top or not. You can get your copy here.

Alternative Funding Sources:

• Access up to $2M in non-dilutive debt financing. Request funding here.

• Raise up to $5M in equity capital through a Community Round. Request information here.

Serac Ventures has made 8 investments in 2024 and is beginning to look for investment opportunities for our 2025 pipeline. We are looking to invest $250K - $500K initial checks into 8-10 companies building in FinTech, SaaS, and the Future of Work in 2025. Learn more and consider submitting your company here.

4. Founder Spotlight:

Featured Founder: Tevin Harrell, Co-Founder and CEO of SmartWiz

• Overview:
  Tevin Harrell is the Co-Founder and CEO of SmartWiz, a Serac Ventures portfolio company. They are a tech-forward company revolutionizing the tax preparation industry with AI-enabled software designed to simplify the tax filing process. His entrepreneurial journey began with inspiration from his father, who introduced him to the world of tax preparation after years of estrangement.

• Their Success Story:
  Starting in his 20s alongside co-founders, Harrell built a thriving tax preparation business that evolved into SmartWiz. The company leverages cutting-edge AI to streamline tax filing, reducing the time to complete returns from hours to minutes. SmartWiz's unique approach has drawn national recognition, including partnerships with Google and a top-10 finish at the prestigious Venture Atlanta pitch competition.

• Future Plans:
  Tevin and his team aim to expand SmartWiz into a billion-dollar company, empowering a new generation of tax professionals and scaling their innovative software globally. With an emphasis on education and access, they envision creating a network of skilled tax preparers equipped with tools to serve clients efficiently and accurately.

What we can take away:
Tevin's story illustrates the power of resilience, mentorship, and leveraging personal experiences to build impactful businesses. By combining his engineering expertise with lessons from his entrepreneurial father, Tevin not only overcame significant challenges but also created a platform that empowers others to succeed. His journey is a testament to staying consistent, embracing challenges, and harnessing innovative tools to solve real-world problems.

5. Tweet of the Week:

That’s all for this week’s edition of The Get Funded! Newsletter. We hope you found these insights valuable as you continue your journey to securing funding.

What’s next?

Next week we have two more amazing guests joining us for Office Hours.

For session #1 we have we have Elise Riniker, Associate at Mairs & Power Venture Capital.

​Mairs & Power Venture Capital partners with high-potential venture-stage companies in the Upper Midwest, focusing on industries like Software, Business Services, Healthcare, FinTech, and EdTech; typical investing $1M at the seed stage.

​For session #2 we have Garrett Coley, Venture Analyst at TitletownTech.

​TitletownTech is a venture capital firm formed through a partnership between the Green Bay Packers and Microsoft to invest $250K - $2M into early-stage companies across industries like Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Agriculture, Water & Energy, Digital Health, Sports, and Emerging Technology.

If interested in joining and/or pitching, please feel free to register here.

You can see the full list of VCs joining us for Office Hours on this Calendar.

Be on the look out for our newsletter next week where we’ll bring you more actionable advice, resources, and success stories.

Let’s All, Get Funded!

Best,
Darrel Frater
Investor at Serac Ventures
Twitter/X | Linkedin | Preneur

P.S. If you enjoyed this newsletter, forward it to a founder you know who could benefit from these insights!

P.S.S. Got ideas or suggestions for Get Funded? Shoot me an email at Darrel@seracventures.vc for us to discuss!

About Serac: Serac Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm that targets companies at the pre-seed and seed stage writing initial checks between $250K - $500K. Our core sectors include fintech, SaaS, and Future of Work. Learn more at SeracVentures.vc.