In an era where hundreds of new venture funds have emerged, only to face a narrowing market as exits prove slippery, Elizabeth Weil’s Scribble Ventures stands out as a case study in the importance of deep networks.
Defying a contraction that is sidelining many newcomers, Weil just secured $80 million for Scribble’s third fund, its largest capital raise yet. The milestone underscores market confidence in Weil, a Stanford graduate whose resume includes a partner role at Andreessen Horowitz, corporate development at Twitter (now X), and stints at Silicon Valley stalwarts IVP and Menlo Ventures.
“Everybody told me it was going to be the hardest to raise,” Weil said on a call Monday, after completing the 5:30 a.m. run and swim that puts this editor’s coffee routine to shame. Ultimately, she said, the firm exceeded its hard cap of $75 million after extending the fundraising period by three weeks.
Scribble’s success comes amid what many consider a reckoning for the venture industry, particularly for newer managers who emerged during the funding boom of 2020-2021 and have yet to establish meaningful distributed proceeds to investors (DPI).
“Being a harvester is part of venture capital, too,” Weil observed. “There’s so many emerging managers that never have had to go through that part.”
What sets Scribble apart is what Weil calls the “Scribble Network,” a carefully cultivated ecosystem of operators and executives who not only provide deal flow and due diligence help, but invest alongside the firm. This network includes figures like Maggie Hott, who leads go-to-market at OpenAI; Jim Everingham, VP of Engineering at Meta; and Sheila Vashee, CMO of Figma.
Weil’s husband, Kevin Weil, adds another powerful dimension to the firm’s network. As chief product officer at OpenAI and a Cisco board member, his technical and product expertise complements Elizabeth’s background in investment and corporate development.
“We tell our founders, ‘Who from our extended network would you like to meet?’” Weil explained. “When they look at that market list and the menu, and they say, ‘I can just text this person?’ That’s incredible.”
The approach has helped Scribble make successful early bets on companies like Whatnot, a live auction platform that reached a valuation of nearly $5 billio in January; Atmo, an outfit that was founded by former Googlers and is focused on AI-driven ultra-precise weather forecasting; and Poolside.ai, a Paris-based generative AI company founded by GitHub’s former CTO that was valued by its investors at $3 billio back in October.
Other portfolio companies of Scribble, which now has $216 million in assets under management, include SpaceX and Figma.
Scribble typically writes checks of $750,000 to $1.5 million, avoiding rigid ownership targets that might preclude collaboration with other investors.
“I think the approach of saying ‘we must be at 14% or we walk’ isn’t the way to start off a relationship,” Weil noted.
The firm’s first fund, raised in 2020, is already showing strong performance with a 4x multiple, Weil said, thanks in part to early distributions to investors from crypto positions in Mysten and Aptos.
With the current focus on AI transforming the startup landscape, Weil sees the clearest opportunity yet to apply Scribble’s collaborative approach.
“I think this is the best time to be a startup, but it’s the hardest time because there’s so much noise,” she said. “Everyone knows how to hack the channels, and finding product-market fit and go-to-market is just harder than ever.”
Pictured above, from left to right, the Scribble Ventures team, including Christen O’Brien (operating partner); John Smothers (partner); Elizabeth Weil; and Kevin Weil (operator-in-residence).