Social Leverage, a Scottsdale-based venture capital firm, raised $99 million for its fourth venture fund.
The VC group, made up of managing partners Howard Lindzon, Gary Benitt and Tom Peterson, are looking to invest in early-stage SaaS, fintech and consumer startups.
Peterson told the Phoenix Business Journal that the partners look for companies on the cusp of revenue with a clearly defined customer base and a strong team.
Previous investments made by Social Leverage went to companies including Kustomer, which was acquired by Facebook last November; Robinhood, which filed for a much-anticipated IPO today; Rally, a privacy-first data sharing platform; Manscaped, a men’s health company; Nayya, an insurance benefits platform that addresses challenges with health plans; and TRIPP, Inc. a psychedelic wellness platform.
On Social Leverage’s blog, Lindzon said the partners are proud to work with founders on everything from building culture to forming strategic partnerships.
“We love helping them with all of it and work to be their biggest cheerleaders,” Lindzon wrote. “Our ethos from the beginning has been that social leverage is the new financial leverage. The network is the thing.”
Peterson told the PBJ when the firm went to raise its first fund, the biggest issue it ran into was being located in Arizona.
“When we would go to institutions to raise money, they would say, ‘you guys don’t live in the ecosystem, how can you find good companies from Scottsdale, Arizona?’”
Peterson continued that the tech industry here has changed a lot in the last five years, and Social Leverage is excited to be more involved in Arizona. The firm is even looking to expand in the Valley later this year.
If you want to learn more about Lindzon and how Social Leverage came to be, check out our podcast episode with him! Watch now or listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.