Our Strategy
Syndicate 708 was founded to serve the needs of early-stage deep tech entrepreneurs. It was born out of a simple vision: create a new kind of investment group that focuses on supporting the earliest stage Founders and their teams.
US 708 is the number of the fastest star in the galaxy. Our Syndicate is our agile investment partnership. We pull together on a set of common goals, common values; our members are partners who have worked together for some time. Our relationships are everything.
Early Stage - Pre Seed
We invest at the early stage. A company at this stage is beyond the startup stage and has begun operations, but may not yet be at the point of commercial manufacturing or sales. Their products or services may or may not be commercially available, or the business may have a few initial customers.
We believe in a long term view. We invest in Deep Tech companies.
Deep tech, or deep technology startup companies are based on substantial scientific advances and high tech engineering innovation, and they take longer than many software and SAAS plays. Deep Tech is often set apart by its profound enabling power, the differentiation it can create, and its potential to catalyze change. They do require more patience as the technology is developed, matured, and markets built.
On the technological front, these can include processing and computing architecture innovations, advances in semiconductors and electronic systems, aerospace, power electronics, vision and speech algorithms and techniques, artificial intelligence and machine learning, haptics and more.
Team. Our collective experience has taught us that the most important ingredient to a startup’s success is the entrepreneur and his/her team, and the biggest help we can offer is our network and investment. When we invest, we match companies with accomplished advisors in our network. We understand that startups need customers and clients, funding and mentorship, not just paper partnerships and press. We also understand that chemistry and shared interest are key to successful relationships so ensure that advisors and startups are mutually agreeable to the working arrangement.
Picks & Shovels. We like picks and shovels, especially at the early end of deep tech innovation. A pick-and-shovel play is an investment strategy that invests in the underlying technology needed to produce a good or service instead of in the final output. It is a way to invest in an industry without having to endure the risks of the market for the final product We see that overall commoditization and packaging of the building blocks of software, hardware, systems allow the creation of products and services that become technically or economically feasible only now and were unthinkable even a few years ago, and investors have the chance to capitalize on this opportunity.
We believe in capital efficiency.
More venture; less capital. We strive to take bold risks early. Often, these don’t require “big” dollars, and in our experience, too much capital early on constrains creativity. Our investment is designed to provide the appropriate first check and follow early success with significant follow-on investments. We start small, we think BIG.
We believe in the power of community and education.
From the beginning, we committed to providing the Founders in our portfolio with resources to empower their employees, families and communities. We develop programming and education in order to build networks and enable mutual acceleration.
Syndicate 708 was founded to serve the needs of early-stage deep tech entrepreneurs. It was born out of a simple vision: create a new kind of investment group that focuses on supporting the earliest stage Founders and their teams.
US 708 is the number of the fastest star in the galaxy. Our Syndicate is our agile investment partnership. We pull together on a set of common goals, common values; our members are partners who have worked together for some time. Our relationships are everything.
Early Stage - Pre Seed
We invest at the early stage. A company at this stage is beyond the startup stage and has begun operations, but may not yet be at the point of commercial manufacturing or sales. Their products or services may or may not be commercially available, or the business may have a few initial customers.
We believe in a long term view. We invest in Deep Tech companies.
Deep tech, or deep technology startup companies are based on substantial scientific advances and high tech engineering innovation, and they take longer than many software and SAAS plays. Deep Tech is often set apart by its profound enabling power, the differentiation it can create, and its potential to catalyze change. They do require more patience as the technology is developed, matured, and markets built.
On the technological front, these can include processing and computing architecture innovations, advances in semiconductors and electronic systems, aerospace, power electronics, vision and speech algorithms and techniques, artificial intelligence and machine learning, haptics and more.
Team. Our collective experience has taught us that the most important ingredient to a startup’s success is the entrepreneur and his/her team, and the biggest help we can offer is our network and investment. When we invest, we match companies with accomplished advisors in our network. We understand that startups need customers and clients, funding and mentorship, not just paper partnerships and press. We also understand that chemistry and shared interest are key to successful relationships so ensure that advisors and startups are mutually agreeable to the working arrangement.
Picks & Shovels. We like picks and shovels, especially at the early end of deep tech innovation. A pick-and-shovel play is an investment strategy that invests in the underlying technology needed to produce a good or service instead of in the final output. It is a way to invest in an industry without having to endure the risks of the market for the final product We see that overall commoditization and packaging of the building blocks of software, hardware, systems allow the creation of products and services that become technically or economically feasible only now and were unthinkable even a few years ago, and investors have the chance to capitalize on this opportunity.
We believe in capital efficiency.
More venture; less capital. We strive to take bold risks early. Often, these don’t require “big” dollars, and in our experience, too much capital early on constrains creativity. Our investment is designed to provide the appropriate first check and follow early success with significant follow-on investments. We start small, we think BIG.
We believe in the power of community and education.
From the beginning, we committed to providing the Founders in our portfolio with resources to empower their employees, families and communities. We develop programming and education in order to build networks and enable mutual acceleration.