ATHERTON, Calif., June 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Tenacity Venture Capital today announced the launch of its inaugural fund, which will invest in transformative technology companies in the formation, pre-seed and seed stages. Founded by 25-year entrepreneur and investor Ben Narasin, the fund spins out with initial commitments from NEA as well as other leading investors and serial entrepreneurs.
Narasin was most recently a venture partner with NEA, where he served on the investment team and worked with portfolio companies including Transfix and Divvy Pay, which recently agreed to be acquired by Bill.com for approximately $2.5 billion. Prior to NEA, Narasin built a storied career as an entrepreneur and seed investor. He founded fashionmall.com and led the company to a successful IPO in 1999. His seed investments include Lending Club (NYSE: LC); Check (Intuit); Dropcam (Google); Kabbage (NYSE: AXP); Vungle (Blackstone) and Rippling.
“As one of the first investors to jump into seed stage back in 2007, I realized some of the best outcomes can grow from backing the best companies as early as possible. Fast forward to today, and the ecosystem has exploded – in part because the last year ignited new waves of technology adoption, creating opportunities for entrepreneurs that were unthinkable just two years ago,” said Narasin, who was a seed investor in Transfix and later led the company’s Series A.
Tenacity will invest in five to ten companies per year, with all investment decisions based on high conviction and in-depth due diligence. Sectors of interest include AI, fintech, hardware, logistics, marketplaces, mobile gaming, robotics and SaaS. NEA Managing General Partner Scott Sandell has agreed to serve on the firm’s advisory board.
“NEA is excited to support Ben as he launches this new fund. Now is an especially exciting time to work with great companies early, and we look forward to continued opportunities to work with Ben as Tenacity builds its portfolio,” said Scott Sandell, Managing General Partner. “Ben’s judgment, integrity and unwavering dedication to working with founders at the earliest stages—all constants in the more than 15 years I’ve worked with him—will be tremendous assets to the entrepreneurs he supports in the future.”
Narasin believes his decades of company building expertise and sprawling network across the venture capital and technology ecosystems—including more than 300 venture capitalists and 200+ executives within Fortune 500 companies—will create powerful advantages for Tenacity’s portfolio companies.
Narasin continued, “With Tenacity, I am accelerating my quest to back amazing companies early, most importantly when they are led by incredible people with a great idea and a huge addressable market.”
About Tenacity Venture Capital
Tenacity Venture Capital is a new fund that focuses on finding and backing the best formative, pre-seed and seed stage entrepreneurs and matching them with top investors for follow-on rounds as they scale their business. Tenacity invests in transformative companies across sectors including AI, fintech, hardware, logistics, marketplaces, mobile gaming, robotics and SaaS. More information can be found here.
