UN

Unconventional Ventures

VC
Austin, TXWebsite

Unconventional Ventures is a Pre-Seed venture capital firm based in Austin, TX investing in AI / ML, Developer Tools, Other. The firm typically writes $250K–$1.5M checks and has 5 portfolio companies in our records.

How to approach: cold outreach ok
Stage

Pre-Seed

Check Size

$250K – $1.5M

AUM

$38M

Portfolio

5+ companies

Team

4 partners

Investor activity
Investments in last 12 months: 0

Investment Thesis

Backing unconventional founders building game-changing productivity software and AI tools.

How Unconventional Ventures invests

Unconventional Ventures is a vc firm based in Austin, TX. The firm invests at the Pre-Seed stage, with a focus on AI / ML, Developer Tools, Other, Enterprise, SaaS. It does not invest in Consumer Apps, Hardware.

Unconventional Ventures typically writes checks of $250K–$1.5M per investment, backed by approximately $38M in assets under management.

Unconventional Ventures has backed 5 companies in our records, including CodeSignal, RunwayML, Climate X.

Meet the Team

AR

Alex Rees

Founding Partner

AI
Developer Productivity
TM

Thea Messel

Founder & General Partner

climate technology
health tech
education
equitable tech
NB

Nora Bavey

General Partner

climate technology
health tech
education
equitable tech
AH

Alexis Horowitz-Burdick

General Partner

global consumer and technology ventures
impact investing
scaling startups in Europe and beyond

Industry Focus

Invests In

AI / ML
Developer Tools
Other
Enterprise
SaaS
Fintech
Climate / Energy
EdTech

Does Not Invest In

Consumer Apps
Hardware

Portfolio Companies (5)

Other

CO

CodeSignal

Developer Tools
RU

RunwayML

AI Productivity Software
CL

Climate X

Climate Fintech·UK
CE

Cellugy

Biotech·Denmark
SC

SciFree

Edtech·Sweden
How to pitch Unconventional Ventures
  • Raising at Pre-Seed? You're squarely in their sweet spot.
  • Lead with your fit in AI / ML, Developer Tools, Other — the sectors they actively back.
  • Size your ask to their typical $250K – $1.5M check.
  • cold outreach ok
  • Address your outreach to a specific partner, such as Alex Rees, Founding Partner.
  • A warm introduction beats a cold email. Get matched and request an intro.

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