Investment Philosophy

Claremont Creek represents a return to venture capital’s roots, when successful executives formed relatively small funds into which they invested both time and money to nurture great business ideas. Our $130 million Claremont Creek Fund I – which includes as its investors Harvard Management Company, The Regents of the University of California, Verizon Pension Fund, and other premier investors – embodies this philosophy.  The portfolio of Fund I will ultimately comprise between 20 and 25 early stage companies, enabling us to be active contributors to the long-term growth and success of each.

Active Investors
As early stage investors, we take a hands-on approach to help our portfolio companies sharpen their strategies, develop their technologies, create alliances, and establish all the elements of a successful, sustainable business. Claremont Creek principals have a wealth of both investing and operating experience, and build strong mentoring and partnering relationships with every entrepreneur we support. After all, we know what it takes to build a company-- we've been there ourselves.

Early Engagement
There are risks in early stage investing for both venture funds and entrepreneurs. We at Claremont Creek work to mitigate those risks through a process called Life Cycle Venturing in which we identify, monitor, and often establish non-financial mentoring relationships with young companies well in advance of a funding event. This kind of early involvement allows Claremont Creek and the entrepreneurial team to lay the foundation for a successful working relationship. Given our own roots as entrepreneurs, we believe that the sweat equity and synergy that result from this process are invaluable to both the entrepreneur and to Claremont Creek.

What We Look For
In building our portfolio, we are looking for several key attributes:

• Compelling solutions to clearly defined market needs
• Novel and defensible core technologies, business models, or trade relationships
• Potential for first-mover advantage
• Relatively low capital requirements to demonstrate market viability
• Exceptional management and the ability to attract equally strong talent