Defiant: A New Era of Venture Capital with a Data-Driven Approach
Introducing Defiant, the latest early-stage VC firm making waves in the B2B SaaS and fintech sectors. Co-founded by lifelong friends Joseph Pizzolato and Cam Rail, this dynamic duo has already secured $30 million and aims to raise up to $70 million for their inaugural fund. With bases in London and Lisbon, Defiant is set to invest in promising startups at the “late seed” or Series A stages, distinguishing itself by leading or co-leading funding rounds.
- Investment Strategy: Committing $1 million to $10 million per deal.
- Co-founders’ Background: Joseph Pizzolato brings experience from Felix Capital and Vitruvian Partners, while Cam Rail transitions from a successful career in market making and prop trading to founding and selling Stackup Risk.
“Our thesis is that the future of venture is going to be pretty different to what it is today. And it’s going to be a lot more technologically enabled, a lot more sophisticated around the use of data, AI products,”
{Joseph Pizzolato told TechCrunch}
Defiant aims to revolutionize how VCs operate by heavily incorporating data into their investment decisions. They are developing their own suite of products designed to streamline the investment process and generate inbound interest.
The Innovations Behind Defiant
- Morpheus: An internal tool that uses a large language model (LLM) to analyze pitch decks, extract key financial metrics, and maintain an extensive database for competitive analysis.
- Blueprint: A tool providing founders with insights on how their startups compare within the industry, offering feedback on business metrics and aiding in deal flow generation.
Defiant’s commitment to product development is unparalleled, dedicating a third of their budget towards building these technologies. Their innovative approach has already attracted investments from family offices and notable figures in tech, including general partners at Atomico, Cherry Ventures, and Salesforce Ventures.
The road ahead for Defiant looks promising as they work on macro analysis tools to identify emerging investment themes. With their unique combination of data-driven strategies and seasoned expertise, the Defiant team is poised to build a portfolio of 15 to 20 high-performing startups.
