Zoom Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm. We raise capital from institutions and family offices, then invest it — first cheques of $250K to $3M — in founders building payments, credit, commerce, logistics and energy infrastructure across emerging markets.
Capital from institutional investors
Our job is not to write cheques and wait. It is to steward other people's capital with discipline, choose a small number of companies each year, and do the unglamorous work of helping them reach the next round and eventually a real exit.
We manage $120M across two funds on behalf of pension funds, development finance institutions, insurers and family offices. Capital is called as we invest, reported quarterly, and returned through exits — not through fees.
We meet founders early, often before a round exists, and form a view on the market before we see a deck. Roughly 1,400 companies enter our pipeline each year; we invest in six to eight.
We take board or observer seats where it matters, help with hiring and the next round, and reserve half the fund to defend our ownership as companies mature.
Payments settle slowly. Credit is priced for people with collateral, not cash flow. Goods move through informal chains. Power is unreliable. The companies that fix these constraints compound for twenty years — and that is where we concentrate.
Every company follows the same path. We tell you where you are in it, and we do not ask for exclusivity to run it.
An introduction, a cold email or a founder we already know. We read everything and reply to every pitch that includes a deck.
Two to four weeks: market map, customer calls, cohort data, cap table, legal and reference checks. You meet the partner who will take the board seat.
Investment committee, then a term sheet with plain terms. We aim for 21 days from first meeting to signature, and we honour the first offer we make.
Capital lands, then the work starts: hiring, pricing, the next round, governance. Half the fund is reserved to invest again as you scale.
We do not publish a logo wall. Company names belong to the founders, who decide when and how to announce a round. What we can publish is how the fund is actually allocated.
Acceptance, settlement, ledgers, identity and compliance tooling.
Underwriting built on cash flow and transaction data, not collateral.
Fulfilment, delivery density and retail operating systems.
Distributed generation, metering and asset finance.
Operating systems for healthcare, agriculture and pharmacy.
Founders control their own announcements. We confirm holdings and speak to references privately during an LP or co-investor diligence process.
"The first cheque bought us eighteen months. What mattered more was that our partner had already mapped every bank and telco we needed, and sat in the room while we priced our Series A."
The five questions that decide an investment — and the ones founders assume we ask but never do.
Read the noteCheque size, ownership, pro-rata, board composition and the clauses we will not ask for.
Read the noteHiring, pricing, the first institutional round, and the uncomfortable conversations in between.
Read the noteIf you are building the payments, credit, logistics, energy or software rails of an emerging market, we would like to meet you — whether you are raising today or twelve months from now.
