Clara Sieg

This week Tulip Interfaces became Acequia Capital's 23rd unicorn company. When we made the first investment into Tulip in 2015, it was clear to Hank and I that we were early. It was going to take some time, but that massive legacy industries had no idea the amount of innovation and value was out there, waiting to be won by companies that could master software and machine intelligence. These observations and others led us to develop two investment theses we’ve been executing on since; what we termed “New Industrials.” Fast forward 10 years and the idea that a broader industrial reinvention is underway is now almost a given across the capital markets and leading companies. A movement has sprung up around us. It’s much more in vogue to back physical technology startups now, but most investors misunderstand what great ones look like, and how numerous the barriers to adoption are. We’re fortunate to benefit from a decade of lessons and insights from watching up close as incredible founding teams have built immensely valuable organizations, these include Stoke Space, Radiant, Formlabs, Atomic Industries, Applied Atomics, Harbinger, Dirac, Inc., Rainmaker Technology Corporation, AnySignal, EthonAI, Flow Engineering, Milvus Advanced, Rivelin Robotics, Adaptyv, KMB Telematics Inc., Tactian, Nimble Precision, sensmore, Hyperdrives, Ethos Space Resources, Antaris, TransAstra, Rightbot Technologies, Provectus Algae, Arctoris, Flexe, Coronal Technologies, Exapto, Visolis, Vorticity Inc., XENOPS AI, and many others. My takeaway from 10 years of investing in industrial reinvention is that we are still at the beginning. We have a long way to go and the next 10 years will move a lot faster than the last. Thanks to our founders for the continued trust and partnership.

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Ashley Smith of Vermilion Capital just closed Fund ll. What advice would Ashley Smith give her fellow emerging managers about fund raising for a vc fund? part 3 Create a formal re-up campaign. Begin with existing LPs early, share a clear Fund I review, specify what remains unchanged, explain what changes in Fund II, and ask directly for renewal and increased commitments. Vermilion kept its thesis but increased check sizes, a simple and legible evolution. Make community a fundraising asset. Smith credits a network built over nearly two decades—former colleagues, founders, CEOs, co-investors, and LPs—not transactional networking. For an emerging manager, regular high-value convenings, useful introductions, transparent updates, and helping others before asking are compounding fundraising infrastructure. Protect focus and underwriting discipline. Smith emphasizes passing on good companies that are not “her company.” That discipline is fundraise-relevant: LPs are ultimately underwriting whether the manager can preserve a differentiated strategy when attractive but off-thesis opportunities appear. The key takeaway For a new GP, the goal is not simply to accumulate LP commitments. It is to create enough clarity, evidence, and relationship equity that initial backers want to recommit at a larger size. Smith’s result—95% dollar-weighted Fund I re-up participation—suggests that repeatable specialization and LP trust are more powerful than broad but shallow fundraising reach.

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Most family office principals don’t set out to become the operators of a complex institutional structure. Yet that's often what the role demands. Staffing, governance, vendor oversight, cost management—it compounds quickly. Understanding how to balance what stays in-house with what gets outsourced is foundational work, not a detail to revisit later. This article offers a look at how experienced principals are approaching that question: https://lnkd.in/eXjqWrRe

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