Inovia Emerging Managers Portrait Series: Meet Mighty Capital

Read the full conversation, here.

Inovia’s first Discovery Fund backs the next generation of VC funds in their mission to identify and nurture high-potential startups at the pre-seed and seed stages. We sat down with these emerging managers to discuss their vision, their approach, and what they look for in a pitch.

Today, we’re happy to introduce you to SC Moatti and Jennifer Vancini, Founders of Mighty Capital.

It took only a few joint deals for SC and Jennifer to realize they had the complementary strengths and shared vision on which successful VC firms are built. 

A strategic business development veteran with an analytical mind, Jennifer joined software computing in the industry’s infancy. She helped take Canadian encryption company Certicom public, worked for mobile operating system pioneer Symbian and telecom giant Telefonica, and became a startup investor as head of her family office. 

SC made a name for herself, making award-winning mobile products for Nokia and Meta. An author, public speaker, and lecturer, she built a 500,000-member community of product managers and turned it into Products that Count, a non-profit organization which runs awards, research and certification programs.

The pair founded Mighty Capital in 2017, leveraging SC’s massive network to spot trends, get feedback and help portfolio companies find customers and talent. 

The Silicon Valley-based firm, which also has an office in Montreal, manages three funds. It raised US13$M in 2018, US$35M in 2021 and US$100M this year. Portfolio companies have included Amplitude’s digital analytics platform, which went public in 2021, and ON Platform, a conversational AI chat startup. Mighty Capital is looking for B2B companies in tech, health AI or fintech headed by serial entrepreneurs. 

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO FOCUS ON THE EARLY STAGES OF INVESTMENT?

Jennifer: Series A is where the best risk-return profile is. Thanks to our network, we can lower that risk by talking to these startups’ potential customers, and hearing what they say about the product: What does it compare to? Is it the best in class? Do they need to have it? 

TELL US ONE OR TWO THINGS THAT MAKE YOUR FUND UNIQUE

SC: Products that Count makes us unique in several ways. It’s a sourcing mechanism. This year, we received 6,000 nominations for our Product Awards. Our investment team can go through these potential deals, allowing us to see trends before anyone else does. 

It also adds value to our portfolio as a go-to-market channel, because product managers generally buy new technologies on behalf of their companies. When we invest in a startup, we feature them on our podcast; we organize a series of roundtables for them, and they get the benefits of the network targeted to their needs. 

It is also a source of incredible capital efficiency, giving us access to innovation experts, including a couple hundred on our advisory board, whom we could not afford to have on the payroll at our current size. 

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED THROUGH FAILURES OR TRIALS AND ERRORS?

Jennifer: Our biggest learning has come from HYP3R, a startup that offered a geolocation marketing product for the hospitality industry. It didn’t fail as a business.Their customers adored them, and they were about to raise the next round. But they ended up in a privacy scuffle with Facebook, which started going after smaller companies that were using their APIs and killed them in the press. They didn’t have a way to pivot off it and still have a value proposition for their customers. 

We learned a company should not be overly dependent on Facebook APIs, and that social media privacy is an area to be very careful with. One of the things we watch out for now is this kind of dependency on other companies in areas that are under regulatory control. 

WHAT GETS YOUR ATTENTION IN A PITCH? 

SC: We want founders to be able to articulate three things: team, traction, and terms. We are looking for a coachable CEO, a high-functioning team and a well-functioning board. We need to see revenue: revenue growth and diversification. And we want this to be a partnership. Sometimes, first-time founders don’t think of investors as partners but more as the enemy. That’s not how we think about it, so we prefer repeat founders. 

Jennifer: We also want to hear about the story of the company and about the opportunity: how are you going to make money for everybody? 

WHAT IS THE ADVICE YOU MOST OFTEN GIVE TO FOUNDERS? 

Jennifer: Pick investors that are going to add value to your company.

SC: Build a capital-efficient business: treat every dollar like your own.