Moth Fund is an early-stage-focused venture capital firm that aims to increase the agency of extraordinary individuals. MF's thesis is that investing in promising minds early using small grants will lead to better returns for the fund by providing access to those same peoples' first funding rounds when they decide to start companies.

MF (managed by Molly Mielke) invests in teams, founders, and curious high-potential humans across all sectors (with a slight preference for fintech, infrastructure, future of work, and vertical SaaS).

What distinguishes MF from other funds?

I have unique deal flow through...

• Having worked and/or consulted at Figma, Notion, Retool, Stripe, Browser Company, etc, and being close to engineers and builders
• My position as a member of communities such as Interact, the Ex-Stripe extended universe, and as a former Sequoia Scout

I support founders by...

• Providing storytelling/messaging/brand expertise as it relates to fundraising, customers, hires, etc.
• Being the first to bet on and believe in their being a future founder
• Providing early no-strings-attached grants to promising people before they decide on an idea that they want to turn into a company
• Creating a community of founders and cohorts of grant recipients

Why am I doing this?

I wrote more on this in my announcement post here and newsletter update here, but the tl;dr is that I want to support the exceptional people around me by offering them belief capital and storytelling support fixed to a long time horizon. I firmly believe that this is the most impactful thing I can do at this point in my career (I’m gen z, similar to many of the young people I invest in) and that a venture fund is the best vehicle to do it.

Why should you invest?

I am obsessed with talent discovery and cultivation — AKA actualizing human agency. I believe that many of the incredible people in my existing and future network will go on to create world-changing and culture-shifting companies and I want to support them on that journey. My long-term goal is to inspire agency and advance innovation — more on my manifesto here.

What's the fund size, strategy, and structure?

I am targeting 5M. For this first round I'm looking for $100k+ checks from like-minded angels and LPs that believe in the Moth Fund mission.

• 49 $100k checks into early stage startups led by great founders (sector-agnostic)
• 25 $2k grants to young people interested in exploring ideas for future companies

More questions?

Email me m@mollymielke.com! I'd love to hear from you.

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