Monta Vista Capital, a leading seed-stage venture capital firm in Silicon Valley for transformative B2B startups, announced the launch of its third and largest fund. Like its predecessors, the firm’s new $48 million dollar fund aims to provide the most promising new B2B company founders with access to the experience, agility and capital needed to deliver on their visions, far ahead of the market. Monta Vista Capital’s track record of successful investments, typically at the riskiest pre-revenue stage, reinforces its reputation as the go-to seed fund for visionary founders.

Monta Vista Capital was founded by Venktesh Shukla, well-known as the former President of TiE Silicon Valley and Chair of TiE Global - a nonprofit dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship. Over the course of his career, Shukla has also leveraged his deep commitment and connections to the Indian American investor and startup communities to advantage both.

Distinguishing itself from other venture capital firms, Monta Vista Capital does not raise money from institutional investors but instead taps a large network of individual investors who are highly successful professionals in Silicon Valley. This network serves as a valuable resource for deal sourcing, diligence and support of the portfolio companies.

Abe Ankumah, co-founder, and CEO of Nyansa, a portfolio company that was acquired by VMware said, “I was impressed with the reach of Monta Vista Capital among influential leaders of Silicon Valley. One phone call from Venk was enough to get me a meeting with the CIO of a prospective customer.”

Unlike other seed funds of similar size that tend to be a one-person show, Monta Vista takes a team approach to investing. Consisting of deep domain experts in AI, cloud, security, data and other enterprise technologies, as well as seasoned investors, the Monta Vista team provides entrepreneurs with the resources of a big fund while maintaining the agility of a small one.

This approach has led to remarkable success for the firm’s first two rounds of B2B startups including Aviatrix (secure cloud networking), Cequence Security (API security), and Tekion (first end-to-end cloud-native automotive platform).

"We believe in the saying that the investors who have not experienced the startup journey firsthand have not earned the right to advise the founders. Knowing when to step in and when to hold back is a fine balance, and we do not offer help just to check the ‘I am helpful box’,” affirmed Shukla, founder and general partner of Monta Vista Capital. "Having treaded the entrepreneurial path ourselves, we instinctively understand the loneliness, the stress, the highs and lows founders go through, and our job is to bring perspective and balance to guide their journey.”

Sherry Wei is the founder of Aviatrix, a leading provider of secure cloud networking. Monta Vista Capital was the first investor in Aviatrix. Since then, the company has raised close to $400 million in its journey and now serves more than 500 enterprise customers.

Said Wei, "Monta Vista Capital may have been our smallest institutional investor, but they were the most influential, and I sought their counsel and advice throughout our journey and it significantly contributed to our current market position.”

Roger Krakoff, general partner at Monta Vista Capital, underscored the firm's enduring commitment, stating, "Indifferent to the fluctuations of economic tides, we have consistently adhered to our distinctive investment philosophy. We are not swayed by what is fashionable today. We look for companies with unique insights about solving a big problem. Anchored by a locally concentrated, high-caliber team, we deliver unparalleled support that transcends financial contribution.”