Nick Moran
US, between the coasts / outside the Bay Area; Chicago HQ
$500,000 - $1,500,000
New Stack Ventures invests in outsiders: 80%+ of venture capital goes to Silicon Valley insiders, yet many iconic companies were built by founders who didn't attend Stanford, work for Big Tech, or live in the Bay Area -- and New Stack exists to back exactly those mission-driven, non-traditional founders. It leads or co-leads Angel, Pre-Seed, and Seed rounds with $500K-$1.5M checks and is comfortable from pre-revenue through pilots/POCs and early commercialization, making it one of the few between-the-coasts funds that will lead a pre-revenue round. Built on The Full Ratchet (the first VC podcast, 90K+ subscribers), the firm holds relationships with founding and general partners at 90% of Tier 1 firms and makes direct decision-maker introductions when portfolio companies are ready for Series A. For founder matching, New Stack is strongest for non-pedigree founders headquartered between the coasts building in vertical AI, fintech, healthcare, industrials, hardware, or deep tech who need a conviction lead at the earliest stage and a bridge to top-tier follow-on capital.
