FFundraiseJet
Realist Ventures logo

Realist Ventures

Stamford, CT · Invests in North America; US · Website

Thesis

We invest in groundbreaking startups with diverse founding teams building modern solutions to modern problems with capital-efficient approaches and realistic valuations. We support underrepresented entrepreneurs (women, Black, Latinx, Indigenous, LGBTQ+) who are creating products that solve real problems.

Likely not a fit for

No food industry, consumer goods, hardware, or startups with unrealistic valuations. We avoid founder teams that don't align with our commitment to diversity and inclusion.

How they invest

Lead or follow
Usually leads
Typical decision
~2 weeks
Warm intro
Not required
Involvement
Takes a board seat
Fund status
Actively deploying
Decision process
Partnership vote

Partners & team

2 contacts on file

MR

Marie Rocha

General PartnerGeneral Partner/Founder · Primary contact

+ Pitch

m•••@re•••.org

LinkedIn profile

X profile

Sign up free to unlock contact →
JG

Joana Gutierrez

PrincipalPrincipal

+ Pitch

j•••@re•••.org

Sign up free to unlock contact →

Portfolio

Career KarmaEdtech

Career Karma helps you discover the right path, get matched to job training programs, and build momentum toward your desired career goals—completely free.

Shipsi
BreshnaGaming

Breshna empowers everyone to create their own video games with no-code and at lightning speed, enabling users from various backgrounds to engage their audience through interactive gaming experiences.

GridEnterprise Software

GRID provides advanced spreadsheet technologies optimized for AI, enabling seamless integration of spreadsheet capabilities into applications. Their engine supports complex calculations and is compatible with Excel and Google Sheets.

ValisureHealthcare Digital

Valisure is a pioneering technology company at the forefront of addressing a critical gap in the healthcare supply chain through independent quality assurance, providing transparency and independent certification through chemical analysis.

OutrivalEnterprise Software

OutRival is an AI platform that empowers customer experience teams to create personalized solutions that enhance customer satisfaction and drive revenue. It focuses on guiding customers through purchase decisions and is particularly aimed at high-volume businesses.

Liquid DeathFood Beverage

Liquid Death offers a range of premium low-calorie beverages in infinitely recyclable cans, including mountain water, flavored sparkling water, iced tea, and energy drinks. The brand emphasizes sustainability by donating a portion of proceeds to combat plastic pollution.

AG1

Recent activity

Realist Ventures in the news

Similar firms

Ulu Ventures$1M–$5M

Early-stage venture capital firm focused on enterprise cloud and smart data companies. Invests in Pre-Seed and Seed stage startups.

Atento Capital$500K–$2M

Atento Capital is a single-LP venture firm backed solely by the George Kaiser Family Foundation, operating with an explicit dual mandate to generate top-tier venture returns while driving job creation and economic development specifically in Tulsa. The fund functions as the capital arm of a coordinated city-building strategy, using investments and programs to recruit startups—especially from Latin America—to relocate to Tulsa while measuring success through both financial returns and local employment outcomes.

Backstage Capital$50K–$500K

Founded by Arlan Hamilton while homeless with no finance or tech background, Backstage Capital requires at least one founder to be a woman, person of color, or LGBTQ. The fund treats capital allocation as activism and argues that 'underestimated' founders are systematically mispriced assets that create alpha rather than requiring concessionary returns.

Black Tech Nation Ventures$250K–$1M

Built on a national community of Black technologists and an integrated nonprofit-for-profit talent pipeline, providing structural access to Black operators and focusing on overlooked founders outside Silicon Valley. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, deliberately positioning the city as a national hub for Black venture capital while funding Black founders and developing Black venture capitalists as a talent factory for the next generation.

BoxOne Ventures$100K–$5M

Invests from napkin-stage through IPO using an evergreen own-capital model for patient, flexible long-term support; active early-stage investor (~180 deals) focused on deep bio and frontier software/crypto.

Research briefRead more
Realist Ventures Research Investment Thesis Realist Ventures is a Connecticut-based venture capital firm founded in 2018 by Marie Rocha, a former software engineer and serial entrepreneur. The firm targets groundbreaking startups with diverse founding teams that are building solutions in biotech, SaaS, and software sectors. Realist Ventures intentionally positioned itself outside traditional tech

Sign up free to read the full research brief →

Add Realist Ventures to your investor list

Sign up free to save investors, see partner contacts, and track your raise.

Sign up