Bolt by QED

If there’s only one thing you’ve heard about QED, it’s that we’re thorough. Like, really thorough. Dig-through-your-pitch-deck-with-a-fine-tooth-comb thorough.

You get it.

We form hypotheses and test the empirics against the theory. We’re proud to provide the best advice you can get anywhere in fintech, but we can’t get to know you or your company overnight.

At QED, diligence is more than confirming numbers and checking boxes. Diligence helps our investment professionals build conviction – conviction in the business, in the market, in the team. In you. It’s how we get to a resounding ‘yes.’

Maybe we’re too thorough. Is that even a thing? But you get it, because you get us. It’s the reason founders like to love us.

In today’s ever-changing funding ecosystem, deals are happening faster than ever before. Term sheets are being issued in days rather than weeks, and the ability to be nimble and move with alacrity and decisiveness has rarely been more valuable. We love to invest behind companies that show grit, but it’s hard to see grit and resilience in a one-week diligence. We love to build video recordings, not just a snapshot or two.

We also know how important it is to support the fintech ecosystem from the grassroots. At the earliest stages of a company’s life, we consider VC a team sport. Ownership is never the driving force in our decision making, rather it’s grounded in building something sustainable alongside other funds we respect. This program allows us to work with other seed funds without needing to lead and without ownership thresholds, and it affords us the opportunity to work with you, the entrepreneur, to build a solid, durable platform to succeed.

With that in mind, QED designed “Bolt by QED,” a dedicated seed fund that allows us to invest small checks in pre-revenue and early revenue fintech companies as quickly as the name suggests.

QED’s investment professionals have more than 250 years of combined operational experience, and it’s that hands-on knowledge as founders, entrepreneurs and builders that affords us the opportunity to invest in your formation-stage companies swiftly.

So what exactly qualifies as a Bolt by QED investment? Maybe it’s easier to tell you what it is not. It’s not a lead investment, an investment out of our core fund or a guarantee of a follow-on investment.

What it is is fast. One individual check, $250K to $1.5 million, based on the decision – call it informed intuition – of one single investment professional. It’s an investment based on a gut feel for the opportunity and the team that we can use to tuck-in to rounds that are already coming together.

Bolt by QED is for investing behind great seed investors, people whose judgment we trust and we know are going to get a company started right. These are the people that we’re already most excited to follow, and this gives us a front row seat. We’re motivated by the ability to work with the most talented founders in the world, because we think that they’re some of the most interesting, exciting people we’ve ever known. We love unit economics, but great teams need funding before they’ve sold any or many units.

Bolt is our way to push back on the increasingly transactional fundraising approach by giving everyone more time to engage.

It’s a chance for you to get to know us, and an opportunity for us to test, learn and build conviction. We’re investing because we think you’re chasing a big opportunity with a great team – if it works out, we hope to be able to lead.