Investment Criteria/FAQs 

Where are your networks?

Across New York State, the Northeast, the Midwest and Silicon Valley.

What’s your target investment?

Between $750k and $2M, initially, with considerable reserves for follow on investments.

Are you an economic development organization? 

No.

At what stage do you invest?

We focus on seed stage and Series A investments. We often provide the first round of institutional capital for startups operating across a range of industries, with a focus on B2B SaaS businesses. In the past, we have typically funded companies that demonstrated ongoing relationships with one or two large enterprise clients.

Where do you invest?

We can invest anywhere in the US or Canada but primarily focus on New York State (Upstate New York and NYC), the Northeast and the Midwest.
In the past, we have cultivated ties with teams that operate in mid-sized metro areas with a university anchor and multiple startups. Regions like ours have typically received less than $5B in annual venture capital funding.

What makes you any different from other VC firms your size?

We are far more active in helping our startups scale than other VC firms our size. We also take a concentrated approach to investing in each company, deploying a much larger check at the earlier stages in a startup’s life cycle than other VC firms our size.

What sectors/industries do you focus on?

We concentrate on high growth sectors including:

- Healthcare IT
- Education Technology
- Food and Agriculture Software
- Manufacturing Automation Software
- Energy Software
- Corporate and University Spin-outs
- FinTech
- Ad tech/digital marketing/e-commerce
- Software-as-a-Service

How does ASV add value beyond writing a check?

We bring a strong work ethic and a collaborative mindset. Our team has expertise in all aspects of company growth, from fundraising to team building to sourcing customers. We provide our entrepreneurs with the funds, relationships, and access needed to scale into highly successful companies, as well as a holistic plan for how to do it. For more information about how we work, see the sections on each of our portfolio companies.

Who are your investors?

We consider ourselves fortunate to be backed by the most respected institutions, corporations and foundations of our region.