BoxGroup has been quietly but diligently funding early stage companies for more than a decade. In fact, the 11-year-old company was actually the first to invest in Plaid, a fintech firm that almost got sold last year to Visa for billions of USD.It has witnessed many impressive exits over time, proving that it can see winners before they are even aware. BoxGroups' success is due to David Tisch, a partner.The first yes is the most difficult when you're trying to raise capital for a new company. It's that one that gives you the confidence and excitement that you know there is someone out there who will believe in you and give you money, Partner David Tisch explained to TechCrunch. We try hard to be the first one to say yes every day. The sooner we meet companies, it's better.BoxGroup today announced that it has increased its capital to be able to say yes more companies. Two new funds, totaling $255 millions in capital, have been closed. BoxGroup Five, the fifth fund in the early stages of the firm's portfolio, is designed to invest in tech companies at pre-seed or seed stage. BoxGroup Strive, its second opportunity fund, will support companies in subsequent follow-on rounds. Each fund is worth $127.5 million.BoxGroup has made more than 300 investments over the years. This includes having invested in the early rounds of Ro and Plaid, Scopely. It has seen impressive exits in Flatiron Health and PillPack, Matterport and Oscar.BoxGroup was not only the first company to write Plaid checks, but it also invested in PillPack. PillPack sold to Amazon for just over $1 billion in 2018.BoxGroup Five's early-stage fund, which invests in approximately 40-50 new companies per year, will be invested from $250,000 to $1 Million.Tisch stated that we want to be the second- or third largest check in a round.Although the opportunity fund may invest in later stages of companies, it mainly continues to support companies that it invested in at an earlier stage. BoxGroup, for example, invested in id.me as a first investment in 2010.Tisch stated that the company is a kind of an 11-year overnight hit and has been supported by us for more than ten years. This is an example of how we support companies throughout their entire life cycle.BoxGroup pre-seeded Ro, a digital healthcare startup, and also funded all rounds it has raised since then, including the most recent $500 million funding, which was valued at $5 billion.The six-member BoxGroup team is described by Tisch as being generalists when it comes to the areas it invests in. It has a portfolio that includes startups in the marketplace, consumer, enterprise and fintech sectors.BoxGroups' last fund closings, which were worth $165 million, marked the first time that the firm had received outside capital in nine year. It had previously been funded only with personal capital. Its LPs include a mix of foundations, endowments and family offices.Partner Nimi Katragadda says that BoxGroup's core business is building genuine relationships with founders. This includes placing bets on founders, often more than once, even if one company fails to succeed. This does not mean backing only ideas in certain cases. It also means backing people.She said that this cannot be transactional. It must be personal. As they build their businesses, we want to be there for them every step of the way. We were comfortable with our early means. This included a lot more vision than traction and raw product.Partner Adam Rothenberg concurs, saying that our goal is to be the friend of the room. In building relationships with founders, we believe in honesty, hard love, and transparency. We pay more attention to the how than the how of founders, how they will create product and how they approach attracting talent.The firm has offices in San Francisco, New York and will likely grow in the near future, Tisch stated. BoxGroup is looking for first-line investors.Greg Rosen has been named partner of the firm. Rosen joined BoxGroup in 2015. He worked there for three years until he left to join Benchmark. In early 2020, he rejoined BoxGroup again and joined the three other partners of the firm: Rothenberg, Tisch and Katragadda.Tisch stated that venture investing is a hot field right now. However, the firm maintains its foundation with wisdom gained through experience and time.He said that there is an inexhaustible amount of capital available to be used. We know that markets change over time, even without calling it the cycle. However, no matter where we are at any given stage of the cycle, intelligent and determined minds will work together to create important technology companies. It is our job to ensure we meet those founders and make wise decisions about who to partner with over the next 10+ years.
