Monstro Ventures

Monstro Ventures is a San Francisco-based micro-VC fund founded in 2015 as the investment arm of Monstro, a video-storytelling ad agency. The firm's differentiated value proposition is pairing early-stage capital with access to its in-house creative agency, which produces marketing and brand-building content for portfolio companies. A meaningful percentage of invested capital is reserved specifically for the agency to craft engaging stories promoting each startup's products — a hands-on form of support that few seed funds can credibly offer. The fund was founded by General Partner David Prager, a former co-founder of internet-television network Revision3, which was acquired by Discovery Communications in June 2012, alongside partners Mauricio Balvanera and Dalton Crosthwait. Fund I closed at under USD 5 million. Notably, the partners agreed not to charge management fees to their limited partners. The LP roster includes a high-profile Silicon Valley network: Kevin Rose, Jonathan Abrams, Chris Sacca, Randi Zuckerberg, Dave McClure, Tucker Max, and Richard Yoo. The firm has backed five companies across consumer hardware, health, and consumer goods. Portfolio names include Athos, an EMG-based wearable workout clothing company that raised $51.2 million; Naked Labs, a 3D body-scanning mirror startup that raised $15.2 million in Redwood City; CleverPet, a WiFi-connected games platform for dogs that raised $2.94 million; and Flow Kana, a cannabis company that raised $175 million. Monstro Ventures targets founders in B2C, healthcare, IoT, and SaaS — specifically companies with clear product roadmaps and marketing plans that can benefit most from Monstro's storytelling expertise. The combination of capital and creative services is designed to help early-stage consumer brands build awareness before they have the budget for an agency retainer.