Responsibly Ventures

Responsibly Ventures is a pre-seed impact venture capital fund founded in 2021 and headquartered in Huntington Beach, California. The firm is led by Founder and General Partner Zecca Lehn and operates with a team of five, including four partners. Its declared mission is to back remarkable founding teams focused on sustainability and social good in the United States, applying what the firm calls the 'impact moat' framework -- the durable strategic advantage that comes from a startup's mission and genuine commitment to building lasting positive outcomes. Responsibly applies a 100% inclusive investment lens, grounded in the belief that diverse teams produce more resilient ideas and greater impact. The firm deploys pre-seed checks with a sweet spot of $100K and a range of $25K to $250K, investing across cleantech, consumer goods, energy, fintech, sustainable fashion and AI. The portfolio numbers 19 companies spanning 18 sectors. Notable holdings include It's Electric, which is expanding curbside EV charging infrastructure in dense urban areas, and LumiTerra, whose reusable LumiCups have shipped approximately 200,000 units and displaced an estimated 37,500 pounds of single-use plastic. Climatize and Blind Insights represent the firm's most recent additions. The aggregated 2024 portfolio impact included 28 million cubic meters of water saved, 50 million cubic meters of water treated, and 45,000 metric tons of CO2e avoided. Responsibly Ventures operates with a deliberately high-conviction, hands-on ethos: each founding team is selected not only for product promise but for their demonstrable commitment to impact. The firm sees its inclusive investment lens and impact-first selection as compounding advantages that attract mission-aligned founders others overlook.