# Susa Ventures IV Financial Model Susa Ventures is raising two simultaneous funds - a $100M seed fund (Susa IV) and a $200M opportunity/growth fund (Susa Opportunities II) - as a barbell strategy doubling down on the firm's best seed-stage winners. - Canonical: https://finamodel.com/startups/susa-ventures-iv - Excel download: https://finamodel.com/startup-models/susa-ventures-iv.xlsx - Category: Enterprise/Security - Model type: VC Fund Waterfall - Funding round: Fund 4 - Funding: $200M - Founded: 2021 - Geography: US-focused (SF-based); some international portfolio companies [DECK slide 02] ## About the company Susa Ventures is raising two vehicles at once: a $100 million seed fund, Susa IV, and a $200 million opportunity fund, Susa Opportunities II. This is a GP fundraising presentation, not an operating-company plan or a subscription-software forecast. The barbell strategy pairs early seed investments with concentrated follow-on capital for the strongest portfolio companies. Fees are earned on committed capital and carried interest depends on realised investment gains, with each fund requiring its own deployment pace and reserve assumptions. The model tracks commitments, capital calls, deployment, reserves, portfolio valuations, exits, fees, and carry separately for both funds. It reports fund-level and LP outputs including DPI, TVPI, RVPI, and net IRR, with exit-multiple and timing scenarios. ## What's included - 5-year monthly revenue build with stage-appropriate growth assumptions - Full P&L, headcount plan, and operating-expense schedule - Cash-flow statement, runway, and burn-rate tracking - Valuation via exit multiple with a DCF cross-check - Returns analysis with MOIC and IRR - Unit economics including CAC, LTV, payback, and cohort retention ## Product & value proposition - Two co-investment vehicles structured as a barbell: - **Susa IV** ($100M seed fund): source/win best seed-stage deals; $1.25M avg check; 40 target investments; 1:1 reserve ratio for pro-rata in best companies - **Susa Opportunities II** ($200M opportunity fund): lead/co-lead Series B & C in best-performing seed portfolio companies; $10M avg check; 15 target investments; 25% reserve for pro-rata - Simultaneous commitment required at 1:2 ratio (Susa IV : Opp II) - 10-year fund term + two 1-year extensions - Investment thesis: back companies with compounding moats - proprietary data, network effects, economies of scale - Susa Venture Fellows program (13 fellows, Sept 2020 cohort) as deal-sourcing and diversity pipeline - 96 Founder NPS claimed --- ## Market --- ## Revenue model Not explicitly stated in deck. Standard VC economics apply: - Management fees: typically 2% p.a. on committed capital during investment period, stepping down thereafter - exact fee terms not disclosed in deck - Carried interest: typically 20% of profits above preferred return (hurdle) - not stated in deck - LP commitment structure: simultaneous close at 1:2 ratio --- ## Traction & metrics **Portfolio scale:** - 115+ Susa-backed companies - $19B+ aggregate enterprise value of Susa companies - $5B+ capital raised by Susa companies - ~7,000 employees across Susa companies **Fund history - $395M total managed across all vehicles:** - Susa I: $25M fund, 2013 vintage - TOP 1% benchmark for 2013 vintage; specific MOIC/IRR redacted in deck - Susa II: $50M fund, 2016 vintage - specific MOIC/IRR redacted - Susa III: $90M fund, 2019 vintage - specific MOIC/IRR redacted - Susa Opportunity Fund I: $50M fund, 2019 vintage - specific MOIC/IRR redacted - Partner SPVs: 2014–present; specific count and total redacted; includes Robinhood, Flexport, Nest, Intercom **Portfolio quality metrics:** - Nearly 70% of Susa companies have raised a Series A (analysis of Susa I, 2013 vintage; source: CB Insights) - 2.5x higher follow-on rate than the average seed fund (Pitchbook, 2013–2018 data, as of Q3 2019) - >50% of Series A rounds led by top-tier firms (Founders Fund, Kleiner Perkins, USV, Addition, Sequoia, Benchmark, Index, a16z, NEA, Spark, Accel, Ribbit) **Power law:** - 20% of Susa seed investments drive 90% of returns (shown for both Susa I and Susa II via Pareto/power-law bar charts; specific portfolio company values redacted) **Opportunity Fund back-test:** - Back-test of Series B co-investment strategy across core seed portfolio: invested capital and FMV values redacted (shown as $###M placeholders); MOIC and TVPI redacted - Back-test of SPV growth deals (Intercom, Blockchain.com, Zoox, Nest, Lendup, Expanse, PolicyGenius, Robinhood, Flexport): invested capital and FMV redacted; MOIC stated as "#.#x" - specific number redacted **Susa II portfolio companies:** Stord, Viz.ai, Stedi, Sundae, Newfront Insurance, PEX, WorkRamp - all at Series B/C; individual cost basis and current values redacted **Susa III portfolio companies:** Fast, Open, Medallion, Hallow, Gentem, Chapter, Lightyear, Honeybee - seed/Series A stage; values redacted **Susa Opportunity Fund I deployment:** 12 investments made - Stord, Sundae, Viz.ai, Newfront, Expanse, Human Interest, Policygenius, Whoop, Omio, Nova Credit, Fast, Stedi, Mux - individual investment sizes redacted; called capital % redacted --- ## Unit economics Not applicable. This is a fund vehicle, not an operating company. Relevant "unit economics" are fund-level: - Susa IV: $100M fund / 40 investments = $2.5M average deployed per company (split ~$1.25M initial + $1.25M reserve) - Susa Opp II: $200M fund / 15 investments = $13.3M average deployed per company ($10M initial + $3.3M reserve at 25%) - Follow-on rate: ~70% of seed portfolio companies raise Series A --- ## Competition / moat - Firm moat framed as: proprietary deal flow + founder community ("Susa Family" ethos) + operator network - Brand differentiation: high founder NPS (96), bootcamps, family dinners, Mountain Tech Summit, holiday giving, published playbooks - Top-tier co-investor network: co-investors include Founders Fund, Kleiner, Sequoia, a16z, USV, Index, Addition, Benchmark at Series A - Venture Fellows program as diversity/sourcing pipeline - No direct competitor comparison slide in deck --- ## Team & funding ask / use of funds **Investment team:** - Chad Byers - GP, Co-founder (Robinhood, Stord, Policygenius) - Leo Polovets - GP, Co-founder (Outlier, PEX, Scalyr, Stedi) - Seth Berman - GP, Co-founder (Flexport, Viz.ai, Expanse, Fast) - Courtney Buie Lipkin - Partner (prev. First Round Capital; Nova Credit, Lightyear) - Misha Gordon-Rowe - Investor (prev. Funding Circle IPO 2018; Higo, Okra, Flock) - Michael Stoppelman - Senior Advisor, Technical (former CTO, Yelp) **Operations team:** - Natalie Arora - Head of Operations (10 years, 3 startups incl. Eat Just) - Rachel Coffman - EA & Operations (accountant, fundraising/IR expertise) **Funding ask:** - Susa Ventures IV: $100M target (seed fund) - Susa Opportunities II: $200M target (opportunity fund) - Simultaneous commitments at 1:2 ratio required **Use of funds:** Deploy into ~40 seed companies (Susa IV) and ~15 growth-stage co-investments in best-performing Susa portfolio companies (Susa Opp II) **Service providers:** Legal: Gunderson Dettmer; Banking: Silicon Valley Bank; Fund Admin: Aduro Advisors; Accounting: Frank, Rimerman + Co. LLP --- ## Recommended financial model - **Archetype + why:** VC Fund Economics model (dual-fund variant). This is a GP/LP fundraising deck for two parallel fund vehicles, not an operating company. The correct model simulates deployment schedules, management fee income, portfolio fair value build-up, DPI/TVPI evolution, and LP return waterfall (preferred return + carried interest split) for both funds simultaneously. A 3-statement or ARR model would be wrong here. - **Forecast horizon & granularity:** 10-year fund life (2021–2031) + 2-year extension optionality; quarterly granularity for years 1–3 (active deployment), annual thereafter. - **Key drivers & assumptions:** *Susa IV ($100M seed fund):* - Fund size: $100M - Number of investments: 40 - Average initial check: $1.25M - Reserve ratio: 1:1 (50% initial / 50% reserve) - Management fee rate: 2.0% p.a. on committed capital - Investment period: 3 years - Follow-on rate to Series A: ~70% - Loss rate (write-offs): ~40–50% of companies - Portfolio MOIC - base case: 3.0x gross - Carry: 20% above 8% preferred return *Susa Opportunities II ($200M growth fund):* - Fund size: $200M - Number of investments: 15 - Average initial check: $10M - Reserve: 25% for pro-rata - Management fee rate: 1.5% p.a. - Investment period: 4 years - Entry stage: Series B / C in proven Susa seed graduates - Portfolio MOIC - base case: 2.5x gross - Carry: 20% above 8% preferred return *Cross-fund:* - LP commitment ratio: 1:2 (Susa IV : Opp II) - Vintage: 2021 - **Scenarios (Base / Bull / Bear - which variables flex):** - **Bear:** Portfolio MOIC 1.5x (IV) / 1.5x (Opp II); loss rate 55%; few exits in fund life - **Base:** Portfolio MOIC 3.0x (IV) / 2.5x (Opp II); loss rate 45%; 2–3 fund-returners per fund - **Bull:** Portfolio MOIC 5.0x (IV) / 3.5x (Opp II) driven by 1–2 breakout companies (Robinhood-scale); loss rate 35% - Flex variables: gross MOIC, exit timing (hold period), management fee basis (committed vs. invested), carry hurdle - **Required sheets / outputs:** 1. **Assumptions** - fund parameters, fee schedule, carry terms, deployment pace, MOIC scenarios 2. **Deployment Schedule** - capital calls by quarter, investment pace, reserve deployment 3. **Management Fee P&L** - fee income over fund life for each fund (GP entity economics) 4. **Portfolio Build** - per-company cost basis, stage, expected exit value, write-off flag; power-law distribution (top 20% driving 90%) 5. **DPI / TVPI Waterfall** - gross and net returns by year; preferred return accrual, carry calculation, LP net cash flows 6. **LP Return Summary** - IRR and MOIC by scenario for each fund and combined (1:2 blended) 7. **Back-test Validation** - simple tab recreating the Opp Fund back-test logic shown in slides 25–26 (invested capital vs. FMV by company) 8. **Dashboard** - KPI summary: fund sizes, deployment %, DPI, TVPI, gross/net IRR, management fee income ## Frequently asked questions ### Is the Susa Ventures IV financial model free? Yes. The Susa Ventures IV model is a free Excel download with live formulas. ### Can I change the assumptions? Yes. The workbook is editable and its live formulas recalculate when assumptions change.