Sixty8 Capital

Sixty8 Capital is an Indianapolis-based seed-stage venture fund that deliberately operates outside traditional tech hubs to back Black, Brown, women, LGBTQ+, and disabled founders across the Midwest. Established in 2019 and brought to market with a $20 million fund in 2021, the firm was built around a clear conviction: venture capital systematically overlooks innovation from underrepresented founders in flyover states, and that gap represents both a moral imperative and a massive investment opportunity. Understanding NRR and why top quartile exceeds 120% is valuable for any founder.

The firm's co-founder and general partner, Kelli N. Jones, brings a background as a former music and entertainment executive at Def Jam and Roc Nation. That background shows up in how Sixty8 Capital thinks about its portfolio—they invest in founders shaping the future of commerce, culture, and community, not just traditional B2B SaaS. The firm's investment thesis is explicit: back founders who have been systematically undercapitalized by mainstream venture capital, provide them with meaningful capital and operational support, and generate returns by backing people who have been overlooked.

In 2025, Sixty8 Capital was named among "10 Black Emerging VC Fund Managers to Watch" by Venture Forward, a recognition that underscores the firm's growing influence in inclusive entrepreneurship. The fund targets 25 to 30 companies with initial checks of $250,000 to $500,000 per company, and it operates with a preference for warm introductions from its network of portfolio founders, co-investors, and ecosystem partners like the Be Nimble Foundation.

This guide covers everything founders need to know about Sixty8 Capital's investment thesis, portfolio, application process, and what the firm looks for in a pitch. It also covers how to prepare financially for due diligence and what sets this fund apart from other early-stage investors in the Midwest.

Sixty8 Capital's thesis is straightforward: the venture capital industry has a demonstrable track record of overlooking founders who are not white men from coastal networks, and those overlooked founders are building genuinely compelling companies. The firm positions itself not as a grant program but as a returns-focused investor that happens to prioritize underrepresented founders—a signal that the firm is accountable to performance, not just impact metrics. Understanding unit economics and LTV:CAC is valuable for any founder.

The firm's check range of $250,000 to $500,000 targets pre-seed and seed-stage companies. At that stage, Sixty8 Capital looks for companies where the capital will serve as a meaningful catalyst—often providing runway to product-market fit or a significant demo milestone. The firm does not typically write large Series A tickets; its sweet spot is the earliest possible stage, often before a company has significant revenue.

Sector-wise, Sixty8 Capital is broader than many seed funds. The firm invests across technology, tech-enabled businesses, and direct-to-consumer companies, with particular interest in creator economy infrastructure, community platforms, and businesses that sit at the intersection of commerce and culture. This reflects the background of its founding team and a conviction that the next major consumer platforms will be built by founders who understand how communities form and monetize.

Geographically, the firm concentrates on the Midwest and flyover states—intentionally operating in markets where institutional VC presence is thin and where exceptional founders often struggle to get warm first meetings with coastal funds. The firm has been transparent that its geographic focus is a feature, not a limitation: the talent is there, the deal flow is there, and the checks are smaller, which means more ownership for the same dollar invested.

The firm's operational support extends beyond capital. Portfolio companies gain access to Sixty8 Capital's network of founders, co-investors, and advisors. Given Kelli Jones's background in entertainment and her concurrent work with the Be Nimble Foundation, portfolio companies also benefit from connections to the broader inclusive entrepreneurship ecosystem, including mentors who understand what it takes to build and scale from non-traditional starting points.

Sixty8 Capital closed its $20 million fund in October 2021 after raising from a mix of institutional and strategic investors, with backing from Allos Ventures as a founding partner. Since then, the firm has made measured but consistent investments from that fund, with a portfolio spanning 16 companies across more than 26 tracked investments as of early 2026.

One notable recent deal was a $680,000 seed investment in Podonos in March 2025, a testament to the firm's willingness to write meaningful pre-seed and seed checks in a market environment where many seed funds have pulled back. The firm also participated in a $2 million seed round alongside Atento Capital and Debut Capital for another portfolio company, demonstrating its willingness to co-invest with other mission-aligned funds.

The firm's investment pace reflects its conviction that early-stage pricing is most attractive when the broader market is risk-off. While some VC funds have contracted their checkbooks in response to market conditions, Sixty8 Capital's thesis is that the best companies are built in all environments, and that underrepresented founders in the Midwest are frequently undervalued relative to their coastal counterparts.

Sixty8 Capital has also been active in follow-on rounds, though the fund's structure means the firm tends to write its initial check and then work to connect portfolio companies with follow-on capital from its network rather than leading large subsequent rounds from the same fund.

Sixty8 Capital's portfolio reflects its thesis: companies built by founders who understand underserved markets and are building products for communities that traditional VC has largely ignored. The portfolio spans creator economy platforms, community infrastructure, e-commerce enablement, and fintech tools serving niche consumer segments.

The firm has publicly showcased its portfolio on its website, describing companies as "tackling problems in new markets." The portfolio's diversity in vertical and business model reflects Sixty8 Capital's industry-agnostic approach—the common thread is the founder, not the sector.

Kelli Jones has been explicit that the firm's portfolio is intentionally concentrated on companies where the founder's lived experience creates a structural advantage in understanding the customer. That means portfolio companies are often serving markets that larger VC firms did not even recognize as addressable, let alone valuable.

Portfolio companies benefit from access to Sixty8 Capital's network, which includes connections to other portfolio founders, co-investors, and the broader Be Nimble Foundation ecosystem. For founders building outside traditional tech hubs, that network can be as valuable as the capital itself.

Sixty8 Capital evaluates investments on founder quality first. The firm is explicit that it looks for entrepreneurs with deep domain expertise in the problem they are solving, a clear and compelling vision for how their market will evolve, and a track record of execution—even if that track record looks non-traditional. For founders without a prior exit or a computer science degree from a target school, the firm's lens is calibrated accordingly.

Market opportunity matters, but Sixty8 Capital's take on market size is nuanced. The firm is not looking for massive total addressable markets in the abstract. Instead, it looks for founders who can articulate a credible path to $100M+ ARR benchmarks in a market where the founder has a structural advantage in reaching and retaining customers. The firm is more interested in a large share of a well-defined niche than a small share of a massive market.

Product traction is evaluated in context. For pre-seed companies, traction might be a waitlist, an early community, or a small but growing base of paying users. The firm does not require GAAP financials or sophisticated metrics at the seed stage—it requires evidence that real people want what the founder is building and are willing to pay for it.

Team composition is a factor. Sixty8 Capital looks for founding teams that reflect the communities they serve, not because of a mechanical diversity metric but because diverse teams frequently identify underserved markets and build products that resonate with underrepresented customers in ways that homogeneous teams cannot. The firm is also interested in how founders plan to build and scale their teams as they grow.

Competitive positioning is assessed carefully. The firm wants to understand what protects a company's market position over time—proprietary technology, exclusive distribution, brand equity, network effects, or regulatory moats. For early-stage companies, the firm may not expect a fully developed moat, but it expects the founder to have thought carefully about defensibility.

The most effective path to Sixty8 Capital is through a warm introduction. The firm has been clear that introductions from portfolio founders, co-investors, attorneys active in the inclusive entrepreneurship ecosystem, or the Be Nimble Foundation network are the strongest signals a founder can bring. An introduction from someone who has worked with the fund and can speak to a founder's character and capability meaningfully accelerates the process.

Sixty8 Capital does accept cold submissions, but the firm is explicit that warm introductions are strongly preferred given its mission to work within founder ecosystems. Cold emails that do arrive are evaluated against the firm's thesis and current investment priorities; a cold email that arrives without context from a trusted party faces a higher bar.

When submitting cold, founders should lead with clarity: who they are, what they are building, why now, who the customer is, and why the founder is uniquely positioned to build it. The firm has seen thousands of pitches—the ones that stand out are specific about the problem, precise about the customer, and honest about what they have built so far.

The due diligence process at Sixty8 Capital is structured to be founder-friendly. For companies that pass the initial screen, the process typically involves a deeper conversation about the business, reference checks, and a review of basic financial documentation. The firm works to move quickly for founders who are actively raising, understanding that momentum matters in a seed raise.

Following a meeting, the firm typically takes several weeks to make a decision. Founders are encouraged to stay in touch with light updates—new customers, product milestones, team additions—without being pushy. The best founders treat the relationship as a long-term connection rather than a single transaction.

While Sixty8 Capital invests at the earliest stages, founders who arrive with a clear understanding of their unit economics and a credible path to their next milestone make stronger impressions during due diligence. The firm is not looking for sophisticated financial models withDCF valuations—it is looking for founders who understand the mechanics of their business.

For pre-seed and seed companies, this means knowing your burn rate, runway, customer acquisition cost, average revenue per user, and the key levers that would allow you to improve unit economics. Even if those numbers are early and imperfect, founders who can speak fluently to the assumptions behind them stand out.

Fractional CFO support can be particularly valuable for founders who are first-time fundraisers. A fractional CFO can help translate raw financial data into a coherent narrative for investors, build a financial model that supports your fundraise narrative, and ensure that due diligence questions are answered with confidence and accuracy.

Our team has worked with a number of early-stage companies preparing for venture capital raises. We understand what investors at the seed stage are looking for in financial presentations and can help you build the materials and narrative that make a compelling case.

Whether you are preparing to pitch Sixty8 Capital or other Midwest-focused seed funds, having your financials organized and investor-ready is one of the highest-leverage moves a first-time founder can make before entering a fundraise process.

Exploring other venture capital firms? Our comprehensive collection of VC firm reviews covers investors across all stages, sectors, and geographies. Each review provides detailed information about investment criteria, actual portfolio examples, and practical tips for securing funding.

Finding the right investor for your startup is one of the most consequential decisions you will make as a founder. Take the time to research funds whose thesis genuinely aligns with your company before reaching out, and tailor every communication to reflect your understanding of that fund's specific approach.