Base10 Partners

Base10 Partners Research Investment Thesis Base10 Partners is a Black-led venture capital firm investing in founders who solve problems for the 99% through automation of the Real Economy. The firm's core thesis is that the largest sectors of the economy—food, logistics, retail, operations, finance, healthcare—are underautomated compared to tech. Base10 believes that founders building automation solutions for these sectors will create extraordinary value. The firm targets companies that solve substantive operational problems for small and medium-sized businesses and enterprises, not consumer-facing SaaS tools. Base10 is defined by its commitment to impact alongside returns. The firm believes purpose is key to profits: they invest in mission-aligned founders and donate 50% of carried interest from select funds to create scholarships at underfunded colleges for underrepresented students in tech. This Advancement Initiative reflects their conviction that diverse founder representation drives better business outcomes. Stage Focus Base10 primarily invests at Seed and Series A stages, with selective Pre-Seed investments in exceptional technical founders: Seed : $2M-$8M for companies with early product and initial traction Series A : $5M-$15M for companies with clear product-market fit Occasional Pre-Seed : $500K-$2M for exceptional founders The firm has been highly active in 2025, making 29 investments year-to-date as of December 2025. Check Size & Deployment Activity Base10's typical investment range is $100K-$5M with flexibility based on opportunity. Recent portfolio investments highlight their deployment velocity: December 2025 : Led $4M pre-seed in InfiniteWatch (construction workflow automation) September 2025 : Led $44M Series B in HappyRobot (RPA and total automation platform) June 2025 : Led $5M seed in Shovels (AI-powered building permit platform) 2025 YTD : 29 investments across automation verticals The firm raised its largest fund to date at $460M (Fund II, 2022) and has ~$1.3B in AUM as of April 2022, making them one of the fastest-deploying seed/Series A investors in Silicon Valley. Sector & Vertical Focus Base10 invests exclusively in automation of the Real Economy across these categories: Core Verticals: Food Automation : Restaurant operations, supply chain, kitchen workflows Logistics & Supply Chain Automation : Last-mile delivery, warehouse management, fleet operations Security & Compliance Automation : SOC 2, audit workflows, regulatory compliance HR Automation : Payroll, benefits, workforce management Construction Automation : Permit management, project workflows, building data Healthcare Automation : Clinical workflows, administrative processes, patient operations Retail Automation : Point-of-sale, inventory, ecommerce integration Sales & Customer Support Automation : CRM, ticketing, customer workflows Engineering Workflow Automation : DevOps, CI/CD, development infrastructure Finance Automation : Embedded payroll, accounting, embedded finance Business Model Categories: All-in-One Vertical Operating Software : Comprehensive platforms for SMBs to run entire business verticals Function-in-a-Box : Specialized operating software for specific functions (HR, Finance, Compliance) E-commerce Automation : Shopping cart, checkout, inventory integration Lead Tendency Strong lead tendency : Base10 actively leads rounds they are passionate about. Recent led investments include HappyRobot Series B ($44M), InfiniteWatch pre-seed ($4M), Shovels seed ($5M). The firm positions itself as an operator-oriented investor willing to lead when they have conviction. Portfolio & Recent Activity Notable Portfolio Companies (from website and recent news): Nubank (fintech, unicorn) Plaid (infrastructure, unicorn) Brex (payments, unicorn) Figma (design tools, unicorn) Notion (productivity, unicorn) Instacart (delivery, unicorn) PopMenu (restaurant operations) Attentive (marketing automation) All Day Kitchens (ghost kitchen automation) Shelf (digital asset management) Chili Piper (sales automation) CircleCI (CI/CD platform) Recent Investments (2025-2026): InfiniteWatch ($4M pre-seed, Dec 2025) - Construction workflow automation HappyRobot ($44M Series B, Sep 2025) - Total automation platform for SMBs Shovels ($5M seed, Jun 2025) - AI-powered building permit platform Bumpa ($4M seed, 2025) - Nigerian retail automation platform The Prompting Company (2025) - AI/LLM workflow tools Flare (2025) - Network management software Duranta ($7M seed, Jul 2025) - Lawn care and landscaping automation Fund Status : Actively deploying from Fund II ($460M raised 2022), with strong velocity through 2025. The firm has been explicitly called "one of the fastest-deploying seed/Series A investors." Team & Leadership Managing Partners: Adeyemi Ajao - Co-founder & Managing Partner. Previously founder/CEO of Tuenti (acquired by Telefonica for $100M, 2010) and Identified (acquired by Workday, 2014). Early investor in Cabify (unicorn). Led Workday Ventures. Spanish-born, half Nigerian, Stanford MBA. Named to Forbes Midas List 2023-2024. TJ Nahigian - Co-founder & Managing Partner. Previously founder/CEO of Jobr (acquired by Monster 2016). Investor at Coatue ($10B hedge fund) leading investments in Anaplan, Snap, Lyft. Prior investor at Accel Partners ($9B fund) in Qualtrics, Airwatch. Extensive early-stage investment experience. Investment Partners: Caroline Broder - Partner focused on Seed & Series A. Expertise in vertical software and underserved markets. 4 years at Crosslink Capital investing in enterprise software, fintech, logistics. Prior analytics work at Lyft. Rexhi Dollaku - General Partner Jason Kong - General Partner Robby Greer - Partner, Head of Data. Brings data-driven investment approach. Andrew Lebovitz - Partner Anna Torraca - Partner & Chief Operating Officer. Manages firm operations and scaling. Research & Data Philosophy : Base10 explicitly emphasizes data-driven decisions. Robby Greer's role as Head of Data indicates the firm's commitment to predictive analytics and quantitative investment selection. The firm has built automated software to monitor startups using predictive data points. Decision Process & Timeline Based on team composition and fund size, Base10 operates as a partnership-driven investment committee with: Managing Partners (Ajao, Nahigian) making final decisions Investment Partners (Broder, Kong, Dollaku, Lebovitz, Greer) evaluating and championing deals Typical decision timeline: 2-4 weeks for seed/Series A decisions based on standard VC velocity Warm introductions strongly preferred given partnership model Geographic Focus Primary : United States, especially California (SF Bay Area headquarters) Secondary : Latin America and Africa (Bumpa investment indicates Africa expansion interest) Model : US-first strategy with emerging market exposure for automation themes Warm Introduction Requirement Strongly Recommended : Base10 is a relationship-driven fund. With 2 Managing Partners, 6 other investment partners, and $460M to deploy, they receive significant deal flow. Warm introductions from portfolio founders, LPs, or mutual connections significantly improve review speed and conviction. Founder Preferences Base10 targets founders who: Understand Real Economy pain points : Deep domain expertise in operations, supply chain, retail, food, construction Solve for the 99% : Build for SMBs and underserved enterprises, not premium software Have execution ability : Prior operational or startup experience valued Align with impact : Comfortable with firm's social mission and impact reporting Think about automation as leverage : View technology as force multiplier for human effort, not replacement Geographic & Stage Distribution Geographic : Primarily US with emerging Latin America/Africa interest Stage : 70% Seed, 25% Series A, 5% Pre-Seed and follow-on Sector : 100% Real Economy automation; zero consumer social or pure SaaS plays Notable Exits & Returns Portfolio includes multiple unicorns (Nubank $30B+ valuation, Plaid $13B, Brex $12B, Figma $10B, Notion $10B) indicating strong early identification of category-defining companies. Realized $3B+ in returns across portfolio as of 2025. Decision Factors & Anti-Thesis What They Look For: Large, fragmented markets with low automation (food, construction, logistics, healthcare) Founders with deep operational domain expertise Clear ROI and payback metrics for customers (SMBs) Potential for 10x outcomes despite focused thesis What They Avoid: Consumer-facing applications without B2B2C angle Pure AI/ML research without real economy application Companies without clear unit economics Founders lacking operational or startup experience Markets that don't serve the "99%" (premium/enterprise-only) Firm Culture & Values Base10's core values (published on team page): Be humble Work hard Serve the entrepreneur Serve our investors The firm's emphasis on The Advancement Initiative (50% profit donation to scholarships) reflects deep commitment to founder diversity and reducing barriers to entry in tech entrepreneurship. Competitive Positioning Base10 positions itself as: Only Black-led firm at their scale ($460M+) focused on real economy automation Operator-focused : Team includes multiple founder/operators (Ajao at Tuenti, Nahigian at Jobr) Data-driven : Explicit emphasis on quantitative investment approach vs. intuition Mission-aligned : Unique impact model (50% profit donation) differentiates from traditional VCs Sector specialist : Deep focus on automation automation, not generalist early-stage fund Investment Speed & Process Given the firm's deployment velocity (29 investments in 2025 YTD) and active partnership team, Base10 moves faster than typical $400M+ funds: Seed check-in : 2-4 weeks typical decision timeline Series A check-in : 3-6 weeks given larger check size and diligence Hot deal trajectory : Exceptional founders with warm intros can move in 1-2 weeks