INVESTMENT APPROACH
Even in today’s competitive environment, there lies a significant opportunity for a start-up to break away from the pack to establish itself as an industry leader.  Formative Ventures was founded on the principle that if you have a business idea that you feel has the ability to change an industry, in order to win, you cannot follow the herd.  

After successful operating careers with some of the technology industry’s biggest success stories, Formative’s founders decided in 2000 to start their own venture capital firm, and raise a fund from the ground up during one of the worst economic downturns in the history of the technology industry.   Their primary investment thesis was to apply their independent, practical and value-added approach garnered firsthand from their operating careers to investing in and building great start-up companies.  The result is a new kind of venture capital firm that complements the larger, established VC firms with the ability to provide start-ups with the relevant management experience in areas that are key to achieving industry leadership. 

FV invests in early-stage companies in emerging technology areas such as communications, wireless and Internet solutions.   FV is highly selective and makes only 2-4 investments per year.  The firm typically engages with companies at the first institutional financing round, and will often syndicate investment rounds with other venture capital companies.  Investment allocations range from $5-7 million over the life of the investment. 

“

The team at Formative really brought their hands-on experience to the table when they invested in our company.  Formative was resourceful and knowledgeable enough about our market to help us with what turned out to be a very nice outcome for everyone.”

– Bernard Xavier
Former CEO and founder of InnoCOMM Wireless and now
CEO and founder of
Quorum Systems