Allied Venture Partners

Hello Partners,

As a current or prospective partner, this newsletter provides exclusive insights into our investment strategy, portfolio companies, and industry trends.

Thank you for your continued trust and support,

Matt Wilson

Founder & Managing Director | Allied Venture Partners

Not an LP? Click here to join the Allied Venture Partners syndicate.

Team Updates

• Our core team includes Steve, Melinda, Brendan, and Leia.

• The Allied Scout and Advisory programs continue to expand with several new members each week, providing quality, diversified deal flow from across Canada and the United States.

• If you know a great startup that we should meet, please introduce us!

New Deals

• Thanks to everyone who participated in our Acceler8 investment last month alongside a16z Speedrun, Golden Gate Ventures, and others. You can read more about our investment here.

• We’re in the process of closing two additional investments this month. LPs should already have received the email invites for both deals. If not, please let me know.

• Q2 has been busy, and we have more exciting opportunities in the pipeline—stay tuned.

• LPs can join the Allied syndicate for free and gain access to our dealflow here.

Portfolio News

• Acceler8 announced its latest seed round, led by a16z Speedrun. Read the full press release here.

• Tiliter continues its European expansion, with 20 additional retail stores now live across Germany and Poland.

• GroWrk just recorded its strongest Q1 sales performance since 2024. Congrats to Carlos and the entire GroWrk team.

• RetinaLogik more than doubled revenue year-over-year, with over 1 million eye exams performed on the platform to date. Congrats to Abed, Julia, and the RetinaLogik team.

• It was a pleasure meeting so many inspiring founders and investors at WebSummit Vancouver last week—exciting times ahead!

Industry Insights

In light of the recent Anthropic SPV debacle and its impact on secondary markets, I’ve received a number of inbound requests for my perspective. I shared some initial thoughts on LinkedIn recently, and I’ll likely reserve a broader, more detailed discussion for next month’s Industry Insights once things have settled further. In the meantime, here’s what has been on my mind over the past few weeks…

The venture industry has an uncomfortable truth hiding in plain sight: the moment a portfolio company goes public, GPs face a choice that quietly pits their economics against LP interests.

Here's what happens. When a company exits through acquisition-then-IPO, funds that hold the public shares keep those gains on their books—and those gains count toward GP carry. A position that doubles or triples post-distribution can meaningfully boost what the GP ultimately earns. Most funds solve this by keeping the shares and calling it "maximizing returns for LPs," which sounds great until you ask who really benefits.

We dealt with this recently in a way that made it personal. Last fall, we distributed proceeds from an exit as soon as we could. It’s my belief as a GP (and LP in six venture funds) that sophisticated LPs are fully capable of managing their own public positions, and it’s our mandate to give LPs that option.

Over the next six months, the stock went up 5x. If we'd held it (like most funds do), our carry would have captured all that upside. But we didn't, because I don’t believe it’s our job to be public stock pickers once a company begins trading.

But I'll admit the experience surfaced a legitimate tension. Private market investors maintain asymmetric information advantages even after a company goes public. Years of board involvement and operational insight don't evaporate at IPO. The question isn't whether we should become public fund managers—we shouldn't—but whether there's a middle path that respects both LP autonomy and the residual value of GP conviction.

An opt-in model for extended hold periods might thread this needle, allowing LPs who value continued stewardship to maintain alignment while preserving liquidity for those who don't. Either way, the industry would benefit if more GPs wrestled with this openly rather than defaulting to whatever structure maximizes GP economics.

As a reminder, our Core Investment Values since Day 1:

Read our investment thesis one-pager, available here.

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Disclaimer: The information provided herein is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, tax, or legal advice. Individuals should consult their own professional advisors before making any investment decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future results.