Investor behaviour

VCs breaking their thesis

A focused fund's first cheque outside its own track record: a new sector, a new region, or an entry far earlier than usual. The thesis is what each fund's earlier first cheques show (15 or more, 80% inside the focus). Follow-ons never count. Each deal is checked against the round's sources, and a deal whose article lists other investors and not the fund is left out.
907
VCs broke their pattern since 2020
495
of them in 2025 and 2026
14%
of focused VCs investing in 2026 (283 of 2023)
884 / 1087 / 31
new sector / region / earlier stage
VCs breaking their pattern, per month
Jan 2020Oct 2026

843 breaks are rounds known only by their year. They count in the totals and the list, not in the monthly bars.

  1. Dec 2025
    Town Hall Ventures backed Speed at Seed
    New sectorFirst Commerce & Marketing cheque. Before: 25 first cheques, 16 in Healthcare & Life Sciences, 4 in Software & Developer Tools.
  2. Dec 2025
    Transition backed Skye at Seed
    New sectorFirst Consumer, Lifestyle & Services cheque. Before: 17 first cheques, 13 in Energy, Environment & Mobility, 1 in Software & Developer Tools.
    Source
  3. Dec 2025
    Vereeni Early Stage Fund backed Kraken at Series C+
    New sectorFirst Industry & Hardware cheque. Before: 18 first cheques, 9 in Finance & Blockchain, 6 in Consumer, Lifestyle & Services.
  4. Nov 17, 2025
    New sectorFirst Artificial Intelligence & Data cheque. Before: 38 first cheques, 22 in Finance & Blockchain, 10 in Software & Developer Tools.
  5. Nov 5, 2025
    New sectorFirst Consumer, Lifestyle & Services cheque. Before: 26 first cheques, 19 in Healthcare & Life Sciences, 5 in Software & Developer Tools.
    Source
  6. Nov 2025
    Big Pi Ventures backed Nutropy at Seed
    New sectorFirst Energy, Environment & Mobility cheque. Before: 21 first cheques, 9 in Software & Developer Tools, 9 in Healthcare & Life Sciences.
    Source
  7. Nov 2025
    Lunar Ventures backed Emm at Seed
    New sectorFirst Consumer, Lifestyle & Services cheque. Before: 15 first cheques, 12 in Software & Developer Tools, 2 in Industry & Hardware.
  8. Nov 2025
    NGL Ventures backed Self.co at Seed
    New sectorFirst Finance & Blockchain cheque. Before: 15 first cheques, 12 in Software & Developer Tools, 2 in Industry & Hardware.
    Source
  9. Nov 2025
    New sectorFirst Finance & Blockchain cheque. Before: 46 first cheques, 32 in Healthcare & Life Sciences, 6 in Software & Developer Tools.
  10. Nov 2025
    New sectorFirst Finance & Blockchain cheque. Before: 50 first cheques, 41 in Healthcare & Life Sciences, 5 in Software & Developer Tools.
  11. Nov 2025
    Protocol Labs backed Synchron at Series C+
    New sectorFirst Healthcare & Life Sciences cheque. Before: 21 first cheques, 12 in Software & Developer Tools, 5 in Finance & Blockchain.
  12. Nov 2025
    Santé Ventures backed Clairity at Series B
    New sectorFirst Energy, Environment & Mobility cheque. Before: 21 first cheques, 16 in Healthcare & Life Sciences, 3 in Software & Developer Tools.
    Source
  13. Nov 2025
    Takeda Ventures backed Accipiter at Seed
    New sectorFirst Finance & Blockchain cheque. Before: 19 first cheques, 16 in Healthcare & Life Sciences, 2 in Software & Developer Tools.
    Source
  14. Oct 30, 2025
    Frazier Life Sciences backed Evecxs at Series C+
    New sectorFirst Industry & Hardware cheque. Before: 24 first cheques, 18 in Healthcare & Life Sciences, 5 in Software & Developer Tools.
  15. Oct 30, 2025
    NexTech Invest backed Evecxs at Series C+
    New sectorFirst Industry & Hardware cheque. Before: 57 first cheques, 48 in Healthcare & Life Sciences, 5 in Software & Developer Tools.
  16. Oct 23, 2025
    Balnord backed VitVio at Seed
    New sectorFirst Healthcare & Life Sciences cheque. Before: 19 first cheques, 13 in Software & Developer Tools, 4 in Finance & Blockchain.
    Source
  17. Oct 20, 2025
    Bertelsmann backed Andel at Seed
    New sectorFirst Energy, Environment & Mobility cheque. Before: 18 first cheques, 9 in Software & Developer Tools, 6 in Healthcare & Life Sciences.
  18. Oct 8, 2025
    New sectorFirst Energy, Environment & Mobility cheque. Before: 39 first cheques, 17 in Software & Developer Tools, 17 in Consumer, Lifestyle & Services.
  19. Oct 2025
    aMoon backed GK8 at Seed
    New sectorFirst Finance & Blockchain cheque. Before: 39 first cheques, 35 in Healthcare & Life Sciences, 2 in Industry & Hardware.
  20. Oct 2025
    New sectorFirst Industry & Hardware cheque. Before: 15 first cheques, 8 in Consumer, Lifestyle & Services, 6 in Healthcare & Life Sciences.
    Source
  21. Oct 2025
    New sectorFirst Industry & Hardware cheque. Before: 21 first cheques, 17 in Healthcare & Life Sciences, 2 in Software & Developer Tools.
    New regionFirst deal in DACH. Before: 20 first cheques, 17 in North America, 1 in UK & Ireland.
  22. Oct 2025
    Contrarian Ventures backed Alven at Seed
    New sectorFirst Industry & Hardware cheque. Before: 21 first cheques, 9 in Software & Developer Tools, 8 in Energy, Environment & Mobility.
  23. Oct 2025
    New sectorFirst Industry & Hardware cheque. Before: 45 first cheques, 36 in Healthcare & Life Sciences, 5 in Software & Developer Tools.
  24. Oct 2025
    Medicxi Ventures backed Synthex at Seed
    New sectorFirst Finance & Blockchain cheque. Before: 46 first cheques, 37 in Healthcare & Life Sciences, 7 in Software & Developer Tools.
  25. Oct 2025
    OMX Ventures backed Synthex at Seed
    New sectorFirst Finance & Blockchain cheque. Before: 19 first cheques, 15 in Healthcare & Life Sciences, 2 in Industry & Hardware.
  26. Oct 2025
    OpenOcean backed Arbio at Series A
    New sectorFirst Energy, Environment & Mobility cheque. Before: 56 first cheques, 43 in Software & Developer Tools, 6 in Commerce & Marketing.
    Source
  27. Oct 2025
    Sonae IM backed SecondNature at Series B
    New sectorFirst Consumer, Lifestyle & Services cheque. Before: 36 first cheques, 29 in Software & Developer Tools, 3 in Commerce & Marketing.
  28. Oct 2025
    New sectorFirst Industry & Hardware cheque. Before: 29 first cheques, 22 in Healthcare & Life Sciences, 5 in Software & Developer Tools.
  29. Sep 30, 2025
    Cormorant Asset Management backed Star at Series C+
    New sectorFirst Finance & Blockchain cheque. Before: 69 first cheques, 57 in Healthcare & Life Sciences, 6 in Software & Developer Tools.
  30. Sep 30, 2025
    FINTOP Capital backed Returnalyze at Series A
    New sectorFirst Industry & Hardware cheque. Before: 33 first cheques, 22 in Finance & Blockchain, 10 in Software & Developer Tools.
    Source
  31. Sep 30, 2025
    Frazier Life Sciences backed Star at Series C+
    New sectorFirst Finance & Blockchain cheque. Before: 23 first cheques, 18 in Healthcare & Life Sciences, 5 in Software & Developer Tools.
  32. Sep 30, 2025
    Redmile backed Star at Series C+
    New sectorFirst Finance & Blockchain cheque. Before: 45 first cheques, 37 in Healthcare & Life Sciences, 6 in Software & Developer Tools.
  33. Sep 26, 2025
    Anges Québec backed Geodar at Seed
    New sectorFirst Industry & Hardware cheque. Before: 22 first cheques, 12 in Software & Developer Tools, 6 in Healthcare & Life Sciences.
  34. Sep 18, 2025
    New sectorFirst Healthcare & Life Sciences cheque. Before: 18 first cheques, 16 in Software & Developer Tools, 1 in Finance & Blockchain.
  35. Sep 18, 2025
    Tapestry backed Seapoint at Pre-seed
    New sectorFirst Finance & Blockchain cheque. Before: 16 first cheques, 12 in Software & Developer Tools, 4 in Consumer, Lifestyle & Services.
    Source
  36. Sep 17, 2025
    NexTech Invest backed Lemondia at Pre-seed
    New sectorFirst Commerce & Marketing cheque. Before: 55 first cheques, 47 in Healthcare & Life Sciences, 5 in Software & Developer Tools.
    Source
  37. Sep 10, 2025
    Adage Capital backed PsiQuantum at Series C+
    New sectorFirst Artificial Intelligence & Data cheque. Before: 22 first cheques, 17 in Healthcare & Life Sciences, 2 in Software & Developer Tools.
    Source
  38. Sep 8, 2025
    Flex Capital backed Kin Forest at Series C+
    New sectorFirst Consumer, Lifestyle & Services cheque. Before: 15 first cheques, 10 in Software & Developer Tools, 3 in Commerce & Marketing.
  39. Sep 2025
    Abingworth backed Tizona at Series B
    New sectorFirst Energy, Environment & Mobility cheque. Before: 45 first cheques, 32 in Healthcare & Life Sciences, 6 in Software & Developer Tools.
  40. Sep 2025
    New sectorFirst Consumer, Lifestyle & Services cheque. Before: 51 first cheques, 34 in Healthcare & Life Sciences, 7 in Industry & Hardware.