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
New sectorNew regionEarlier stage
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.
- Oct 2026
- Apr 2026Earlier stageFirst entry as early as Pre-seed. Before: 44 entries with a sourced stage, 17 at Series C+, 16 at Series A.
- Apr 2026SourceEarlier stageFirst entry as early as Pre-seed. Before: 16 entries with a sourced stage, 7 at Series C+, 6 at Series A.
- Apr 2026Earlier stageFirst entry as early as Pre-seed. Before: 18 entries with a sourced stage, 10 at Series A, 7 at Series B.
- Feb 24, 2026SourceEarlier stageFirst entry as early as Pre-seed. Before: 45 entries with a sourced stage, 23 at Series A, 10 at Series B.
- 2026
- 2026Earlier stageFirst entry as early as Pre-seed. Before: 26 entries with a sourced stage, 13 at Series C+, 7 at Series B.
- Aug 2025
- May 2025Earlier stageFirst entry as early as Pre-seed. Before: 25 entries with a sourced stage, 10 at Series A, 9 at Series B.
- Apr 2025
- Mar 2025New regionFirst deal in CEE. Before: 52 first cheques, 42 in North America, 4 in MEA.Earlier stageFirst entry as early as Pre-seed. Before: 43 entries with a sourced stage, 17 at Series B, 14 at Series A.
- 2025Earlier stageFirst entry as early as Pre-seed. Before: 39 entries with a sourced stage, 20 at Series C+, 9 at Series A.
- 2025Earlier stageFirst entry as early as Pre-seed. Before: 21 entries with a sourced stage, 10 at Series B, 6 at Series A.
- 2025Earlier stageFirst entry as early as Pre-seed. Before: 15 entries with a sourced stage, 8 at Series C+, 4 at Series A.
- Aug 22, 2024SourceEarlier stageFirst entry as early as Pre-seed. Before: 28 entries with a sourced stage, 10 at Series C+, 9 at Series A.
- Aug 20, 2024
- Apr 2024SourceEarlier stageFirst entry as early as Pre-seed. Before: 15 entries with a sourced stage, 7 at Series A, 5 at Series B.
- Feb 20, 2024Earlier stageFirst entry as early as Seed. Before: 16 entries with a sourced stage, 11 at Series C+, 5 at Series B.
- Dec 2023Earlier stageFirst entry as early as Seed. Before: 21 entries with a sourced stage, 13 at Series C+, 7 at Series B.
- Sep 2023Earlier stageFirst entry as early as Pre-seed. Before: 72 entries with a sourced stage, 29 at Series A, 22 at Series B.
- Jun 2023Earlier stageFirst entry as early as Pre-seed. Before: 65 entries with a sourced stage, 28 at Series B, 22 at Series C+.
- Feb 2023Earlier stageFirst entry as early as Pre-seed. Before: 115 entries with a sourced stage, 69 at Series C+, 25 at Series B.
- Feb 2023Earlier stageFirst entry as early as Pre-seed. Before: 39 entries with a sourced stage, 23 at Series C+, 8 at Series B.
- Feb 2023SourceEarlier stageFirst entry as early as Seed. Before: 24 entries with a sourced stage, 17 at Series C+, 5 at Series B.
- 2023Earlier stageFirst entry as early as Pre-seed. Before: 62 entries with a sourced stage, 23 at Series B, 22 at Series C+.
- Feb 2022SourceEarlier stageFirst entry as early as Pre-seed. Before: 18 entries with a sourced stage, 14 at Series A, 3 at Series B.
- 2022Earlier stageFirst entry as early as Pre-seed. Before: 39 entries with a sourced stage, 15 at Series B, 13 at Series C+.
- 2022SourceEarlier stageFirst entry as early as Pre-seed. Before: 38 entries with a sourced stage, 22 at Series C+, 12 at Series B.
- Dec 15, 2021SourceNew sectorFirst Commerce & Marketing cheque. Before: 23 first cheques, 15 in Healthcare & Life Sciences, 4 in Software & Developer Tools.Earlier stageFirst entry as early as Pre-seed. Before: 19 entries with a sourced stage, 8 at Series A, 6 at Series B.
- Mar 2021Earlier stageFirst entry as early as Pre-seed. Before: 30 entries with a sourced stage, 13 at Series C+, 9 at Series A.
- Jul 2020Earlier stageFirst entry as early as Pre-seed. Before: 16 entries with a sourced stage, 6 at Series C+, 5 at Series A.