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. 2020
    MMC Ventures backed Recycla at Seed
    New regionFirst deal in CEE. Before: 28 first cheques, 23 in UK & Ireland, 3 in DACH.
  2. 2020
    New regionFirst deal in CEE. Before: 16 first cheques, 13 in UK & Ireland, 3 in North America.
    Source
  3. 2020
    Newion backed Occtoo at Seed
    New regionFirst deal in Nordics. Before: 19 first cheques, 16 in Benelux & France, 2 in North America.
    Source
  4. 2020
    Omnes Capital backed AB Tasty at Series C+
    New regionFirst deal in DACH. Before: 26 first cheques, 21 in Benelux & France, 1 in UK & Ireland.
    Source
  5. 2020
    New sectorFirst Software & Developer Tools cheque. Before: 17 first cheques, 15 in Healthcare & Life Sciences, 1 in Finance & Blockchain.
  6. 2020
    Quona Capital backed RentOK at Pre-seed
    New sectorFirst Consumer, Lifestyle & Services cheque. Before: 15 first cheques, 10 in Finance & Blockchain, 3 in Software & Developer Tools.
  7. 2020
    New regionFirst deal in North America. Before: 16 first cheques, 14 in Southern Europe, 2 in LATAM.
  8. 2020
    StartupYard backed iKast.io at Pre-seed
    New regionFirst deal in Benelux & France. Before: 20 first cheques, 17 in CEE, 1 in North America.
  9. 2020
    New sectorFirst Healthcare & Life Sciences cheque. Before: 40 first cheques, 22 in Software & Developer Tools, 10 in Consumer, Lifestyle & Services.
  10. 2020
    Upfront Ventures backed In&motion at Series A
    New regionFirst deal in Benelux & France. Before: 17 first cheques, 16 in North America, 1 in Nordics.