Fred Wilson, Satya Patel, other notables back new firm Gutter Capital

Gutter Capital’s debut fund has attracted support from a ‘who’s who’ of investors, including Bain Capital Ventures, Tiger Global and individuals such as Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures.

The New York firm announced that it closed on $25 million to invest in companies that address affordability, economic mobility and climate change. It plans to write checks of $1.5 million to “companies of consequence,” focusing on software-as-a-service and marketplace businesses.

Besides Bain, Tiger and Wilson, investors in Fund I include FJ Labs; Kapor Center Investments; Hunter Walk and Satya Patel of Homebrew; Eileen Murray, former Co-CEO of Bridgewater Group; and founders of Bark, Casper, Honor, Olo, Envoy and WeWork, according to a statement.

Gutter Capital was co-founded by Dan Teran, founder of office management company Managed by Q, which WeWork bought for $220 million in 2019, and James Gettinger, a computer scientist and former professional gambler.

“We were the lead seed investor in Managed by Q and were witness to Dan’s intellect, empathy and resourcefulness as a founder and CEO,” Patel told Venture Capital Journal via email. “It was an easy decision to support him as an investor because we knew he’d bring the same qualities to his work with founders.”

Walk told VCJ that as chief executive of Managed by Q, Teran “immediately became a CEO that other founders were seeking out for advice, and was often invited to invest in their companies as an angel. When Dan decided to start Gutter we knew he’d being the same qualities, and deal access, to the venture space, which made it an easy decision for us to back him as individual LPs.”

Teran and Gettinger started investing together in 2017 and built a portfolio of more than 100 angel investments, including Bowery Farming, Electric.ai and Ribbon Homes. “When Teran and Gettinger set out to raise external capital, they quickly surpassed their initial fundraising goal of $15 million as a result of avid investor demand,” Gutter Capital said in the statement.

“We believe that the great companies of our time will be built in response to humanity’s greatest challenges,” Teran said. “We know that one company can’t solve these massive, systemic problems, but a generation of entrepreneurs certainly can. We started Gutter Capital to make sure that they do.”

Fund I already has a dozen companies in its portfolio, according to Gutter’s website, including BuildCasa, which pays homeowners up to $250,000 in cash to build housing on their extra lot space; The Climate Choice, maker of a “climate intelligence platform” that helps companies reduce carbon emissions; and Treehouse, an installer of EV charging solutions for homes.

The firm noted that it has “invested in 38 percent women, 48 percent non-white founders, and 15 percent Black or Latinx founders.”

In addition to the fundraising news, Gutter Capital announced that Richard Hughes joined the firm as an operating partner. He previously led talent acquisition at Primary Venture Partners, Alma and Managed by Q, where he worked under Teran.