SoCal Venture Pipeline

Founders based in Southern California who are preparing to raise their first round of institutional Seed or Series A funding within the next 6 to 12 months are eligible. We cater to various tech industry verticals. 

Key indicators include a minimum raised through angel funding, product market presence, customer traction, a dedicated team, and a scalable business model. Specific requirements vary for Seed and Series A stages as detailed below. 

Founders: Here’s a helpful guide we wrote to explain the different funding stages to help you determine which round you should be raising.

These are guidelines and not strict criteria since every startup is a little different:

1. Have ideally raised at least $250K through angel funding and/or friends and family
   1. If not, product in market and demonstrated customer traction and potentially early revenue generation
   2. Proof of Value Proposition: Annual Run Rate (ARR) sales of $100K or more (ideally) and/or at least 100 customer discovery interviews
2. Dedicated team of 2 or more
3. Have articulated a compelling market opportunity and identified target customer segments, and early customer validation (e.g. pilots, etc.), for example
   1. MVP built and in use by customers
   2. Proof of a growing customer prospect pipeline
   3. Identified Key Performance Indicators
4. Raising institutional seed capital of $1M or more with a scalable business model and a Series A raise planned in next 12-24 months.
5. Based in Southern California

These are guidelines and not strict criteria since every startup is a little different:

1. Have raised $500K angel or seed investment
2. Dedicated team of 5 or more
3. Product in the market
4. Demonstrated accelerating market traction (e.g. revenue, customers, or users)
   1. Annual Run Rate (ARR) sales of $2M or more (ideally)
   2. What makes you the winner in this market?
5. Raising institutional Series A capital of $4M or more
6. Based in Southern California

Yes! Our program service area is from Santa Barbara down to San Diego and from the beach to Riverside (and everywhere in between). Basically these 7 counties: Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernadino, Orange, San Diego.

No, there is no cost to apply and we do not take equity in exchange for our services. Our sponsors and a federal grant cover the operational expenses of the program.

Applications are first reviewed by Alliance staff, followed by evaluation and feedback from our Evaluation Committee to narrow down the applicants to the top five startups. The top five startups that month get to live pitch to the Selection Committee who then make the final decision.

Once accepted, we want to get to know you and better understand your business and current fundraising progress so we can find the right investors for you. Once we have a game plan, you’ll receive strategic introductions to VCs, guidance on pitching and presenting your startup, and access to our network of resources and mentors.

Our program partner has built a national VC syndicate of over 200 active investors (and growing) from all around the country, mostly located in California.

This will vary on how many investors are interested in your field, technology, and market size and traction. We try to make at least three but that is not guaranteed.

We aim to provide a status of your application within 30 days of applying to the program. The Selection Committee meets monthly to make final decisions, but the committee may not be able to review all applications submitted in the previous month. If a final determination is not reached at the conclusion of the Selection Committee deliberations, we will notify you of the delay and provide updated guidance.

If not selected, we provide feedback and referrals to resources to address areas needing improvement. We encourage founders to reapply after further development.

Absolutely! We welcome reapplications from startups that have achieved new milestones or overcome previous challenges.

We maintain high standards of integrity and transparency. Any potential conflicts of interest with committee members or founders must be disclosed to the Alliance.

We are supported by generous sponsors and a federal grant that covers the operational expenses of the program. Also, we rely on local ecosystem leaders who volunteer their time to help great companies access funding. Our community leaders and committees work closely with founders and know what it takes to get VC funding.

We are constantly working with partners across SoCal so we can get founders the support they need. This may include local Small Business Development Center (SBDC), accelerators, incubators, as well as early stage funders.

Your application data is strictly used for evaluation purposes within the SoCal Venture Pipeline program and is not sold or shared externally. We are committed to maintaining confidentiality and data security.