Key Takeaways
- • Vice Ventures launched a $25 million early-stage venture fund focused on "non-traditional verticals" including cannabis, alcohol, CBD, e-sports, addiction recovery, and sextech, with prominent limited partners Marc Andreessen and Bradley Tusk among its backers.
- • Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Netscape and current board director at Facebook, eBay, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, is a lead investor signaling institutional-grade credibility for alternative industry investing.
- • Bradley Tusk, founder and CEO of Tusk Holdings with prior experience as Deputy Governor of Illinois and regulatory advisor to major political figures, serves as both investor and advisor, bringing regulatory expertise to a fund targeting restricted industries.
- • The fund explicitly excludes products intended to harm people—a principled investment thesis articulated by Founding Partner Catharine Dockery—establishing guardrails around the "vice" industry thesis despite the portfolio's controversial sectors.
- • Early portfolio companies include Players' Lounge (online gambling) and Recess (CBD beverages), demonstrating the fund's focus on fast-growing, recession-resistant consumer categories historically difficult to fund through traditional venture channels.
Summary
Vice Ventures has closed its inaugural $25 million fund targeting early-stage startups in sectors traditionally excluded from mainstream venture capital investment. The fund's investment thesis encompasses cannabis, alcohol, CBD, e-sports, addiction recovery, sextech, and related categories—industries that have historically faced severe capital constraints due to regulatory uncertainty and limited partner agreement restrictions.
The fund's investor base includes two marquee names that lend institutional credibility to the strategy. Marc Andreessen, the co-founder of Netscape and web browser pioneer, brings decades of venture capital experience through his track record at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). His participation signals that sophisticated technology investors view the "vices" sector as legitimate. Bradley Tusk, founder and CEO of Tusk Holdings, contributes both capital and operational expertise. Tusk's background as Deputy Governor of Illinois and regulatory advisor to figures including former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer positions him uniquely to navigate the complex regulatory landscape these startups face.
Founding Partner Catharine Dockery articulated the fund's investment discipline in public statements, clarifying that Vice Ventures will not fund products designed to harm people, citing firearms as an example of an excluded category. This approach distinguishes the fund from purely contrarian investing and establishes ethical boundaries within the broader "vice" thesis. The fund's conviction rests on demographic and economic fundamentals: these categories are characterized by strong consumer demand, expanding legal frameworks, and demonstrated recession resilience.
Early portfolio companies reflect this focus. Players' Lounge, an online gambling platform, and Recess, a CBD-infused beverage company, represent the fund's core thesis—consumer brands operating in previously capital-starved verticals that are experiencing rapid normalization and regulatory clarification. The $25 million fund size and founder-aligned operating model position Vice Ventures as a specialist player rather than a generalist fund, allowing concentrated conviction in restricted verticals where information asymmetries and supply constraints create alpha opportunities for investors with regulatory acumen and conviction.
The fund's investor base includes two marquee names that lend institutional credibility to the strategy. Marc Andreessen, the co-founder of Netscape and web browser pioneer, brings decades of venture capital experience through his track record at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). His participation signals that sophisticated technology investors view the "vices" sector as legitimate. Bradley Tusk, founder and CEO of Tusk Holdings, contributes both capital and operational expertise. Tusk's background as Deputy Governor of Illinois and regulatory advisor to figures including former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer positions him uniquely to navigate the complex regulatory landscape these startups face.
Founding Partner Catharine Dockery articulated the fund's investment discipline in public statements, clarifying that Vice Ventures will not fund products designed to harm people, citing firearms as an example of an excluded category. This approach distinguishes the fund from purely contrarian investing and establishes ethical boundaries within the broader "vice" thesis. The fund's conviction rests on demographic and economic fundamentals: these categories are characterized by strong consumer demand, expanding legal frameworks, and demonstrated recession resilience.
Early portfolio companies reflect this focus. Players' Lounge, an online gambling platform, and Recess, a CBD-infused beverage company, represent the fund's core thesis—consumer brands operating in previously capital-starved verticals that are experiencing rapid normalization and regulatory clarification. The $25 million fund size and founder-aligned operating model position Vice Ventures as a specialist player rather than a generalist fund, allowing concentrated conviction in restricted verticals where information asymmetries and supply constraints create alpha opportunities for investors with regulatory acumen and conviction.
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