Key Takeaways
- • Founder Institute, VC Lab and FI Venture Network are promoting an online Venture Trailblazers event featuring Mac Conwell, Founder and Managing Partner of RareBreed Ventures, moderated alongside Adeo Ressi, CEO of Decile Group and VC Lab.
- • RareBreed Ventures, a Baltimore-based pre-seed and seed fund, raised a $10 million Fund I largely through Twitter, bringing in 194 LPs, many first-time fund investors with checks as small as $10,000.
- • RareBreed has backed 47 companies across more than 30 verticals, 17 states and 4 countries, with 70% of those companies having an underrepresented founder, despite having no diversity mandate.
- • Conwell is raising RareBreed Fund II with plans to double his average check to around $350,000, with a stated long-term goal of making the firm the generation's First Round Capital.
- • Conwell testified in 2025 before the U.S. House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets on opening venture funds to more investors.
Summary
Founder Institute has announced an online edition of its Venture Trailblazers event series featuring Mac Conwell, Founder and Managing Partner of RareBreed Ventures. The session is aimed at emerging managers, pre-seed founders building outside major tech hubs, angel investors and economic development organizations. Adeo Ressi, CEO of Decile Group and VC Lab, is listed as the speaker joining Conwell.
RareBreed Ventures is a Baltimore-based pre-seed and seed fund that backs founders outside Silicon Valley, New York and Boston. According to the publisher summary, Conwell raised the firm's $10 million Fund I largely on Twitter, took more than 1,100 meetings in his first 90 days and more than 4,000 across 18 months, and brought in 194 LPs. The firm has since backed 47 companies, including Blank Beauty, Rebundle and Red Drop. Its investment focus includes software companies with a repeatable customer acquisition strategy and physical products in legacy industries.
Conwell is now raising Fund II, with plans to increase his average check to roughly $350,000. The publisher describes his long-term objective as building RareBreed into this generation's First Round Capital. The event agenda highlights topics including the Series A gap, capital access in a reset market and advice for emerging managers building enduring firms.
Conwell's background includes working at the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) from 2016, where he led creation of the Builder Fund, described as the first state-backed pre-seed fund in the country for women and minority founders. Maryland subsequently funded that program permanently. He is a Kauffman Fellow (Class 26), has written for TechCrunch, and testified before the U.S. House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets in 2025.
The event is hosted within the Founder Institute, VC Lab and FI Venture Network ecosystem. VC Lab, described by the publisher as a venture accelerator for new and emerging managers, says more than 900 funds have completed its program. The Founder Institute says it has helped over 9,000 founders across 100 countries raise more than $2 billion.
RareBreed Ventures is a Baltimore-based pre-seed and seed fund that backs founders outside Silicon Valley, New York and Boston. According to the publisher summary, Conwell raised the firm's $10 million Fund I largely on Twitter, took more than 1,100 meetings in his first 90 days and more than 4,000 across 18 months, and brought in 194 LPs. The firm has since backed 47 companies, including Blank Beauty, Rebundle and Red Drop. Its investment focus includes software companies with a repeatable customer acquisition strategy and physical products in legacy industries.
Conwell is now raising Fund II, with plans to increase his average check to roughly $350,000. The publisher describes his long-term objective as building RareBreed into this generation's First Round Capital. The event agenda highlights topics including the Series A gap, capital access in a reset market and advice for emerging managers building enduring firms.
Conwell's background includes working at the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) from 2016, where he led creation of the Builder Fund, described as the first state-backed pre-seed fund in the country for women and minority founders. Maryland subsequently funded that program permanently. He is a Kauffman Fellow (Class 26), has written for TechCrunch, and testified before the U.S. House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets in 2025.
The event is hosted within the Founder Institute, VC Lab and FI Venture Network ecosystem. VC Lab, described by the publisher as a venture accelerator for new and emerging managers, says more than 900 funds have completed its program. The Founder Institute says it has helped over 9,000 founders across 100 countries raise more than $2 billion.
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