Key Takeaways
- • Stage 2 Capital has closed $100 million across two vehicles, Venture Fund IV and Catalyst IV, to back early-stage B2B AI companies.
- • Venture Fund IV writes $2 million to $5 million checks from seed through Series A, while Catalyst IV makes $200,000 pre-seed investments, often as part of a startup's first institutional round.
- • The close follows four recent portfolio exits: Momentum to Salesforce, Steelhead to Mainsail, Versori to Avalara, and a majority investment in Order.co by PSG.
- • The firm is adding an AI agent to its network of more than 1,000 operators at companies including Anthropic, OpenAI, and ElevenLabs to match founders with operators in real time.
- • The new $100 million total is smaller than the firm's previously announced $150 million Fund III, according to the source's analysis.
Summary
Boston-based Stage 2 Capital has closed $100 million across two vehicles, Venture Fund IV and Catalyst IV, to invest in early-stage business-to-business artificial intelligence companies. According to the firm's announcement distributed via PR Newswire, Venture Fund IV writes checks of $2 million to $5 million from seed through Series A, while Catalyst IV makes pre-seed investments of $200,000, often as part of a company's first institutional round.
The close follows four recent portfolio exits: Momentum to Salesforce, Steelhead to Mainsail, Versori to Avalara, and a majority investment in Order.co by PSG. The firm pairs its capital with go-to-market support, drawing on a network of more than 1,000 operators at companies including Anthropic, OpenAI, and ElevenLabs. Stage 2 is now adding an AI agent designed to match a founder's specific need with the right operator in real time.
Stage 2 was co-founded in 2018 by Jay Po and Mark Roberge. It invests through a pod model that pairs a venture partner with a go-to-market partner, and its approach rests on the Science of Scaling, Roberge's framework for deciding when and how fast a company should grow. Po said, "We started Stage 2 Capital because early-stage founders need more than capital. No firm solved this well for go-to-market." Roberge added, "We see founders make the same two mistakes over and over. Some scale too slowly and miss their window. Others scale before they're ready and put the entire business at risk."
The $100 million total is smaller than the firm's previously announced $150 million Fund III, and modest against a rebounding venture market, based on the source's assessment.
The close follows four recent portfolio exits: Momentum to Salesforce, Steelhead to Mainsail, Versori to Avalara, and a majority investment in Order.co by PSG. The firm pairs its capital with go-to-market support, drawing on a network of more than 1,000 operators at companies including Anthropic, OpenAI, and ElevenLabs. Stage 2 is now adding an AI agent designed to match a founder's specific need with the right operator in real time.
Stage 2 was co-founded in 2018 by Jay Po and Mark Roberge. It invests through a pod model that pairs a venture partner with a go-to-market partner, and its approach rests on the Science of Scaling, Roberge's framework for deciding when and how fast a company should grow. Po said, "We started Stage 2 Capital because early-stage founders need more than capital. No firm solved this well for go-to-market." Roberge added, "We see founders make the same two mistakes over and over. Some scale too slowly and miss their window. Others scale before they're ready and put the entire business at risk."
The $100 million total is smaller than the firm's previously announced $150 million Fund III, and modest against a rebounding venture market, based on the source's assessment.
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