Same fund, but stronger.

02 / The process

Five stages, in this order.

Design thinking, applied to a capital deployment. We apply empathy and human-centered design practices to guide the process. We work with you and your team to co-design the next phase of the fund. Then launch.

  • 01

    Understand

    Interviews with the partners, LPs, founders and co-investors. Reviewing every document the firm presents. Competitor analysis and market research.

  • 02

    Define

    The research reduced to one problem statement.

  • 03

    Position

    The USP, drafted from the research and tested before any design begins.

  • 04

    Design

    Logo, type, colour and the design system, co-designed with the team.

  • 05

    Test

    We show the output to the people we interviewed. Then we revise it based upon what they say in response.

03 / Research

We start with the people who lead.

To build brand, you need to start from the source and ask big, hard-to-answer questions. The research is written up and agreed before the design phase. When the next phase of work begins, we know exactly the direction we are taking.

Everyone has a role
  • 01

    The partners

    What the firm believes, and where the partners disagree or diverge.

  • 02

    Limited partners

    How your firm is described in committee, and what it is compared with.

  • 03

    Portfolio founders

    Why they chose the firm, in their words.

  • 04

    Co-investors

    What other people say about your firm when you aren’t in the room.

How
  1. 01One-to-one interviews, research sessions to capture the customer experience on both sides (LPs and investees).
  2. 02A read of the deck, memo, LP letter and the website.
  3. 03An audit of how your peers present their thesis.
  4. 04A written summary to guide the next phase.
04 / Positioning

The best strategies are the result of iteration.

The USP is the sentence a partner says when asked what the fund does. We draft it from the research and keep the version that passes three tests: it is specific, it is true, and only your fund can say it. Everyone in the fund speaks that same truth, every time.

  1. 01

    A founder-first fund backing category-defining companies.

    noyesno
    Could be said by any fund.
  2. 02

    Seed-stage B2B software in Europe.

    yesyesno
    True of the peer set.
  3. 03

    The first pan-EU DeepTech fund in Brussels for industrial software, built by former operators.

    yesyesyes
    Kept. Confirmed in the LP interviews.
Worked example · Vellmark Capital, a fictional fund
05 / What ships

One brand, many forms.

  • 01

    Research summary

    Interviews, the synthesis and the report, written up into a single source of truth.

  • 02

    Positioning and USP

    The one clear statement, the social proof behind it, and the words to avoid.

  • 03

    Verbal identity

    Voice rules, a lexicon and your first few articles written in your own voice.

  • 04

    The mark

    Wordmark and logomark, showing the new face of your brand. Handcrafted to be balanced and impactful.

  • 05

    Type and colour

    Typefaces, palette and design tokens.

  • 06

    Applications

    Pitch deck, presentation to the Annual General Meeting, financial reports and the letter to LPs, website and impact report microsites.

  • 07

    The Brand Manual

    Everything above in one document. Published on your website as a true reference for humans and AI agents.

06 / Contact

Book an introductory call.

Tell us whether it is a refresh of the fund’s brand for the fundraise, or a new brand for a new fund. Either way, we start with the research.

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