This week we’re featuring a company modernizing one of retail’s biggest blind spots: what actually happens once products hit the shelf.

In our 55th edition, meet David Roger, Michael Rostowsky, Bobby Shomrony, and Mike Walters, co-founders of Hetal Retail, an AI-powered platform helping brands understand and optimize what’s happening on shelf.

The Hetal team previously worked together at Felix Gray, a venture-backed consumer brand they scaled into major retail channels like Target, CVS, and Best Buy before selling the company in 2023.

Through that experience, they saw firsthand how little visibility brands have once products hit the shelf.

I first met David while he was building Felix Gray and was fortunate to write the first check into Hetal.

While over 80% of purchases still happen in retail, 25% of sales are lost due to poor execution, and 20–40% of displays are set up incorrectly.

Hetal helps brands understand what’s happening on shelf and turns that visibility into better execution, merchandising, and sell-through.

Legacy solutions are expensive, manual, and slow. Hetal flips that model.

Using a network of everyday shoppers (“Hetalites”) and proprietary computer vision AI, Hetal:

• Captures shelf-level data across stores

• Identifies out-of-stocks, pricing errors, product orientation, number of facings, shelf placement, and merchandising compliance

• Connects execution directly to sales outcomes

Brands use Hetal to improve availability, win shelf space, and deploy merchandising spend more efficiently.

In short, Hetal is building a “Google Analytics for retail shelves.”

In just six months, Hetal surpassed 100 customers and now works with leading brands, including: Caraway, Cleancult, Freestyle, Lalo, Windmill, Grüns, Lemme, Oats Overnight, David Protein, Starface, and Everyday Dose.

Hetal is already helping brands audit major retailers including Target, Walmart, Sprouts, and Whole Foods, and will be expanding into conventional grocery including Kroger, HEB, and Publix starting Q2 2026.

As digital channels become more competitive, physical retail is becoming more important—and complex. Hetal is building the infrastructure layer that makes retail shelves measurable.

Reply to this email if you or anyone you know might be interested in speaking with the Hetal team!

And see what David, Michael, Bobby, and Mike have to say in this week’s Q&A 👇

Founder Q&A

Describe your company in 5 words or less.

David: Affordable/powerful shelf analytics/actionability.

Michael: Retail analytics and workflows.

Bobby: Auditing. Trends. Insights. Merchandising. Intelligence.

Mike: Continuous retail shelf data.

What was your primary motivation for starting your business?

David: Having experienced growing in retail firsthand at Felix Gray, we realized that the current system is broken. The data is expensive and it’s unwieldy. Auditing and correction shouldn’t be part of the same merchandising visit, it’s inherently what makes understanding the shelf so expensive. Computer Vision AI can be used to mine the data in the photos to actually generate useful data/insights. And, a platform needs to be designed to action the information. Operators are too busy to use another tool to help them figure out what to do. The best companies figure it out on your behalf.

Michael: Brands had no affordable way to understand what was actually happening on the shelf, a problem that directly impacted our last business. We wanted to build the solution.

Bobby: Nobody actually knew what was happening on the shelf in CPG. The data existed in spreadsheets and disparate data sources — never in real time, never affordably. That gap felt both obvious and fixable. So we fixed it.

Mike: Working with my other founders on a fun and exciting project.

What new product/feature are you most excited about and why?

David: Our new merchandising coordination (Dispatch) is pretty amazing. We’re helping brands save 70-90% of their merchandising budgets, correct issues faster (2 week lead time), and no longer have to handle the time consuming coordination + confirmation. We hone in on what stores are worth visiting by cross referencing our audits with brand provided criteria and budget. Then we push that work out to approved merchandising firms, but we batch jobs across our customer set to get better pricing. We’ll handle all the coordination and grade the after-photos to grade issue resolution.

Michael: Improved merchandising coordination, it closes the loop from diagnosis to action. Brands can see exactly which stores need attention and dispatch help automatically.

Bobby: Campaign-based merchandising coordination. We’re building the ability to support recurring, reactive, and proactive merchandising workflows — giving brands a complete, closed-loop system for managing shelf execution from diagnosis all the way through resolution. No more one-off store visits or reactive firefighting. Just a structured, intelligent approach to getting and keeping — your shelf right.

Mike: AI across the board and its ability to give insights that were previously hidden.

What piece of advice would you give an entrepreneur starting a business today?

David: It’s a three legged race. Everyone at the team needs to work towards the same goal and put the team’s goals above their own priorities.

Michael: Your plan will change a hundred times. Be okay with that and stay close to your customers.

Bobby: Talk to your customers obsessively — before you build, while you build, after you build. Every major Hetal decision came from standing in actual store aisles, not a whiteboard. Reality always beats assumptions.

Mike: Perfect is the enemy of good. Get a good MVP and ship.

What do you love to do in your free time?

David: Outside of family/friends, anything that gets me into a flow state and clears my head. Skiing, biking, cooking, swimming all do this for me.

Michael: Tennis, trying new restaurants, reading when I can.

Bobby: Get outside — playing basketball, exploring new places and having fun with my kids.

Mike: Video Games and Family Time.

What is the most interesting place you’ve visited recently and why?

David: Greenland for a backcountry ski trip.

Michael: The Magic Castle in LA, a private club for magicians. Hard to explain, worth experiencing.

Bobby: Disney World with my kids. Hundreds of thousands of people, all completely bought into the same experience — it’s a wild thing to witness. As a founder, you can’t help but marvel at the brand machine they’ve built. The operational scale, the emotional buy-in, the consistency across every touchpoint. Nobody executes an experience quite like Disney, everyone drinking the same Kool-Aid.

Mike: Sesame Place American Dream - Getting to see my daughter enjoy seeing Elmo in person.

What is your favorite app or tool in your work life and in your personal life?

David: Evernote. It’s old, there are probably better solutions, but without my lists, I’m lost.

Michael: Work: Claude, has enabled so much. Personal: Spotify, always have a podcast going.

Bobby: Asana. It’s where my thinking lives and keeps the chaos organized enough to move fast.

Mike: Claude. Has changed how my development works and allows me to prototype in hours what took days.

What do you want to be when you grow up (besides a successful founder)? 😊

David: Would rather always be a kid, but you know, a responsible one. Life is too short: stay curious and have fun.

Michael: New York Knicks Season Ticket Holder.

Bobby: A great mentor and father to my children. The people who gave me honest, unfiltered feedback early on shaped everything. I want to be that person for the next wave of founders.

Mike: Video Game Designer.

What do you believe is the most important skill or attribute of a successful founder?

David: Depends on the role. For me, selling a vision, prioritizing the steps to get there, and communicating that effectively to keep everyone working together.

Michael: Resilience.

Bobby: Resilience with self-awareness. The best founders absorb hard feedback, adapt fast, and keep going — without losing sight of why they started.

Mike: The ability to see problems in a different light or attack them from unseen angles.

Know a founder building something exceptional?

Reply to this email — I’m always looking to meet great entrepreneurs.

SuperAngel.Fund is an early-stage venture capital fund led by Ben Zises that invests in Consumer, PropTech, & Future of Work 😇.

Fund II is backed by the AngelList Systematic Fund-of-Funds (anchored by Sequoia Capital and Squarepoint, a $100B asset manager). Based on their data, SuperAngel ranks in the top 1% on markups over baseline.

👉 Learn more about Fund II

Why am I receiving this email?

You’re receiving this because you’re part of the SuperAngel Network — a friend, founder, co-investor, or connection who has expressed interest in receiving updates.

If this isn’t relevant, you can unsubscribe below.

One of my favorite parts of this job is meeting incredible founders early, often before the rest of the world catches on.

Years ago I started Founder Friday where I showcase these entrepreneurs with my network.

I’m excited to bring the series back.

In our 54th edition, we are featuring Russ Wallace and Mike Constantiner, co-founders of Freestyle, a high-performance babycare brand redefining diapers and wipes for modern families 👶.

Russ and Mike bring deep experience across consumer brands and startups. Mike previously co-founded Cameo, the viral video platform that reached the App Store Top 10 before later being acquired by Vimeo, while Russ helped scale Hello Bello past a $100M run rate as Head of Business Development.

While legacy brands like Pampers and Huggies dominate the market, many parents have begun seeking cleaner ingredients, better materials, and higher-performance products for their babies.

So they built Freestyle.

Freestyle’s flagship diapers feature patent-pending 7-layer absorbency technology, are Total Chlorine Free, and EWG Verified®.

Since launching online in 2022, Freestyle has grown rapidly and expanded into major retailers including Target, Walmart, and Whole Foods, and is also available on Amazon and Freestyle.world.

The brand has also built an impressive marketing engine powered by 1,000+ creators and influencers, powering it to become one of the fastest players in the category, with ~400% year-over-year growth.

SuperAngel was proud to first back Freestyle in 2021 and continue throughout their scale up stages, including in their most recent Series A round.

If you or someone you know is currently in the diaper buying phase, feel free to use or share promo code SuperAngel20.

And see what Russ and Mike have to say in this week’s Founder Friday Q&A 👇

Founder Q&A

Describe your company in 5 words or less.

Russ: High performance diapers and wipes.

Mike: Premium family essentials.

What was your primary motivation for starting your business?

Russ: Hello Bello had been an eye-opening experience into the world of diapers and wipes, and it felt like even though the business was doing really well (at the time), they were leaving a lot on the table in terms of content around modern parenting. What I saw in the world as a parent was young people genuinely trying to rethink the entire act of building a family -- what it meant for them and their kids, how to fix perceived misses in their own upbringing, even where to live when raising a family. So when Mike and I found that we could talk about these generational differences for hours at a time, it felt like we uniquely had the kind of passion, insights, and experience that could support building a new brand for the category.

Mike: When I became a dad, I was genuinely disappointed by the options in the category. Most were dated, underperforming, or overpriced — usually some mix of the three. Freestyle started as our answer to that.

What new product/feature are you most excited about and why?

Russ: For sure our SkinShield diaper, which is low key the best diaper that has ever been made (unbiased opinion). Lab results confirm it, customers shout it out on socials, and the look on people’s faces when they actually test in person is shocking and deeply satisfying. And the fact that you don’t need a trust fund to have access to an exceptional diaper makes me very proud of the hard work we put into engineering it.

Mike: Our new diaper, SkinShield, is really innovative. We designed a completely novel way it absorbs and makes it the top performing diaper we’ve ever tested.

What piece of advice would you give an entrepreneur starting a business today?

Russ: I’ve tried many times to build a venture-backed startup, and this is the first one that found the path to escape velocity. The difference that stands out the most to me is that (i) I got lucky in finding a great partner who balanced out the gaps in my capabilities and many of my bad instincts, and (ii) I finally learned to ignore the vanity metrics -- investment rounds, users, visits, reviews, social media metrics -- and get laser focused on revenue and the path to profit. At the end of the day, a business is just a cash-generating machine; you can convince yourself that it’s about something else, that yours is different, but it won’t survive unless it becomes that machine. So my advice is try to separate out the things that the company does for you -- the vanity stuff -- and learn to care deeply about the things the company does that generate (or that can generate in the near future) profits. It’s harder than it sounds, and for me, it was the unlock to building something that has a chance to succeed.

Mike: Lack of focus is the number one thing that kill startups. Have a clear goal of where you want to get to, and be very mindful of the daily steps it will take to get there. Nothing happens overnight.

What do you love to do in your free time?

Russ: Exploring anything -- an academic field or a place in the world -- with my family. I thrive on constant movement and new things.

Mike: Spend time with my family and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

What is the most interesting place you’ve visited recently and why?

Russ: By far, it’s China. I had so many preconceived notions about our first visit to China to see our suppliers, and the experience blew me away. It’s a genuinely unique and authentic culture and place, and as a visitor and a business partner my experiences there have far exceeded my expectations.

Mike: China. It’s like jumping forward 10-20 years into the future in certain ways. Super cool to see what’s going on there first hand. Also, easily the best food in the world.

What is your favorite app or tool in your work life and in your personal life?

Russ: Using OpenClaw to help me organize my schedule and tasks has been surprisingly effective. It’s not everything the hype promises it will be, but I’m more productive with it than without it.

Mike: Work: As lame as it sounds, Slack. We’re a fully remote team, so it’s the hub of communication internally. Personal: Skylight. Keeps our family’s schedules easily accessible for both us parents and the kids.

What do you want to be when you grow up (besides a successful founder)? 😊

Russ: Jimmy Buffett 2.0. That guy cracked the code.

Mike: Healthy and my kids to still want to hang out with me lol.

What do you believe is the most important skill or attribute of a successful founder?

Russ: Persistence and a lack of shame.

Mike: Resilience.

Know a founder building something exceptional?
Reply to this email — I’m always looking to meet great entrepreneurs.

SuperAngel.Fund is an early-stage venture capital fund led by Ben Zises that invests in Consumer, PropTech, & Future of Work 😇.

Fund II is backed by the AngelList Systematic Fund-of-Funds (anchored by Sequoia Capital and Squarepoint, a $100B asset manager). Based on their data, SuperAngel ranks in the top 1% on markups over baseline.

👉 Learn more about Fund II

Why am I receiving this email?

You’re receiving this because you’re part of the SuperAngel Network — a friend, founder, co-investor, or connection who has expressed interest in receiving updates.

If this isn’t relevant, you can unsubscribe below.

Dear Friends,

Q1 was a strong start to 2026.

We continued scaling SuperAngel.Fund II, deploying capital into high-quality companies while increasing ownership in breakout performers.

We’re also beginning to see several Fund I companies reach meaningful inflection points.

🎙️Prefer to listen? Click here/below for the audio version.

🔥 Q1 2026 — At a Glance

• $2.45M deployed to date across 50 investments into 40 companies

• ~$1M deployed in Q1 across 9 new investments and 5 follow-ons

• $50K median check size

• $15M median entry (vs. $20M market)

• 14 companies already marked up

• Fund II now $10M+ committed from 100+ LPs

• New institutional LP: Schesto Ventures

📊 Fund II — Performance & Activity

We continued to deploy capital across both new and existing portfolio companies, with a mix of primary and secondary transactions.

We are increasingly accessing companies outside formal fundraising processes through secondaries and direct founder-led allocations.

We also proactively approach our highest conviction companies to participate in one-off primary rounds, often enabled by flexible SAFE structures.

Our entry pricing compares favorably to the broader market, reinforcing our ability to access high-quality companies at disciplined prices.

To date, 14 investments have been marked up, with several others showing strong traction not yet reflected in reported valuations.

The Fund II portfolio currently spans:

• Consumer: 18

• Commerce Tech: 14

• PropTech / Future of Work: 8

👉 Interested in learning more? Additional materials:

• AngelList Systematic Fund-of-Funds commitment letter

• SuperAngel.Fund II investor memo

🧠 Our Strategy

Our edge is designed — not random:

• Brand-driven inbound (35K+ Substack, 20K+ LinkedIn, 10K+ X)

• Proprietary network of founders, operators, and LPs

• Early access + disciplined entry pricing

• Selective concentration into breakout performers

This approach is supported by both internal results and external data.

A recent Carta study (20,000 simulated funds) showed that highly diversified portfolios (~100 investments) are significantly more likely to produce top-decile outcomes than concentrated portfolios.

Additionally, Fund II received backing from the AngelList Systematic Fund-of-Funds (anchored by Sequoia Capital and Squarepoint). Based on their “markups over baseline” metric, SuperAngel ranks in the top 1% of GPs on the platform

👉 You can review our investment strategy here.

🚀 Fund II Portfolio Companies

We’ve built a highly diversified portfolio across consumer, commerce tech, and PropTech / Future of Work.

Many of these companies are already demonstrating strong early traction, with several scaling rapidly and multiple investments already marked up.

Below is a snapshot of companies we’ve backed in Fund II to date:

Consumer (18 companies)

• 📱 Freckle: The first phone kids love and parents trust

• 🍓 Feel Goods: All-natural supplements built for Gen Z

• 💦 Rorra: A modern water filtration company

• 🥣 Man Cereal: Creatine-infused, high-protein cereal

• 🪴 Arber: Modern lawn, garden, & plant care brand

• ⚡ Orka: Energy drink that tastes like water

• 👶 Freestyle: Babycare brand for the next generation

• 🧻 Fox Fold: Sustainable tissue solutions for hotels

• 🍝 Ripi: Premium frozen pasta brand

• 💪 Create: The first modern creatine brand

• ♻️ Biom: Sustainable wipes brand

• 🌿 Rose: The future of residential health & wellness

• 🧴 Cottonball: Personalized prescription skincare

• 🧃 NoBiggie: BFY kids food & beverage brand

• 🧴 Parivie: Paris Hilton skincare brand

• 🗄️ Branch: Office furniture that works

Commerce Tech (14 companies)

• 📺 Upscale AI: TV marketing platform for brands

• 📊 Marathon Data: Brand measurement & analytics platform

• 🛒 Hetal: Retail audit & execution platform

• 🛡️ Patrol: Security & compliance for eCommerce

• 💰 RetailPath: Retail chargebacks on autopilot

• 💼 Storetasker: Marketplace for eCommerce experts

• 📦 Two Boxes: Returns management for brands & 3PL

• ✨ Overjoy: AI-powered wholesale growth platform

• 💫 Hoop: Effortless resale platform

• ✨ OuterSignal: Customer intelligence for merchants

• 🌐 Bonsai: AI commerce infrastructure for brands

• 🔀 Jurni: AI-powered marketing funnels

• 🏬 SignalLift: AI operating system for multi-unit retailers

• ⚡Won.AI: AI-first commerce agency

• 💥YouPop: Creator commerce & infrastructure

• 🔬 Light Labs: Modern lab testing for cleaner, safer products

PropTech / Future of Work (8 companies)

• 🔑 Cosign: Helping landlords convert more renters

• ✨ Harmony: AI workflow automation for manufacturing

• 🧑‍💼 Stealth: Workforce planning & optimization

• 💻 candidate.fyi: Candidate experience platform

• 🏡 Doorvest: AI-first property management

• 📒 LDGR Systems: AI agents for property accounting

• 🏦 Dynasty: A trust company built for founders

We’re proud to partner with these founders and continue to support them as they scale.

📊 Fund I — Performance (2021-2024)

Fund I is now fully deployed and continues to show strong early performance.

• Top 10% of all 2021 vintage funds (AngelList benchmark data)

• $10.2M deployed across 201 investments into 130 companies

• ~$16.65M estimated current value

• 1.63x gross MOIC | 14.58% IRR

• 77% of investments active and/or marked up

Early-stage portfolios often see smaller outcomes early, with larger winners emerging over time. We remain confident in the long-term upside of the portfolio.

👉 View detailed performance

🌐 The Super Angel Network

The Super Angel Network is a core driver of our strategy — and a key reason we consistently see proprietary deal flow and differentiated access.

A private network of founders, operators, and LPs that:

• Drives proprietary deal flow

• Enables faster, higher-quality diligence

• Supports hiring, partnerships, and customer growth

• Compounds in value over time

We continue to see this become a meaningful competitive advantage.

🔗 SuperAngelNetwork.com

🤝 LP Momentum

During the quarter, we added Schesto Ventures as a new institutional LP.

The Schestowitz Group is a multi-generational global operator (founded 1954), with deep expertise across consumer distribution and brand building.

Fund II now exceeds $10M in commitments from 100+ LPs, including founders, operators, venture investors, and family offices.

🧾 QSBS Tailwinds

Recent changes to QSBS meaningfully improve the after-tax potential of early-stage investing:

• Higher exclusion caps

• Tiered holding periods

• Expanded eligibility

Combined with early entry and long holding periods, we believe this creates a strong structural tailwind for this fund vintage.

👉 Read more on QSBS updates.

🤖 AI’s Impact on Consumer

AI is disrupting software, but accelerating consumer.

While AI is increasing competition and compressing defensibility in parts of the software ecosystem, it is simultaneously improving the economics of building consumer and physical-world businesses.

These businesses:

• Cannot be easily unbundled

• Benefit from lower costs (production, marketing, ops)

• Retain more durable demand characteristics

We are beginning to see capital rotate toward businesses with tangible products, inelastic demand, and stronger structural defensibility, where AI acts as an enabler rather than a disruptor.

We expect this trend to continue — and believe it creates a particularly favorable backdrop for the types of companies we invest in.

🔭 Looking Ahead

We continue to see strong deal flow across Consumer, Commerce Tech, and PropTech / Future of Work — increasingly sourced directly through our network.

We expect:

• Continued steady deployment through 2026

• Ongoing focus on disciplined entry pricing

• Increased ownership in breakout performers

• Select secondary opportunities

If you come across exceptional founders in these areas, I’m always grateful for introductions.

Thank you for your continued trust and support.

Ben Zises

Founder & GP

SuperAngel.Fund

ben@superangel.vc

P.S. Prior quarterly updates are available here.

SuperAngel.Fund is an early-stage venture capital fund led by Ben Zises that invests in Consumer, PropTech, & Future of Work 😇.

Fund II is backed by the AngelList Systematic Fund-of-Funds (anchored by Sequoia Capital and Squarepoint, a $100B asset manager). Based on their data, SuperAngel ranks in the top 1% on markups over baseline.

👉 Learn more about Fund II

Why am I receiving this email?

You’re receiving this because you’re part of the SuperAngel Network — a friend, founder, co-investor, or connection who has expressed interest in receiving updates.

If this isn’t relevant, you can unsubscribe below.

Dear Friends,

I’m pleased to share some exciting news with you: SuperAngel.Fund II is proud to welcome Schesto Ventures as a new LP. Schesto Ventures is the venture capital arm of The Schestowitz Group, a multi-generational operating company founded in 1954.

The Schestowitz Group is a leading global importer, marketer, and distributor of consumer brands across personal care, cosmetics, household goods, food, and health, supporting thousands of points of sale and employing 1,100+ people worldwide.

Schesto Ventures is led by Roy Gat, General Manager, and backed by Yoni Schestowitz, Owner and CEO.

“We are excited to add SuperAngel.Fund II to the Schesto Ventures portfolio. Ben brings over a decade of early-stage investing experience, a proven track record, and a strong fiduciary mindset. His disciplined approach combining speed, conviction, and diversification aligns with our focus on operational excellence and execution. We believe Fund II is well positioned to succeed.”

We are grateful to partner with a storied group that brings decades of operating experience and a principled mindset to venture investing. This partnership reflects the continued momentum behind Fund II as we approach our next close.

For those interested in learning more, you can review our latest Fund II materials here.

Thank you, as always, for your continued trust and support.

Ben Zises

SuperAngel.Fund

ben@superangel.vc

SuperAngel.Fund is an early-stage venture capital fund that invests in Consumer, PropTech & Future of Work😇.

Fund II is backed by the AngelList Systematic Fund-of-Funds, which ranks us in the top 1% based on markups over baseline, a leading indicator of future performance.

Click here to learn more about Fund II

Why am I receiving this email?

You are receiving this email because you are either a friend, co-investor, associate, or connection of Ben Zises or SuperAngel, who at one point expressed interest in receiving updates and other correspondence from me. If you received this email in error please accept my apologies and feel free to unsubscribe at the link below.

Dear Friends,

I hope you had a wonderful holiday season.

I’m pleased to share SuperAngel.Fund’s Q4 2025 update, covering Fund I (our 2021-2024 rolling fund) as well as our newly active Fund II.

• Want to read the commitment letter from one of our largest LPs who rank us in the top 1% on AngelList? Click here.

• Want to learn more about investing in Fund II? Click here.

• Prefer to listen to this update instead? You can find the AI-generated podcast by clicking the play button below 🎙️

Introducing the Super Angel Network 🌐

While venture fundraising remains challenging by many measures, we’ve continued to grow SuperAngel.Fund II to over $9.5M from nearly 100 LPs, including both new and returning partners, with additional commitments in process.

Our LP base spans founders, operators, fellow fund managers, real estate investors, and agency owners — a community that has increasingly become a meaningful competitive advantage for both the fund and our portfolio companies.

We believe this network compounds over time, creating a durable edge across sourcing, diligence, hiring, partnerships, and founder support.

To deepen access, transparency, and collaboration, I’m excited to introduce the Super Angel Network — a private platform designed to bring together:

• Founders across our portfolio

• LPs who are invested across our funds & SPVs

The network has already proven valuable for introductions, deal flow, diligence, and operational support. Feel free to explore!

🔗 SuperAngelNetwork.com

🔐 Access: Request password or 👉 Click here to join

📊 Fund II — Performance Summary (2025- )

As of quarter-end, Fund II has deployed $1.62M across 36 investments into 33 companies, with a $50K median check size and a $15M median post-money entry valuation.

The portfolio spans our core focus areas:

• Consumer: 18

• Commerce Tech: 13

• PropTech/Future of Work: 5

Our entry valuations continue to compare favorably with current market data, where median seed valuations in 2025 were approximately $20M post-money, reinforcing our emphasis on early access and disciplined entry points.

To date, 10 investments have been marked up, with several others demonstrating meaningful traction that is not yet reflected in reported valuations.

Portfolio Overview

Consumer

• 📱 Freckle: The first phone kids love and parents trust

• 🍓 Feel Goods: All-natural supplements built for Gen Z

• 💦 Rorra: A modern water filtration company

• 🥣 Man Cereal: Creatine-infused, high-protein cereal for men

• 🪴 Arber: Modern lawn, garden, & plant care

• ⚡ Orka: The energy drink that tastes like water

• 👶 Freestyle: Babycare brand designed for the next generation

• 🧻 Fox Fold: Sustainable tissue solutions for hotels

• 🍝 Ripi: Premium frozen pasta

• 🍑 Create: The first modern creatine brand

• ♻️ Biom: Sustainable household wipes

• 🌿 Rosemary: The future of residential health & wellness

• 🧴 Cottonball: Personalized prescription skincare

Commerce Tech

• 📺 Upscale AI: TV marketing for modern brands

• 📊 Marathon Data: Brand measurement & marketing analytics

• 🛒 Hetal: Retail audit, analytics, and execution

• 🛡️ Patrol: Security & compliance for eCommerce

• 💰 RetailPath: Retail chargebacks on autopilot

• 💼 Storetasker: Marketplace for eCommerce experts

• 📦 Two Boxes: Returns management for brands & 3PLs

• ✨ Overjoy: AI-powered wholesale growth

• 💫 Hoop: Effortless resale infrastructure

• ✨ OuterSignal: Customer intelligence for merchants

• 🌐 Bonsai: AI commerce infrastructure

• 🔀 Jurni: AI-driven marketing funnels

• 🏬 SignalLift: AI operating system for multi-unit retailers

• ⚡Won.AI: AI-first commerce agency for brands

PropTech / Future of Work

• ✍️ Cosign: Helping landlords convert more renters

• ✨ Harmony: AI-powered workflow automation

• 🤐 Stealth: Agentic workforce planning & optimization

• 💻 Candidate.fyi: The candidate experience platform

• 🏡 Doorvest: AI-first property management

📝 Fund II — LP Terms

• Minimum Commitment: $100k - $250k+, with a limited number of smaller allocations available

• Capital Call Schedule: 10% per quarter over 10 quarters

• Target Fund Size: $15m

• Fees: 2% annual management fee, 20% carried interest

• Fund Administration: AngelList (Legal, tax & accounting, banking, and compliance)

📊 Fund I — Performance Summary (2021-2024)

Fund I, our 2021-2024 rolling fund, is now closed and fully deployed

• Capital Deployed: $10.2M across 201 investments into 130 companies

• Estimated Current Value: $16.18M

• Performance: 1.58x Gross MOIC | 14.65% Gross IRR

• Portfolio Health: 159 out of 201 investments (79%) remain active and/or have been marked up

• Click here to see the Fund I portfolio

Based on AngelList Fund Benchmark Data (H1 2025), Fund I ranks in the top 10% of all 2021 vintage funds.

👉 Click here to view a detailed performance summary

Notably, early-stage venture portfolios often experience smaller liquidity events and wind-downs early in a fund’s life, with larger outcomes typically emerging later. I remain confident in Fund I’s overall positioning and long-term upside as the portfolio continues to mature.

🧭 Investment Strategy, Approach & QSBS Updates

Fund II is targeting a four-year deployment period from its initial close in March 2025, with a plan to make approximately 100 investments across ~60 companies.

We focus on the earliest stages of company formation — from Pre-Seed through Series A — where pricing inefficiencies are greatest and long-term ownership can be established early.

From there, we construct broadly diversified portfolios, stay close to founders, and selectively increase exposure as breakout growth and supporting data emerge.

Recent data continues to reinforce our portfolio construction approach:

• Early pricing discipline: Our entry valuations remain below market averages

• Broad diversification: Designed to capture outliers while managing early-stage risk

• Access advantage: A growing founder and LP network continues to improve both deal quality and volume

• After simulating 20,000 venture fund outcomes, a Carta study found that larger portfolios significantly improve the probability of strong returns: funds with ~100 investments are far more likely to achieve top decile multiples of 3-4x than those with only ~20.

👉 You can review our full investment strategy here.

QSBS & After-Tax Considerations

Importantly, recent regulatory changes further enhance the after-tax profile of early-stage investing.

In July 2025, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) significantly expanded the benefits of Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS)—including:

• Higher exclusion caps

• Tiered holding periods

• Expanded eligibility for later-stage QSBS-qualifying companies

👉 Read more on recent QSBS updates here.

Taken together, disciplined early entry, diversified portfolio construction, and improved QSBS treatment make the current vintage particularly attractive for long-term early-stage deployment.

Closing

Our strategy remains consistent: invest early, diversify broadly, support founders deeply, and compound access over time.

We continue to see a strong pipeline of opportunities and remain active on follow-on and selective secondary investments. If you come across exceptional founders in our focus areas, I’m always grateful for introductions.

Thank you for your continued trust and support.

Sincerely,

Ben Zises

SuperAngel.Fund

ben@superangel.vc

P.S. You can access prior quarterly updates here.

📚 Recent Commentary (Optional Reading)

Throughout the quarter, I shared short posts expanding on market trends, early-stage investing, and portfolio construction. For those interested, a curated selection is linked below:

Market & Investing

• Consumer M&A is back

• Access and diversification wins

• The one question that actually predicts startup success

• Investing takes practice

• Two types of bets

• What hurts most in VC

Portfolio & Strategy

• PropTech trends worth paying attention to

• My deal flow strategy isn’t luck — it’s designed

• Our hybrid model

• Protecting founder time

• How to energize founders and win deals

Founder & Fund Community

• Advice on how to pitch a VC

• You only get one chance to make a first impression

• Pitching never stops

• Supporting the international founder community

Media & Milestones

• Appreciation for AngelList

• Featured in Entrepreneur Magazine

• Reaching 20k followers on LinkedIn

• Podcast with Slice Fund

• Podcast with StartupCPG

Why am I receiving this email?

You are receiving this email because you are either a friend, co-investor, associate, or connection of Ben Zises or SuperAngel, who at one point expressed interest in receiving updates and other correspondence from me. If you received this email in error please accept my apologies and feel free to unsubscribe at the link below.

SuperAngel.Fund is an early-stage venture capital fund led by Ben Zises that invests in Consumer, PropTech & Future of Work. Click here to learn more about SuperAngel.Fund II.

In our conversation, we dive into how I approach early-stage investing — what I look for in founders, how I evaluate pitch decks and other business fundamentals — and my unique investment strategy: a hybrid model that combines the speed and agility of an angel with the discipline and scale of a professional fund.

Part of my strategy is to also “make a lot of noise” to keep my name (and my fund) in front of as many founders as possible. The wider I cast the net, the more opportunities I get to see — and you can’t invest in a deal you never saw. Conversations like this help ensure the right founders know where to find me.

🎧 Listen on: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or watch on YouTube below

📍 Upcoming Event: Founders & Funders — NYC, December 11, 2025

I’ll be at Founders & Funders, hosted by Startup CPG in New York City on December 11th, connecting with hundreds of CPG founders and fellow investors across the industry. If you’re building a CPG brand and want to meet active investors, this is an event you won’t want to miss. Click here to apply for a ticket.

⏰ Key Moments From The Episode

• 0:00 – Intro & welcome

• 1:00 – My path from entrepreneur to angel investor

• 3:45 – Launching SuperAngel Fund & the “help-first” strategy

• 6:40 – How to spot founders worth backing early

• 9:25 – What sets SuperAngel apart from traditional venture funds

• 12:10 – Structuring check sizes & doubling down on winners

• 15:30 – Lessons from a decade of angel investing

• 17:15 – How to create a pitch deck that stands out

• 20:45 – Why investor updates are a make-or-break habit

• 23:30 – Advice for founders raising early-stage capital

• 27:10 – The importance of financial discipline and capital efficiency

• 33:40 – What I look for in exceptional founders

• 38:30 – Market trends: supplements, health & wellness

• 43:00 – Clarity and conciseness in your pitch

• 49:00 – Final takeaways

About SuperAngel.Fund

SuperAngel.Fund is an early-stage fund led by Ben Zises that invests in Consumer, PropTech & Future of Work 😇. We focus on broad diversification across sectors where we hold a clear edge—investing early, staying close to founders, and doubling down when we see breakout growth and positive data emerge. Learn more about Fund II, read our latest quarterly update, or schedule a call to learn more.

About Startup CPG

Startup CPG is the largest community for emerging brands: 30,000+ Slack members, the #1 podcast in CPG, 100+ events per year, and award-winning resources to help brands grow. Join for free.

Why am I receiving this email?

You are receiving this email because you are part of the SuperAngel network — a friend, founder, LP, or co-investor. If you prefer not to receive future posts, you can unsubscribe below.

SuperAngel.Fund is an early-stage fund led by Ben Zises that invests in Consumer, PropTech & Future of Work. Fund II is now backed by the AngelList Systematic Fund-of-Funds. Their strategy leverages proprietary data, predictive modeling and quantitative analysis across 25,000+ funds and 13,000 startups on the AngelList platform. Based on their core performance metric—“markups over baseline,” used as a predictor of future success—we were ranked in the top 1% of active managers as of April 1, 2025. Learn more about Fund II.

Dear Friends,

I’m excited to share SuperAngel.Fund’s Q3 2025 update, covering Fund I, our 2021-2024 Rolling Fund, and the newly launched Fund II.

Prefer to listen to this as a podcast? Click the play button below 🎙️

📊 Fund I - Performance Summary (2021— 2024)

• $10.2m deployed across 201 investments into 130 companies

• Estimated current value: $15.9m

• 15.35% IRR | 1.56x gross multiple on invested capital

• 165 out of 201 investments (82%) are still active and/or have been marked up

• Fund I is closed and fully deployed

• Top 10% among all 2021 vintage funds (according to AngelList’s Fund Benchmark Data as of H1 2025)

Click here to view a detailed performance summary

📊 Fund II - Performance Summary (2025 — XX)

So far, we have deployed $1.125m across 24 investments into 22 companies, with a median check size of $50k at a $15m post-money valuation.

Our portfolio spans Consumer (12), Commerce Tech (8), and PropTech/Future of Work (4). As time passes, we will report more detailed performance metrics.

Summary of investments:

• 📱 Freckle: The first phone kids love and parents trust [Consumer]

• 📺 Upscale AI: TV marketing platform for brands [Commerce Tech]

• ✍️ Cosign: Helping landlords convert more renters [PropTech]

• ✨ Harmony: AI-powered workflow automation [Future of Work]

• 🍓 Feel Goods: All-natural supplements built for Gen Z [Consumer]

• 💦 Rorra: A modern water filtration company [Consumer]

• 🥣 Man Cereal: Creatine-infused, high-protein cereal for men [Consumer]

• 📊 Marathon Data: Brand measurement & marketing platform [Commerce Tech]

• 🛒 Hetal: Retail audit, analytics & execution platform [Commerce Tech]

• 🪴 Arber: Modern lawn, garden, & plant care brand [Consumer]

• 🛡️ Patrol: Security & compliance for eCommerce [Commerce Tech]

• 🤐 Steath: Agentic workforce planning & optimization [Future of Work]

• ⚡ Orka: The energy drink that tastes like water [Consumer]

• 💰 RetailPath: Retail chargebacks on autopilot [Commerce Tech]

• 👶 Freestyle: Babycare brand designed for the next gen [Consumer]

• 💼 Storetasker: Leading marketplace for eCommerce experts [Commerce Tech]

• 📦 Two Boxes: Returns processing solutions [Commerce Tech]

• 💻 Candidate.fyi: The candidate experience platform [Future of Work]

• ✨ Overjoy: AI-powered wholesale growth platform [Commerce Tech]

• 🧻 Fox Fold: Sustainable tissue solutions for hotels [Consumer / PropTech]

• 🍝 Ripi: A premium frozen pasta brand [Consumer]

• 🍑 Create: The first modern creatine brand [Consumer]

• 🍔 BiteSight: TikTok meets DoorDash [Consumer]

• 🏘️ Doorvest: Buy, manage & sell investment homes online [PropTech]

📝 Fund II - LP Terms

• Minimum Commitment: $100k - $250k+ with a few limited slots reserved for lower commitments

• Capital Call Schedule: 10% per quarter over 10 quarters

• Fund Size: $15m initial target

• Fees: 2% per year management fee, 20% carry

• Fund Admin: AngelList (Legal, tax/accounting, banking, compliance, etc.)

I want to highlight two other important updates below: (i) new data that reinforces our portfolio construction strategy, and (ii) recent tax law changes that further enhance the advantages of investing in startups.

🏗️ Portfolio Construction & Success Benchmarks

Our investment strategy centers on broad diversification across a large number of early-stage companies. We invest as early as possible, stay close to founders, and proactively double down when we see breakout growth. Like public market investors building a position over time, we increase exposure as positive data emerges.

The difference in private markets is that we’re often among the first—and sometimes the only—ones to see these signals. This allows us to follow on at valuations close to, or even the same as, our initial checks, capturing a favorable risk-reward dynamic that traditional VCs—who typically write fewer, larger checks—rarely achieve. And because the majority of pre-seed financings today are completed through SAFEs—enabling frequent transactions at virtually no cost—our speed and flexibility give us a structural edge.

This advantage is reinforced by a recent analysis from Peter Walker (Head of Insights at Carta) based on data from Dan Gray (Equidam). After simulating 20,000 venture fund outcomes, the study found that larger portfolios significantly improve the probability of strong returns: funds with ~100 investments are far more likely to achieve top decile multiples of 3-4x than those with only ~20. In other words, diversification meaningfully tilts the odds in our favor.

Top-quartile venture funds (75th percentile and above) typically deliver 2–3x returns (15–20% IRR) over a 10-year horizon, while top-decile performers (90th percentile and above) reach 3–4x multiples (25%+ IRR). Our goal across all funds is to outperform these benchmarks by pairing broad diversification with disciplined follow-on investing. With Fund II, we are targeting ~100 investments across ~65 companies—an approach designed to maximize exposure to breakout companies and deliver above-average returns.

So far, the results are encouraging. Earlier this year, we received an investment in Fund II from the AngelList Systematic Fund-of-Funds whose backers include Sequoia Capital, Squarepoint (a $100B+ quant manager), and Naval Ravikant. Their model applies proprietary data and predictive analytics across 25,000+ funds and 13,000 startups to identify top-performing managers. Based on their core metric—markups over baseline, a leading predictor of future success—SuperAngel.Fund ranked in the top 1% of hundreds of active GPs on the platform. As their commitment letter stated: “Our data strongly suggests that Ben’s next fund has an above average chance of being an above average venture fund.” [Read their commitment letter here].

⚖️ Regulatory Updates: QSBS

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), signed into law on July 4, 2025, greatly enhanced the tax benefits of Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS)—the most significant update since 2016. These changes directly improve after-tax outcomes for LPs in venture funds like ours.

Originally introduced in 1993, QSBS was designed to encourage investment in early-stage U.S. companies by offering capital gains exclusions to investors who held equity for at least five years. Over time, the benefit expanded to a 100% exclusion (for investments after 2010), with a per-issuer, per-taxpayer gain limit of $10M (or 10x basis, whichever is higher).

The new law makes three major improvements:

• Tiered holding periods: 3 years = 50% exclusion; 4 years = 75%; 5+ years = 100%

• Higher gain exclusion cap: now $15M (or 10x basis)*

• Expanded issuer asset limit: raised to $75M*

These updates expand the universe of qualifying companies—now covering not only most Pre-Seed/Seed but also many Series A-stage or later businesses. For SuperAngel.Fund, this expands our opportunity set while enhancing the value of existing investments. Since LPs are pass-through beneficiaries, each U.S. taxpayer can now exclude up to $15M of capital gains per issuer in the portfolio.

QSBS Treatment: Before vs. After OBBBA

Important note: investments made before July 4, 2025 remain under prior QSBS rules. As always, please consult your tax advisor for specifics. For a deeper dive, I recommend this blog post.

⌛ Fund II - Deployment Period & Strategy

The fund is targeting a four-year deployment period. We plan to make approximately 100 investments across 60 companies, focusing on the very earliest stages–from Pre-Seed through Series A.

Our investment strategy is centered on the sectors we know best–where we have a clear competitive edge in sourcing, evaluating, and supporting high-potential opportunities. These consist of the following:

• Consumer: This includes brands, CPG, eCommerce SaaS, consumer tech, and commerce enablement companies. It also includes marketplaces and other businesses that rely on consumer spend or engagement.

• PropTech: This includes all types of software, technology or digital platforms that support, overlap or connect to the real estate industry.

• Future of Work: This includes technology companies that are building tools to support the modern workforce and evolving landscape around how people work, where people work, and what they work on.

🧭 Our Approach

Our strategy is grounded in disciplined, early-stage diversification. Rather than chasing “hot” categories or rushing to deploy capital, we invest with patience and consistency—as early as possible, across sectors where we hold a clear edge, and with a long-term view.

This approach gives LPs exposure across time, markets, and cycles—maximizing upside while mitigating inevitable losses from early-stage risk. Our edge comes from founder-first support: leveraging our network to drive capital, customers, and talent; championing portfolio companies with unmatched loyalty; and earning a reputation as the most helpful investor at the table.

By combining early access, broad diversification, and founder advocacy, we increase both the quality and volume of opportunities we see—and ensure we can double down when conviction is highest. This strategy has been consistent since Fund I and remains central to delivering strong long-term results. We continue to see a strong pipeline of opportunities and actively monitor follow-on and secondary investments into breakout companies. If you come across exceptional founders raising capital in our focus areas, I’d be grateful for any introductions or referrals.

Thank you for your continued support and confidence.

Sincerely,

Ben Zises

SuperAngel.Fund

ben@superangel.vc

P.S. You can access prior quarterly updates at the link here.

Why am I receiving this email?

You are receiving this email because you are either a friend, co-investor, associate, or connection of Ben Zises or SuperAngel, who at one point expressed interest in receiving updates and other correspondence from me. If you received this email in error please accept my apologies and feel free to unsubscribe at the link below.

SuperAngel.Fund is an early-stage fund led by Ben Zises that invests in Consumer, PropTech & Future of Work. Click here to learn more about SuperAngel.Fund II.

Dear Friends,

I’m excited to share the Q2 2025 update for SuperAngel.Fund II.

While we initially opened the new fund to our existing LPs back in January, we announced it more broadly here in May. Raising a fund like ours typically takes 18-24 months—but I’m pleased to report we’re already halfway to our initial target, with more than $7m+ committed from 60+ LPs and growing weekly.

Click here to learn more / apply to invest in SuperAngel.Fund II 🚀

As with Fund I, I expect we’ll have over 100 LPs by the time we reach our final close. Due to regulatory limits on the number of investors allowed, capacity is filling quickly. If you know someone who may be interested, feel free to share the fund memo or connect us directly: ben@superangel.vc. I’ll continue to prioritize introductions from within our trusted network.

As previously reported, we’re also proud to have secured an $800k commitment from Strawberry Tree Management, an institutional LP and investment advisor to the AngelList Systematic Fund-of-Funds. Their strategy uses proprietary data, predictive modeling and quantitative analysis across 25,000 funds and 13,000 startups on AngelList. Based on their core performance metric—“markups over baseline,” a predictor of future investment success—we were ranked in the top 1% of active managers as of April 1, 2025.

The Fund-of-Funds is also backed by Sequoia Capital, Squarepoint (a $100B+ quantitative asset manager), Naval Ravikant, and others.

Here’s an excerpt from their signed commitment letter 📝:

"We are excited to add Ben Zises’s Fund II, a series of SuperAngel.vc, LP to the portfolio of our Systematic Fund-of-Funds. Ben has one of the highest scores (out of hundreds of active GPs on the AngelList platform) by our preferred predictor for future investment success…We estimate Ben’s markups over baseline score to be better than the 99th percentile of the hundreds of GPs on the AngelList platform…Our data strongly suggests that Ben’s next fund has an above average chance of being an above average venture fund."

— Abraham Othman PhD, Chief Investment Officer at Strawberry Tree Management Company LLC

SuperAngel.Fund II - Investments Summary

To date, Fund II has made 12 investments, with a median check size of $50k and post-money entry valuation of $12m. These investments were spread across Consumer (5), Commerce Tech (4), and PropTech/Future of Work (3).

• 📱 Freckle: The first phone kids love and parents trust

• 📺 Upscale AI: TV marketing platform for brands

• ✍️ Cosign: Helping landlords convert more renters

• ✨ Harmony: AI-powered workflow automation

• 🍓 Feel Goods: All-natural supplements built for Gen Z

• 💦 Rorra: A modern water filtration company

• 🥣 Man Cereal: Creatine-infused, high-protein cereal for men

• 📊 Marathon Data: AI marketing automation & brand measurement

• 🛒 Hetal: Retail audit, analytics & execution platform

• 🪴 Arber: Modern lawn, garden, & plant care brand

• 🛡️ Patrol: Security & compliance for eCommerce

• 🤐 Stealth: Agentic workforce planning & optimization

We’ve also had the opportunity to co-invest alongside some of the world's leading venture capital firms, including:

776 Ventures, a16z, Adapt Ventures, Air Venture Partners, Barrel Ventures, Breakpoint Capital, Brickyard VC, Cade Ventures, Constellation Capital, Creator Ventures, Eniac, Founder Collective, Ganas VC, Geek Ventures, Groove Capital, GTM Fund, Hawke Ventures, Hustle Fund, Ignite Ventures, Interface Capital, Ludlow Ventures, Mark Cuban, Marketplace Capital, M12 (Microsoft's Venture Fund), MXV, Natureza, NextView Ventures, Nomad Ventures, NVP Capital, Ollin Ventures, OpenSky Ventures, Pari Passu Venture Partners, Precursor Ventures, Recursive Ventures, Red Bike Capital, Red Swan Ventures, Ridge Ventures, SBXI, Seaside Ventures, Spacestation Investments, TopazProp Ventures, Unpopular Ventures, Yonder VC & more.

And in several cases, we were the ones to introduce these firms to our portfolio companies.

💡 SuperAngel.Fund II - Investment Terms

• Minimum Commitment: $100k - $250k+ with limited space reserved for smaller checks

• Capital Call Schedule: 10% per quarter, new LPs are required to “catch up” by contributing the percentage called to date

• Fund Size: $15m initial target

• Fees: 2% annual management fee, 20% carry

• Fund Administration: AngelList (handles Legal, tax, banking, compliance, accounting, etc.)

🚀 SuperAngel.Fund II - Deployment Period & Strategy

The fund is targeting a four-year deployment period, with a one-year extension option, beginning from the initial close on March 17, 2025. We plan to make approximately 100 investments across 60 companies, focusing on the very earliest stages–from Pre-Seed through Series A.

Our investment strategy centers on sectors where we hold a clear competitive edge in sourcing, evaluating, and supporting high-potential companies. These focus areas include:

• Consumer: Brands, CPG, eCommerce SaaS, consumer tech, and commerce enablement companies, including marketplaces and businesses driven by consumer spend or engagement.

• PropTech: Software, technology or digital platforms that support, overlap or connect to the real estate industry.

• Future of Work: Technology companies building tools to support the evolving workforce—how, where and what people work on.

You can read more about our investment strategy on our website. I’ve also shared two recent LinkedIn posts highlighting our differentiated approach and the innovations in venture capital that enable us to execute it effectively.

📊 SuperAngel.Fund I & All-Time Performance Summary

Fund I (2021-2024):

• $10.2m deployed across 201 investments into 130 companies

• Estimated current value: $14.7m

• 13.8% IRR | 1.4x gross multiple on invested capital

• 171 out of 201 investments (85%) are still active and/or have been marked up

• Fund I is closed and fully deployed

Click here to view a more detailed performance summary

All-Time Portfolio (2014-2025):

• $21.8m deployed across 293 investments into 156 companies

• Estimated current value: $34.6m

• 15.3% IRR | 1.6x gross multiple on invested capital

• 245 out of 293 investments (84%) are still active and/or have been marked up

Click here to view a more detailed performance summary

🧭 Our Approach

A core principle of our strategy–and of successful investing more broadly–is diversification. While many funds rush to deploy capital or chase the latest “hot” category, we’ve taken a more disciplined, thoughtful, and consistent approach. Since launching Fund I in 2021, we’ve been intentionally conservative with our investable capital. This patience has allowed us to adapt to shifting market conditions and capitalize on opportunities over time.

As a result, our LPs benefit from diversification across time, sectors, and market cycles—broadening exposure to more companies and founders. In my view, that’s a key ingredient to maximizing returns over the long term.

I believe there are exceptional entrepreneurs everywhere, building world-class companies. I spend much of my time trying to find them– and to buy a ticket on their rocket ship. I remain deeply confident in our strategy and in its ability to deliver strong results.

To rearticulate our approach:

1. Invest as close to the first check as possible—creating a unique personal bond that unlocks a strategic information advantage over time

2. Focus on sectors where we have an edge—through information, experience, insight, access or network

3. Leverage our network—to bring in strategic capital, resources, sales, operational support and talent

4. Champion our founders—to drive visibility, customer acquisition, and business development

5. Provide unmatched founder empathy and and loyalty—with the goal of being their favorite, most helpful investor

These attributes give us a strategic informational advantage, which we aim to capitalize on by securing follow-on access in our highest-conviction companies. They also lead to both higher-quality and higher-volume deal flow—arguably the most critical factor in long-term venture success.

We also believe that the earlier the stage, the more important diversification becomes (click here for recent data to support this). Since we invest very early, our strategy helps mitigate the inevitable zeros while maximizing upside from breakout winners.

The fund has a strong pipeline of new opportunities and will continue to monitor follow-on and secondary investments into portfolio companies showing outsized growth and traction.

If you know exceptional founders raising capital in any of our core focus areas, I’d be be grateful for any introductions or referrals.

Thank you for your ongoing support and confidence.

Sincerely,

Ben Zises

Founder & GP, SuperAngel.Fund

ben@superangel.vc

P.S. You can access prior quarterly updates at the link here.

Why am I receiving this email?

You are receiving this email because you are either a friend, co-investor, associate, or connection of Ben Zises or SuperAngel, who at one point expressed interest in receiving updates and other correspondence from me. If you received this email in error please accept my apologies and feel free to unsubscribe at the link below.

SuperAngel.Fund is an early-stage fund led by Ben Zises that invests in Consumer, PropTech & Future of Work. Click here to learn more about SuperAngel.Fund II.

Dear Friends,

After investing over $20 million into 100+ companies, we’ve been fortunate to build a highly regarded brand, strong network, and a growing reputation in the early-stage investing community.

And while it is still early in the lifecycle of our portfolio, I have never felt more excited about the performance of our investments and the differentiated strategy we’re executing.

Now, I am excited to publicly announce that we’ve opened SuperAngel.Fund II—our first traditional fund vehicle to capitalize on our strong market position. As part of this effort, we’ve also launched our new website: SuperAngel.vc 🚀

Fund II already has over $6 million committed and we’ve made our first few investments—stay tuned to our quarterly updates to learn more 👀.

I am also proud to share that Fund II is backed by Strawberry Tree Management Company LLC, an institutional LP and investment advisor to the AngelList Systematic Fund-of-Funds. Their strategy leverages proprietary data, predictive modeling and quantitative analysis across 25,000 funds and 13,000 startups on AngelList. Based on their core performance metric—used as a predictor of future investment success—we are ranked in the top 1% of active managers as of April 1, 2025.

Here’s an excerpt from their signed commitment letter 📝:

"We are excited to add Ben Zises’s Fund II, a series of SuperAngel.vc, LP to the portfolio of our Systematic Fund-of-Funds. Ben has one of the highest scores (out of hundreds of active GPs on the AngelList platform) by our preferred predictor for future investment success…We estimate Ben’s markups over baseline score to be better than the 99th percentile of the hundreds of GPs on the AngelList platform.…Our data strongly suggests that Ben’s next fund has an above average chance of being an above average venture fund.”

— Abraham Othman PhD, Chief Investment Officer at Strawberry Tree Management Company LLC

Notably, this Fund-of-Funds is also backed by Sequoia Capital, Squarepoint (one of the world's largest quantitative asset managers), Naval Ravikant and others.

When I made my first angel investment in 2014 (read How I got here), I never imagined that 11 years later we’d have a fund backed by some of the best in the business.

👉 Click here to apply to invest in SuperAngel.Fund II

Investment Terms Summary 💡

• Target minimum: $100k - $250k, with limited space reserved for smaller checks*

• Capital call schedule: 10% of the commitment due upon signing with 10% called each subsequent quarter over a ~2 year period

• Target fund size: $15m - $25m range

*Due to regulatory constraints the fund has a limited number of slots. Space is filling quickly so we encourage early commitments. Thank you to those who have already committed to Fund II.

Sincerely,

Ben Zises

SuperAngel.Fund

From our Blog…

Why am I receiving this email?

You are receiving this email because you are either a friend, co-investor, associate, or connection of Ben Zises or SuperAngel, who at one point expressed interest in receiving updates and other correspondence from me. If you received this email in error please accept my apologies and feel free to unsubscribe at the link below.

SuperAngel.Fund is an early-stage fund led by Ben Zises that invests in Consumer, PropTech & Future of Work. Click here to learn more about SuperAngel.Fund II.

Dear Friends,

I am pleased to share the Q1 2025 update for SuperAngel.Fund.

As mentioned in our last update, Fund I is now fully deployed. For those keeping track, Fund I consists of 14 quarterly vehicles structured as a rolling fund. Ours started in Q1 2021 and ended Q2 2024. LPs who participated had exposure to all investments made throughout the quarters in which they subscribed to, or which they gained exposure to as a result of rollover capital. You can view a list of Fund I companies by selecting the ‘Fund I’ filter on the portfolio section of our new website (H/T BX Studio!)

Stay tuned for details on Fund II next week 👀

Fund I Performance Summary

Fund I started in January 2021 and deployed $10.2m across 201 investments into 130 companies. I estimate the current value to be $14.36m which represents a 14.11% IRR and 1.41x gross multiple on invested capital. Of note, 171 out of 201 investments (85%) are still active and/or have been marked up.

Click here to view a more detailed performance summary 📊

As you probably know, it is often the unsuccessful companies that generally present themselves in the early years of a fund’s life, with the winners coming towards the end. And while it is still rather early in the life of Fund I, I feel confident that we will have a number of winners over time. Upon the receipt of distributions from liquidity events such as M&A, tender offers, secondary sales, IPOs, etc., capital will be returned to LPs.

Fund I Highlights & Strategy

You can read more about our investment strategy on our website. And, I recently published two LinkedIn posts which also describe our differentiated strategy and the innovations in VC that have allowed us to execute it.

Here are a few examples:

• Create: The first modern creatine brand

  • SuperAngel.Fund was one of the earliest investors in Create, a modern creatine brand, after the founder, Dan McCormick, reached out to me directly in June 2022 (six months before launch). Creatine has become one of the fastest growing products in the Vitamin, Minerals and Supplements (VMS) category and Create is well on its way to becoming the leading brand in the space. Click here to see a recent clip from the Joe Rogan Podcast where he talks about his creatine usage and gives an unpaid promotion of the brand. Fund I invested in Create several times over an 18-month period as the business started to show breakout performance and growth metrics. Most recently, the company announced their $5m Series A round led by Unilever Ventures.

• Motion: Creative analytics platform that enables brands to make more successful ads

  • Fund I first invested in Motion in 2022. Similar to what happened with Create, Reza Khadjavi, the founder, also reached out to me directly after noticing that I was an investor in several of his customers. Motion's platform helps brands determine which of their creative assets perform best across each of their respective marketing channels, enabling more data-centric decision making across the organization. After watching Reza and his team execute and grow the business over the months that followed our initial investment, we followed on with another investment in their Seed round. The business has grown dramatically from the early days and most recently announced their $30m Series B round led by Innovia, one of Canada’s largest venture capital firms.

Other Updates Across the Portfolio

Below is a selection of other public updates across the Fund I portfolio.

Consumer

• Arber: Lawn, garden & plant care brand (Launched new Ready To Spray Collection)

• Bandit: Community driven running brand (Opened new LA store)

• Biom: The world’s first refillable, biodegradable wipe system (Launched in Target)

• Branch: Office furniture that works (Launched new Ergonomic Chair Pro)

• Brightland: Wholesome olive oils, vinegars & honey (Launched MacKenzie-Childs holiday collaboration)

• Cadence: Next generation travel products (Launched second major product line, The Parcel, as an innovative take on the toiletry bag)

• Caraway: Cookware without the chemicals (Named One of America’s Moved Loved Brands by Newsweek)

• Cleancult: All-natural household cleaning products (Expanded on their recent Walmart launch with other major mass retail launches coming later this year)

• Create: The first modern creatine brand (Raised $5m Series A from Unilever Ventures)

• EIGHT Brewing Co.: Light beer, made right (Troy Aikman led new funding round)

• Kanpai Foods: The next great candy brand (Expanded retail presence with Target launch)

• Kimai: Fine jewelry that doesn’t cost the earth (Opened new stores in London & LA)

• Lalo: A modern baby & toddler brand built for today’s families (Launched large assortment of products in Target with premier end cap displays)

• Otis: Accessible & affordable care for pets and owners (Stay tuned for updates 👀)

• Rorra: Tap into clean water (Launched their first product, the Countertop System, to tackle the tap water crisis in America)

• Sylvie: Marketplace for vintage & antique furnishings (Partnered with Bridgerton star Phoebe Dynevor to launch first celebrity collection)

• Windmill: Smart ‘air care’ products & technology (Expanded into new category with Air Purifier)

eCommerce SaaS / Consumer Tech

• Accelpay: Powering eCommerce for Alcohol brands (Expanded internationally across UK, European Union)

• Adgile: Tech-enabled out-of-home media company (Achieved record sales in 2024 and launched case studies with new advertising client partners)

• Archive: AI-first influencer marketing platform (Launched AI-powered campaign dashboards)

• Caspian: Trade advisory & tariff optimization platform (Raised Seed round led by Primary VC)

• Crstl: B2B commerce network powered by AI (Raised Series A led by Mosaic, Cohen Circle, & Shopify Ventures)

• Disco: AI-powered retail media network for brands (Reached $20m run rate and achieved 340% YoY growth in 2024)

• Grocers List: Growth platform for recipe creators (Announced Pre-Seed round led by Founder Collective and Impellent VC)

• Highbeam: Finance platform for eCommerce businesses (Launched the first AI finance agent for consumer brands)

• Intelligems: Profit optimization platform (Raised $9m Series A led by Stage 2 Capital)

• Minoan: Furnishing and monetization platform for short-term rental hosts (Launched new marketing website, onboarding experience, Shopify App and more)

• Motion: Creative analytics platform (Raised $30m Series B led by Innovia)

• Orita: AI / ML marketing optimization for brands (Launched their second product for direct mail in partnership with PostPilot, another Fund I portfolio company)

• PostPilot: Direct mail platform for eCommerce brands (Raised Series A led by Summit Partners and Klaviyo founders)

• Settle: Financial operating system for brands (Launched in the Shopify App Store)

• Siena: AI customer service platform for brands (Launched Siena Academy, first AI certification for CX leaders)

• Superfiliate: All-in-one influencer, affiliate, and creator platform (Launched Automations to enable brands to automate their entire influencer management program and processes)

• Two Boxes: eCommerce returns processing platform (Raised $5.4m funding round led by Peterson Ventures)

• With Coverage: All-in-one risk management platform for brands (Stay tuned for updates 👀)

PropTech

• Cosign: A better rental guarantor platform (Stay tuned for updates 👀)

• Flex Storage: Digital solutions for physical storage & moving (Expanded from Florida into Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, Arizona, North Carolina)

• Rove: Marketplace and property management for luxury rentals (Stay tuned for updates 👀)

• Olive: AI-powered booking engine for hotels (Announced major partnership with Stayntouch, a leading PMS for independent hotels)

• Minoan: Furnishing and monetization platform for short-term rental hosts (Launched new marketing website, onboarding experience, Shopify App & more)

• It’s electric: EV charging built for cities (Raised $6.5m Seed round led by Failup Ventures & Uber)

Future of Work

• Candidate.fyi: The candidate experience platform (Closed multiple public companies as customers, released multiple new product features including AI-powered scheduling)

• Flex: All-in-one finance platform for SMBs and their owners (Raised $25m Series B round led by Titanium Ventures)

• Home From College: Career home-base built for Gen Z (Raised $5.4m Seed round led by Google Ventures)

• Jolly: Workforce recruiting & retention platform (Raised $16.5m Series A led by former Tesla CFO Zach Kirkhorn)

• Paiv: Field-sales platform built for the trades (Launched new website and rebranded to Paiv)

Thank you for your ongoing support and confidence. I look forward to updating you again soon.

Sincerely,

Ben Zises

SuperAngel.Fund

SuperAngel.Fund is an early-stage fund led by Ben Zises that invests in Consumer, PropTech & Future of Work.

Stay tuned for details on Fund II next week 👀

From our Blog…

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SuperAngel.Fund is an early-stage fund led by Ben Zises that invests in Consumer, PropTech & Future of Work 😇.

This is completely backward.

The value of investor updates isn't in announcing major milestones. The value is in the consistency and transparency.

Even a short, simple update on a regular cadence is extremely valuable—both to your company and your investors.

For founders, these updates force you to assess your business objectively. For investors, they build trust.

Sometimes the most valuable updates are the ones that simply say "we're still working on X, we've encountered Y challenge, and we're trying Z next month."

If I get an invitation from a company or founder, I say "yes" without hesitation.

Especially now, showing up in person carries significant weight. It allows you to get valuable face time with both the founders and employees of a company. These informal settings often reveal insights about company culture and momentum that you'd never capture on a scheduled call.

Spending time in-person with founders builds an invaluable form of trust. This trust carries even more weight in an age where it's so easy to work entirely remote and hide behind a screen.

The conversations that happen during these events—the casual asides, the quick introductions, the unexpected connections—often lead to opportunities that would never materialize otherwise.

Yes, it takes time. Yes, it requires effort. But consistently showing up is one of the simplest yet most effective ways to demonstrate your commitment as an investor.

Your presence speaks volumes about your investment in their success—far beyond the capital you've provided.

When I started writing and sharing my insights online, I wasn't just building content—I was building distribution.

Every post, every thread, every newsletter has compounded over time. What began as simple thoughts shared publicly has evolved into relationships, deal flow, and opportunities I couldn't have accessed otherwise.

Distribution isn't just advice I give to founders. It's a cornerstone of how I've built my own investing practice.

The content I create today helps me identify exceptional founders tomorrow. It attracts like-minded investors to my fund. It creates serendipitous connections that turn into long-term partnerships.

Building in public isn't just about followers or engagement metrics. It's about creating continuous opportunities for the right people to find you.

For me, distribution isn't a marketing tactic—it's the fundamental infrastructure that supports everything else I do.