Launch House Debuts its Venture Arm, House Capital
In July 2022, the Launch House membership community announced the start of House Capital, its new venture arm. This firm will use its multimillion-dollar early-stage fund to invest in pre-seed and seed-stage companies. House Capital’s efforts will further the entrepreneur support that drives the LH community by investing in startups both in and out of the exclusive circle of members.
What Is Launch House?
Launch House, founded in 2020 by Michael Houck, Brett Goldstein, and Jacob Peters, is a selective, membership community designed to help emerging leaders succeed while also balancing living a healthy and fulfilling life. Members include founders, engineers, and investors who connect virtually and in person through digital cohort-based courses, and at co-working spaces, community events, and conferences all over the world.
With the launch of House Capital, general partners Houck, Goldstein and Peters can further support the Launch House community, both by investing in its members and by putting House Capital returns back into the community, strengthening the overall membership experience.
Houck says, “Launch House has deep and authentic relationships with the early-stage founders who join our community. We’d already been helping Launch House members with their fundraising efforts, so it was a natural progression for us to move into investing in these founders ourselves.”
Making Moves
Working alongside leaders such as Y Combinator, Sequoia Capital, Paradigm, and a16z (aka Andreessen Horowitz), House Capital has already invested in female-founded companies such as Anja Health, a doctor-backed, personalized cord-blood bank that freezes placental stem cells and umbilical cord blood for potential disease treatment in the future.
Founders such as Anja Health’s Kathryn Cross who receive a House Capital investment also receive a lifetime Launch House community membership. The value of that membership seems to be incredibly valuable based on the regular cadence of members posting about their positive experiences on social media.
Innovation at All Levels
Among its current LP base are the founders of Dropbox and YouTube, alongside well-known names such as Serena Williams and Michael Ovitz. They join general partners from other funds such as Rick Yang from NEA, James Currier from NFX, and a16z’s Andrew Chen and Sriram Krishnan.
Discussing this impressive group, Peters says, “We are lucky to have some great investors, operators, and founders as LPs in House Capital. We are well positioned to support and grow the next generation of inspiring founders from both within and outside the Launch House community.”
House Capital plans to invest in those companies as opportunities arise, rather than following a set pace of investment. And while they are open to investing in companies whose founders haven’t come through Launch House, a close focus on its members simply makes sense, according to Goldstein.
“There are so many mission-driven founders and inspiring companies that we meet through the Launch House community,” he says. “House Capital gives us a new way to accelerate them on those missions to solve real problems and move the world forward.”