About
Blue Ledge Capital
Traditional venture capital (VC) is characterized by a ‘2 & 20’ fee structure, wherein 2% of one’s invested capital is awarded to the VC firm each year for the life of the investment, followed by an additional 20% of the profits upon realization. Investors in VC firms obtain diversified exposure to opportunities they may not otherwise find or have the resources to diligence, although it comes at a considerable cost.
Traditional VC firms are incentivized to put capital to work since that triggers immediate revenue (the 2%). Whereas a slow-moving prudent VC might be unprofitable for years, VC firms that grow quickly access tremendous revenues and importantly unlock a scale and momentum that conceals bad investments. Bad investments sit on the books at cost until being written down, whereas ‘hip’ investments (think eVTOL) watch their paper valuation soar. Since this is all taking place in a portfolio, investor communications are typically engineered to highlight the good and disregard the bad.
All of this combines to steer traditional VCs towards asset accumulation – always raising the next fund to keep the party going rather than focusing on existing investments. And rather than spending time to diligence the most technologically advanced and thereby accretive opportunities, traditional VCs tend to move in packs and invest on narrative.
Traditional venture capital (VC) is characterized by a ‘2 & 20’ fee structure, wherein 2% of one’s invested capital is awarded to the VC firm each year for the life of the investment, followed by an additional 20% of the profits upon realization. Investors in VC firms obtain diversified exposure to opportunities they may not otherwise find or have the resources to diligence, although it comes at a considerable cost.
Traditional VC firms are incentivized to put capital to work since that triggers immediate revenue (the 2%). Whereas a slow-moving prudent VC might be unprofitable for years, VC firms that grow quickly access tremendous revenues (many taking home 7-figures from management fees alone) and importantly unlock a scale and momentum that conceals bad investments. Bad investments sit on the books at cost until being written down, whereas ‘hip’ investments (think eVTOL) watch their paper valuation soar. Since this is all taking place in a portfolio, investor communications are typically engineered to highlight the good and disregard the bad.
All of this combines to steer traditional VCs towards asset accumulation – always raising the next fund to keep the party going rather than focusing on existing investments. And rather than spending time to diligence the most technologically advanced and thereby accretive opportunities, traditional VCs tend to move in packs and invest on narrative.
BlueLedge is not a traditional VC firm.
BlueLedge does not charge any recurring fees and strives to keep it’s one time syndication fees as low as possible, typically 0-2%. BlueLedge does not want to get rich managing money, rather we aim to operate breakeven until realization events allow us to share in the profits via the industry standard 20% performance fee – keeping the VC, investor, and company all aligned.
Since we are in it for the long haul alongside the investor, we focus on quality over quantity. Unlike opaque traditional VCs that might share a paragraph in their capital call notices, we hold out all of our due diligence for each investor to review. Investors invest on an investment-by-investment basis and ultimately choose the size of their investment (if any) – designing their own portfolios based on their goals. All of this allows BlueLedge to tap the decentralized experience of its entire network while simultaneously focusing on its mission to capitalize businesses committed to building the future.
BlueLedge does not charge any recurring fees and strives to keep it’s one time syndication fees as low as possible, typically 0-2%. BlueLedge does not want to get rich managing money, rather we aim to operate breakeven until realization events allow us to share in the profits via the industry standard 20% performance fee – keeping the VC, investor, and company all aligned.
Since we are in it for the long haul alongside the investor, we focus on quality over quantity. Unlike opaque traditional VCs that might share a paragraph in their capital call notices, we hold out all of our due diligence for each investor to review. Investors invest on an investment-by-investment basis and ultimately choose the size of their investment (if any) – designing their own portfolios based on their goals. All of this allows BlueLedge to tap the decentralized experience of its entire network while simultaneously focusing on its mission to capitalize businesses committed to building the future.
You may be wondering how this model could be sustainable. BlueLedge is proud to share that we have a suite of institutional partners that collectively manage their own multibillion dollar hedge fund. For privacy reasons, these partners are collectively referred to as 5 Roses. By eliminating the need to charge recurring fees and providing BlueLedge with institutional support, 5 Roses makes BlueLedge – and by extension what we see as the future of VC – possible.
You may be wondering how this model could be sustainable. BlueLedge is proud to share that we have a suite of institutional partners that collectively manage their own multibillion dollar hedge fund. For privacy reasons, these partners are collectively referred to as 5 Roses. By eliminating the need to charge recurring fees and providing BlueLedge with institutional support, 5 Roses makes BlueLedge – and by extension what we see as the future of VC – possible.
Team
Before launching BlueLedge, Andy worked stints at Deloitte’s NYC headquarters as an auditor followed by the role of vice president at a San Francisco investment company with hedge and venture strategies. His work as an auditor makes him uniquely equipped to diligence companies while his tenure in traditional finance taught him the tools of the trade.
Perhaps more importantly, Andy has always been a passionate learner inspired by the Arthur Clarke quote that, “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”. By specializing in specializing, Andy pulls on the research community, academia, and beyond to build convictions that allow BlueLedge to see tremendous value where others feel confusion.
See it for yourself – Andy is happy to discuss the rationale behind any of BlueLedge’s investments, simply reach out below.
Before launching BlueLedge, Andy worked stints at Deloitte’s NYC headquarters as an auditor followed by the role of vice president at a San Francisco investment company with hedge and venture strategies. His work as an auditor makes him uniquely equipped to diligence companies while his tenure in traditional finance taught him the tools of the trade.
Perhaps more importantly, Andy has always been a passionate learner inspired by the Arthur Clarke quote that, “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”. By specializing in specializing, Andy pulls on the research community, academia, and beyond to build convictions that allow BlueLedge to see tremendous value where others feel confusion.
See it for yourself – Andy is happy to discuss the rationale behind any of BlueLedge’s investments, simply reach out below.
In addition to Andy, BlueLedge has partnered with the five owners of a multibillion-dollar hedge fund based out of New York. This partnership provides institutional support while establishing a framework for supporting portfolio companies across the capital spectrum.
In addition to Andy, BlueLedge has partnered with the five owners of a multibillion-dollar hedge fund based out of New York. This partnership provides institutional support while establishing a framework for supporting portfolio companies across the capital spectrum.
Andy Roche, CPA
Founder & CIO
Scientist VC
Investments
The Businesses Building The Future
Respira has invented a revolutionary inhalation device and accompanying liquid formulation capable of delivering inhalable nicotine with similar pharmacokinetics as a cigarette or vaporizer – with none of the harmful or potentially harmful constituents (HPHCs).
Respira is currently pursuing a 505(b)(2) authorization for the world’s first inhalable Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT). In light of the devastating effects of the vaping epidemic, resulting in nicotine addiction in 25-33% of US high schoolers, there has never been a more critical time to offer nicotine users a safe and effective pathway to kick the habit, which happens to be the number one cause of preventable death in both the US and the world.
Importantly, Respira is a platform device and biotechnology company pioneering what we consider the evolution of the hypodermic needle, with nicotine just the first of numerous active pharmaceutical ingredients identified for development.
BlueLedge is proud to have been lead on Respira’s bridge rounds leading up to their Series A in 2020 and 2021.
Mission Barns has developed a scalable system for producing real animal fat cells for incorporation in plant-based foods – enabling plant-based foods that meat eaters actually want to eat. Importantly, Mission Barns can tailor the fatty acid profile of their fat cells to represent the pinnacle of nutrition science while nonetheless tasting identical to the fats we have evolved to love, like lard, tallow, and schmaltz.
BlueLedge is proud to have been the largest investor in Mission Barns $24m Series A in 2021.
Exogenesis has developed a novel form of particle acceleration enabling their Accelerated Neutral Atom Beam (ANAB) technology. Unlike legacy technologies such as plasma, ANAB is capable of ultra-shallow surface processing with highly collimated neutral particles. Whereas legacy systems rely on charged particles that repel each other and spread out chaotically similar to a shotgun, ANAB behaves more like a rifle and thereby enables unprecedented precision in surface modification.
While applications of ANAB are diverse, the first to be formally commercialized is as a source of surface energy modification via nanometer scale texturization of biomedical devices. ANAB treated devices like those sold by nanoMesh (a subsidiary) have bioactive surfaces that dramatically reduce the risk of infection while promoting seamless integration in the human body.
BlueLedge is proud to have led a bridge investment in 2021.
Grolltex has developed a patented method of producing the highest quality graphene in the world at costs orders of magnitude lower than industry incumbents. First synthesized in 2010, single layer graphene is a ‘wonder material’ poised to revolutionize countless industries from diagnostics, advanced electronics, and membranes.
Grolltex is currently developing a revolutionary biosensor by functionalizing a bioFET built on its graphene with peptide nucleic acids (PNAs). The result promises to be an agnostic biosensor capable of testing for any complimentary genetic sequence… all at an unprecedentedly low cost.
BlueLedge is proud to have led Grolltex’s Series A in 2021.
Respira has invented a revolutionary inhalation device and accompanying liquid formulation capable of delivering inhalable nicotine with similar pharmacokinetics as a cigarette or vaporizer – with none of the harmful or potentially harmful constituents (HPHCs).
Respira is currently pursuing a 505(b)(2) authorization for the world’s first inhalable Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT). In light of the devastating effects of the vaping epidemic, resulting in nicotine addiction in 25-33% of US high schoolers, there has never been a more critical time to offer nicotine users a safe and effective pathway to kick the habit, which happens to be the number one cause of preventable death in both the US and the world.
Importantly, Respira is a platform device and biotechnology company pioneering what we consider the evolution of the hypodermic needle, with nicotine just the first of numerous active pharmaceutical ingredients identified for development.
BlueLedge is proud to have been lead on Respira’s bridge rounds leading up to their Series A in 2020 and 2021.
Mission Barns has developed a scalable system for producing real animal fat cells for incorporation in plant-based foods – enabling plant-based foods that meat eaters actually want to eat. Importantly, Mission Barns can tailor the fatty acid profile of their fat cells to represent the pinnacle of nutrition science while nonetheless tasting identical to the fats we have evolved to love, like lard, tallow, and schmaltz.
BlueLedge is proud to have been the largest investor in Mission Barns $24m Series A in 2021.
Exogenesis has developed a novel form of particle acceleration enabling their Accelerated Neutral Atom Beam (ANAB) technology. Unlike legacy technologies such as plasma, ANAB is capable of ultra-shallow surface processing with highly collimated neutral particles. Whereas legacy systems rely on charged particles that repel each other and spread out chaotically similar to a shotgun, ANAB behaves more like a rifle and thereby enables unprecedented precision in surface modification.
While applications of ANAB are diverse, the first to be formally commercialized is as a source of surface energy modification via nanometer scale texturization of biomedical devices. ANAB treated devices like those sold by nanoMesh (a subsidiary) have bioactive surfaces that dramatically reduce the risk of infection while promoting seamless integration in the human body.
BlueLedge is proud to have led a bridge investment in 2021.
Grolltex has developed a patented method of producing the highest quality graphene in the world at costs orders of magnitude lower than industry incumbents. First synthesized in 2010, single layer graphene is a ‘wonder material’ poised to revolutionize countless industries from diagnostics, advanced electronics, and membranes.
Grolltex is currently developing a revolutionary biosensor by functionalizing a bioFET built on its graphene with peptide nucleic acids (PNAs). The result promises to be an agnostic biosensor capable of testing for any complimentary genetic sequence… all at an unprecedentedly low cost.
BlueLedge is proud to have led Grolltex’s Series A in 2021.