Today Interlace Ventures, an early stage venture firm dedicated to investing in the next Shopify at its earliest stage, announced it has raised $14 million for its debut fund. Backed by Paypal, Bain Capital Ventures, Carta and some of the most prominent families, executives and entrepreneurs in the commerce space, the firm brings together via its Commerce Platform a broad community of change-makers committed to building a better future of commerce.
Introducing Interlace Ventures. Interlace Ventures invests in pre-seed and seed-stage startups building a more personalized and sustainable future of shopping. The firm plans to invest in up to 30 companies, with a current portfolio of 13 emerging companies across commerce infrastructure and sustainability including Alloy Automation, b8ta, CommerceJS, Olive, and Treet.
Composed exclusively of former commerce operators in the U.S. and China, the investment team’s firsthand experience uniquely positions them to identify and support innovative commerce technologies. To strengthen its team further, the firm recently added two new venture partners, Vibhu Norby and Sydney Werber, who bring deep expertise in new retail experiences and video commerce.
“Technology is key to enable more sustainable, personalized and delightful consumption. It supports legacy and emerging brands to be more consumer-centric,” said Joseph Sartre, Managing Partner at Interlace Ventures. “We are investing early and heavily in enhanced commerce infrastructure technology to support the industry’s scalability and sustainability transformation for the next 30 years.”
Funding Better Commerce. Soon to be the largest and most influential consumer base in the US, Generation Z is the most globally conscious generation and most diverse in U.S. history. Challenged by this new demographic who grew up in an environment of accelerated technological change, the next decade will see the rise of new models, in their image, that will drive our societies to better consumption.
Interlace Ventures invests in primarily commerce technologies that operate in one of two ways:
- The How: Enabling technologies and infrastructure platforms throughout the retail value chain
- The Where: Marketplaces, new distribution platforms or new retail experiences
To reflect this new diverse consumer group, Interlace Ventures is actively investing in founders building for and representative of this next generation—55% of Interlace’s companies are led by founders from underrepresented groups.
“As a Black-led investment team made up of immigrants and former commerce operators in Asia and Europe, the experience we bring to the table sets us apart from other seed funds,” said Vincent Diallo, Managing Partner at Interlace Ventures. “For us, diversity is not a checked box, it is literally built into our DNA and our networks. We strongly believe that the next big commerce technology companies will be built by founders with diverse backgrounds.”
A Unique Commerce Platform. Beyond capital, Interlace Ventures offers its portfolio access to its Commerce Platform—an active global community of nearly 100 brands and retailers, including companies like Mars Wrigley and Decathlon, eager to gain insights into the evolution of commerce and connect with leading change-makers. Leveraging this strategic partner base, Interlace Ventures actively supports the acceleration of its portfolio, introducing its founders to their first partners and customers.
