Climate · VC Firm · Active
Better Ventures
Better Ventures is an Oakland-based seed VC founded 2012 by Wes Selke and Rick Moss, ~$150M AUM across three funds, with an impact-oriented mandate (climate, health, deep tech).
Investment thesis
Better Ventures is an Oakland-based seed VC founded 2012 by Wes Selke and Rick Moss, ~$150M AUM across three funds, with an impact-oriented mandate (climate, health, deep tech). Cheques $500k-$2M pre-seed to seed.
Quantum bet: Quantum Machines (Israeli quantum control hardware, seed stage 2018 co-investor). One of the earliest institutional investors in what has become the "OS for quantum computing" across every modality.
Value-add: mission-driven LP base; early-stage operator support for deep-tech founders.
Not a quantum specialist — single early bet pre-dating the current wave of specialist funds. Relevant primarily as cap-table historian rather than active current allocator.
Anti-thesis
The patterns that trigger a fast no with this fund.
- Explicit climate and impact mandate creates thesis tension, quantum's near-term applications (finance optimization, drug discovery, cryptography) are not climate-aligned
- Quantum hardware's energy footprint (dilution refrigerators run continuously at millikelvin) cuts against climate LP narrative
- Oakland location and smaller fund size limits access to top quantum deal flow concentrated in Boston / Bay Area academic spinouts
- Portfolio skews climate hardware, food tech, and circular economy, no demonstrated quantum diligence track record
- Impact-weighted returns framework may penalize quantum companies for long time-to-impact, creating governance friction with founders
Notable quantum portfolio
Full portfolio →Reach out to Better Ventures
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