Private venture capital.

Wick is a private venture capital firm. Most of what we invest in falls into two areas, artificial intelligence and defense, though we have never treated that as a hard rule.

We make few investments and hold them for a long time. That suits founders who are building something difficult and want an investor who will still be around in ten years.

Artificial intelligence

We like companies where AI is doing work that customers already pay people to do. A few of our companies build the models and infrastructure underneath. More of them build products on top. Either way, we pay close attention to whether customers keep using what they bought.

Defense

Our defense companies work on autonomy, space, cyber and manufacturing. Government sales cycles are long and the compliance burden is heavy. We plan for that from the first conversation, so it doesn’t come as a surprise later.

Everything else

Now and then we invest outside those two areas, usually in energy, healthcare, finance or industrial businesses. When we do, it is because of the people involved.

How we decide

Diligence takes as long as it needs to. Once we have an answer, we give it quickly, and if we pass, we tell the founder why.

After we invest

Founders run their companies. We help when asked, most often with senior hires, customer introductions and the next round of financing. We don’t push for a sale or an IPO before a company is ready.

Discretion

We don’t announce our investments or keep a public portfolio. If a founder wants to talk about working with us, that is their call.