When Marcus Stroud met Brett Brewer at the 2024 Kauffman Fellows conference in Hollywood, neither of them knew what would happen next.
Brewer, a cofounder of MySpace and Los Angeles-based Crosscut Ventures, was immediately struck by Stroud.
“It just came through in an instant,” said Brewer. “This is someone who’s destined to do incredible things, and I want to be a part of it. I want to help, and I want to see it all happen.”
Stroud, who started investment firm Sequence Equity with former Princeton roommate Brandon Allen just two years prior—and already had something to show for it.
Sequence’s mission was in some sense contrarian amid AI-mania—to invest primarily where technology meets sports, fitness, and human performance. Sequence’s first fund featured early investments in companies like fitness coaching platform Future (which has raised more than $100 million and recently merged Tom Brady’s Autograph), airline revenue management startup Kambr (acquired by Amadeus), strength training app Ladder (which in 2024 raised more than $100 million in funding), and wearables juggernaut Oura, last valued at $5.2 billion.
Brewer was “blown away” by that first fund’s performance—and he and Stroud had an instant connection.
Over the next six months, Brewer started working more and more with Stroud and the Sequence team. Ultimately, that meeting in Hollywood led to a turning point for Brewer and the firm—Brewer has now joined Sequence as managing partner, and the firm will now be based in LA, moving from Austin.
“This next chapter isn’t about AUM or anything like that,” said Stroud, a former Princeton football player, referencing the acronym for assets under management. “It’s about the fact that sports, technology around human performance, it’s only become institutional in the last four or five years. So, how do we use our competitive advantage of having so much sector focus?”
The Sequence team is filled with former athletes and trainers. One Sequence investor, for example, was previously a strength coach for the NBA’s Chicago Bulls. And the firm has leaned on a multi-strategy approach.
“We have our early stage venture strategy, which has gone really well and continues to do well,” said Stroud. “But we’re also going to be raising our private equity fund that focuses on sports teams, sports leagues.”
Spencer Rascoff—a Sequence LP, current Match Group CEO, and cofounder of Zillow—told Fortune via email that he believes Sequence has “built a clear edge in human performance and sports,” adding that the firm’s multi-strategy approach represents “a unique advantage that compounds over time.”
In Brewer’s opinion, he’s joining Sequence at an exceptionally good time for investing early, especially outside AI.
“Unless you’re living in the pre-seed world, nobody really realizes that valuations are way down, so it’s actually a very good time to invest,” he said. “You’re not overpaying at that stage. That’s why, trust me, this 2025 and 2026 vintage will be incredible for seed and pre-seed funds…Five years from now, when there’s the next Oura, people will say: ‘My God, where did this company come from?’”
See you tomorrow,
Allie Garfinkle
X: @agarfinks
Email: alexandra.garfinkle@fortune.com
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VENTURE DEALS
- Nexthop AI, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based AI infrastructure developer for cloud companies, raised $110 million in funding. Lightspeed Venture Partners led the round and was joined by Kleiner Perkins, WestBridge Capital, Battery Ventures, and Emergent Ventures.
- Epicrispr Biotechnologies, a South San Francisco, Calif.-based neuromuscular diseases treatment developer, raised $68 million in Series B funding. Ally Bridge Group led the round and was joined by SOLVE FSHD and others.
- n8n, a Berlin-based workflow automation platform for technical teams, raised €55 million ($59.4 million) in Series B funding. Highland Europe led the round and was joined by HV Capital and existing investors Sequoia, Felicis, and Harpoon.
- Sunday, a Boulder-based lawn care products provider, raised $30 million in funding. S2G led the round and was joined by others.
- Silna Health, a New York City-based prior authorization, benefit checks, and eligibility verification AI-powered management solutions provider for the healthcare industry, raised $27 million in funding. Accel and Bain Capital Ventures led the $5 million seed round and were joined by Activant. Existing investors Accel and Bain Capital Ventures led the $22 million Series A round and were joined by existing investor Activant and angel investors.
- Dyna Robotics, a Redwood City, Calif.-based AI-powered robots developer, raised $23.5 million in seed funding. CRV and First Round Capital led the round and were joined by Sancus Capital, Umami Capital, Hardware Club, and others.
- Paid, a London-based business platform for AI agents, raised €10 million ($10.8 million) in pre-seed funding from EQT Ventures, Sequoia, and GTMFund.
- Sympera AI, a New York City-based agentic-AI platform for relationship managers in the banking sector, raised $10 million in seed funding from Nyca Partners and Viola Ventures.
- SplxAI, a Dover-based offensive AI security platform, raised $7 million in seed funding. LAUNCHub Ventures led the round and was joined by Rain Capital, Inovo, Runtime Ventures, and others.
- ai|coustics, a Berlin-based generative AI-powered audio reconstruction solution, raised €5 million ($5.4 million) in seed funding. Partech led the round and was joined by Acurio, Intuition, Arc Investors, existing investors Connect and FOV Ventures, and angel investors.
- Nace.AI, a Palo Alto-based precision enterprise AI models developer, raised $5 million in seed funding. General Catalyst led the round and was joined by .406 Ventures, MVP Ventures, and Coalition Partners.
- Voiceops, a New York City-based AI-powered phone call analysis and insights provider for marketing, raised $5 million in seed funding. Bonfire Ventures and Twelve Below led the round and were joined by Precursor Ventures, Not Boring Capital, Village Global, and others.
- Arlo, a New York City-based AI-powered health insurance provider for small and medium-sized businesses, raised $4 million in seed funding. Upfront Ventures led the round and was joined by 8VC and General Catalyst.
- Lumi AI, a Toronto-based enterprise resource planning data analytics platform for brands and retailers, raised $3.7 million in seed funding. AgFunder led the round and was joined by Forum Ventures, ADQ, Qora71, and angel investors.
- Iceberg Quantum, a Sydney-based quantum computing architecture company, raised $2 million AUD ($1.2 million) in pre-seed funding. Blackbird Ventures led the round and was joined by LocalGlobe.
PRIVATE EQUITY
- Silver Lake acquired Endeavor, a Beverly Hills-based sports and entertainment company, which will retain its majority stake in TKO. TKO and Endeavor have a combined total enterprise value of $25 billion.
- PSG Equity invested $280 million in Protecht, a Sydney-based governance, risk, and compliance solutions provider.
- Unified Health Services, a portfolio company of Reynolda Equity Partners, acquired Sunbelt Medical Financial, a Fort Lauderdale-based healthcare receivables management services provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.
OTHER
- Descartes Systems acquired 3GTMS, a Columbus-based transportation management solutions provider, for approximately $115 million in cash.
- Megalabs USA acquired Geologie, a New York City-based skin and hair care brand. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- NYDIG agreed to acquire the Bitcoin mining business of Crusoe, a Denver-based AI cloud infrastructure company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
IPOS
- Ategrity Specialty Insurance, a New York City-based insurance provider for small and medium-sized businesses, filed to go public on the NYSE. The company posted $344 million in revenue for the year ending Dec. 31, 2024. ZFSG backs the company.
- eToro Group, a Bnei Brak, Israel-based trading and investment platform, filed to go public on the Nasdaq. The company posted $12.6 billion in revenue for the year ending Dec. 31, 2024. Spark Capital, BRM Group, Andalusian Private Capital & Advisory, SBT, and CM Equities back the company.
PEOPLE
- Jump Capital, a Chicago-based venture capital firm, added Aqil Pasha as a vice president. Previously, he was at Venture Guides.