The first venture firm with access to 100M+ engaged consumers across the world.

Animal Capital was founded in 2021 by Marshall Sandman — ex-Goldman Sachs, and previously leading venture capital at WarnerMedia — together with creators Josh Richards, Griffin Johnson and Noah Beck. The origin story is now venture folklore: during COVID, with no fund yet raised, Sandman cold-DMed some 3,000 celebrities to test one idea — creators should own equity in what they promote, not just collect endorsement fees.

The result is a distribution moat no term sheet can copy: a network of creators and celebrities with 100M+ combined reach who work portfolio companies — closing deals, driving launches, promoting products. Five years in, the model reads institutional: top-1% IRR across both prior vintages and a 60–70% graduation rate from Seed to Series A/B.

“The fund will continue to target early-stage, primarily U.S.-based investments that leverage technology to make consumers’ lives better, more efficient, or more entertaining.”

Stage

Pre-seed → Series A

Check size

$100K – $1M

Leads rounds

No — we amplify them

Focus

Consumer · Fintech · Health & Wellness · Media · CPG

Geography

Primarily U.S.

The edge

Creator network, 100M+ combined reach, working every deal