How Product Marketing and Brand Helped Ivy Ventures Raise a $20M Fund in Three Weeks

Our product marketing and brand experts helped venture capital firm Ivy Ventures: 

• Successfully GTM.
• Earn verbal commitments for a $20M fund in three weeks.
• Establish credibility and attract five portfolio advisors.
• Invest in four portfolio companies and counting.

Today, venture capital is more than a check. Founders are looking for partnership, expertise and support from ideation to launch and beyond. Enter Ivy Ventures.

Ivy Ventures is a capital and resources partner pioneering a smarter venture ecosystem. With smart capital and strategic corporate partnerships, Ivy Ventures equips extraordinary founding teams with the resources they need to run high-growth companies.

We partnered with Ivy Ventures to build a scalable and credible brand and product marketing foundation and help them go-to-market with confidence. 

Problem

With decades of VC and tech experience, entrepreneur Scott Kraege had a strong vision for what Ivy Ventures should be.

But without in-house product marketing and brand expertise, Scott lacked the foundation and digital presence needed to raise the fund, attract limited partners (LPs) and win over founders at potential portfolio companies.

Scott came to us to help Ivy Ventures GTM with a credible, compelling and differentiated positioning framework and brand identity. 

Solution

Product Marketing

To build Ivy Ventures’ scalable product marketing foundation, we: 

• Positioned competitively to stand out in market.
• Crafted persona-based messaging to resonate with three key audiences. 
• Crafted foundational statement and key benefit pillars.

Ivy Ventures’ foundational statement is the North Star that describes who they are, who they serve, why they exist and the value they deliver.

Rooted in what makes them different, Ivy Ventures’ positioning framework helps them efficiently and accurately describe the value they deliver. While the foundational statement guides all messaging, benefit pillars clearly identify Ivy’s value and differentiators.

Because Ivy Ventures has two primary audiences, they needed persona-based messaging to resonate with both. 

“Ivy Ventures’ needs to attract a very specific type of founder — extraordinary founders,” said Meghan Corsello, Principal Product Marketer and Brand Strategist. “It’s an operator-backed fund, meaning key corporate partners, LPs, and advisors have all started companies of their own. They know what it takes to build and scale early-stage startups. Ivy invests in founders who have the qualities that can’t be taught, and excels in coaching for the qualities that can be taught. Their messaging needed to communicate this.” 

The messaging also resonates with the right advisors by clearly defining expectations. Unlike other fund advisors, Ivy advisors must invest time, talents and treasure to support founders with invaluable expertise that changes the trajectory of their business.

Brand

Ivy Ventures’ scalable brand identity: 

• Communicates legitimacy and credibility.
• Differentiates them in the VC space. 
• Resonates with founders.
• Resonates with LPs.

Every industry has paradigms and design standards, most are unspoken. In the VC space, brand hasn’t been prioritized like it is in SaaS. But as more capital providers enter the market, brand is a critical differentiator that helps investors attract and win over their ideal founders.

“The brand helps Ivy stand out to the right type of founder as trustworthy, reliable and excellent across the board,” Meghan said.

Because of Ivy’s unique value proposition, we created a bold brand that strikes the balance between differentiation, boldness, professionalism and credibility. 

“Red was a blue ocean choice in VC, no one really goes red,” Meghan said. “The brand looks elevated, premier, and established from the first touchpoint.” 

Icons and illustration shapes were inspired by dominos creating a flywheel. “If you tip the domino the right way, the flywheel will start,” Tressa said. “Ivy’s smart capital will tip the dominos and kickstart something different and special. We used motion to show this in a more impactful and concise way than static alone.”

Activation & Launch Support

To activate Ivy Ventures positioning, messaging and brand identity, we created:

• A compelling website that leverages Ivy’s new positioning, messaging and brand identity to help them stand out. 
• A deck that helped them tell their story, pitch and attract LPs and advisors
• Marketing materials that help the Ivy team tell the Ivy story clearly and consistently. 

Impact

After engaging with us, Ivy Ventures successfully raised a $20M fund and has already invested in four extraordinary founders. 

“Innovatemap took the guess work out of tough branding decisions,” said Scott Kraege, General Partner. “Raising a fund is always a challenge, but our clear, consistent messaging that accurately reflected our thesis gave us a big advantage and differentiated Ivy from the crowded VC landscape.”

“As a result,” Scott continued, “we were able to earn verbal commitments for $20M in three weeks. Because the fund was raised so quickly, our team was able to focus on critical deal flow conversations and creating the fund.” 

Our partnership with Ivy extends beyond the engagement.

“While the product produced by Innovatemap is exceptional, it does not compare to the people working behind the scenes,” Scott said. “The team’s ability to engage as a true partner sets them apart. The ownership and pride put into our brand from the Innovatemap team is a testament to their passion for helping others succeed.”

Ready to go to market? Find out how our product marketing and brand experts can help you establish credibility and resonate with buyers.

See our work with Ivy Ventures