Red Bear Ventures
An expert-led investment network

Expertise and capital for founders

Red Bear Ventures (RBV) backs private companies founded or led by Cornell students, faculty, staff, and alumni. Capital follows expert conviction, deal by deal.

Apply as a founderHow it works
What we are

Not a fund. A network.

RBV is not a traditional venture capital fund. We are a network of tens of thousands of people who back companies one deal at a time using special purpose vehicles (SPVs). Capital follows the conviction of domain-specific experts – operators, founders, and industry leaders whose judgment is grounded in relevant experience.

Why Cornell?

Our founding community

I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study.

Ezra Cornell, 1868

RBV's vision mirrors that of our alma mater: to build a platform where anyone can invest in private companies from any industry, and where investment decisions are informed by experts with decades of experience in those industries.

Cornell is our founding community because it is one of the most innovative and entrepreneurial universities in the world, with reach that spans every industry, geography, and company stage. And at 300,000+ students, alumni, faculty, and staff, the community is large enough to provide meaningful financial and advisory support to the RBV portfolio.

Who we serve

Three constituents

Founders
Cornell-affiliated founders raising capital for private companies (pre-seed through Series Z, both primaries and secondaries).
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Experts
Operators, senior executives, academics – thought leaders whose engagement can change the trajectory of an investment.
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Investors
Individuals, family offices, and other LPs who want deal-by-deal allocation in competitive, vetted, expert-led investments.
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Three signals

The model

Successful deals tend to share three signals: 1) a team that can execute, 2) commercial traction and/or defensible technology, and 3) respected co-investors and experts who lean in. We organize our process around finding and verifying these signals before we put capital to work. For a deeper walkthrough of how a deal moves from intro to close, see how it works.

Latest from the network

Conviction, in motion

Every company we back is socialized to the network through the newsletter. Read what we've been backing.

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Get involved

Apply, refer, or join

We review every application personally. Submissions are read within two weeks. If there is a fit, we reach out directly.

Apply as a founder →Apply as an expert →Apply as an investor →Refer someone →