John Smothers is a two-time founder-turned-VC at Scribble Ventures who has backed 30+ companies as both an angel and institutional investor, giving him unusually recent hands-on founder experience compared to many career VCs. He focuses on pre-seed and seed investments with a tight check-size band of $300K–$750K and actively co-invests with top-tier firms, providing founders an on-ramp into strong syndicates while coming in with right-sized early checks rather than trying to dominate rounds.
About their Fund
Scribble Ventures
Sectors
AI, Fintech, SaaS, Devtools, HR Tech
Rounds
Pre-Seed - Series A
Avg Check Size
$300K - $750K
Notable Investments
Scribble Ventures is a seed fund where builders from OpenAI, Meta, Twitter, Instagram, and a16z back AI native companies, with GPs and LPs who are active big-tech and top-tier VC operators rather than primarily financial investors. The fund provides unusually hands-on product and go-to-market support through WhatsApp threads and tactical help, while intentionally syndicating with other firms using smaller initial checks and a relationship-first approach rather than trying to lead and own rounds.
Other partners at the fund
Notable Fund
Investments
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Popular Investors
investor name
Active in
Rounds
Avg. Check
Links
Deeptech / Hardware
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Robotics
Biotech
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12
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Unknown
Pre-Seed - Seed
Unknown
$400K - $2M
Unknown
Defense
Deeptech / Hardware
Energy
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7
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Unknown
Pre-Seed - Series A
Unknown
$100K - $5M
Unknown
Defense
Deeptech / Hardware
Energy
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7
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Unknown
Pre-Seed - Series A
Unknown
$100K - $5M
Unknown
Biotech
Health
Deeptech / Hardware
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2
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Unknown
Pre-Seed - Seed
Unknown
$250K - $2M
Unknown
Climate
Deeptech / Hardware
Materials
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4
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Unknown
Pre-Seed - Seed
Unknown
$400K - $1.5M
Unknown
Deeptech / Hardware
Robotics
Biotech
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7
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Unknown
Pre-Seed - Seed
Unknown
$400K - $2M
Unknown
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Deeptech / Hardware
Robotics
Biotech
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2
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Unknown
Pre-Seed - Seed
Unknown
~$750K
Unknown
Fintech
Deeptech / Hardware
Devtools
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2
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Unknown
Pre-Seed - Series A
Unknown
$250K-$1M
Unknown
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