Pear VC is extending a hand to emerging venture funds with its new "Emerging Manager in Residence" program, offering collaboration, investment, and resources to help shape the next generation of VCs.
Seed-focused Pear VC, known for its $432 million fund raised last year, has announced the launch of its "Emerging Manager in Residence" program to guide and invest in promising pre-seed and seed venture funds. This move aims to support up-and-coming managers by offering deal flow sharing, due diligence collaboration, and early access to Pear’s accelerator companies—a privilege typically reserved for established firms like NEA, Lux Capital, and Sequoia Capital.
Pear will also invest $250,000 in each of the selected managers’ funds, facilitate introductions to Limited Partners (LPs), and provide office space for a year. The program was created by Kathleen Estreich, a Pear partner who previously led her own emerging firm, MKT1 Capital, before joining Pear a few months ago. Estreich's experience as an operator-turned-fund manager inspired this initiative, which quickly resonated with Pear co-founders Pejman Nozad and Mar Hershenson.
“We picked three emerging managers and gave them full access to what we do,” said Nozad. “We invested in their funds. They see our deal flow and how we evaluate deals. We give them an office, and we help them fundraise.”
The inaugural cohort includes Sarah Smith of the Sarah Smith Fund, John Gleeson from Success Venture Partners, and David Ongchoco and Adarsh Bhatt from Comma Capital. Each brings unique value to the early-stage ecosystem—Gleeson, for instance, runs the largest customer success meetup in the country, while Comma Capital has a strong network of mid-career engineers at top tech companies.
Pear’s approach stands out from other VC firms, such as Bain Capital Ventures, which invests in emerging funds through a dedicated fund-of-funds. Instead, Pear integrates these new managers directly into its latest fund, essentially making them an extension of the firm.
The program is set to run for a year, with Pear planning to welcome three new venture funds into its offices annually. Estreich believes this immersive experience will accelerate the growth of these emerging managers, helping them advance in the VC ecosystem faster.
