Curious Capital

Active

Overview

Curious Capital is a venture capital firm founded in 2017, operating from Seattle, with a corporate venture arm linked to Germany's Heinen-Verlag. It specializes in seed and early-stage investments in tech-driven startups, particularly software, AI, digital media, and DevOps, targeting companies ready to scale or in distress with $500K-$5M ARR. The firm provides flexible minority/majority investments, recapitalizations, and hands-on operational expertise in growth and customer acquisition, primarily in the Pacific Northwest and transatlantic opportunities.

History

Curious Capital was founded in 2017 by Andrew Dumont, former Bitly CMO, and Cameron Borumand. It operates as the corporate venture subsidiary of Heinen-Verlag, a Cologne-based publishing house established in 1946. In 2023 or earlier, the Seattle-based entity raised a $16M permanent capital fund to acquire and recapitalize struggling software startups. Key activity includes a 2019 pre-seed investment in AdTonos and majority acquisition of Convox.

Notable Products

Investment in AdTonos - Pre-seed round of $0.5M in 2019 for audio advertising technology platform.
Acquisition of Convox - Majority acquisition of DevOps platform focused on software infrastructure.
$16M Permanent Capital Fund - Fund for recapitalizing early-stage tech companies toward profitability.

Reputation

Curious Capital is regarded by professionals for its non-traditional approach, offering operational support and longer-term holdings outside standard VC models. Strengths include expertise from tech executives in scaling and customer acquisition, targeting Pacific Northwest and transatlantic tech. It faces limited visibility due to few public investments and dual US-German operations potentially complicating focus.

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