DFX Intelligence
Venture Capital Intelligence
Firms, funds, partners, companies and rounds from sworn filings, firm sites and announcements, kept as a graph with a date and a source on every edge. Facts, inferences and estimates are labelled as such. A fund target is never a close, GAV is never dry powder, and a round size is never an investor’s check.
Firms / Venture First
Venture First
Venture First provides capital and financial services to growth-focused companies. Expand your team, network, and expertise today.
venture manager, reported GAV $3.2M across 1 vehicles
Importance
17
moderate
Active deployment
30
moderate
Emerging
0
low
Completeness
63
high
Freshness
100
high
Research priority
11
low
Identity and regulatory footprint
- Headquarters
- Louisville, KYadviserinfo.sec.gov
- Office address
- 607 WEST MAIN STREET, SUITE 001, Louisville, KY, 40202-2991adviserinfo.sec.gov
- Business phone
- 502-208-2125adviserinfo.sec.gov
- Website
- https://venturefirst.com
- SEC adviser type
- exempt reporting adviseradviserinfo.sec.gov
- SEC exemption claimed
- private fund adviseradviserinfo.sec.gov
- Latest Form ADV
- Mar 24, 2023
- Private funds reported
- 1 (1 venture capital funds)adviserinfo.sec.gov
- Private fund gross assets
- $3.2Madviserinfo.sec.govreported GAV of the funds, the adviser's own number; not fund size, not dry powder
- Owners on Schedule A
- Lfch Holdings, LLC (Owner), D
- business email
- emailinfo@venturefirst.comventurefirst.compublished by the subject
- business email
- info@venturefirst.comventurefirst.compublished by the subject
- business email
- ben@venturefirst.comventurefirst.compublished by the subject
- business email
- mewing@venturefirst.comventurefirst.compublished by the subject
- business phone
- 502-208-2125adviserinfo.sec.govpublished by the subject
Stated thesis versus observed behaviour
16 observed deals
Stated (the firm’s website)
- Sectors
- not stated or not yet read
- Stages
- not stated or not yet read
- Geography
- not stated
- Check size
- not stated; DFX does not estimate checks from round sizes
- Self-described
- venture capital
Observed (from deals on record)
Stage at participation: no observed deals yet
Stage at first entry: no observed deals yet
Sectors
unknown 94%Other Technology 6%
lead rate n/afollow-on rate n/anew logos, 12 months 16
Funds and vehicles
1 reported
| Vehicle | Type | Vintage | Lifecycle | Reported GAV | Owners | Form D sold | Latest Form D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strike Ventures Fund I, LLC | Fund | 2021 form d first sale | Mature | $3.2M Mar 24, 2023 | 19 | $1.4M of $25.0M | Jan 19, 2021 |
GAV is the gross asset value the adviser reported on Form ADV for the vehicle, never the fund’s committed size and never dry powder. Form D sold is the amount sold as of the latest filing, never a final close.
Investment team
27 current, 0 departed
Cooper Burk
AnalystJunior Analyst
Elliott Thomazin
AnalystFinancial Analyst
Tarun Bothra
AnalystValuation Analyst
Victoria Fu
AnalystJunior Analyst
Evan Friedman
AssociateAssociate
Cordt Huneke
Board or advisoryBoard Member
Jack Danehy
Board or advisoryBoard Member
Vik Chadha
Board or advisoryBoard Member
John Alan Shumate
Founder or executiveChief Executive Officer · since Jan 1, 2019
John Shumate
Founder or executiveCEO & Chairman
Brian Oldham
Operating partnerOperating Partner
Mark Crane
Operating partnerOperating Partner
Steve Huey
Operating partnerOperating Partner
Transaction Support
OtherPortfolio
John O Huneke
PartnerShareholder, Series A Preferred Stock · since Aug 1, 2018
Scott Sieg
PartnerAccountant Manager
Bethany Dupree
Platform and operationsVice President, CFO Services
Carolle Siegel
Platform and operationsExecutive Assistant
Christopher Marlin
Platform and operationsVice President, CFO Services
Ken Edwards
Platform and operationsChief Operating Officer
Rob Penta
Platform and operationsPresident, Chief Legal Officer & Vice Chairman
Robert Penta
Platform and operationsChief Legal Officer, General Counsel, Director · since Aug 1, 2018
Specialty Credit
Platform and operationsCFO Services
John Danehy
PrincipalDirector · since Aug 1, 2018
Vikrampal Chadha
PrincipalDirector · since Oct 1, 2021
Ben Lawrence
Vice presidentVice President, Business Development
Jack Hellige
Vice presidentVice President, Funds & Transactions
Investments on record
16 edges, 16 companies, 0 partner-attributed
“This investor” is the amount disclosed for this investor alone; it is unknown unless a source said it. The round size is the whole round.
Co-investors
1 relationships from shared deals, counted for the whole firm
Limited partners
0 disclosed
No LP commitment on record. An LP edge needs a public disclosure with a quote: a pension report (see Limited partners for the plans read), a fund announcement naming the LP, or a Form ADV owner. The fund page carries the LP’s reported performance.
Timeline
2 dated events
- Jan 4, 2022Venture First first filed Form ADV (ERA)First SEC adviser filingOrganizationFactSEC Form ADV filing data 2011 to 2024 (every filing, Schedule D 7.B.(1) private funds, Schedules A/B)
- Jan 4, 2022Strike Ventures Fund I, LLC first reported on Form ADV by Venture First (Venture Capital Fund), GAV $3,200,000Fund first reported on Form ADVFundsFactStrike Ventures Fund I, LLCSEC Form ADV filing data 2011 to 2024 (every filing, Schedule D 7.B.(1) private funds, Schedules A/B)
Classification history
- Sep 12, 2026Micro VC (probable, 80%, cls-1)venture manager, reported GAV $3.2M across 1 vehicles
Evidence
24 observations from 2 sources