What’s Unusual?
A Partner for Founders, Built Differently
Unusual Origin
Unusual Ventures was founded in 2018, but the firm’s story starts a decade earlier. John Vrionis was Jyoti Bansal’s first investor at AppDynamics (acq Cisco $3.7BN). Over the next decade, they partnered together to navigate the inevitable challenges of scaling a startup to extraordinary success.
John and Jyoti shared the belief that early stage venture capital could—and should—be different. So, they decided to create a firm that provided a relentlessly hands-on, founder-first approach.
“John and Jyoti built a firm for founders looking for more than just money. Their ethos and disciplined approach to company-building deeply resonated with me.”
Abhi Sharma
Co-founder, Relyance AI
“Unusual’s team was an invaluable partner as I leveled up from leading sales by myself to a fully-developed GTM motion and team.”
Michael Malyuk
Co-founder, Human Signal
Unusual Support
Unusual founders typically excel in technical expertise and creative problem-solving, but as any successful entrepreneur knows, turning a key insight into a solution with product-market fit requires developing a broader set of skills. Our approach at Unusual was designed to equip founders with the skills to find product-market fit, transition beyond founder-led selling, and lead a high-functioning GTM team. We work for our founders instead of advising them from a distance and we take the word “partner” to heart.
Unusual
Limited Partners
Our financial mission is to deliver world-class returns, but it is essential to do so for organizations driving positive change in education, healthcare, climate, and research. From day one, we chose to partner with “forces for good,” building an investor base we’re honored to serve. Their missions reflect values that matter to us and to founders and teams we support.
“We were inspired by the Unusual commitment to having HBCUs and mission-driven organizations as LPs.”
Tanguy Chau
Co-founder, Paxton AI
“Although our company didn’t achieve the success we wanted, we would partner with Unusual again in a heartbeat because of their unwavering values. They stuck with us through the toughest moments.”
Jim Treinen
Co-founder, Strake
Unusual Values
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
The Golden Rule is at the heart of everything we do at Unusual—even when it’s not easy. Building startups is a grueling journey where Murphy’s Law often feels like the only constant. We’ve been there and deeply empathize with the effort, struggle, and sacrifice it demands. You can count on us to do what’s best for you while honoring our responsibilities to our Limited Partners.
Get to Know the Unusual Team
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s your typical investment size?
We invest $1-2M in Pre-seed companies, $2-10M in Seed stage startups and $10-15M in Series A.
What are your investment criteria?
No opportunity is too early for us. We work with product builders who have a non-obvious insight, the humility to learn quickly, and the desire to partner with a team.
What do you look for in a founding team?
We look for authenticity to a problem and the ability to build and iterate. We look for resilience and obsession.
How does Unusual help founders?
Jyoti and John designed an “unusual” model for assisting founders. We live the journey with you, tackling challenges as partners, not spectators. We are experts in finding Product-Market Fit and believe the only way to maximize your chance of succeeding is to serve as the doers you need to move forward. We pioneered an engagement approach whereby experienced operators embed with founders during the seed stage and deliver hands-on help in finding design partners, hiring early talent, writing pitch decks and ultimately building a world class marketing and sales motion and team.
Investment Expertise
We invest with conviction in transformative thematic areas, including
Artificial Intelligence
AI is reshaping the future of the enterprise. We are looking for founders building AI-driven infrastructure and applications that redefine industries. Explore our AI investments.
Cybersecurity
The greatest threat to the modern enterprise is digital. We invest in cutting-edge cybersecurity solutions that safeguard companies and their customers in an increasingly complex and interconnected world.
Developer Tools
Developers are the architects of the modern organization. We invest in next-generation developer tools that empower engineers to build, scale, and innovate faster than ever.
Fintech
The financial sector is still ruled by incumbents founded half a century ago—but change is here. We invest in next-gen fintech infrastructure that makes financial systems more open, efficient, and accessible to all.
If you're a founder exploring one of these spaces—or already on the journey—and you're looking for a partner who will work relentlessly alongside you, let’s talk. Unusual Ventures was built for founders like you.
Our latest investments are breaking the mold
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Why we’re leading Paxton’s $22 million Series A round
January 29, 2025
Why we invested in GovSignals: the AI platform for government contracting
December 12, 2024
Relyance AI's series B — Helping Enterprises Achieve Trust with Confidence
October 10, 2024
Why we invested in AirOps
October 3, 2024
