Fund profile / United States

Illumen Capital Catalyst Fund

Geography: United States
Stage: Pre-Seed
Fund size: $32.8M
Focus: AI/ML, Climate & Sustainability, EdTech and SaaS
Signals: Published

N°01 / About

About Illumen Capital Catalyst Fund

Illumen Capital Catalyst Fund is a venture capital firm based in United States, focusing on Pre-Seed stage investments. The fund actively supports founders building innovative solutions in AI/ML, Climate & Sustainability, Digital Education Consumer, SaaS, providing strategic guidance and capital to help startups scale.

N°02 / Thesis

Investment Focus

Location / RegionUnited States

Funding StagePre-Seed

Industry Focus

AI/ML

Climate & Sustainability

EdTech

SaaS

Investor Signals Profile

active

Sweet Spot

Fund managers backing underrepresented founders via bias-reduction

fund-of-funds

DEI & inclusion

systemic impact across asset classes

emerging manager support

bias-reduction research

Bullish Signals

PNAS-published research backing strategywebsite

Stanford SPARQ strategic partnershipwebsite

75+ combined years investment experiencewebsite

Proprietary IllumenIQ bias-reduction platformwebsite

Evidence-based tools unlock stronger returnswebsite

Actively hiring — team scalingwebsite

Invites diverse perspectives to pitch directlywebsite

Research proves race influences investor decisionswebsite

Closing capital gap via inclusive asset managementwebsite

DD speaking at Impact Summit America on systemic changelinkedin

Thought leadership: emerging managers & portfolio activationlinkedin

Returns-focused: homogenous teams underperform diverse oneswebsite

Contrarian Signals

No direct startup investmentswebsite

Hands-on bias-reduction platform requirementswebsite

Institutional LPs only — niche accesswebsite

Founder Do's

Manage venture, growth, or PE fund

Invest in overlooked/underestimated founders

Focus on edu, fintech, climate, health, systems

Implement IllumenIQ bias-reduction platform

Pursue top-quartile returns via diversity

Founder Don'ts

Not direct startup investment vehicle

Avoid narrow/homogenous sourcing networks

Don't expect passive LP relationship

32 signals on Illumen Capital Catalyst Fund

12 bullish · 3 contrarian · 5 pitch do's · 3 don'ts · 9 GP profiles, each with its source. From €9/month, cancel anytime.

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Facts

Fund Overview

Fund Size$32.8M

Saves0

Website

People

Key People

Daryn Dodson

Daryn DodsonManaging Director

Jason HenningHead of Investor Relations

Octavio SandovalPrincipal

Jeremy SookhooPrincipal

Leila MengeshaVP, Product Development & Impact

Katie TwomeySenior VP, Finance & Operations

Maria LopezPortfolio Associate

Malia HanktonExecutive Assistant to Managing Director

Jo NazarethSenior Operations Associate

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