Venture Capital investing exclusively for Northwestern Alumni

What Is Purple Arch Ventures?

The smartest, simplest way for Northwestern alums to add venture capital to their portfolio. We are also…

A full-time alumni investment team. Meet our Managing Partner, David Beazley NU ’96 ’98 in his recent podcast
An Investment Committee with over 250 years of investing experience
22k alumni followers
The only fund of its kind for Northwestern alumni
Private, for-profit, and not officially sanctioned by the university

Follow the Fund

“I’ve been very impressed by my experience investing with Purple Arch Ventures. The management team is constructing a compelling portfolio with a high level of intelligence, due diligence, and professionalism. In addition, the investment committee is experienced and diverse, drawing from a wide range of perspectives including industry, geography, age, and gender. And as an investor, making the investment in PAV was clear and well-organized, using state-of-the-art digital communications and platforms. I highly recommend investing with Purple Arch Ventures as a professional way to diversify your investment portfolio with venture funded companies.”

Kristin McDonnell

“I have been involved investing in entrepreneurial endeavors for 16 years, and have been very impressed with the effectiveness of the processes at Purple Arch. Every deal they brought to the IC has been more than appropriate, and in fact we have invested in all but 1. They have also been very conscientious about diversifying the portfolio, to increase the likelihood of success. Plus, they’re just good people to deal with, both personally and professionally.”

Mary Jo Potter

“Purple Arch provides opportunities to invest in rounds that would be difficult to access and offers a seamless diligence and investment process.”

Andrea Jackson

Why Invest in Venture Capital?

Consistently Strong Returns

Benefits of Venture Investing

Your chance to invest like an insider in game-changing innovation.

Participate in huge value creation pre-IPO and pre-acquisition.

Higher quality investment opportunities than angel investing or going it alone.

VC is not tied to the stock market, offering diversification during a downturn.

Invest directly in your interests: seed-stage startups, social impact, women entrepreneurs and more.

Investment Strategy

Smart, Simple Venture Investing

Diversified Venture Portfolio

15 – 30 investments per fund, diversified by stage, sector, and geography

Co-Invest with Strong Lead Investors

We only invest when a strong, established investor (often a fellow alum) is leading the financing

Deal Access via Alumni Connections

Entrepreneurial teams desire our investment because we are a meaningful check, low friction, and have a large rolodex

Co-Invest Alongside Top Venture Firms

Invest In Deals Most Individuals Never Know About or Get Access To

3M New Ventures
500 Startups
Accel Partners
Accomplice
Alsop Louie Partners
Andreessen Horowitz
Arena Ventures
Aspect Venture Partners
Atlas Ventures
Benchmark
Bessemer Venture Partners
Bezos Expeditions
BlackRock
Blockchain Capital
Borealis Ventures
Comcast Ventures
CrunchFund
DFJ Capital
Drive Capital

Flybridge Capital
Elephant Partners
Founder Collective
Foundry Group
F-Prime Capital (Fidelity)
General Catalyst Partners
Golden Seeds
Goldman Sachs Ventures
Google Ventures
Greylock Partners
Highland Capital
Javelin Partners
Khosla Ventures
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
Lightspeed Venture Partners
Link Ventures
Maveron
Menlo Ventures

ML Capital
New Enterprise Associates (NEA)
Nokia Growth Partners
Norwest Venture Partners
NXT Ventures
Obvious Ventures
OrbiMed
Pelion Venture Partners
Relay Ventures
Resolute Ventures
Sequoia Capital
Summit Partners
Space Angels
SV Angel
Thiel Capital
Venrock
Winklevoss Capital
Y Combinator

How does Purple Arch Ventures assemble a great portfolio for me?

Full-time investment team wakes up every morning dedicated to delivering a diverse portfolio to investors
An Investment Committee with over 250 years of investing experience
We use our Northwestern alumni and broader Alumni Ventures Group network to access deals that simply are not available to most individuals
We only invest in deals with a strong lead investor with sector expertise, combining their due diligence with our own

See Purple Arch Portfolio

“Having been on the investing side for nearly two decades, I’ve learned the returns created for investors are directly correlated to sourcing quality deal flow, a process that is highly inefficient as it is based largely on the relationships a few partners have at a VC/PE firm. Purple Arch Ventures has institutionalized this process by wisely recognizing the power of utilizing the networks of tens of thousands of alumni rather than depending on a small handful of people. This powerful network allows Purple Arch to see many more opportunities and be more selective in finding their next investment.”

Vamsi Yadlapati

“As an Investor and Investment Committee member, I have been extremely impressed with the quality and quantity of viable investment opportunities presented. The review process has been seamless and extremely professional. A high level of diligence is performed upfront and information is provided in a very thorough and timely manner. The overall communication has been outstanding and I feel highly confident with PAV’s investment strategy and execution.”

David Muson

“Purple Arch Ventures provides an amazing avenue for Northwestern alums to support Northwestern entrepreneurs while strengthening the alumni network and bond. The level of commitment, sophistication of due diligence, and strategy to tap a diverse set of alumni experiences to evaluate opportunities enable an extremely smart & systematic evaluation process. As an IC member, deals are presented to the committee in an extremely well-thought out manner including initial analysis of the deal, market/domain context, and an opportunity to engage directly with the CEO. The overall experience has exceeded my expectations and look forward to future Purple Arch Fund opportunities.”

Grant Gochnauer