A lack of viable funding outlets has been a frequent source of frustration among entrepreneurs in Rhode Island, a state that sees nowhere near the kind of venture capital activity of neighboring Boston and New York City. Now, one man seems to have heard the call. Daniel Rossignol is launching a new fund called Octane Venture Labs, a pre-seed venture fund that could raise up to $10 million by 2020. Initial commitments from limited partners are already coming out of Silicon Valley, San Diego, Boston and Providence. Octane will be a technology first sector agnostic venture firm.
A Haitian orphan adopted by a middle-class family in central Maine, Rossignol has over a decade of experience working at technology companies that have brought new innovations to market within the enterprise technology space. Rossignol spent many years working within the San Francisco Bay area, where he gained a unique perspective on what it takes to start, build and scale a venture-backed startup. Rhode Island Inno caught up with Rossignol to discuss Octane Venture Labs.
Q: Why did you want to start Octane Venture Labs, and why Providence? A: Being and looking different within technology industry can be tough for a variety of social and economic reasons. As a result of that, I wanted to work with talented people where their potential for success is least obvious to the majority of the people they encounter. I started Octane Venture Labs because I felt that the type of underestimated talent I look for in people outweighed the amount of accessible capital within the geography I plan on making investments in.
Having done business in over six countries, the authentic culture of inclusion and diversity in Providence is unmatched to many of the other location options I was considering. Octane strives to work with talented people regardless of race, religion or gender, so why not pick a place that socially checks those boxes. Our pitch to entrepreneurs is simple — you know you can be great, let us provide the capital to help you prove it.
Q: In the current climate, what are the challenges and advantages associated with launching a small VC firm? A: The current venture capital climate is crazy right now and the amount of unicorn hunting is out of control. The good news for us is that we don’t appeal to people looking to acquire traditional venture financing. It is also becoming increasingly more important for micro or nano venture firms to fill the capital gap that exists between the infancy of an idea and Series A financing. Many of the traditional funds are focusing on strategies that require them to put more capital to work in fewer deals in order to achieve alpha for their limited partners. We see the enormous opportunity to partner with people at the absolute earliest time in their business life cycle so that we can help them achieve their initial customer traction and user experience goals.
" ... The authentic culture of inclusion and diversity in Providence is unmatched to many of the other location options I was considering ... "
Q: Do you foresee making a lot of investments in R.I. companies? How would you describe the opportunity in R.I. right now? A: Given that we decided to make our home in downtown Providence, we hope that startups based in Rhode Island feel like they have a location advantage. There are many talented people in Rhode Island working towards disrupting monopolies and fixing broken markets. The tech scene in Rhode Island is going through a bottoms-up explosion driven by talented people from innovative companies like Feast and Fettle, Pangea and Rent Sons, to name a few. Octane is also working hard to ensure these great companies have other resources in addition to capital that they will need in order to meet different milestones. This includes access to talent, customer introductions, integration partners and mentors. We are fortunate that these resources are not limited to who or what is in our backyard and in fact our deep-rooted network of talented people across the country makes it possible for founders we work with to connect and share ideas regardless of geography. A big shout out to Slack for helping to enable us to achieve some of our communication and idea sharing goals.
Q: Anything else you want to add? A: I think it’s important to say that for years, places like Providence have been chipping away at becoming a premier tech destination for talented people residing between the corridor of major hubs like Boston and NYC. While many people are quick to point out the past challenges in building these types of ecosystems, we only see opportunity. Our goal is not to fix or change the past but instead lay the foundation to support the access of long-term, early stage private capital for talented people working on disruptive ventures. While I openly embrace Providence as my home and I love playing, working and raising my family here, Octane will also need the support from the local community, corporations, and higher ed institutions.
