A Private Network of Fintech VCs

We power strategic discussions with enterprise executives, founders, and LPs

Curated to build cadence and long-term synergies for our network

Mission

An activation network for VCs curating consistent touchpoints with external stakeholders

Enterprise Roundtables

Matching financial enterprise to VCs on emerging themes

Market Intelligence.
Enterprises and VCs dive into current diligence trends
Strategic Parterships.
Map portfolio copmanies for upcoming enterprise goals

Founder Capital Dinners

Building cadence with local VCs and startups through private dinners

Quarterly Dinners.
Curated to 20 attendees in SF, NYC and LA
Local Touchpoints.
Gathering active VCs and founders raising their round within the next 6 months
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Our Network

A network activating key stakeholder discussions

Financial Enterprises.

A select group of executives tapping into the network for market coverage of early stage fintech themes

VCs.

Partners and principals from across NYC, SF and LA, investing in fintech themes across Pre-Seed, Seed, and Series A

Startups.

Portfolio startups invited through the VCs in the network, vetted by existing VCs for partnerships and capital

Key Networks

Hosting events across multiple cities and centralize networking through closed loop in-person discussions

San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge

San Francisco

San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge

New York

San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge

London

San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge

Los Angeles

Our Mission

We bring founders to a network of leading operators, investors and resources to support startup building, while driving individual brand development and investment optionality for XIRs and VCs

The mission was born out of experiences from VCs, angels, advisors and founders looking for a better way to scale innovation. Through the community, we aim to help the lonely journey of being a founder, increase knowledge transfer, and build relationships amongst founders, operators and investors excited about Fintech.

Traditional accelerator models have two flaws that lead to low impact: unscalable and lack of domain focus. The typical accelerator model is focused on generalized classrooms, while The Collective focuses on impactful guidance by leveraging an XIR network to create a customized experience across mentorship, networking, and fundraising - similar to having your own personal advisory board.

We incentivize XIRs to be involved by providing opportunities to add value at the forefront of innovation, driving impactful advise during key periods of scale.

We are building a platform that drives collaboration amongst founders, VCs, XIRs, angels, and ecosystem leaders, where personal brand development, fairer equity distribution and economics, and value-add drive innovation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why should I participate in this network?

The cadence, curation, and strategic goals of our discussions brings together enterprise strategy with emerging technologies.

Funds look to build a consistent relationship with enterprises on key thesis areas for thought leadership and portfolio value creation. Yet, time to plan and map enterprises limits relationships.  

Financial executives have specific digital roadmap goals, and they consider leading startups as digital enablers. Mapping and accessing all the relevant startups takes time, while existing funds in our network have pre-vetted a majority of the market.

We match access, curation, and cadence between both ecosystems, reducing the ecosystem mapping and planning hurdle to engage.

We break down our strategic discussions into a series across current thesis areas disclosed to our members.

What does it cost?

Enterprises pay for roundtable discussions and we work with key startup providers to sponsor our capital dinners.

If you are interested in collaborating with us, please reach out at our contact below.

How do I know what gatherings are happening?

If you are a fintech VC, apply to be a member.

If you are an enterprise, please send us an email to the link below.

Who runs The Collective?

Christian Vela built The Collective after leading investments at American Express Ventures and advising and scaling multiple fintech startups at incubation and growth. Taking his learnings from American Express Ventures, he found the broader ecosystem missed a consistent touch point between innovation and enterprise strategy. The Collective's mission is to provide a structure between funds and enterprises.

Interested to collaborate through partnerships?

We are always evolving the network and working on partnerships with external parties as we centralize nodes of innovation.

I'm a founder and I would like to join the dinners?

We aren't focused on founders but your investors may be part of the network already! Shoot them a message.

Otherwise, feel free to send an email to us found at the bottom of this page.