Leverage VC Launches $10M Venture Studio and Early Stage Fund Focused on Gaming and Mental Health

NEW YORK, Oct. 31, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Leverage VC, an emerging venture capital firm, announced its first venture capital fund and venture studio focused on supporting seed-stage founders. Founded by serial entrepreneurs Meir Bulua, David Rabinovici, and Menashe Kestenbaum, the firm takes an innovative hands-on approach to investing in and supporting early-stage companies by backing fewer founders, in deeper ways. The firm's mission is to find exceptional, overlooked, entrepreneurs and provide capital, and hands-on involvement to help them scale. The firm's primary industry focus is gaming, mental health, and eldertech, and the team has more than 30 years of combined experience investing in and building start-ups across various industries.

Leverage VC's mission is rooted in the founders' personal experiences. When Kestenbaum founded his first start-up Enthusiast Gaming, he asked Bulua, founder and owner of Leverage IT, to join as co-founder. The Enthusiast team needed capital in 2015 for their fledgling start-up but encountered resistance when trying to raise from traditional institutional capital. Instead, they took capital from high-net-worth individuals and angel groups. That seed money went a long way and in 2018 they took Enthusiast public. Rabinovici, an early investor in Enthusiast as well as a few of Bulua's other successful startups got the startup bug and left his big law firm job to co-found Leverage VC.

Bulua is a startup aficionado passionate about helping entrepreneurs succeed. He has more than ten years of experience building tech and co-founded several start-ups, including Enthusiast Gaming and Curbngo. He became a partner early on and remains a strategic advisor to many others including, Eshyft, Grit Capital, and Browze.

"The best startups are led by product-obsessed founders who are willing to take risks, challenge the status quo, and pursue their visions with passion and determination," stated Meir Bulua, co-founder and managing partner, Leverage VC. "At Leverage, our mission is to back fewer founders, but in deeper ways. Instead of throwing capital like darts and hoping one hits, we roll up our sleeves and meaningfully support the startups we fund with actual oversight and services."

Rabinovici is a successful investor and a former investment funds attorney. He spent six years at large NY law firms, counseling some of the largest global fund sponsors on forming and managing venture and private equity funds. His obsession with investment theory and passion for understanding what makes businesses tick led him away from law and into the investing world.

"Whenever I invest in something, I ask myself if I have an edge. I am thrilled to partner with Meir in launching Leverage VC because he is the edge," said David Rabinovici, co-founder and managing partner, Leverage VC. "Meir has proven over the last ten years that he has a tremendous ability to spot exceptional, overlooked founders early on in their journey, earn their trust, and help them succeed - his hit rate is off the charts." Leverage also receives additional equity in exchange for hands-on services. Combine that with a great hit rate and you have a winning strategy that ties directly to Leverage's edge. "Our business model leans on our edge; we are effectively bending the power law curve in our favor, creating additional positive asymmetry in the fund's return profile," said Rabinovici.

Over the last year and a half, the fund has invested in and/or helped build eight portfolio companies, many of which have gone on to raise capital at higher valuations.

About Leverage VC

Leverage VC is a market-focused venture capital firm helping early-stage companies build the next generation of global, category-leading businesses. For entrepreneurs, this translates into unparalleled access to tech building and business-model knowledge, a network of impact executives, relationships with leading companies, and assistance from strategic partners who can take a hands-on role. Leverage VC is co-founded and managed by Meir Bulua and David Rabinovici, who have a combined 20 years of experience investing in and advising startups.

Media Contact

Laurel Case, Talesplash for Leverage VC, 1 315-663-6780, [email protected], https://leverage.vc

SOURCE Leverage VC