Footwork Co-founder Nikhil Basu Trivedi Says Company Has Made 24 Investments in 5.5 Years
Footwork's Trivedi: No Options
Footwork co-founder Nikhil Basu Trivedi stated that the company has made 24 investments in its 5.5 years of existence, with almost every investment led by them in seed or Series A rounds. He made it clear that none of these were option bets; each investment is significant to them, and if successful, could yield multiples back to the fund.
This directly refutes the framework that "seed checks are options." Trivedi emphasizes whether a single investment can cover fund returns, rather than buying observation rights first and waiting for revenue evidence before increasing stakes. He also pointed to the founders of these companies, stating that one can ask them whether each investment was treated as a main position.
Footwork was founded in 2021 by Trivedi and former Stitch Fix executive Mike Smith, with an initial fund size of $175 million. The initial checks announced ranged from $1.5 million to $8 million, aimed at leading or co-leading seed and Series A rounds, focusing on consumer companies and consumerized enterprise software. The two had previously co-invested in about six companies as angels before formally establishing the fund.
According to a five-year record from April 2026, they invested in 7 companies in the fifth year, 4 companies each in the first two years, bringing the active portfolio to 24 companies. The last two investments of the first fund have been completed, with the initial investment period ending after more than four years, and the second fund has been launched. The public portfolio includes Anything, Confido, Fuse, Protege, Waldo, GPTZero, Felt, Elicit, and Cradlewise.
GPTZero completed a $10 million Series A in June 2024, and Footwork's five-year document states it has become profitable, with annual recurring revenue reaching tens of millions of dollars. Footwork led Confido's $15 million Series A in August 2025. Protege's Series A was $25 million. Elicit and Power secured large pharmaceutical clients, while Felt and Heard integrated AI into their products and growth.
The buyers are early funds that insist on leading and making each investment a source of fund returns, while the sellers face pressure from large platform funds that treat seed investments as entry tickets. Funds are transitioning from the first fund of $175 million to the second fund, with the deployment pace increasing from 4 investments per year to 7. Beneficiaries are seed and Series A companies that receive lead terms and board attention, while those under pressure can only remain in small observation positions and cannot claim individual investments as returns to the fund.
Trivedi became a partner at Shasta Ventures in 2018, entered Forbes Under 30 in 2015, and has publicly collaborated with companies including Canva, Tally, Tonal, and Lattice. He is also a co-founder of the art trading platform Artsy. Smith grew from a team of fewer than 10 at Stitch Fix to an executive at a publicly listed company.
Source: Public Information
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Trivedi's path is to first build the company and then the fund. He co-founded Artsy, then became a partner at Shasta in 2018, with public projects including Canva, debt management company Tally, fitness equipment Tonal, and HR software Lattice. In 2021, he and Mike Smith established Footwork with $175 million, anchoring checks between $1.5 million and $8 million for leading investments, rather than observation positions typical of platform funds. At the five-year mark, the first fund closed its initial investment period, with 24 active companies almost all led by them in seed or Series A rounds.
The movement of money emphasizes concentration on individual investments. The pace increased from 4 to 7 investments per year, with the second fund taking over, but without defining the portfolio as an option pool. GPTZero reached profitability and tens of millions in annual recurring revenue, while Confido's $15 million Series A and Protege's $25 million Series A were lead amounts rather than follow-on investments. The motivation is that small funds must ensure one company returns multiples to the entire fund, as observation positions contribute too little against a $175 million denominator.
Comparable examples include Benchmark's early strategy of using a few leads to secure board seats, rather than a16z or Thrive using brand to secure follow-on amounts. This contrasts with Menlo treating seeds as options and confirming before allocating 20% of a single fund to Anthropic. Footwork remains in a control phase after expansion: the investment period has ended, the portfolio is locked at 24 companies, and new capital only enters through the second fund, without rewriting old checks as options.
Structurally, this is capital concentration, not technological substitution. Early pricing power remains with the lead investors, as terms, seats, and reserves are tied to the first large check. The mechanism is that when the fund size is only around $175 million, ownership must be sufficiently large at entry; otherwise, 60% dilution in subsequent rounds will compress individual investment returns to levels that cannot cover the fund. Large funds can exchange price insensitivity for seats, while small lead funds must treat every investment as a main position.
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The smaller the fund, the less it can treat checks as options.
Leads buy responsibility, while follow-ons buy eligibility.
If a single investment cannot return to the fund, the portfolio is merely a list.