Pareto Holdings — Investment Thesis & Preferences

Pareto Holdings Research

Investment Thesis

Pareto Holdings operates as a hyper-prolific super-angel venture studio and investment platform focused on early-stage startups globally. Founded by Edward Lando and Jon Oringer, the firm deploys personal capital rather than raising traditional LP funds, maintaining operational freedom and founder-centric priorities. The fund believes in identifying exceptional founders and companies at the earliest stages, often being the first institutional investor in ventures that are just getting started.

Pareto's investment philosophy centers on:

Founder relationships and founder potential over traditional metrics
Early discovery of exceptional talent and ideas
Global scope with no geographic restrictions
Rapid deployment and decision-making enabled by self-funded model
Portfolio diversity across sectors, stages, and geographies

Stage Focus

Pareto is a Pre-Seed and Seed specialist, with the majority of portfolio investments (42 of 53 documented investments) in the Seed stage and 3 in Series A. The firm writes checks across a wide range of sizes, making investments from $100K to $25M+, with a sweet spot around $1-5M for Seed rounds.

Recent investment patterns show:

2025: 1 investment (pyannoteAI, Seed)
2024: 10 investments (9 Seed, 1 Series A follow-on)
2023: 6 investments total
2022: 19 investments (peak activity year)

Check Size

Pareto writes highly variable check sizes reflecting their super-angel + venture capital hybrid model. Their investment range includes:

Minimum: $100K-$250K for promising pre-seed stage founders
Sweet spot: $1M-$5M for Seed rounds
Maximum: Up to $25M+ for select companies or follow-ons
Average Seed round size in portfolio: $3.26M
Average Series A round size in portfolio: $7.38M

The firm's self-funded model enables flexibility in check sizing and rapid deployment without institutional constraints.

Lead Tendency

Pareto demonstrates a "leads" tendency in their portfolio, frequently serving as the first institutional investor and often leading early-stage rounds. The firm is known for moving fast and often being the first VC check in for founders, making them an early, supportive capital source. Recent investments show them participating in 1st round funding for companies before Series A rounds are led by larger firms like Google Ventures, Founders Fund, and Tiger Global.

Recent Activity

Pareto has been actively deploying capital throughout 2024-2025. Key recent investments include:

April 2025: Led Seed round in pyannoteAI (France, AI/ML infrastructure)
Dec 2024: Series A participation in Tracer Bio (United States, Biotech)
Nov 2024: Series A participation in Volta (France, B2B SaaS for transactions)
Oct 2024: Seed investments in Dippy (Canada) and Quiet (France)
Sep 2024: Seed investment in Juicebox

The firm maintains 1-2 new investments monthly historically (900-1,000 annual dealflow), though 2025 pace has been more selective. Fund status is "actively_deploying" with no announced new funds—the firm operates on founder Edward Lando's personal capital.

Portfolio Overview

Pareto's 53 documented portfolio companies span 30+ sectors and 9 countries. Portfolio composition includes:

Sector Diversification:

Consumer apps and social: 18 investments
Enterprise Applications: 17 investments
High Tech: 14 investments
FinTech: 12 investments
Retail: 9 investments
Plus investments in biotech, proptech, climate, healthcare, and more

Notable Portfolio Companies (Top Tier):

Jar: Digital gold savings/investment app, Series B, $63.3M funded, valued at $500M+, 255 employees
Nucleus Genomics: Genetic testing for rare variants, Series A, $32M funded
Base Two: AI platform for manufacturing process optimization, Series A, $17.2M funded
Link: Open banking APIs, Series A, $30M funded (founded by Edward Lando)
StackOne: Universal SaaS integration layer, Series A, $24.4M funded

Recent Exits (3 portfolio acquisitions):

EarlyDay (acquired by Wonderschool, March 2024)
Zash (acquired November 2023)
Transpose (acquired May 2023)

Geographic Focus:

Primary: United States (20 investments)
Secondary: France (9 investments, reflecting Paris engineering hub)
Also active: UK, Canada, India, and selective global exposure

Team & Leadership

Pareto operates as a lean, operator-led team of 13 members including 4 partners and 1 venture partner:

Core Partners:

Edward Lando (Partner, Miami) - Founder, most active angel investor per Crunchbase, early investor in 25+ unicorns, self-funded model architect
Jules Boustouller (Partner, Paris) - International expansion and Europe operations
Annie Wasserman (Partner, Los Angeles) - West Coast operations and founder relationships
Ben Cambier (Partner, UK) - European expansion

Additional Team:

Jonathan Dhont (Venture Partner, Paris)
Tim Simon, Anika Adzich, Carson Kraycik, Antonia Wegmann, Rohit Bhadange, Celia Molkentin, Nathan Lian

The team maintains direct founder relationships and works operationally with portfolio companies. No formal board seat strategy—focus on mentorship and support.

Investment Decision Process

Model: Solo GP + partnership model with Edward Lando as founder/primary decision-maker. Ben Cambier and Annie Wasserman as key supporting partners who co-invest.

Timeline: Rapid decision-making (1-2 weeks typical) enabled by self-funded model and founder-focused due diligence.

Criteria: Founder quality, market timing, founder relationships, execution potential. No traditional metrics gate.

Approach: Land-and-expand strategy with founder networks; active deal sourcing; willingness to incubate companies within Pareto House or Pareto Fellowship programs.

Founder Preferences

Pareto backs exceptional founders across:

Technical co-founders and non-technical operators
First-time founders and serial entrepreneurs
Builders with shipping experience preferred but not required
Global geographic diversity (no US-only focus)
Founder-market fit and founder resilience weighted heavily

The firm places premium on founder potential and founder relationships over traditional startup metrics.

Geographic & Sector Focus

Primary Markets: United States (especially NYC, SF, LA), France (Paris engineering hub), UK, Canada

Sector Strengths: Enterprise software, AI/ML, fintech, consumer apps, biotech, proptech, climate tech

Stage Sweet Spot: Seed ($1-5M range) and Pre-Seed for exceptional founders

AUM Note: No traditional fund—operates on Edward Lando's personal capital (~90-95% of net worth deployed)

Co-investor Network

Pareto co-invests frequently with top-tier VCs including:

Tiger Global Management
Google Ventures
Founders Fund
Valar Ventures
Y Combinator (for portfolio support)
Quiet Capital
Rocketship
500+ investors co-invest across portfolio

Unique Characteristics

Self-funded model: No LP obligations, founder-first alignment
Hyper-prolific: 900-1,000 investments target annually (though recent pace slower)
Global reach: No geographic limitations, active in 9+ countries
Operator support: Team incubates companies within Pareto House and Fellowship
Speed: Rapid decision-making without institutional constraints
Founder accessibility: Direct access to Edward Lando and partners
Founder-friendly: No board seats demanded, mentorship-focused relationship model

Investment Trends

Activity: Peaked at 19 new investments in 2022; settled to 6-10 annually in 2023-2024; selective pace in 2025 (1 investment YTD)

Check size trend: Diversifying across pre-seed to Series A range

Geographic expansion: Increasing Paris presence (France co-founder Jules Boustouller); selective European and Asian growth

Sector focus: Broad diversification with growth in AI/ML infrastructure and biotech