Where Tenacity Meets Capital.
Backing resilient U.S. founders at the earliest and hardest stage of company building.
About the Firm
Helping Resilient Founders Turn Ideas into Enduring Companies.
Solanus Capital Partners™ backs U.S. pre-seed and seed founders with grit, tenacity, and deep domain expertise.
Solanus Capital Partners™ is a $5M early-stage venture capital fund investing in U.S.-based pre-seed and seed startups. We are sector-agnostic, but founder-focused: our conviction lies in backing entrepreneurs with deep domain expertise, grit, and tenacity — the qualities that drive resilience and long-term success.
What sets us apart is the time we spend with founders prior to investment. Embedded in the Chicago and national startup ecosystems — through Founder Institute, Founders Network, 1871, mHUB, Polsky Center, P33, Discovery Partners Institute, StartupGrind, and MD Angels — we meet and mentor founders long before they raise capital. This unique vantage point allows us to identify not just good ideas, but the relentless builders who refuse to quit.
We write first checks of $100K–$250K, reserve capital for follow-on in breakout companies, and build a portfolio of 25–35 startups. With a founder-first approach, robust sourcing networks, and the compliance and back-office infrastructure of a Decile Group Start Fund, Solanus Capital Partners™ provides LPs with disciplined exposure to the most asymmetric stage of venture investing.
Our focus areas
- Food tech
- Edtech
- Health & Wellness
- Marketplaces
- Agtech
- Media tech
Meet Our Team
