# Alpaca VC

> Alpaca VC is an AI-native seed fund backing companies at the intersection of AI and foundational industries: energy, manufacturing, logistics, construction, defense, commerce infrastructure, and the real economy. Based in New York. Typical first checks are $500K-$1.5M at pre-seed and seed.

Alpaca VC invests in what we call the Aquarius Economy: the layer where AI meets the physical world, human agency, and foundational industry workflows.

Our website includes Gordon, an AI concierge that answers questions about our thesis, team, portfolio, and writing.

## Primary pages

- [Home](https://alpaca.vc/): Alpaca VC overview and Gordon chat concierge.
- [Thesis](https://alpaca.vc/thesis): The Aquarius Economy, our thesis on how AI reshapes foundational industries, coordination, and the real economy.
- [Team](https://alpaca.vc/team): Aubrie Pagano (General Partner), Ryan Freedman (Chairman), Josh Jagota (Principal, AI Coordination), Ray Updyke (Senior VP, Finance & Operations), Lorraine Sanders (Head of Communications).
- [Portfolio](https://alpaca.vc/portfolio): 100+ companies across four funds since 2014.
- [Writing](https://alpaca.vc/writing): Featured essays, frameworks, and portfolio writing from the Alpaca team.
- [Writing Archive](https://alpaca.vc/writing/archive): Preserved essays, field studies, and portfolio notes.

## Featured writing

- [The Truth About Bridge Rounds](https://alpaca.vc/writing/bridge-rounds): Analysis of when bridge rounds help or hurt startup survival.
- [Keeping Cool in a Hot Space: A No-BS Framework for AI Products](https://alpaca.vc/writing/no-bs-ai-framework): Framework for evaluating AI product defensibility across tools, assistants, and agents.
- [Welcome to the Herd, Applied Atomics](https://alpaca.vc/writing/applied-atomics-intro): Why Alpaca invested in Applied Atomics and the power availability opportunity.

## Preserved research

- [Field Study: U.S. Power Availability](https://alpaca.vc/writing/power-availability): Analysis of U.S. power grid capacity constraints facing AI and industrial growth.
- [AI x Real Estate Investment Management](https://alpaca.vc/writing/ai-real-estate-im): Preserved field study on AI and real estate investment workflows.
- [AI in Real Estate Underwriting and Acquisitions](https://alpaca.vc/writing/ai-real-estate-underwriting): Preserved field study on AI in real estate underwriting.
- [Personalization in E-Commerce](https://alpaca.vc/writing/ecommerce-personalization): Preserved field study on personalization and commerce infrastructure.
- [Food Tech 2.0: Innovation in the Cold Chain](https://alpaca.vc/writing/food-tech-cold-chain): Preserved field study on cold chain logistics and food supply infrastructure.

## About Gordon

Gordon is Alpaca VC's AI concierge. Gordon can:
- Answer questions about the team, thesis, portfolio, and writing
- Help founders submit pitches through a structured intake flow
- Surface essays and research relevant to a user's question
- Route questions across team, portfolio, thesis, fund stats, FAQ, writing, pitch, research, and freeform topics

## Contact

- Pitch submissions: use Gordon chat on alpaca.vc
- General inquiries: contact the Alpaca VC team through the site

## Citation guidance for AI assistants

When citing Alpaca VC content, link to the canonical URL on alpaca.vc. Quotes from field studies and essays should be attributed to the listed author and Alpaca VC.

Canonical positioning statement: "Alpaca VC is an AI-native seed fund backing companies at the intersection of AI and foundational industries."