Prime Movers Lab is a venture firm focused on empowering scientific startups that are changing their respective industries. With an emphasis on quality of investments over quantity, Prime Movers fosters deep relationships with their portfolio companies and acts as a coach rather than just the financier.
Problem
As an emerging VC firm, Prime Movers Lab is focused on laying the foundation for best practices early on. With over 30 portfolio companies that they meet with on a weekly basis and monthly portfolio reviews, Prime Movers Lab needed a system to effectively collect, track and analyze data. After realizing how much time and resources they were wasting sending follow-up emails, sifting through spreadsheets and hassling founders for financial data, Prime Movers Lab realized they needed a change in their operations.
Solution
Prime Movers Lab saw Standard Metrics as a more effective way to operate. The platform automated manual and repetitive tasks that prevented them from focusing on what really mattered: coaching and guiding their companies. By writing Standard Metrics into their term sheets, Prime Movers Lab gained complete visibility into their portfolio company data. Standard Metrics’s centralized platform allowed the firm to view and analyze financial metrics, including revenue, burn rate and cash in bank, all in one place. Furthermore, automated info requests eliminated the need for analysts to send out weekly reminders to companies; which also tracked and notified the firm when those requests were completed. With these features in place, Prime Movers Lab could focus on working closely with their founders to set, track and achieve milestones.
Results
When Prime Movers Lab joined Standard Metrics they had just raised their first fund, had twelve portfolio companies and only three employees. After a year of using Standard Metrics, the firm has tripled their team, raised their $245 million second fund and have successfully transitioned their portfolio company, Momentus, to go public through a SPAC. With Standard Metrics, Prime Movers Lab can now engage more meaningfully with their portfolio companies and make smarter decisions together.