Backs
Climate software
Mara started Kindling in 2012 after selling a grid analytics company. She still reads every memo.
31 first cheques
Ask me about: Grid, carbon and anything a utility buys
Mara LindqvistFounding partner
Kindling
Kindling Fund IV · No. 008700102029374553606672778185899295979899100100%
M. Lindqvist
Authorised signatureThe cheque is signed
About
First chequessince 2012.
We started with $38M and one rule: answer every founder in fourteen days. The fund is larger now. The rule is the same.
- First fund2012
- Companies86
- Exits14
- IPOs3
About
First chequessince 2012.
We started with $38M and one rule: answer every founder in fourteen days. The fund is larger now. The rule is the same.
- First fund2012
- Companies86
- Exits14
- IPOs3
About
First chequessince 2012.
We started with $38M and one rule: answer every founder in fourteen days. The fund is larger now. The rule is the same.
- First fund2012
- Companies86
- Exits14
- IPOs3
Since 2012
We started with one cheque and a borrowed desk.
Kindling began in 2012, when Mara Lindqvist sold her company and found that the hardest money to raise had been the first. Everyone wanted to see a product. Nobody wanted to pay for the year it takes to build one.
So the firm does one thing. We write the first cheque, at pre-seed and seed, to technical founders, before there is much to show. One partner reads, one partner writes six pages, and you have an answer in fourteen days.
Four funds later the job is the same. There are five partners, two offices and 86 companies, and the founding partner still reads every memo.
Mara LindqvistFounding partner
London, the first office
2012 to today
From a borrowed desk to Fund IV.
- 2012
Mara Lindqvist sells her grid analytics company and raises Fund I, $38M, from nine founders. The first cheque is signed at a borrowed desk in London.
- 2015
The first exit. The money goes back to the people who backed Fund I, and most of them sign up for the next one.
- 2016
Fund II closes at $95M. Daniel Osei joins and the New York office opens.
- 2018
The six-page memo becomes the rule: one partner writes the case, and the founder reads the draft before the partnership does.
- 2020
Fund III, $210M. We promise an answer in fourteen days and have kept to it since.
- 2024
Fund IV closes at $420M. It still writes the first cheque.
- 2025
Tidewater lists on the stock exchange, the third IPO from the portfolio. Company number 86 joins the same month.
Kindling in numbers
- 01$012345678901234567890123456789Min Fund IV
- 0201234567890123456789companies backed
- 0301234567890123456789 %first cheque in
- 0401234567890123456789exits
- 050123456789IPOs
How we behave
Four rules you can hold us to.
Not values on a wall. Each of these is something you can check, and something you can quote back to us when we fall short.
Rule 0101 / 04
An answer in fourteen days
From your first e-mail to a yes or a no. If we run late, write to the founding partner and she will tell you why.
Hold us to itRule01KindlingRule 0202 / 04
You read the memo first
Your partner sends you the draft before the partnership sees it. If we have your market wrong, you get to say so.
Hold us to itRule02KindlingRule 0303 / 04
A no comes with reasons
Two paragraphs, written by the partner who met you. Never a silence, never «not a fit right now».
Hold us to itRule03KindlingRule 0404 / 04
The same partner, all the way
Whoever signs your cheque takes your call three years later. We do not hand you to an associate after the round.
Hold us to itRule04Kindling
Since 2012
We started with one cheque and a borrowed desk.
Kindling began in 2012, when Mara Lindqvist sold her company and found that the hardest money to raise had been the first. Everyone wanted to see a product. Nobody wanted to pay for the year it takes to build one.
So the firm does one thing. We write the first cheque, at pre-seed and seed, to technical founders, before there is much to show. One partner reads, one partner writes six pages, and you have an answer in fourteen days.
Four funds later the job is the same. There are five partners, two offices and 86 companies, and the founding partner still reads every memo.
Mara LindqvistFounding partner
London, the first office
2012 to today
From a borrowed desk to Fund IV.
- 2012
Mara Lindqvist sells her grid analytics company and raises Fund I, $38M, from nine founders. The first cheque is signed at a borrowed desk in London.
- 2015
The first exit. The money goes back to the people who backed Fund I, and most of them sign up for the next one.
- 2016
Fund II closes at $95M. Daniel Osei joins and the New York office opens.
- 2018
The six-page memo becomes the rule: one partner writes the case, and the founder reads the draft before the partnership does.
- 2020
Fund III, $210M. We promise an answer in fourteen days and have kept to it since.
- 2024
Fund IV closes at $420M. It still writes the first cheque.
- 2025
Tidewater lists on the stock exchange, the third IPO from the portfolio. Company number 86 joins the same month.
Kindling in numbers
- 01$012345678901234567890123456789Min Fund IV
- 0201234567890123456789companies backed
- 0301234567890123456789 %first cheque in
- 0401234567890123456789exits
- 050123456789IPOs
How we behave
Four rules you can hold us to.
Not values on a wall. Each of these is something you can check, and something you can quote back to us when we fall short.
Rule 0101 / 04
An answer in fourteen days
From your first e-mail to a yes or a no. If we run late, write to the founding partner and she will tell you why.
Hold us to itRule01KindlingRule 0202 / 04
You read the memo first
Your partner sends you the draft before the partnership sees it. If we have your market wrong, you get to say so.
Hold us to itRule02KindlingRule 0303 / 04
A no comes with reasons
Two paragraphs, written by the partner who met you. Never a silence, never «not a fit right now».
Hold us to itRule03KindlingRule 0404 / 04
The same partner, all the way
Whoever signs your cheque takes your call three years later. We do not hand you to an associate after the round.
Hold us to itRule04Kindling
Since 2012
We started with one cheque and a borrowed desk.
Kindling began in 2012, when Mara Lindqvist sold her company and found that the hardest money to raise had been the first. Everyone wanted to see a product. Nobody wanted to pay for the year it takes to build one.
So the firm does one thing. We write the first cheque, at pre-seed and seed, to technical founders, before there is much to show. One partner reads, one partner writes six pages, and you have an answer in fourteen days.
Four funds later the job is the same. There are five partners, two offices and 86 companies, and the founding partner still reads every memo.
Mara LindqvistFounding partner
London, the first office
2012 to today
From a borrowed desk to Fund IV.
- 2012
Mara Lindqvist sells her grid analytics company and raises Fund I, $38M, from nine founders. The first cheque is signed at a borrowed desk in London.
- 2015
The first exit. The money goes back to the people who backed Fund I, and most of them sign up for the next one.
- 2016
Fund II closes at $95M. Daniel Osei joins and the New York office opens.
- 2018
The six-page memo becomes the rule: one partner writes the case, and the founder reads the draft before the partnership does.
- 2020
Fund III, $210M. We promise an answer in fourteen days and have kept to it since.
- 2024
Fund IV closes at $420M. It still writes the first cheque.
- 2025
Tidewater lists on the stock exchange, the third IPO from the portfolio. Company number 86 joins the same month.
Kindling in numbers
- 01$012345678901234567890123456789Min Fund IV
- 0201234567890123456789companies backed
- 0301234567890123456789 %first cheque in
- 0401234567890123456789exits
- 050123456789IPOs
How we behave
Four rules you can hold us to.
Not values on a wall. Each of these is something you can check, and something you can quote back to us when we fall short.
Rule 0101 / 04
An answer in fourteen days
From your first e-mail to a yes or a no. If we run late, write to the founding partner and she will tell you why.
Hold us to itRule01KindlingRule 0202 / 04
You read the memo first
Your partner sends you the draft before the partnership sees it. If we have your market wrong, you get to say so.
Hold us to itRule02KindlingRule 0303 / 04
A no comes with reasons
Two paragraphs, written by the partner who met you. Never a silence, never «not a fit right now».
Hold us to itRule03KindlingRule 0404 / 04
The same partner, all the way
Whoever signs your cheque takes your call three years later. We do not hand you to an associate after the round.
Hold us to itRule04Kindling
The partners
One partner, start to finish.
The partner who reads your first e-mail writes the memo, signs the cheque and takes your call three years later. Pick the one who knows your field.
Meet the teamMara LindqvistFounding partner
Backs
AI infrastructure
Daniel led a compiler team before he invested. He writes the technical half of our memos himself.
24 first cheques
Ask me about: Compilers, evaluation and inference cost
Daniel OseiGeneral partner
Backs
Fintech rails
Priya ran treasury for an exporter in eleven currencies. She backs the tools she wanted then.
19 first cheques
Ask me about: Ledgers, treasury and cross-border payments
Priya RamanGeneral partner
Backs
Robotics
Jonas built production lines for fifteen years. He visits the factory before he reads the deck.
12 first cheques
Ask me about: Automation for small and mid-sized plants
Jonas WeberPartner
Backs
Hiring and first customers
Freya runs the platform team: first ten hires, first ten customers, the next round.
86 companies supported
Ask me about: Your first sales hire and your Series A
Freya HoltPartner, platform
The partners
One partner, start to finish.
The partner who reads your first e-mail writes the memo, signs the cheque and takes your call three years later. Pick the one who knows your field.
Meet the teamBacks
Climate software
Mara started Kindling in 2012 after selling a grid analytics company. She still reads every memo.
31 first cheques
Ask me about: Grid, carbon and anything a utility buys
Mara LindqvistFounding partner
Backs
AI infrastructure
Daniel led a compiler team before he invested. He writes the technical half of our memos himself.
24 first cheques
Ask me about: Compilers, evaluation and inference cost
Daniel OseiGeneral partner
Backs
Fintech rails
Priya ran treasury for an exporter in eleven currencies. She backs the tools she wanted then.
19 first cheques
Ask me about: Ledgers, treasury and cross-border payments
Priya RamanGeneral partner
Backs
Robotics
Jonas built production lines for fifteen years. He visits the factory before he reads the deck.
12 first cheques
Ask me about: Automation for small and mid-sized plants
Jonas WeberPartner
Backs
Hiring and first customers
Freya runs the platform team: first ten hires, first ten customers, the next round.
86 companies supported
Ask me about: Your first sales hire and your Series A
Freya HoltPartner, platform
The partners
One partner, start to finish.
The partner who reads your first e-mail writes the memo, signs the cheque and takes your call three years later. Pick the one who knows your field.
Meet the teamBacks
Climate software
Mara started Kindling in 2012 after selling a grid analytics company. She still reads every memo.
31 first cheques
Ask me about: Grid, carbon and anything a utility buys
Mara LindqvistFounding partner
Backs
AI infrastructure
Daniel led a compiler team before he invested. He writes the technical half of our memos himself.
24 first cheques
Ask me about: Compilers, evaluation and inference cost
Daniel OseiGeneral partner
Backs
Fintech rails
Priya ran treasury for an exporter in eleven currencies. She backs the tools she wanted then.
19 first cheques
Ask me about: Ledgers, treasury and cross-border payments
Priya RamanGeneral partner
Backs
Robotics
Jonas built production lines for fifteen years. He visits the factory before he reads the deck.
12 first cheques
Ask me about: Automation for small and mid-sized plants
Jonas WeberPartner
Backs
Hiring and first customers
Freya runs the platform team: first ten hires, first ten customers, the next round.
86 companies supported
Ask me about: Your first sales hire and your Series A
Freya HoltPartner, platform