We back founders building what the world will wake up to.

Our Approach

Daybreak is an early-stage venture capital firm. We write the first check to founders building companies that reshape markets or invent new ones.

Our Approach

We don’t care who else is in. We like non-consensus ideas and obsessive founders.

We often invest before the first line of code is written.

We’ve named companies, introduced co-founders, hired founding engineers, and sourced first customers.

It’s never “too early,” because we’re purpose-built to be first.

What We Invest In

Our thesis: the companies that define the next generation will be the companies that make life better for the next generation.

What We Invest In

We build our thesis around six pillars that shape everyday life:

What we invest in

We’re doing this job because we’re optimists: we believe startups are the best vehicles for improving quality of life at scale.

Examples of the six pillars at work within the Daybreak portfolio:

Health

Broadening access to
dermatology care

Learning

Personalizing how
we learn

Capital

Reinventing financial
advisory

Environment

Monitoring animal health to
prevent the spread of disease

Culture

Building a portfolio of life-improving
consumer AI apps

Work

Connecting skilled manufacturing
workers to jobs

How We Partner

We believe company-building is a craft and that venture is a services industry. Services don’t scale — that’s the whole point.

How We Partner

We’re laser-focused on working with founders from Day 0. We specialize in the early days of building product, cracking distribution, and assembling a killer team.

Our founders say it better:

“Rex wrote the first check to Laborup and has been with us every step of the way. He strikes the right balance: he knows when to lean in and when to let you build. He does his homework, he shows up, and he’ll out-hustle anyone else on your cap table. Highly recommend working with him.”

Simba Jonga

Founder & CEO of Laborup

“In my mind, the best VCs pound the pavement for you. They source (a) customers, and (b) hires. Rex has done both. He’s one of our best sales reps, building pipeline and introducing us to key customers. And he’s one our best recruiters: we just hired a founding engineer that he connected us to. Yes, Rex is a great thought partner and he’s our consigliere for advice on everything--but he’s also brought us meaningful revenue and helped build our team. If you have the chance to work with him, do it.”

Zach Witzel

Co-Founder & CEO of Helium

“Rex led our pre-seed. He stuck with us through early pivots and iterations, and never wavered in his conviction in us. He’s been my first call through every step of the business — from deciding on a co-founder & incorporation, to thinking through product and GTM, to fundraising and hiring. Rex truly has an insane text response time (we’re talking seconds) and will remain on speed-dial through every step of building my company.”

Catherine Wang

Co-Founder & CEO of Alden

“I like people who have taste and conviction. Rex has both. He immediately ‘got’ our vision when many didn’t, and he’s worked relentlessly to help us execute on it. Rex has a strong pulse on consumer behavior, a great eye for design, and good product instincts. He’s also just a good person—high integrity, kind, empathetic—and that’s gotta count for something, right?”

Justin Silver

Founder & CEO of Kinetic

“A lot of investors are all talk until the deal gets done; then they’re neutral at best, value-detractive at worst. Rex is a value-add machine. I literally never have to ask him for help—he just does it. He introduced me to my Head of Growth, who has become my right-hand man. He introduced me to our Seed lead. He’s a great product thinker and a marketing savant. Many VCs do something one-off for you; Rex has contributed something meaningful pretty much every month since investing. Get him on your cap table.”

David Futoran

Co-Founder & CEO of Honeydew

“The best VCs inflect the trajectory of your company. Rex is an inflection machine. He’s done a dozen sell calls to close candidates for us. He sourced our founding operations hire. He introduced us to some of earliest customers here in Brooklyn. He connected us to our Series A lead. If you can have him in your corner, seize the opportunity.”