Overmatch Ventures closes $250M debut fund to back deep tech, defense, and space startups with 25-company concentrated portfolio

Speaker 1: They're the makers of Devon, the AI software engineer. Crush your backlog with your personal AI engineering team. And without further ado, we'll bring in Evan Loomis with Overmatch Ventures. Evan, how are you doing?

Speaker 9: Good to meet I'm doing great. It's good to be with you guys.

Speaker 1: Take us off with the news.

Speaker 2: What happened?

Speaker 1: Just hit us with the big number.

Speaker 9: Oh, man. You're you're you're grabbing the gong. Can't I

Speaker 2: can't Wait.

Speaker 9: We we just closed 250,000,000. Yes. Congratulations. Thanks so much.

Speaker 2: We can put it in a bill. We can we can just say a quarter bill.

Speaker 1: Quarter bill.

Speaker 9: It's a quarter Quarter bill. There it is. We raised the money in a couple months. I'm so grateful. Very nice. Over the six months. That's another funny little noise too. I I couldn't eat those from my office here.

Speaker 1: It's Friday. It

Speaker 9: is But anyway it's Friday.

Speaker 1: Tell us about the investing thesis. I wanna know about sector and stage. How much are you saving for follow on? How concentrated do you want the portfolio to be? Where are you seeing opportunity in the venture landscape?

Speaker 9: Our our sweet spot is deep tech, defense, and space. Mhmm. There's a set of technologies that are existentially urgent and important for The United States to lead in, And so that is our that is our sweet spot. Mhmm. We do pre through series a. Wow. I've got an incredible team. Yeah. Morgan Hitzig, Jordan Blaschig, bunch of other folks. Yeah. Typically, at the pre seed, we're doing two to three.

Speaker 1: Yeah.

Speaker 9: Seed, three to five.

Speaker 6: Wow.

Speaker 2: Back in my day, a pre seed was like

Speaker 9: Five to 10. Pre seed.

Speaker 2: Day was 500 k.

Speaker 1: 500 k. Now you're gonna know the mill. Still, I mean, that that feels like, know, potentially like 50 companies in this portfolio. That feels broader. Is that intentional? Is that how you see think it will pencil out? Or do you think that concentration will build or you'll wind up taking more bets?

Speaker 4: I

Speaker 2: bet I'm I'm betting 25 max.

Speaker 1: Okay. Let's hear it. What do you think?

Speaker 9: Oh, I love it. Yeah. You you nailed it. Your if I if I had a gong, would hit it right now, buddy. Yeah. We're we're shooting for 25

Speaker 1: Okay.

Speaker 9: Portfolio companies. Mhmm. We keep about half the fund for reserve. Mhmm. So when guys know this probably better than anybody, but the the winners kind of move fast day one. They they tend to break out and you want to make sure you hold enough for reserve for those.

Speaker 2: Are are is The United States overmatched right now?

Speaker 9: In in a What a great question.

Speaker 2: You know, In a way that's like not you know, clearly we still have our exquisite systems and aircraft carriers but it's hard to read into how the war is going. But Mhmm. It certainly hasn't felt like we're in a great spot I agree with it. Given given this kind of mismatch in capabilities. And it Mhmm. And it feels like our adversaries have just been preparing for the last twenty years for a style of conflict with The United State. You know, basically betting that we are gonna continue to be one way and that how how do we just counteract this threat in a sustainable way? And and so far from from what I'm seeing, it seems to be like it's been a good strategy. So not not not fun to say out loud, but seems like the reality.

Speaker 9: Yeah. It's a it's it's a great question. It's it's funny. Our name is the intent. Like, the the goal is that America has overmatched capabilities strategically and technologically, which is the point. You know, I I don't we we are definitely not overmatched Mhmm. By anybody at all. And and I don't think we ever will be. Mhmm. But we're a little bit behind in some areas.

Speaker 4: Mhmm.

Speaker 9: I'll say that. And I think one of the things that makes our country so wonderful and is that we're like a free people that can do the impossible. Every every technological revolution historically, we've won. Think about it. Like, semiconductors, we invented it. Software, we got it. And we're kind of on the end of this software revolution. The next revolution is going to be denominated by artificial intelligence, advanced chips, certain defense and space based capabilities, hypersonics, space offense, defense, robotics, autonomous systems. And so we're going to win. And the reason I'm so confident about that is like, I get to be on Zoom calls all day in meetings with founders that are like actually architecting the future. So I feel really bullish, but I also feel behind. Mhmm. You know what I mean? So

Speaker 2: Yeah. And I'm I'm not overly negative either. I mean, we talk with like, you know, up to six founders a day. So I feel like we get to see the future where I'm like, okay, if we just let these teams cook for five to ten years, we're gonna have a lot more energy.

Speaker 1: We're gonna

Speaker 2: have a lot more industrial power locally. We're gonna have a lot more, you know, batteries made in The United States, etcetera etcetera. You could just go down the line. But certainly, like, we gotta get into gear and it just feels like we need The one concern I have right now is that there's great talent out there that looks at a massive category that's not even monopolistic and thinks like, I shouldn't start a business in that category because this other company started like a year ago and they've already raised a $100,000,000. Yeah. And I just think for some of these categories we're gonna want Yeah. Like a bunch of

Speaker 1: really Yeah. Tough have a question about that. Our venture capital capital wars, like startup capital wars where there's two companies in a single category and then the VCs are just pouring money in, That's a textbook, like, you're not getting the power law winner necessarily. It's not great for the economic outcome. But is that good for America?

Speaker 9: Of course, it's good.

Speaker 4: Okay. Yeah.

Speaker 9: This is great. This is part of wow, there's the eagle. That's Didn't so know you guys had that one up your sleeve. Yeah. Yeah. Of course it's good and this is how competition works and this is why is why we're gonna we're gonna win I'm so bullish about that.

Speaker 1: Yeah. It's we kind of annoying. Don't pick winners. There's always a battle between a bunch of private enterprises and smart entrepreneurs that can go and innovate and the best product usually wins.

Speaker 9: That's right.

Speaker 1: Yeah. I love it. I love it.

Speaker 2: Very cool. Yeah. Where are you where are you based, by the way?

Speaker 9: I'm based in Austin, Texas. Moved Texas. Moved back here about a decade ago to cofound a company called Icon

Speaker 1: Okay.

Speaker 9: Where we three d printed the first house in The United States in 2018, which was kind of my entree into venture, if you will. Venture was not on the cards Mhmm. At all

Speaker 1: Yeah.

Speaker 9: Ever in my life. And we we had really good success with that business, and it kind of pulled us really close to the national interest. We picked up major contracts with every branch of the military, the intelligence community, and even won the contract for the moon base. As you guys know, we're going we're going we're going back to the moon Yeah. As a as a country and as a species, and, you can't bring two by four in drywall, unfortunately. So we're gonna partner with them to make sure that we've got, like, a permanent civilization up there.

Speaker 1: That's awesome. Yeah. What a

Speaker 2: you're saying you're gonna help make it a state.

Speaker 1: I like it. Yeah.

Speaker 9: I mean, Texas is the greatest state in America for sure. We Well, the

Speaker 1: I don't know. Maybe maybe the Texas don't want the moon to be state because

Speaker 2: Well, maybe maybe the maybe the moon could just be an extension of Texas. Be very that'd be the new frontier.

Speaker 1: County. We're gonna make the moon a county.

Speaker 9: If the Texans if the Texans get there first, then they might try to claim it their own. They might

Speaker 1: they might star state.

Speaker 2: What but last question. What's that what's that drone behind you?

Speaker 1: That's a boring company flamethrower. Right?

Speaker 2: Oh. Oh, man. It looks like a drone.

Speaker 1: That's a flamethrower. Yeah. Is it working?

Speaker 2: I don't know if

Speaker 1: you're Fire. You know,

Speaker 9: I I don't I don't have my I don't have the gas canister on it mostly because I've got four little kids. Can imagine. If if they broke in here, it would be really really bad for everybody. So Well, good. But I keep it back here because

Speaker 1: What a design. That is such a good design. I love that thing.

Speaker 2: Yeah. Think you guys need office.

Speaker 9: Yeah. You guys definitely need one for your office too. Definitely. So

Speaker 1: Definitely.

Speaker 2: Well We'll work on it. Great great to meet you, Evan. I'm really glad you're doing this.

Speaker 1: Yeah.

Speaker 2: And I'm sure we'll talk to many of your upcoming portfolio companies.

Speaker 1: Yeah. We're excited.

Speaker 9: Awesome. Good to be with you guys. Thank you.

Speaker 1: Much. We'll talk to you soon. See you. Let me tell you about Phantom Cash. Fund your wallet without exchanges or middleman and spend with the Phantom card.