Sarah Smith Fund is an AI-native, solo GP firm that has launched and run investment vehicles with AngelList since 2022. After leaving Bain Capital Ventures, Sarah started with a Rolling Fund structure, and then the firm launched a traditionally structured $16M Fund I through AngelList with a final close in May 2025. Sarah’s informed thesis posits that exceptional returns come from backing "irrationally intense" founder CEOs, who have the relentless drive to go from seed to IPO and beyond. She relies on AngelList for all-in-one fund management that unlocks her focus on what matters most: investing.
Challenge
When Sarah Smith ran the fund-of-funds at Bain Capital Ventures, she was the LP on the other side of hundreds of micro-funds and solo GPs. As she set out to launch her own firm in 2022, she knew delivering a superior back-office experience to LPs spoke volumes to the fund’s credibility.
But Sarah faced a question many emerging managers ask: how do I spend less time on back-office operations and more time investing? Sarah needed a fund administrator that would operate as an extension of her solo GP firm, fortifying her already strong reputation within venture capital.
While I believe company building still requires a team effort, I believe early-stage investing is best done solo.
Solution
From Bain Capital Ventures, Sarah was already familiar with AngelList’s LP experience and saw it as the elevated, tech-forward choice in fund administration. She opened the conversation with AngelList–this time from the GP side. AngelList had recently launched a new, proprietary fund structure for venture investing: the Rolling Fund. It allowed GPs to accept new LPs continuously, access capital on a quarterly basis, and start investing in founders immediately.
Not only was the Rolling Fund structure innovative, it delivered the all-in-one, back-office services that are essential for emerging managers launching venture funds. Typically spread out among multiple vendors, this infrastructure includes:
- Fund Formation
- Fund Accounting & Taxes
- GP Dashboard
- LP Portal
- Investor Closing
- Fund Banking & Wiring
Sarah decided it was the ideal setup for her firm at the time and launched her own Rolling Fund in late 2022. The always-on fundraising structure helped LP commitments grow to nearly 50% from female LPs and the firm went on to raise $3M through the Rolling Fund.
With a growing investor base and sights set on a larger raise in 2024, Sarah Smith Fund prepared to shift toward a traditional Venture Fund structure through AngelList for Fund I. Sarah’s institutional LPs, including Verdis Capital Management, Pear VC, and Foundation Capital, have more sophisticated requirements like:
- Tailored Limited Partnership Agreements (LPAs) and Side Letters
- White-glove LP Relations (LPR) Support
- Quarterly Financial Reporting and Audited Financials
With support from the AngelList Customer Relations and LP Relations teams, Sarah Smith Fund was able to meet all of the LP requirements and launch Fund I. Sarah’s dedicated team made it possible for her to operate autonomously as a solo GP while still accessing operational expertise through AngelList at critical moments in the fund lifecycle, like fundraising and launch.
I was the LP on the other side of dozens of solo GPs and micro-funds. AngelList’s LP experience was far superior.
Impact
In May 2025, Sarah Smith Fund held a final close on a $16M Fund I with commitments from institutional investors (TechCrunch). Sarah worked with the AngelList team to amplify her story and highlight her unique AI-focused approach to gain additional media coverage (The Information).
With Sarah selecting AngelList’s Full Service Fund Management offering, AngelList oversaw LP onboarding, and closely assisted with core fundraising workflows like operational due diligence (ODD), initiating capital calls, and coordinating all banking & wiring. Outsourcing back-office fund operations to AngelList allows Sarah Smith to scale an investor base as a solo GP, focus on building AI-native tools to support founders, and deepen ties within the Stanford ecosystem to identify the next “irrationally intense” founder CEO.
Venture Funds
Launch and scale a venture fund, with full back-office support.
About the company
Sarah Smith Fund is an AI-native solo GP firm that invests $250K+ into "irrationally intense" founder CEOs and their teams. 50% of the portfolio has a founder with a Stanford degree. GP Sarah Smith brings decades of company building experience from places like Meta/Facebook, Quora, Bain Capital Ventures, Graph Ventures, BCG, and Stanford GSB.
To learn how you can launch and scale funds with AngelList, connect with our team.
