Vinyl Capital is a Boston-based venture capital firm founded in 2021 by TJ Mahony. The firm is partner-led, with no associates, principals, or platform team, and invests first checks in pre-seed startups across a range of sectors.
Vinyl Capital invests first checks into formation-stage companies, writing checks of $1.5 million. The firm has no ownership mandates and no geographic mandates, prioritizing access to strong opportunities over ownership percentage.
Its thesis centers on founders who control critical decisioning or the transaction itself in markets with large capital flows, spanning pure software and, where the opportunity requires it, physical infrastructure.
Portfolio sectors to date include stablecoin infrastructure, third-party lab testing, sales tax compliance, ranking intelligence, off-price retail, and software for the trades.
Vinyl Capital closed its second fund, Vinyl II, at $40 million, the same size as its debut fund, Vinyl I. Limited partner information for Vinyl II was not disclosed.
Leadership
Vinyl Capital was founded in 2021 by TJ Mahony (Founder & General Partner), who previously built Compete.com, acquired by WPP, and co-founded FlipKey, acquired by TripAdvisor.
He is joined by Travis Kirk Lowry (General Partner) and Jake Cohen (Partner).
Investment Strategy
The firm writes first checks of $1.5 million into formation-stage companies, with no ownership or geographic mandates. Vinyl operates without associates, principals, or a platform team, and is partner-led from the first meeting. The firm favors pure software but will invest in physical, location-based businesses when a 100x opportunity requires it.
Notable Investments
TJ Mahony, Founder & General Partner
tj@vinyl.vc
Travis Kirk Lowry, General Partner
travis@vinyl.vc
Jake Cohen, Partner
jake@vinyl.vc
United States
