Around 90% of startups don’t survive in the long run. Getting into that 10% league can be really hard and typically takes much effort, time, and money.
And when you’re a first-time entrepreneur who lacks experience, expertise, capital, and connections, it’s almost impossible to handle it without professional support.
But what kind of support do you need in this case? VC firms, accelerators, incubators, angel investors, and VC consultants typically help when you already have an existing idea, team, and early traction.
The one who doesn’t ask for all this is a venture studio. Why? They often build a startup from scratch.
Unlike traditional paths, venture studios help you with everything—from generating an idea to creating a team, building and launching your business, and even funding and scaling it.
In this article, we’ll speak about the top 9 venture studios for startups, what a venture studio actually is, why they are important for startups, and what’s the difference between an accelerator and an incubator vs a venture studio vs a venture capital firm.
Key takeaways:
Venture studios build and fund startups from scratch—Unlike VCs, accelerators, or incubators, venture studios help entrepreneurs who don’t have an idea, team, or traction.
Top venture studios are Atomic, High Alpha, Expa, Betaworks, and more—They have launched successful startups like Hims & Hers, Giphy, and Aircall.
Venture studios lower early stage-risks—They test ideas before launch, give money, and help with operations and scaling.
Equity trade-off—The more support you get, the more equity you give.
Top 9 venture studios for startup companies
Let’s start with a list of the best venture studios you can turn to if you don’t want to build your startup alone.
1. Atomic
Atomic is one of the most successful and well–funded venture studios in the world. It builds companies from scratch, and many of them have become successful market players—Hims&Hers, for example, a startup that went public in 2021 with a crazy valuation of $1.6 billion (you may check their pitch deck here).
Atomic helps build not only traditional companies but also stealth startups—businesses that prefer to operate in secret until the right time. What’s also notable about this venture studio is that it tests hundreds of ideas every year and launches companies at an impressive rate—one per month.
📍 Focus: Consumer and SaaS startups 🌍 Location: San Francisco, USA 🔗 Contacts: LinkedIn
2. High Alpha
High Alpha is on the list of top venture studios because it has a solid track record—more than 50 companies—and a narrow focus—B2B SaaS startups. More importantly, it combines venture funding with a startup studio model, so your chances to build your business and get funded double down.
📍 Focus: SaaS and enterprise software 🌍 Location: Indianapolis, USA 🔗 Contacts: LinkedIn
3. Betaworks
Betaworks is known for incubating Giphy, Dots, and X (formerly Twitter). This successful venture builder and VC investor also operates Betaworks Camp—an accelerator program that helps tech startups.
📍 Focus: Media, AI, and internet technology startups 🌍 Location: New York, USA 🔗 Contacts: Contact page, LinkedIn
4. Science Inc.
It helps build massively scaling consumer and media brands such as Dollar Shave Club and Liquid Death—that’s what is notable about Science Inc. Also, this venture studio has a really diverse portfolio of investments spanning various sectors.
📍 Focus: Consumer brands, digital media, marketplaces 🌍 Location: Los Angeles, USA 🔗 Contacts: Contact page, LinkedIn
5. Expa
Expa may link you with top investors like Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital. Beyond that, this venture studio offers VC funding, network, and product development assistance—a perfect combo for those searching all in one place.
📍 Focus: Marketplace platforms, fintech, SaaS 🌍 Location: San Francisco, USA 🔗 Contacts: Contact-page
6. Pioneer Square Labs (PSL)
Pioneer Square Labs (PSL) has a hybrid model—a venture studio and a VC fund. It has successfully launched numerous startups in the Pacific Northwest. The cool thing here is that PSL uses AI-driven solutions to generate ideas and develop startups more efficiently.
📍 Focus: B2B SaaS, fintech, AI, and marketplaces 🌍 Location: Seattle, USA 🔗 Contacts: LinkedIn
7. Founders Factory
Founders Factory works with major corporations to build and scale startups—over 300 companies are already under its belt. This startup studio has a global reach and offers an accelerator program.
📍 Focus: Healthtech, fintech, AI, and consumer tech 🌍 Location: London, UK 🔗 Contacts: Application form, LinkedIn
8. Hexa (formerly eFounders)
Hexa is Europe’s top startup studio that grows SaaS startups. It has spanned into Web3 and AI verticals, which shows its interest in tech advancements. Among the notable companies Hexa has helped are Aircall, Spendesk, and Front.
📍 Focus: B2B SaaS, fintech, Web3, AI, health, climate, education, proptech, agritech, and cybersecurity 🌍 Location: Paris, France 🔗 Contacts: LinkedIn
9. Roadrunner Venture Studios
This venture studio is backed by America’s Frontier Fund and has a narrow hard-tech focus—deep tech, clean energy, and AI. One of the reasons for such a narrow focus is its strategic location; that’s how Roadrunner Venture Studios can take advantage of regional technology and manufacturing to help startups grow.
📍 Focus: AI, energy, space, and advanced manufacturing 🌍 Location: Albuquerque, USA 🔗 Contacts: LinkedIn
What is a venture studio, and why do startups turn to them?
A venture studio (in some cases, also called a startup studio) is an organization that builds and funds startups from scratch.
💡An important note: Even though the terms “venture studios” and “startup studios” are often used interchangeably, they don’t mean exactly the same thing. Venture studios build, launch, and fund startups, taking money either from their own pockets or from external investors. Startup studios focus more on building and launching companies, typically taking money from VCs, family offices, etc., to back startups in the early stage.*
To be more specific, venture studios come up with business ideas themselves, validate them, create teams to execute these ideas, and then give capital to get the company off the ground.
💡An important note: If an idea isn’t viable, venture studios can easily turn to a different one. That’s why if you struggle with finding what your business can be about or you’re not sure that your idea will work, venture studios can cut this Gordian knot for you. *
Also, some venture studios partner with existing entrepreneurs, giving you an opportunity to develop something really big together.
Thus, early-stage risks are minimized while a solid foundation is given.
However, it’s not all rosy when it comes to joining a venture studio. You might be wondering, “What could possibly be wrong here? Venture studios seem to be fairy godmothers for startups.” They really are, but, as in every situation, there are two sides of the coin.
The other side of turning to a venture studio is the amount of equity you’re supposed to give up to them. On average, venture studios take from 30% to 80% of a startup’s equity. Why that much? That’s because they do most of the nitty-gritty stuff, de-risking your early-stage startup development.
The more venture studios help you, the higher the equity percentage they’ll ask for. If they ask for 30%-50%, they expect you (the founder) to be more of an entrepreneur. But if they ask for 60%-80%, they expect you to be more of an executor.
“Why would I turn to a venture studio if I need to give up the majority of my startup’s equity? I’d rather go to an accelerator or an incubator.”
That’s a logical point unless one “but”—but what if you don’t have an idea, cofounders, or early traction?
In contrast to venture studios, incubators and accelerators tend to seek a “founder type”—an entrepreneur with an already existing idea, a founding team, and even the signs of some early traction. Incubators can typically help you refine your idea and give you access to workspace and connections. Accelerators, in turn, can give you access to mentorship and investors on the condition that you have an idea and some traction.
Venture studios can build a startup for you—if needed, they’re rolling up their sleeves and doing the hard job together with you.
It’s worth mentioning that there’s one more road a startup founder may take—VC funding. However, if we speak about the difference between venture studios and venture capital firms, there’s a really big gap between the two.
Unlike a venture studio, a VC firm funds existing startups that need money to scale—they don’t build companies themselves.
Why do venture studios matter for startups?
Venture studios can help founders with:
✅ Lack of a team and talent: They will build a team for you.
✅ High failure rate in startups: Venture studios test and validate ideas before they launch, and this is done by seasoned entrepreneurs who understand how to research the market, execute well, and arrive at a product-market fit.
✅ Funding: Unlike VC firms, accelerators or incubators, venture studios fund startups in-house.
✅ Faster time to market: They have expertise and resources which they use to speed up product development and going to market.
✅ Support in the long run: Venture studios typically help you even after the launch, staying with you longer than just a couple of months.
Wrap-up: Venture studios do more than fund startups
They help you build your company from the ground up. If you haven’t come up with a business idea yet, it’s not a problem—they may do it for you. Venture studios generate and validate ideas, support systems and operations, help you launch your startup, and fund and scale it.
However, for those who already have an idea or an existing business, it may be better to go to an accelerator, incubator, or even professional consultant services.
At Waveup, we help entrepreneurs create investment materials, conduct financial modeling, target and reach investors, and fundraise. If you want to grow and fund your business effectively, contact our expert team.