Fifty Years

# Fifty Years: Backing Deep Tech Founders Solving Civilization-Scale Problems

High-Level Overview

Fifty Years is a pre-seed and seed-stage venture capital firm headquartered in San Francisco that operates with a distinctly founder-centric mission: backing entrepreneurs who leverage technology to solve humanity's greatest challenges—climate change, disease, malnutrition, and connectivity.[2] Founded on the principle that the best investors are themselves entrepreneurs, the firm combines capital deployment with hands-on operational support, recognizing that scientists and engineers often lack the business acumen to scale breakthrough innovations into sustainable companies.[2][3]

The firm's investment philosophy centers on identifying "civilization-scale problems that are good business opportunities"—ventures that can simultaneously achieve massive profitability and meaningful societal impact aligned with the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.[3] Rather than restricting itself to specific verticals, Fifty Years maintains flexibility across biotechnology, food technology, advanced manufacturing, cleantech, hardware, and deep tech sectors, though it demonstrates particular strength in synthetic biology and food tech.[1][3] The firm has deployed capital across 152 investments to date, with a historical average check size of $2.7 million and a maximum check of $150 million, positioning it as a meaningful player in the early-stage deep tech ecosystem.[2]

Origin Story

Fifty Years was founded in 2015 by Ela Madej and Seth Bannon, both experienced entrepreneurs who identified a critical gap in the venture capital market.[2] The founding insight emerged from their own entrepreneurial struggles: as founders themselves, they found it nearly impossible to locate investors who possessed not only capital but also the skills, knowledge, and operational experience to genuinely help them scale their businesses while supporting their mission-driven objectives.[3] Rather than accept this limitation, they solved their own problem by creating the firm they wished had existed.

Ela Madej brought extensive credentials as a serial tech entrepreneur and Y Combinator alumna, while the broader leadership team—including partners Dr. Alex Teng and D. Scott Phoenix—assembled a roster of operators who understood the unique challenges of translating cutting-edge science into viable commercial enterprises.[2][5] The firm's evolution reflects this founder-first ethos: today, Fifty Years is backed by 46 founders of $1 billion-plus tech companies who serve as both limited partners and strategic advisors, creating a network effect that amplifies the firm's ability to support portfolio companies.[6]

Core Differentiators

Founder-Backed Capital Structure

Fifty Years operates with a structural advantage that few early-stage firms can claim: it is backed by 46 founders of $1 billion-plus companies who actively participate in supporting portfolio companies.[6] This is not passive capital; these are operators who have navigated the exact challenges that deep tech founders face. This creates a "cheat code" dynamic where portfolio companies gain access to battle-tested playbooks, introductions, and strategic guidance from individuals who have already built massive businesses.

Deep Tech Expertise and Scientific Credibility

The firm has backed 72 PhD founders and 33 PhD CEOs, demonstrating a genuine ability to evaluate complex scientific and technical merit.[6] This is critical in deep tech investing, where many traditional venture capitalists lack the domain expertise to assess whether breakthrough science is actually ready for commercialization. Fifty Years' portfolio companies have collectively published 4,104 papers and generated 355,320 citations, indicating that the firm attracts world-class scientific talent.[6]

Comprehensive Founder Support Beyond Capital

Unlike traditional venture firms that primarily write checks, Fifty Years provides operational scaffolding across hiring, website design, investor introductions, culture building, and sales strategy.[3] The firm explicitly positions itself as a non-intrusive partner—aiming to support founders in running their companies the way they want to, rather than imposing a standardized playbook.[3] This is particularly valuable for scientists and engineers who may excel at innovation but lack business experience.

Track Record of Meaningful Exits and Scale

The firm has backed over 100 deep tech companies that have collectively raised over $4.6 billion in follow-on funding.[4] Notable portfolio companies include Upside Foods (the first cultivated meat approved in the U.S.), Solugen (decarbonizing the chemicals industry), Quantstamp (blockchain security), and Opentrons (affordable laboratory robotics).[1][2] These are not lifestyle businesses; they represent genuine attempts to solve infrastructure-level problems while building valuable enterprises.

Consistent Deal Activity and Patient Capital

Fifty Years maintains steady investment activity at 7-12 deals per year, with typical deal sizes in the $10-50 million range.[1] The firm typically participates in rounds with 6-7 co-investors, suggesting it operates as a credible lead or strong participant rather than a passive check-writer.[1] Most importantly, the firm demonstrates patience with its portfolio: it typically invests in startups aged 2-3 years, allowing founders time to validate their science before scaling.[1]

Role in the Broader Tech Landscape

Fifty Years operates at the intersection of three powerful macro trends: the acceleration of deep tech commercialization, the growing recognition that climate and health crises require technological solutions, and the maturation of founder networks as a source of venture capital.

The firm is riding the wave of scientific breakthroughs seeking commercialization pathways. Over the past decade, advances in synthetic biology, materials science, and computational biology have created a pipeline of potentially transformative technologies. However, the gap between scientific discovery and commercial viability remains vast—most academic breakthroughs never reach market because their creators lack business expertise. Fifty Years fills this gap by functioning as a translation layer between the lab and the market.

Equally important is the legitimization of mission-driven venture capital. A decade ago, the notion that venture capital could simultaneously pursue financial returns and societal impact was viewed with skepticism. Today, it is increasingly mainstream. Fifty Years benefits from this shift, as founders building climate solutions, alternative proteins, and disease therapeutics no longer face the stigma of "doing good instead of making money." The firm's positioning—that these goals are aligned, not opposed—resonates with both founders and limited partners.

The firm also exemplifies the rise of founder-led venture capital. As successful tech founders accumulate capital and influence, they increasingly deploy it through vehicles like Fifty Years rather than traditional institutions. This creates a flywheel: founder-backed firms attract other founders, who benefit from peer networks, who then become future limited partners. This model is reshaping venture capital's power structure, shifting influence away from institutional investors toward networks of successful operators.

Quick Take & Future Outlook

Fifty Years has positioned itself as an essential infrastructure player in the deep tech ecosystem at a moment when the world desperately needs technological solutions to existential challenges. The firm's combination of founder credibility, scientific expertise, and operational support creates a defensible niche that is difficult for traditional venture firms to replicate.

Looking forward, several dynamics will shape the firm's trajectory. First, the commercialization of deep tech will accelerate, driven by climate urgency, biotech breakthroughs, and AI-enabled drug discovery. Fifty Years' early positioning in this space means its portfolio companies will benefit from tailwinds. Second, founder-backed venture capital will continue consolidating power, as successful operators recognize that deploying capital through aligned networks is more effective than passive institutional investing. Fifty Years will likely become a model that other founder networks emulate.

However, the firm faces inherent challenges. Deep tech has longer development cycles and higher failure rates than software-as-a-service businesses. While Fifty Years has achieved meaningful exits, the firm's exit rate (3 exits from 157 investments) suggests that many portfolio companies remain in early stages or have underperformed.[1] As the firm's oldest funds mature, the quality of these exits will become a critical test of its investment thesis.

The most compelling aspect of Fifty Years' story is not its financial returns—though those matter—but its role in demonstrating that venture capital can be a force for solving civilization-scale problems. In an era of increasing skepticism toward both technology and capitalism, Fifty Years offers a counternarrative: that the best founders, backed by the best operators, can build massively profitable businesses while genuinely improving the world. Whether that narrative holds up at scale remains the central question for the next decade.