Stage

Last week, my colleague Aria Alamalhodaei wrote an exclusive on defense and space tech venture firm Countdown Capital’s plan to shut down. But Countdown shutting down is likely more of an isolated event than a sign of what’s to come for micro funds this year. That’s changed today, and it isn’t surprising given the sheer amount of capital it takes to get defense startups off the ground; the costs are incomparable to a category like SaaS. This is also why Countdown’s fate doesn’t portend cloudy skies for micro funds in other categories. So despite the category heating up, a $500,000 check can still net a firm meaningful ownership at the pre-seed stage, they said.