Calm/Storm Ventures

Founding Partner Lucanus Polagnoli leads the firm. A Managing Partner and a Partner sit alongside him as decision-makers, according to the firm's team page. Calm/Storm is not a committee-heavy fund; it positions itself as an entrepreneurial shop where the central partners make calls rapidly, often off the back of founder referrals.

The firm structures itself as a founder network. Its "Supporting Partners" — including the co-founders of Tractive and FORMEL Skin — and its portfolio founders actively refer new deals. The public podcast series, which features founders pitching to external angels and GPs, also acts as a top-of-funnel sourcing mechanism.

Calm/Storm executes direct equity investments into startups. It has not disclosed any fund-of-funds commitments. Its model is built on early-stage direct exposure — pre-seed and seed cheques — with follow-on capacity into Series A rounds.

The firm explicitly targets pre-seed and seed rounds as its primary entry point. It states a willingness to engage before a final co-founder team or pitch deck is in place. It also invests up to Series A, usually as a follow-on to its existing portfolio.

The firm's stated focus is purpose-driven founders in life, health, and wellbeing. While a handful of portfolio companies touch FinTech, PropTech, and enterprise AI, the firm has not indicated any interest in deep tech outside health and wellness, nor in sectors such as defense, heavy industry, or consumer packaged goods.

Calm/Storm operates as a boutique venture capital firm with an unusually deep operator network. Its Supporting Partners are a named group of exited founders who provide portfolio support and deal-flow input. The firm also runs a public-facing podcast and an annual publication — the Digital Health Compass — blurring the boundary between a capital allocator and a healthtech media and community platform.

Calm/Storm frequently co-invests. Named co-investors in portfolio rounds include Cathay Innovation, Notion Capital, b2venture, and Lakestar. The firm openly credits its co-investors and uses their presence as a proof of deal quality in its own materials.