Pocket Project

Founder AJ Patel and Managing Partner Christine Outram jointly lead deal evaluation and sponsor selection. Patel focuses on real estate technology and operating-company diligence, while Outram brings climate-investing and fund-structuring expertise. The firm's investment committee is effectively the two partners, with limited partners exercising final discretion on a deal-by-deal basis through individual SPV subscription agreements.

Pocket Project relies on relationships with top-tier venture lead investors — primarily Fifth Wall, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and JLL Spark — to access oversubscribed rounds where a modest co-investment allocation is made available. The firm does not originate or lead transactions. Its value to general partners is aggregating smaller family office checks that would otherwise be too administratively burdensome to accept individually.

No, the firm explicitly avoids stacked carried interest. Investors pay carry to the underlying lead fund at the lead fund's terms, and Pocket Project charges a coordination fee but does not layer a second carried interest on top. This is the firm's primary structural differentiator and is core to its pitch to family offices that reject traditional fund-of-funds economics.

The firm typically sets SPV minimums between $250,000 and $1,000,000, significantly lower than the $3 million to $10 million minimums that institutional venture funds require for direct co-investment. This is achieved by pooling several family offices into a single SPV that collectively meets the lead fund's allocation threshold.

No. Pocket Project raises capital only on a deal-specific basis through single-purpose SPVs. Limited partners evaluate each opportunity independently and commit only to the transactions they approve. There is no annual management fee, no capital call without a specific deal, and no blind-pool fund.

The firm concentrates on PropTech and ClimateTech: building decarbonization, energy efficiency, construction technology, smart grid software, and real estate underwriting platforms. It explicitly avoids life sciences, general SaaS, fintech, and consumer-facing businesses. The thesis centers on physical-asset-heavy industries where software improves operational or carbon efficiency.

Pocket Project is best described as a specialized asset manager operating with a multi-family office capital base. It does not manage a single family's wealth exclusively, nor does it offer tax, estate, or concierge family-office services. Its business is sourcing and administering co-investment SPVs for a network of roughly 30–40 family offices and high-net-worth individuals.