Let’s rewind to a familiar conversation in early-stage venture:

Founder: I sold my last company to [BigTechCo], and I’m building again—this time with an AI product that’ll make [X process] 10x better.

Investor: Love your track record and the idea. Let’s reconnect once you’ve launched and shown some traction.

It’s a classic early-stage moment. Both parties are genuinely interested, but without something concrete to invest in, the conversation ends in a polite “come back later.” In reality, most people never do.

At GFR, we started asking: What if we could say “yes” earlier?
What if instead of waiting, we wrote a small check, just enough to build a relationship and stay close?

Some investors already do this out of pocket. But what if we formalized it? What if a fund made early conviction a structural part of its strategy?

That’s exactly why we created the GFR Scout Program.