June 17, 2026
GEM's Head of Venture Capital, Kate Simpson, recently joined Earnest Sweat and Alexa Binns on Swimming with Allocators to discuss GEM’s approach to building and managing a venture portfolio in today's market. Kate explains why she believes the market has bifurcated into a barbell—with scaled platforms on one end and emerging managers on the other—and why the “crowded middle” warrants extra caution right now. Their conversation also explores how GEM evaluates managers through the lens of sourcing, picking, and winning, why we believe fund math is such an important part of early-stage manager assessment, and what feels different about the current AI-driven cycle.
Watch the full episode below.
Kelly Barofsky, a Managing Director in GEM’s Investment Research Group, spoke with PitchBook about the continued momentum behind independent sponsors and why deal-by-deal structures can create strong alignment between sponsors and investors.
Head of Venture Capital, Kate Simpson, joined the Swimming with Allocators podcast to discuss how GEM constructs its venture portfolio, why the market has bifurcated, and where disciplined manager selection creates the most compelling opportunities.
Our 2025 Impact Report explores a key question shaping the future of impact investing: how can investors support AI’s development and deployment in ways that maximize its benefits while mitigating its risks?
Let’s start a conversation about how we can help.
