Why We Invest Across Verticals and Why It Works

We’re approaching our second anniversary with ve2.ventures . We started with one goal: to build, invest in, and join startups that shape the future.

Since then, we’ve been on an incredible journey, expanding into six distinct verticals: sports technology, sports retail, football clubs, SaaS, media, and retail.

At first glance, that might sound like too much range. But for us, that diversity is exactly what gives ve2ventures its edge.

Where others specialise, we connect. Where others focus narrowly, we see patterns that cross industries.

Here’s why, and how it’s become the foundation of everything we do.

We Started With What We Knew

Like many founders, we began in our comfort zone.

Our background was in media, sport, and entertainment, industries that revolve around audiences, storytelling, and community. That foundation taught us how to attract attention, build brands, and scale engagement, three skills that are universal in business today.

As we launched our first ventures, we saw how transferable that knowledge was. The same principles that drive success in media, audience insight, brand trust, digital scalability, are the same ones that power growth in SaaS, retail, and even football.

We realised our “focus” wasn’t supposed to be a single vertical. Our focus was on how to build companies that connect deeply with people.

Growth Comes From Expanding Your Network

As ve2ventures grew, so did our network,  and with it, our perspective. What started with three verticals quickly expanded as we met founders, investors, and operators from new domains.

A conversation about sports tech led to an opportunity in retail innovation. A partnership in media opened the door to SaaS products built for creative teams. Collaborations with football clubs revealed potential for data-driven fan engagement that could be applied elsewhere.

Each new relationship became a new entry point.

We didn’t set out to diversify,  the opportunities came to us through trust and shared ambition. And because our team thrives on learning fast and adapting even faster, we were ready to take those leaps.

In venture building, curiosity compounds faster than capital.

How to Succeed in New Verticals: The Team

Venturing into unfamiliar verticals isn’t just about courage. It’s about capability. At ve2ventures, our biggest strength is our diverse team. We’ve brought together people from product, operations, media, retail, tech, and sports, each with unique experience and perspective.

When we move into a new space, we pair internal curiosity with external expertise. We don’t pretend to know everything; we build with people who do. 

And every time we enter a new vertical, our collective intelligence grows. Knowledge from one project strengthens the next. A strategy tested in sports retail may resurface, refined, in a SaaS product.

Over time, this has created something rare: a multi-vertical operating system that continuously learns, evolves, and scales across ventures.

The Playbook: Consistent Principles, Custom Execution

Every vertical has its own rules, but the fundamentals of launching and scaling a company don’t change.

Our go-to-market (GTM) playbook is built on proven principles that we adapt for each sector:

1. Start with validation, not assumptions. Every new idea is tested fast and in-market before heavy investment.
2. Build systems, not silos. Every new venture connects to shared infrastructure, whether it’s data, content, or distribution.
3. Leverage AI and automation early. We’re operating in a new era, and efficiency is a growth advantage.
4. Stay creative. Verticals evolve, but the ability to tell stories, connect communities, and create momentum is timeless.

We continuously refine this playbook. What works in sports tech might also inspire a smarter GTM motion for retail SaaS. The secret isn’t to copy strategies across verticals, it’s to translate them intelligently.

Cross-Vertical Synergy: Building an Ecosystem, Not a Portfolio

Here’s where the real magic happens.

When you operate in multiple verticals, you start to see how ideas can travel. A fan engagement concept developed for football clubs becomes a powerful customer retention strategy for retail. 

A media content framework designed for sports storytelling accelerates growth for a SaaS product.

A data insight from sports tech helps optimize physical store performance.

Each startup becomes a node in a larger network, not a standalone company, but part of an ecosystem of shared knowledge, technology, and audiences. This creates a compounding effect: every success feeds the next. Each launch strengthens the others.

That’s why we think in ecosystems, not verticals. Because when you build ventures that can plug into one another, you’re not just diversifying risk, you’re multiplying opportunity.

Why the Future Belongs to Cross-Vertical Builders

The next generation of companies won’t be defined by what vertical they’re in, but by how they combine insights from multiple verticals and build partnerships across verticals.

Think about it: AI is transforming everything, from how fans experience sports to how customers shop to how media is created.

Innovation today happens between verticals, not within them.

At ve2ventures, we believe the future belongs to connectors, people, and teams who can see the relationships others overlook.

We’ve already seen how a SaaS mindset can enhance retail operations, how sports data models can drive more informed business intelligence, and how storytelling from media can foster brand loyalty anywhere.

Cross-vertical building is not about spreading thin. It’s about building smarter, wider networks of insight and impact.

What’s Next for ve2ventures

The past 24 months have demonstrated that this model is effective, not just for us, but also for the founders and partners we collaborate with.

Our next step is to deepen the infrastructure behind our ecosystem. That means investing in shared technology, AI tooling, partners, and community layers that connect every venture under the ve2 umbrella.

We’re also expanding globally, with new ventures emerging from our European base into other markets where our cross-vertical expertise has unique value.

The mission stays the same: build and back companies that can learn from each other and scale faster together.