Hard is not the same as durable.
Product-market fit is the quench: it makes a company hard, but brittle. Temper VC writes $1–1.5M checks into post-PMF companies between $3M and $25M ARR, then both partners go inside the company and run the tempering: the revenue and operating system that makes traction hold under load.
$250M+
ARR built as operators
before raising Fund I
$2.2B
Outcome scaled from inside
$30M valuation · 73x · 3.5 years
$25M
Fund I · 10–12 positions
$1–1.5M initial checks
The model
Capital plus two operators, inside the company.
Most funds give you money and a board seat. Temper gives you money and two operators who have done the job. We embed inside the company after the check clears. One of us builds the revenue engine: pipeline discipline, pricing, the first real sales hires, the enterprise motion. The other builds the operating foundation: systems, operating rhythm, and clarity in decision-making.
We invest where founder-led sales is running out and a system has to replace heroics. The gap between product-market fit and a durable company is where most startups die. We spent two decades closing that gap as operators. Now we close it as investors.
Fig. 1 — Heat treatment of a companyToughness vs. time
In metallurgy, quenched steel is at maximum hardness and maximum brittleness. Tempering is the controlled reheat that trades a little hardness for a lot of toughness. We do the same thing to companies.
Test report: prior results
Founder #3. Built the revenue engine from $3M ARR. Seven consecutive quarters above plan.
$3M→$127MARR · PE Exit
Co-founded. Bootstrapped to $30M, raised $5M total, scaled to $132M ARR.
$132MARR · Sold to CBRE · 4x
Built the operating systems that turned a lab into a manufacturing company: 10 to 225 employees, three ERP implementations in under three years, quality and safety programs from zero.
$30M→$2.2BValuation · 3.5 yrs · 73x
Managed billion-dollar assets at Dow Chemical. Led process safety across 55 manufacturing sites at Ecolab.
55 sitesProcess Safety · $1B+ Assets
Investment specification
Post-PMF. Pre-scale. B2B software.
Portfolio
KLOwen Braces
Digital Orthodontics · Series C · First Fund I PositionCustom bracket systems that cut treatment time. Temper joined the Series C round and works inside the company on the commercial engine alongside the founding team.
Why Temper
The name comes from wootz: crucible steel first forged in South India more than two thousand years ago, carried west by traders, and worked by Damascus smiths into blades no rival could reproduce. The watered pattern in the steel was not decoration. It was evidence of process: the right ore, the right heat, the right hands, folded and worked until strength became visible. A smith did not trust a thermometer. He read the temper by color, straw to brown to purple to blue, and struck at the right moment. That is the standard we hold companies to. It is the standard we hold ourselves to.
Wootz · ukku · crucible steel · South India, ca. 300 BC · Damascus blades
Straw230°C
Brown255°C
Purple275°C
Blue300°C
A smith reads temper by color. So do we. The gauge at the top of this page is running the same scale as you read.
General partners
Dipak Patel
Los AngelesCo-Founding GP · Revenue Engine
- Founder #3 at NAO. Scaled revenue $3M to $127M ARR through a private-equity exit. Seven straight quarters above plan.
- Co-founded Gadu (PropTech workflow SaaS). Scaled to $132M ARR, sold to CBRE at 4x.
- Closed enterprise as an operator: Boeing, SLB, Kaiser Permanente, Amazon Studios.
- Biochemical engineering background. USC track and field athlete: pole vault. Clearing the bar is a systems problem before it is an effort problem.
Dev Motiram
HoustonCo-Founding GP · Operating Engine
- Scaled a biotech from 10 to 225 employees and a $30M to $2.2B valuation over 3.5 years. Built the operating systems, ran three ERP implementations in under three years, and stood up the quality and safety programs that turned a lab into a manufacturing company.
- Managed billion-dollar assets at Dow Chemical. Led process safety across 55 manufacturing sites at Ecolab.
- Diligenced 1,000+ companies across PropTech, HealthTech, and Vertical AI.
- Chemical engineering background. Raised in a family of first-generation hotel operators: learned how things work by fixing them.
Straight answers
What does Temper VC invest in?
Post-product-market-fit B2B software companies between roughly $3M and $25M ARR, concentrated in HealthTech, PropTech, Vertical AI, and Defense. Fund I is a $25M vehicle targeting 10 to 12 positions.
What is Temper VC's check size?
Initial checks of $1M to $1.5M, with reserves for follow-on.
How is Temper VC different from other funds?
Both general partners are operators and engineers, not career investors. They embed directly inside portfolio companies to build the revenue and operating engine: pipeline, pricing, sales hiring, operating rhythm, and the enterprise motion. Before raising Fund I, the partners built over $250M of combined ARR and helped scale a company from a $30M to a $2.2B valuation from the inside.
How do founders pitch Temper VC?
Send a deck directly to dipak@temper.vc. Every deck gets a reply within five business days. The best-fit companies are B2B software businesses past product-market fit where founder-led sales is running out of runway.
Who are the partners at Temper VC?
Temper VC was co-founded by general partners Dipak Patel (Los Angeles) and Dev Motiram (Houston). Dipak was founder #3 at NAO, scaling revenue from $3M to $127M ARR through a private-equity exit, and co-founded Gadu, which reached $132M ARR and was sold to CBRE at 4x. Dev helped scale a biotech from 10 to 225 employees and $30M to $2.2B in valuation, after managing billion-dollar assets at Dow Chemical and leading process safety across 55 sites at Ecolab.
What has Temper VC invested in?
Temper VC's first Fund I position is KLOwen Braces, a digital orthodontics company. The partners work inside portfolio companies on revenue and operating systems alongside the founding team.
Two doors. Pick yours.
Founders
Send your deck to dipak@temper.vc. If it is a fit, first call within two weeks.
Send your deckEvery deck gets a reply within 5 business days
Limited Partners
Fund I is open to accredited investors. Email for the fund brief and data room access.
Request the fund briefdipak@temper.vc · dev@temper.vc