Sheel Tyle | Collective Global
Venture Wishlist shares ideas and themes VCs want to fund. Brought to you by Purpose Built venture studio.
Sheel is co-founder and co-CEO of Collective Global, an investment firm with over $1B in AUM, focused on bridging institutional investors with the innovation economy. They invest in early stage companies, GP staking and opportunistically in later stage opportunities.
Sheel’s venture wishlist:
🌍 Macro-Driven Growth: Regions like India and Africa are experiencing rapid innovation and economic growth, creating strong tailwinds for venture investment.
🧠 AI in Mental Health: AI augmenting therapists to address the growing demand for mental health services, allowing clinicians to serve more patients effectively.
🚚 AI in Supply Chain: AI applications in enterprise settings, particularly in supply chain management and quality control.
🚗 Autonomous Driving: Autonomous driving is one of the most promising near-term AI use cases, with the potential to create billions in enterprise value.
📱Cross-border payments: As emerging markets grow, there’s a need for payments infrastructure that can support increasing economic activity.
Other Insights:
💻 Software Business Models: The per-seat software pricing model may increasingly shift to a consumption-based model as AI reduces the need for multiple seats.
🤖 AI Hype vs. Reality: Be cautions around current hype around AI, particularly in consumer-facing applications. Current technology may be able to deliver more tangible value in enterprise use cases.
📈 Public Market Concentration: The concentration of value in a small number of large companies in the public markets, particularly those benefiting from AI, poses potential risk to the broader economy.
Full Interview:
I remember when you launched Amplo in 2017. It seems like you've scaled significantly since then. Can you share more about your journey and the evolution into Collective Global?
Yes, we’ve come a long way since launching Amplo. We’ve expanded to three core funds with about 50 companies, covering a range of industries from software to fintech to AI.
About a year ago, I teamed up with Daniel Adamson to launch Collective Global. Daniel brought expertise in GP staking, while I brought my venture experience. Our goal was to create something broader than just early-stage venture. We realized that early-stage venture is just one of many ways to access the innovation economy. So, in a way, we rebranded the entire firm under the name Collective Global.
Now, Amplo is our venture arm, and we also have Elevate, which focuses on GP staking, and Tactica, which will focus on late-stage opportunistic investing. Our vision is to build a mini-Carlyle, offering a range of investment products. It’s been a good maturation of the business, and the team has grown nicely. When I started Amplo, it was just me. Now, with Collective, we have a full team, including my co-CEO Daniel, a COO, general counsel, chief compliance officer, and a strong investing team.
That sounds like an exciting evolution. Are there any specific business models or macro trends that you find yourself particularly focused on these days?
My focus is less on specific business models and more on macro trends. One big question I have is whether the current per-seat software pricing model will exist in ten years. With AI reducing the need for many seats, I think we might see a shift towards a consumption-based model.
But more broadly, I’m interested in where the world is heading. For example, I’m very optimistic about regions like India, where GDP is growing at 7-8%, with a lot of innovation happening. The introduction of UPI, which allows frictionless payments with no interchange fees, and Aadhar, which has collected biometric data for over a billion people, has been transformative.
These developments have enabled more people to access banking services, vote, and engage in other civic activities. The IPO market in India has opened up, tech companies are going public, and the options trading market there is now larger than in the U.S. I’m also bullish on Africa, which, though not a single country, is seeing the emergence of cross-border businesses that are targeting large and rapidly growing markets.
Conversely, I’m cautious about regions where populations are decreasing, growth is stagnating, and fiscal situations are becoming untenable. As a venture investor, I’m looking for market opportunities where you can build large companies from nothing, and I believe macroeconomic factors are increasingly driving these opportunities. In the U.S., despite some challenges, I’m still optimistic because of the strong pace of innovation. However, I do worry that we sometimes get in our own way with policies that could stifle progress, like restrictions on skilled immigration.
Are there any other significant trends or sectors you’re particularly excited about right now?
AI is a hot topic, but I’m a bit skeptical of the current hype. I think the real winners right now are the infrastructure providers like Nvidia and the end consumers. The businesses in between might not fare as well.
That said, I’m particularly interested in AI use cases that can generate real enterprise value. One area I’m focused on is mental health. There’s a significant shortage of therapists, and AI could help augment their work, allowing them to serve more patients effectively. For example, AI could check in with patients between sessions, freeing up therapists to see more people without compromising care quality.
Another area is cross-border payments, especially in emerging markets where mobile phone adoption has outpaced other technologies. As these markets grow, there’s a need for payments infrastructure that can support the increasing economic activity.
I’m also spending more time looking at the public markets. This year, we’ve seen a small number of companies, particularly those benefiting from AI, drive most of the market gains. I’m concerned about the risks of such concentration.
It’s interesting to hear your thoughts on AI. Are there any other specific AI use cases or industries where you see significant potential?
We have a company called Axion Ray that exemplifies another thesis of ours: the potential for AI in enterprise settings, particularly in supply chain management and quality control. AI can help businesses run simulations, detect flaws in complex supply chains, and ultimately save millions, if not billions, of dollars.
I also believe autonomous driving could be one of the most valuable AI applications in the near term. Companies like Tesla are already seeing significant advancements, and I think the technology is closer to being mainstream than many people realize. We are investors in Helm.ai and their incredible full stack AI software could help all other automakers catch up. It could soon be safer to have autonomous vehicles on the road than human drivers.
Do you have any startup ideas or business concepts that you wish existed but haven’t seen yet?
I have a few ideas, particularly around aging and services for the elderly, given the stagnating population growth in many parts of the world. But let me get back to you with more details on that.
What about customer profiles or problems that you think are worth exploring for founders looking to start new businesses?
There are two types of businesses that I think work really well. One is consumer-focused businesses that bring massive value to millions of users, like Robinhood did with its beautiful UI and brand.
The other is businesses that sell to large enterprises with substantial contracts. Where companies often struggle is in the middle—selling to SMBs or targeting a small subset of consumers. Those businesses can be harder to scale. So, if the goal is to build something big, it’s easier to focus on either end of the spectrum.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.