Why We Built FIP VCC, and Why It's Free

As part of our job, we build infrastructure for startups and investors. A core part of that work is helping teams navigate regulatory complexity without creating unnecessary privacy or operational risk.

California's Fair Investment Practices by Venture Capital Companies law was enacted in June 2024 with a legitimate public goal: better visibility into venture funding outcomes. The first annual filing deadline is April 1, 2026, about a month away.

We respect the intent. We also think implementation details matter.

Many of us are former founders. From conversations with founders across many backgrounds, we understand why people can feel uncomfortable sharing highly personal information, including sexual orientation or disability status, directly with investors. The law includes opt-out choices, and that matters.

In practice, though, it still pushes sensitive-data collection into organizations that were not designed to handle it at this level. Most funds and fund administrators are not staffed like sensitive-data processors. Yet they now need repeatable collection, control, and reporting workflows under enforcement risk.

That creates avoidable exposure for everyone involved.

It also creates a broad compliance net for firms with California exposure, adding process overhead in an already high-friction environment. There is also a government-imposed filing fee (at least $175 per report), alongside the internal systems and legal/compliance work required to file correctly.

Even small burdens compound: slower workflows, more uncertainty, and more room for inconsistent handling.

Our position is simple: if this reporting is required, compliance should be possible without forcing each VC firm to become a mini sensitive-data processor.

That is why we built FIP VCC, and why we made it free.

Any covered VC firm or fund administrator can use it. The product is built to reduce sensitive-data exposure by design: firms can complete filing workflows without viewing individual founder responses, and reporting is oriented around the aggregate outputs required by the law.

This is not a statement against regulators or the policy objective. We believe the objective comes from a good place. We also believe policy goals deserve practical, privacy-aware execution.

We're here to help investors and companies navigate regulatory complexity, and we're committed to making compliance easier, safer, and more respectful for everyone involved.