RESEARCH

Is Zero Prime Ventures Legit? SEC Form D Review of Its $5M HE-0721 SPV, $48M Fund II, Data Community Fund Rebrand and AngelList Infrastructure 2026

Is Zero Prime Ventures Legit? SEC Form D Review of Its $5M HE-0721 SPV, $48M Fund II, Data Community Fund Rebrand and AngelList Infrastructure 2026

INDEPENDENT VERDICT

Zero Prime Ventures has two very different structures operating under the same investment brand. At the manager level, Pete Soderling built what was originally called Data Community Fund and later rebranded it as Zero Prime Ventures, raising a second flagship venture fund focused on deeply technical AI, data infrastructure, developer tooling and machine-learning companies. At the transaction level, however, SEC records show a separate high-volume series-SPV system using names such as HE-0721 Fund I, MO-0523 Fund II, MO-0724 Fund I and ON-0731 Fund II. The September 14, 2026 HE-0721 filing is unusually concentrated: the vehicle raised its entire $4,999,990 offering from only two investors within four days of first sale, requires a $10,000 minimum, and discloses an estimated $8,000 one-time administrative payment covering fund-lifetime expenses. That is economically very different from the firm's flagship Fund II, which SEC records show had $28 million sold to 52 investors in August 2023 before Zero Prime publicly announced a $48 million final close in 2024. The central research story is therefore not "one Zero Prime fund," but a layered venture platform combining a conventional flagship VC fund with many transaction-specific series vehicles administered through third-party infrastructure.

HE-0721 Fund I, a series of Zero Prime Ventures, LP, CIK 0002148882 and SEC File No. 021-597306, was formed in Delaware in 2026 and filed its initial Form D on September 14. The SEC classifies it explicitly as a Venture Capital Fund and shows Rule 506(b), Section 3(c)(1), a September 10 first sale, $4,999,990 offered, $4,999,990 sold, $0 remaining and two investors. The filing names Fund GP, LLC as general partner and Belltower Fund Group, Ltd. as agent of that GP; Abraham Wilson signs as authorized person of the GP's agent. No broker-dealer, sales commissions or finder fees are reported. Item 16 instead discloses an estimated $8,000 one-time payment to the administrator and/or affiliates for administrative expenses over the life of the fund. Because HE-0721 is nearly $5 million, that fixed charge is only about 0.16% of gross subscribed capital—dramatically less burdensome than the same $8,000 fee on tiny syndicate vehicles elsewhere in the Belltower ecosystem. The real concentration issue here is different: two investors represent the entire $5 million vehicle, meaning an equal split would average roughly $2.5 million per LP.

That concentrated SPV sits beside a much older flagship-fund lineage. Zero Prime Ventures II, LP, CIK 0001918801, was originally filed under the name Data Community Fund II, LP. Its August 23, 2023 Form D/A formally records the new Zero Prime Ventures II name, lists Zero Prime Ventures GP II, LP as general partner, Soderling Capital LLC as management company and Peter Soderling as manager of the GP, and reports a $45 million offering with $28 million sold to 52 investors. In March 2024, Zero Prime publicly announced that Fund II ultimately closed at $48 million, above its original $30 million target according to contemporaneous press reporting. That public $48 million close should not be confused with the older $45 million Form D ceiling: one is the later publicly announced final fund size, while the SEC amendment is an earlier regulatory snapshot. The same history also establishes that Zero Prime is not a newly invented 2026 brand—its flagship structure dates to the Data Community Fund era, and the SEC itself preserves the old name on the Fund II CIK.

The rebrand is visible inside individual SPVs as well. MO-0724 Fund I, CIK 0001987696, previously appeared in SEC records as "MO-0724 Fund I, a series of Data Community Fund, LP" before becoming "a series of Zero Prime Ventures, LP." The legal issuer did not disappear; its public-facing umbrella name changed. That same vehicle uses Fund GP, LLC and Belltower Fund Group, while AngelList Advisors' Form ADV separately lists MO-0724 Fund I as a private fund for which AngelList Advisors, SEC file 802-78135, provides adviser information. The same AngelList ADV also identifies older Zero Prime series such as FR-0422 Fund I. This is an important structural finding: Zero Prime's investment brand and Pete Soderling's flagship GP structure coexist with an AngelList/Belltower administrative and advisory stack used for many deal-specific series. Investors should therefore distinguish the person selecting or sponsoring a deal from the legal GP, administrator and adviser named in regulatory documents.

The investment thesis itself is unusually easy to verify outside Form D. Zero Prime's official website says the firm backs deeply technical teams building infrastructure, platforms and applications behind AI, with a particular emphasis on "day zero" engineer-founders. Its portfolio page names companies such as CuspAI, Higgsfield, Hex, Modal, MotherDuck, Runware, DataHub and Hightouch. Independent portfolio databases show dozens of additional investments and characterize the firm as a pre-seed/seed investor in AI/ML, data infrastructure, developer tools and enterprise software. DataHub's own corporate website independently lists both Data Community Fund and Zero Prime Ventures among its investors, which is useful evidence that the old and new brand names represent a genuine investment lineage rather than an unrelated naming coincidence.

Pete Soderling's background also explains the sourcing model. His public biography identifies him as founder of Data Council and Zero Prime Ventures, while Zero Prime's own site says the firm was founded to support highly technical AI and data founders. The 2024 Fund II announcement linked that investment strategy to the Data Council community and added Yang Tran as partner. Soderling has described the model as writing very early "first checks" into engineer-led startups, and the official site continues to emphasize technical-founder sourcing through the AI Council/Data Council ecosystem. That network is strategically relevant because the SPV structure gives Zero Prime a mechanism to syndicate or isolate specific opportunities alongside the broader flagship fund rather than requiring every portfolio company to sit inside one blind-pool vehicle.

The most important unresolved question around HE-0721 is the underlying company. Unlike the flagship Fund II, whose strategy and portfolio can be triangulated from the website, press releases and portfolio-company disclosures, the coded "HE-0721" Form D does not identify the startup it owns or plans to own. Public records do not establish whether "HE" corresponds to a current Zero Prime portfolio company, whether the vehicle purchased primary shares, secondary shares or another security, what valuation was used, or whether the two LPs are independent institutions, affiliated investors or co-investment partners. FilingDossier therefore does not reverse-engineer the underlying company from initials. For a research-grade review, the appropriate next documents would be the series partnership agreement, subscription package, capitalization schedule and asset-purchase documentation showing exactly what HE-0721 owns.

SEC / STRUCTURE SNAPSHOT

Current Reviewed Vehicle: HE-0721 Fund I, a series of Zero Prime Ventures, LP

CIK: 0002148882

SEC File No.: 021-597306

Film No.: 261375867

Filing Date: September 14, 2026

First Sale: September 10, 2026

Jurisdiction: Delaware

Year Organized: 2026

Fund Classification: Venture Capital Fund

Federal Exemption: Rule 506(b)

Investment Company Act Exclusion: Section 3(c)(1)

Security: Pooled Investment Fund Interests

Offering Amount: $4,999,990

Amount Sold: $4,999,990

Amount Remaining: $0

Investors: 2

Minimum Investment: $10,000

Average Subscription if Equal: Approximately $2,499,995

Sales Commissions: $0

Finders' Fees: $0

Estimated Lifetime Administrative Payment: $8,000

Administrative Payment as Percentage of Gross Offering: Approximately 0.16%

General Partner: Fund GP, LLC

Agent of General Partner: Belltower Fund Group, Ltd.

Signer: Abraham Wilson

Signer Capacity: Authorized Person of Agent of Issuer's GP

Current Series Address: 2006 196th St SW Suite 114 Lynnwood, Washington 98036

FLAGSHIP FUND II LINEAGE

Current Name: Zero Prime Ventures II, LP

Previous SEC Name: Data Community Fund II, LP

CIK: 0001918801

Jurisdiction: Delaware

Year Organized: 2022

General Partner: Zero Prime Ventures GP II, LP

Management Company: Soderling Capital LLC

Manager of General Partner: Peter Soderling

August 23, 2023 SEC Offering: $45,000,000

Amount Sold at August 2023 Amendment: $28,000,000

Investors: 52

First Sale: May 9, 2022

Exemption: Rule 506(b)

Investment Company Act Exclusion: Section 3(c)(1)

Publicly Announced Final Close: $48,000,000

Public Announcement: March 2024

Reported Original Target: $30,000,000

Research Significance: The flagship Fund II exceeded the earlier public target and also formally documents the Data Community Fund-to-Zero Prime identity transition.

BRAND-RENAME EVIDENCE INSIDE SPVS

Current Vehicle: MO-0724 Fund I, a series of Zero Prime Ventures, LP

Previous SEC Name: MO-0724 Fund I, a series of Data Community Fund, LP

CIK: 0001987696

General Partner: Fund GP, LLC

Administrative / GP Agent: Belltower Fund Group, Ltd.

Research Significance: The same legal issuer persisted through the broader platform rebrand.

ANGELLIST ADVISER LAYER

Adviser: AngelList Advisors

SEC File: 802-78135

Form ADV Private Fund Examples: MO-0724 Fund I, a series of Zero Prime Ventures, LP FR-0422 Fund I, a series of Zero Prime Ventures, LP DCF1, a series of Data Community Fund, LP

Private Fund ID for MO-0724: 805-3825430158

Research Significance: AngelList's ADV independently verifies adviser involvement in at least part of the Zero Prime / Data Community Fund series infrastructure.

Important Limitation: The currently reviewed HE-0721 vehicle should not automatically be assumed to have identical adviser arrangements until its corresponding ADV private-fund entry or fund documents are confirmed.

BELLTOWER / FUND GP SERIES INFRASTRUCTURE

Recurring Legal GP: Fund GP, LLC

Recurring Administrator / GP Agent: Belltower Fund Group, Ltd.

Historical Address: 119 South Main Street, Suite 220 Seattle, Washington

Current Address Used by 2026 Series: 2006 196th St SW, Suite 114 Lynnwood, Washington

Examples: MO-0724 Fund I ON-0731 Fund II MO-0523 Fund II HE-0721 Fund I

Research Significance: The repeated GP and agent structure is evidence of shared fund-administration infrastructure rather than four unrelated venture firms.

SELECTED SERIES HISTORY

MO-0724 Fund I: Previously Data Community Fund-branded Later Zero Prime Ventures-branded Fund GP / Belltower structure

ON-0731 Fund II: Filed December 23, 2024 Series of Zero Prime Ventures, LP CIK 0002032682 Fund GP / Belltower structure

MO-0523 Fund II: Filed June 24, 2025 CIK 0002074033 Rule 506(b) Section 3(c)(1) Fund GP / Belltower structure

HE-0721 Fund I: Filed September 14, 2026 Fully subscribed $4,999,990 Two investors $8,000 lifetime administration payment

OFFICIAL ZERO PRIME STRATEGY

Official Domain: zeroprime.vc

Official Positioning: Day-zero support for engineer founders

Primary Areas: Artificial intelligence Machine learning Data infrastructure Developer tools Cloud infrastructure Enterprise software AI applications

Portfolio Companies Shown by Zero Prime: CuspAI Higgsfield Hex Modal MotherDuck Runware DataHub Hightouch

Research Significance: The public strategy strongly differentiates Zero Prime from generic early-stage venture investors.

PORTFOLIO CROSS-CHECKS

DataHub: Official DataHub website lists both Data Community Fund and Zero Prime Ventures as investors.

Third-Party Portfolio Databases: Approximately 60+ portfolio organizations are associated with Zero Prime in current datasets.

Third-Party Investment Count: More than 80 investment transactions reported in current databases.

Selected Independent Portfolio References: MotherDuck DataHub TruEra Structured AI Sift AI Higgsfield CuspAI

Important Qualification: Third-party portfolio counts can differ by methodology and should not be interpreted as audited fund holdings.

TEAM / ORIGIN

Founder / General Partner: Pete Soderling

Background: Engineer Entrepreneur Founder of Data Council Founder / GP of Zero Prime Ventures

Partner: Yang Tran

Prior Role: Principal at Speedinvest

Fund II Addition: 2024

Community Engine: Data Council AI Council

Research Interpretation: The community network functions as both a founder-sourcing and technical-diligence ecosystem around the venture strategy.

FUND II VERSUS HE-0721

Fund II: Traditional flagship venture fund Multi-year investment period Dozens of LPs Publicly announced $48M final close Direct Pete Soderling / Soderling Capital governance

HE-0721: Series SPV Two investors $4.99999M exact offering Four-day first-sale-to-filing window Fund GP + Belltower administration Underlying startup not disclosed

Research Significance: These vehicles should not be treated as the same economic product merely because both use the Zero Prime brand.

KEY RESEARCH FINDING

The Zero Prime platform has at least three distinct layers:

Layer 1: Zero Prime Ventures flagship funds Direct Pete Soderling / Soderling Capital governance

Layer 2: Deal-specific Zero Prime Ventures, LP series Fund GP + Belltower administrative architecture

Layer 3: AngelList Advisors adviser infrastructure for at least some historical Zero Prime / Data Community Fund series

This layered structure explains why different SEC filings under the same investment brand can show completely different GPs, addresses, signers and adviser names.

INDEPENDENT ASSESSMENT

Zero Prime Ventures has a comparatively strong verification trail. Its flagship fund history is visible directly in SEC filings, the Data Community Fund rebrand is preserved in EDGAR, the firm has a current operating website with a coherent AI/data strategy, portfolio companies independently acknowledge the investor, and AngelList's own Form ADV confirms adviser responsibility for multiple Zero Prime series. The firm's $48 million Fund II also has external press coverage and a clear Pete Soderling governance chain.

HE-0721 nevertheless requires deal-level diligence independent of the flagship brand. Two investors supplied the full $4.99999 million, and the public filing does not identify the startup, share class, valuation, purchase price, dilution protection, follow-on rights or exit mechanics. The fixed $8,000 lifetime administration charge is small relative to this particular vehicle, but the more important risk is concentration: a deal-specific SPV can effectively reduce diversification to one company or one transaction. Investors should therefore verify the underlying asset and entry valuation rather than treating Zero Prime Fund II's portfolio history as evidence that HE-0721 has the same risk profile.

Form D is a notice of an exempt offering and does not constitute SEC approval or endorsement of Zero Prime Ventures, Pete Soderling, HE-0721 Fund I, Fund GP, Belltower Fund Group, AngelList Advisors or any underlying portfolio company. The publicly announced $48 million Fund II size, the older $28 million Form D amount sold and the $4.99999 million HE-0721 subscription figure refer to different vehicles and different reporting dates and should not be combined.

Important Form D notice: A Form D filing is a notice filing for an exempt securities offering. It does not mean that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has approved, licensed, endorsed, or verified the issuer or the offering. Readers should verify information through official SEC sources and conduct their own due diligence.
Verification note: SEC.gov and the relevant regulator's official records remain authoritative. This site's research is independent editorial content.