Arboretum Capital

Backing the
undeniable.

An arboretum is a deliberately cultivated ecosystem. Venture capital should be, too.
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Investments · four frontiers
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Films & series produced
20+
Years operating & investing
Emmy
First VR summit of Everest
The thesis

Exceptional companies don't grow in isolation.

They compound inside networks deliberately built around them. Founders are the root system. Capital, knowledge, culture, distribution, and strategic relationships are the canopy, and the canopy is what we cultivate.

Why now

Category-defining companies now emerge between disciplines.

01
Intelligence becomes a layer.

AI moves from a category into the operating system of every industry.

02
Biology becomes engineerable.

Computation, diagnostics, and new modalities accelerate human potential.

03
Physical systems re-platform.

Energy, defense, space, and infrastructure attract software-speed ambition.

04
Culture becomes distribution.

Media, gaming, sport, and identity shape adoption before traditional channels do.

Investment architecture

Four frontiers, one underwriting system.

Breadth is useful only when the discipline behind it is consistent. We organize a deliberately broad opportunity set into four frontiers, branches of one trunk. Select a frontier to explore its portfolio.

The portfolio

The ecosystem already exists.

Two decades of investing across the four frontiers Arboretum is built around. Every company below appears, from pre-seed to public markets, as stated publicly on Shake and Bake Productions' site.

Investments and roles as stated publicly on Shake and Bake Productions' website; grouped editorially by Arboretum frontier. Inclusion describes investment history and does not imply a performance claim, ownership percentage, or current affiliation.

Cultural distribution · proof

The same instinct that picks a great film picks a great founder.

Through Shake and Bake Productions and V.A.L.I.S Studios, Lauren has executive-produced award-winning film and television: a narrative and distribution machine no traditional fund controls.

How we select

We back the undeniable. People first.

A broad network feeds a narrow decision. Conviction and force-of-personality over a polished deck; then we test the conditions for compounding.

01 · PERSON
Rare judgment
Velocity, integrity, force of will.
02 · INSIGHT
A non-obvious truth
That matters right now.
03 · SYSTEM
Tech × model
Reinforce each other.
04 · ACCESS
Win access
And change outcomes.
05 · ASYMMETRY
Many paths up
To generational value.
"Capital is the soil. We are the cultivation."
Boards & advisory

Trusted in the rooms that matter.

Founder + General Partner

An operator's judgment, brought to venture.

Lauren Selig

20 years backing the undeniable, from the box office to the frontier.

BUILDER
Founder, Shake and Bake Productions & V.A.L.I.S Studios.
PRODUCER
Hacksaw Ridge, Rocketman, The Wheel of Time, American Made, Lone Survivor, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.
INNOVATOR
Created Facebook's 360 studio; produced Intel's Smithsonian VR experience.
BOARDS + ADVISORY
XPRIZE · Pendrell · advisor to Poolside, OTOY, Enhanced Games, New Republic Pictures.
RECOGNITION
Emmy-winning work on the first virtual-reality summit of Mt. Everest.
The invitation
Backing the undeniable.
Lauren Selig · Founder + General Partner
lauren@shakeandbakeproductions.com
By introduction.
View the Fund I deck →