Journeys: A Different Kind of Venture Capital Event

In the startup world, we lionize resilience. Founders are told to move fast, stay lean, and hustle harder. But the truth? Some of the most transformative breakthroughs don’t happen in the war rooms of company HQs. They happen in the wilderness—often, quite literally.

That’s the premise behind Journeys, a four-day, off-grid experience curated by Backed VC. The itinerary called for no panels, no pitching, no posturing. Instead: open questions, open fires, shared meals, four wheels, and the starry, silent vastness of the Moroccan desert.

It’s one of the more unconventional pillars of what we offer at Backed VC. We invite a small, handpicked cohort of founders, operators, and investors to leave their traditional worlds behind and gather somewhere remote—not to build companies, but something less easily quantified: trust.

“Journeys massively accelerate friendships and mentorship relationships. A lot of entrepreneurs meet at industry events, but it’s very hard to build real connections in those environments.”
— Alex Brunicki, Co-Founder at Backed

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Our most recent Journey—the fourth in our series—took place in Morocco, winding from the medinas of Marrakesh through the High Atlas Mountains and into the arid Agafay desert. The 20 participants drove themselves in pro rally 4x4 jeeps. They arrived as strangers. They left, many said, as something closer to friends.

So far each trip has been capped at 20 people and is strictly invitation or referral-only. We take curation seriously—not just for professional fit, but for character, openness, and chemistry.

“I think these spaces help a founder take that step back and think strategically rather than tactically. You remember who you actually are, not just what your job demands of you.”
— Matt Fitzpatrick, CEO at Invisible Technologies

The inspiration behind Journeys draws from many places: the intellectual depth of Dialog, the vulnerability of Jerry Colonna’s Reboot, and our own transformative experiences in immersive worlds like Burning Man and self-development retreats. We believe in the power of awe-inspiring settings, deep processes, and principled group dynamics to unlock growth far beyond what can happen in any boardroom.

Each Journey is carefully designed in collaboration with expert facilitators and experience architects. Structured conversation prompts, shared physical challenges, and participant-led discussions allow the group to move beyond networking into something more alive—and frankly, more relevant.

“We’ve had people tell us they’ve made perspective shifts, both on the business front and personally during these four days.”
— Andre de Haes, Co-Founer at Backed

One night, over tagine and candlelight, the conversation turned to ancestry and identity. Founders were asked: What did your parents teach you about risk? Who are you still trying to impress? What do you need to let go of, to be a better leader?

“It felt like a sort of Greek intellectual salon—when people were just simply sharing ideas to improve the minds and the perspectives of others.”
— Francis Pedraza, Founder at Invisible Technologies

While many venture firms market themselves as “founder-first,” Journeys is one way we live that principle differently. The goal isn’t optics or brand-building. It’s to create the kind of emotional and social infrastructure that helps founders endure the marathon of company-building.

In Morocco we had someone building the future of supercomputing. A founder who's built a team of 20,000 people distributed around the world. Someone pioneering Alzheimer's solutions. Teenage computer prodigies, crypto thinkers, and advisors to European prime ministers. It’s a curation muscle that’s hard to fake—and harder to replicate.

Journeys is not a wellness retreat or a talking shop. It’s an expedition. A curated exposure to challenge, intimacy, friction, and the kinds of exchanges and insights that rarely happen on Zoom or in a crowded conference room.

And it’s not meant to scale endlessly. On the contrary, we believe its power lies in its selectivity and depth. Real relationships are one of the few durable infrastructures in venture—especially in an era shaped by artificial intelligence. So this isn’t a perk. It’s part of how we future-proof founders.

Because when you’re building something that doesn’t exist yet, you don’t just need capital.You need allies on the journey.