Venture Capital firms, like Sequoia Capital, have been using a secretive network of so-called “scouts” to funnel money to promising start ups while avoiding the publicity that an investment from a big-name VC firm can bring, according to a report Friday in the Wall Street Journal.

Ada has ~100 “Ada Scouts” and 20 “Ada Angels,” each able to invest up to £50K in underrepresented entrepreneurs – resulting in 30% of Ada’s investments coming via scouts.

Dorm Room Fund, a venture capital operation that launched to invest in student-led startups, has raised a new $10.4 million fund, per SEC filings. The filing marks Dorm Room Fund’s largest fund to date, and its first that appears to include investors beyond First Round Capital, the firm that first launched the student-focused operation in 2012.

A feature on Monk’s Hill Ventures’ new Scouts Program in Southeast Asia.

Founders are extraordinarily busy, even for their own investors. A decade ago, they might have had relationships with a handful of VC partners as they scaled their businesses and raised additional rounds of capital.

The famed scout programme from US VC firm Sequoia has launched in Europe. We meet the scouts.

Ten years ago, Sequoia Capital began quietly encouraging founders of its portfolio companies to consider which of their founder friends they might like to get behind financially.