Some new venture capital firms are getting really, really (really) into a niche

There are big overall downward trends, and there are small baby trends that tend to get bigger. A big trend right now, for example, focuses on certain companies that have handed out huge checks to startup founders in recent years and skyrocketed valuations in the process. It turns out that this strategy is not working as well as they expected, and some of these same companies are now divesting themselves of some of their partners and asking for much less capital from their own investors.

Another big trend? Venture capitalists investing more aggressively in publicly traded companies, as many have seen their stock prices hammered during the recession. (We started seeing this trend in January, and the WSJ notes that it's only getting bigger.)

Here's a new baby trend that's interesting: new companies that are so specialized that at first glance it's easy to laugh at them objective.< /p>

A venture capital firm solely dedicated to oral care and not something, uh, a bit broader? A company that focuses on technology that can help detect and contain wildfires? (No way.) How about a venture capital firm dedicated solely to supporting and building psychedelic businesses?

These outfits happen to exist, and two out of three of them this week announced moderately sized launch funds, while the third suggests it's on a path to do the same. Taken together, they paint a picture of what the industry might look like over time.

Take the first company, one that focuses solely on oral health. Called Revere Partners, the New York-based firm — which counts Mark Zuckerberg's dentist father among its partners, by the way — appears to be raising funds yet. (He announced in a press release in late September that he was "dropping" his fund, the code of which means: we exactly have no funds yet.)

In this case, you could imagine many wealthy dentists pooling their money to invest in technologies that they know could disrupt their industry. This could well be what is happening. But give credit where it's due. Dental care is a huge market that is growing as the global median age increases. It is expected to exceed $230 billion by the end of next year, according to the Office of the Actuary at the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Meanwhile, there are plenty of start-up opportunities in the business – and not many winners yet. (Think of dental insurance, direct-to-consumer subscription products, telehealth services, private clinics, mobile dentistry services, dental implant surgery companies, the list goes on.)

Or take another niche fund, one focused on firefighting technologies, Convective Capital. My first thought about this one was: forest fires? Oh good? I happen to live in northern California, where wildfires are a constant and very terrifying threat. He seemed fair. . . very specific.

I wasn't the only one to be skeptical. Founder Bill Clerico — who previously founded fintech company WePay and sold it to JPMorgan Chase — told TechCrunch earlier this week that the company's thesis is more polarizing than Clerico expected, and that some investors have understood...