Builders VC

Builders VC is a San Francisco-based early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2014, with offices in Chicago and Calgary. The firm backs founders solving complex, mission-critical problems in industries that have resisted modernization — healthcare, agriculture, real estate, and industrials. Fund II raised $250 million; the firm has made 91 investments and recorded 28 exits. General Partners Mark Blackwell, Jim Kim, Mike Rosengarten, and Amit Mehta lead an investment team of 21, supplemented by nine Venture Partners across the United States and Canada. Builders leads rounds, typically deploying $500,000 to $9 million. Notable portfolio companies include Udemy (online education), Sprout Social (social media management), Oscar Health (NYSE IPO at $7.92 billion), Bolt Threads (NASDAQ IPO May 2021), Skybox, Context Relevant, and Climate Corp. In February 2025, the firm partnered with the Qatar Investment Authority, and Fund III is actively deploying. The most recent investment is Anori, completed March 2026. Builders VC's thesis is that essential industries — healthcare delivery, food systems, the built environment — are served by legacy infrastructure built decades ago, and that technology companies replacing those systems create durable competitive advantages and large defensible market positions. The firm focuses on businesses where the technology is genuinely mission-critical to the customer, not peripheral, and where switching costs create lasting retention.