Clearstone Venture Partners

Clearstone Venture Partners is a venture capital firm founded by Bill Elkus in 1998 with offices in Santa Monica, Menlo Park, and Mumbai. Over more than two decades as an early-stage lead investor, the firm has deployed $650 million across three funds, producing nine IPOs and nearly a dozen M&A exits. Clearstone focuses on seed through Series B investments in fintech and payments, enterprise technologies, and data-driven marketplaces — sectors where it has built sustained expertise and relationships across the United States and India. Typically investing $1 million to $15 million per company, Clearstone leads rounds and has compiled 50 investments across its fund history. The firm expanded from a two-person Pasadena office to a multi-office team of roughly 20 people, and the addition of the Mumbai office gives it direct access to one of the world's fastest-growing technology ecosystems. This geographic reach has allowed large US institutional investors to participate as early backers of innovations in fintech, enterprise technology, and marketplace sectors. Clearstone's approach is grounded in conviction-led early-stage investing — the firm enters when risk is highest and works closely with founders to build toward exits that can sustain institutional-scale returns. Nine IPOs and roughly a dozen acquisitions across three funds reflect a consistent ability to identify category-defining companies at the seed and early stages.