USA VC Funds

True Ventures is a distinguished venture capital firm that has been a significant player in early-stage investments since its inception in 2005. The firm has invested $3.8 billion across over 350 startups, fostering innovation in sectors such as personal wellness, robotics, therapeutics, climate technologies, and ocean exploration. Notable investments from True Ventures include companies like Peloton, Fitbit, Blue Bottle Coffee, Ring, and Sweetgreen. These investments showcase their ability to identify and support high-growth startups across various industries. The firm typically invests in the seed and Series A stages, providing initial funding and reserving capital for follow-on investments. Geographically, True Ventures focuses primarily on the United States, with headquarters in Palo Alto and additional offices in San Francisco. Their investment strategy emphasizes partnering with visionary founders who are tackling significant problems and bringing innovative solutions to market. True Ventures aims to take a collaborative approach, working closely with entrepreneurs to guide their growth and development. The firm is led by a seasoned team of partners including Jon Callaghan, Tony Conrad, and Om Malik, who bring deep expertise and a strong track record in venture capital. Founders looking to connect with True Ventures should demonstrate a clear vision and a compelling value proposition that aligns with the firm’s focus on transformative technologies and impactful solutions. True Ventures is renowned for its active involvement in the startup ecosystem, often leading investment rounds and providing substantial strategic support to its portfolio companies, helping them navigate the complexities of scaling their businesses.

True Wealth Ventures is an Austin-based venture capital firm, co-founded by Sara Brand and Kerry Rupp in 2015. The firm focuses exclusively on early-stage investments in women-led startups, particularly those aiming to improve environmental and human health. Their portfolio includes companies like BrainCheck and Flourish, showcasing their commitment to healthcare and sustainable innovations. True Wealth Ventures is driven by the belief that women-led companies outperform and deserve greater support, especially given that women control a growing portion of U.S. assets yet remain underrepresented in venture capital. Their investments target companies with strong female leadership, requiring that at least one woman in a key decision-making role is involved. The firm has raised over $60 million across two funds, with a typical check size between $200,000 and $500,000. True Wealth Ventures stands out for its active involvement, offering deep operational support through its extensive network of female investors and advisors, creating a "virtuous circle" of impact investment.

TRUMPF Venture is the corporate venture capital arm of the TRUMPF Group, the German high-tech machine-tool and laser manufacturer, established in 2016 and based at the company's headquarters in Ditzingen near Stuttgart. The unit invests globally in early-stage deep-tech startups whose technologies are complementary or adjacent to TRUMPF's core business, with a clear emphasis on photonics and laser technology, new laser concepts, optical systems, advanced and additive manufacturing, sensors and automation, connectivity and computing, electronics, quantum technologies and sustainability themes such as the circular economy and energy-conversion efficiency. TRUMPF Venture launched with an initial fund of around EUR 40 million and has since raised a second fund more than twice the size of the first. Cheque sizes typically run from roughly EUR 0.5 million to EUR 4 million for an initial investment, targeting a minority stake of between 5% and 25%, and the firm positions itself as an active, long-term partner that supports portfolio companies through subsequent financing rounds, willing to lead. Investment criteria centre on strategic fit, high innovation leverage and differentiation, an experienced management team and risk-adequate financial returns. The unit is led by Managing Director Dieter Kraft, a recognised corporate-venturing expert, and frequently co-invests, including a partnership with Unternehmertum Venture Capital. Notable portfolio companies span the quantum and photonics frontier, including Quside, kiutra, Q.ant and the optical gas-sensor startup Tunable AS, with around 28 investments made to date. By aligning its capital with TRUMPF's photonics and manufacturing expertise, TRUMPF Venture backs deep-tech founders building adjacent and complementary technologies.

Trust Ventures is a venture capital firm based in Austin, Texas, that focuses on investing in startups tackling significant societal challenges in highly regulated industries. Founded in 2018, the firm has raised multiple funds, with its third and largest fund closing at $200 million. Trust Ventures primarily targets sectors such as clean energy, affordable housing, and quality healthcare, aiming to help startups navigate and overcome policy barriers that hinder innovation. The firm’s investment strategy is distinctive; it provides not just capital but also strategic guidance to help startups address regulatory challenges. This hands-on approach includes building relationships, developing strategies, and advocating for policy changes to level the playing field against larger, incumbent companies. Trust Ventures looks for startups with disruptive technologies that have the potential to solve pressing societal problems but are often stymied by outdated policies. Key team members include co-founders Salen Churi, who has a background in law and academia, and Brian Tochman, a seasoned entrepreneur and former private equity executive. Together, they leverage their expertise to support portfolio companies in achieving growth and navigating complex regulatory landscapes. Notable investments from Trust Ventures include companies like Sana Benefits, ICON, and Oklo, all of which are pioneering in their respective fields. The firm is dedicated to being an active partner, ensuring that their portfolio companies can reach their full potential and bring meaningful solutions to market.

TSVC, formerly known as TEEC Angel Fund, is a venture capital firm that specializes in deep technology investments. Founded in 2012, TSVC focuses on early-stage startups that leverage breakthroughs in science and engineering. The firm is based in Silicon Valley and has a strong track record of identifying and nurturing innovative companies. TSVC's portfolio includes notable investments in companies such as Quanergy Systems, a leading provider of LiDAR sensors and smart sensing solutions; Jasper Therapeutics, which develops novel therapies for hematologic disorders; and Valant, a behavioral health software company. The firm has been instrumental in helping these companies scale and achieve significant market success​​. The firm's investment strategy is centered on high-impact verticals, including enterprise SaaS, fintech, techbio, consumer tech, and crypto. TSVC aims to support founders with strategic counsel and hands-on expertise in areas like software engineering, data science, and quantitative modeling. This approach has enabled TSVC to build a diverse and robust portfolio of companies that are fundamentally transforming traditional industries​​. With over 100 companies in its portfolio, TSVC continues to drive innovation and support the next generation of entrepreneurs. The firm’s commitment to leveraging data science and computing advances positions it as a key player in the venture capital landscape, dedicated to fostering groundbreaking technologies and solutions​.

TT Capital Partners is a healthcare-focused private equity firm based in Bloomington, Minnesota. Founded in 2011, TTCP invests in innovative healthcare technology and services companies with the potential to become market leaders. Their investment strategy spans various healthcare sectors, including healthcare IT, technology-enabled services, and clinical services. Notable investments in TTCP’s portfolio include Cantata Health Solutions, CareConnectMD, and DarioHealth. Cantata Health Solutions provides integrated EHR, RCM, and clinical technology solutions for behavioral health and acute care providers. CareConnectMD focuses on primary care and care coordination for high-needs Medicare populations. DarioHealth offers a digital therapeutics platform for managing chronic conditions. TTCP has a team of over 20 professionals with extensive experience in healthcare investing and operations. This expertise allows them to provide strategic insights and support to their portfolio companies, driving growth and innovation in the healthcare industry. Recent strategic moves include investments in Pyx Health, addressing loneliness and social isolation, and the merger of Revel and NovuHealth to form Icario, a health action platform.

Tuesday Capital, formerly known as CrunchFund, is a dynamic venture capital firm that backs early-stage startups. Notable investments include GitLab, Kueski, AirTable, Human Interest, and DigitalOcean. With a focus on technology, health tech, and high-growth sectors, Tuesday Capital maintains a sector-agnostic approach, giving them a broad investment landscape. Geographically, they are based in Austin and San Francisco but invest globally, supporting founders wherever they are. Their strategy revolves around a hands-on approach, actively helping startups with everything from strategic guidance to PR and marketing. Typically investing in seed rounds, Tuesday Capital writes checks averaging $5M and often co-invests with other VCs. They prefer to be approached through their extensive network or via a compelling pitch that clearly aligns with their vision. Co-founders Patrick Gallagher and Michael Arrington lead the team with significant expertise and a proven track record. Gallagher, based in Austin, brings over two decades of venture experience, previously working with VantagePoint and Morgan Stanley. Arrington, located in Broomfield, adds media and tech industry insights to the firm’s operations. Tuesday Capital’s portfolio boasts several unicorns, including Human Interest, Forward, and Zipline. Their active involvement in the startup ecosystem and commitment to founder success make them a notable partner in the venture capital landscape

Tugboat Ventures is a founder-first, early-stage venture capital firm based in Palo Alto, California, formed in 2006 to back bold entrepreneurs from inception through Series A. The firm describes its partners as 'mentor capitalists,' emphasizing a close, supportive relationship with founders across the entire business lifecycle, much like a tugboat guiding ships into open water. Though broadly sector-agnostic and highly selective, Tugboat has concentrated on San Francisco Bay Area companies in information technology, enterprise software-as-a-service, consumer internet, mobility, retail, media and next-generation online advertising, generally as a co-investor. The firm launched its inaugural fund with more than $43 million in commitments from 13 investors and has operated roughly six private funds with under $150 million in total assets under management. Its portfolio spans around 42 companies, weighted toward enterprise applications and retail, with the majority of deals at the incubation-through-Series-A stages. Tugboat was founded by Dave Whorton, a former general partner at TPG Ventures and associate at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers who worked closely with Amazon, Google and SuccessFactors in their earliest days, and who co-founded four companies including Good Technology, sold to Motorola for a reported $500 million, and Drugstore.com. In 2013 Whorton shifted his primary focus to found the Tugboat Institute, a community for 'Evergreen' private companies built to endure independently rather than pursue venture-backed exits, and Tugboat Ventures' new-investment activity has wound down accordingly. The firm's legacy reflects a mentor-driven, founder-first approach to early-stage technology investing.

Tusk Venture Partners is a New York-based venture capital firm that focuses on early-stage startups navigating highly regulated markets. Founded in 2015 by Bradley Tusk and Jordan Nof, the firm brings a unique edge with its deep expertise in political strategy and regulatory risk, allowing them to guide companies through complex legal landscapes. Their portfolio boasts high-profile investments in companies like Bird, Alto Pharmacy, Ro, and Calm, covering sectors such as digital health, fintech, transportation, and enterprise software. Tusk primarily targets startups at the pre-seed, seed, and Series A stages, often writing checks between $750K and $2M. They are well-known for backing disruptive companies that face regulatory hurdles, such as those in healthcare, insurance, and mobility. Recent exits include Lemonade, Coinbase, and FanDuel, reflecting the firm's strength in taking companies from early-stage to successful outcomes. Tusk's leadership leverages their political consulting background to give founders not just capital but also access to regulatory strategy, making them a sought-after partner for companies in complex industries. Entrepreneurs should approach Tusk with a clear understanding of their regulatory challenges and a focus on markets requiring specialized expertise.

Twelve Below is a seed-stage venture capital firm founded in 2021 and headquartered in New York, New York. The firm focuses on investing in early-stage, software-enabled businesses led by visionary founders. With a commitment to being the earliest believers in promising startups, Twelve Below seeks out companies that are building defensible technologies with the potential to disrupt their industries. The firm is led by Taylor Greene and Byron Ling, both of whom have extensive experience in the venture capital space, particularly within the New York City startup ecosystem. Their investment strategy is highly personalized, focusing on providing not just capital but also strategic support during the most formative phases of a company's development. This includes helping founders with critical tasks such as team building and strategic planning. Twelve Below’s portfolio includes a diverse range of companies, such as Accrue Savings, Odyssey Energy, and Croissant, spanning across fintech, productivity software, and other tech-driven sectors. The firm has a strong track record, with over 60% of its portfolio companies successfully raising follow-on funding. With nearly $160 million in assets under management, Twelve Below continues to actively seek new investments, particularly in companies that demonstrate a strong potential for growth and industry impact.

Twelve19 Ventures is a seed-stage, technology-focused venture capital firm founded in 2014 and based in Des Moines, Iowa. The firm makes angel, seed and venture investments in early-stage and growth companies led by strong, innovative entrepreneurs and management teams, primarily backing United States-based startups at the seed round, generally as a co-investor. While broadly active across enterprise applications, high tech and consumer sectors, its portfolio shows particular weight in software, SaaS, mobile and transportation and automotive themes, with enterprise applications and high tech as the two largest categories. Twelve19 has invested in roughly 28 companies and built a notable track record for a small firm, with its portfolio producing one unicorn, one IPO and seven acquisitions; named holdings include Plastiq, Density, Talla, Superhuman, Common, Mazen Animal Health and Koloni, with a more recent investment in BetterYou. The firm is effectively a solo operation led by Managing Partner Jason DeStigter, who is also Managing Partner at Summit Equity Group and holds roles across affiliated companies including Lomont Investment, Lomont Molding and KPI Acquisition Co. Twelve19 does not publicly disclose its fund size or typical cheque ranges, consistent with its lean, founder-led structure operating from Iowa rather than a coastal venture hub. By backing seed-stage founders from the Midwest while reaching nationally, Twelve19 Ventures has assembled a compact but high-performing early-stage technology portfolio.

Twenty Two VC, founded by Katherine Caldwell, is an early-stage venture capital firm based in San Francisco, California. The firm specializes in investing in ambitious founders who are building innovative companies in sectors such as SaaS, fintech, open source, marketplaces, and developer tools. Twenty Two VC stands out by investing earlier than most other investors, often engaging with companies before they have publicly launched. The portfolio of Twenty Two VC includes notable companies like Airbyte, an open-source ELT platform, BuildBuddy, which provides enterprise features for the Bazel build system, and Whatnot, the largest livestream shopping platform in the U.S. Other significant investments include Cron, a next-generation calendar for professionals, and PostHog, an open-source product operating system platform​. The firm has made over 85 investments since its founding in 2017 and is known for its quick decision-making and efficient execution, which is highly valued by founders looking to focus on their work without lengthy fundraising processes. Twenty Two VC seeks out magnetic, tenacious, and adaptable founders who are not afraid of big ideas and are committed to shipping great products.

Twilight Venture Partners, LLC is a life-sciences venture capital firm founded in September 2002 and headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, investing exclusively in early-stage biotechnology and medical-technology companies. The firm is distinguished by an operator-led partnership: its team of around six partners are former executives from the pharmaceutical and medical-device industries, including founders of Guidant Corporation, who collectively bring more than 150 years of life-science experience and have worked together for over 25 years. Each partner has CEO-level experience, which they use both to select outstanding companies and to provide hands-on strategic guidance. Twilight backs companies developing precision peptide therapies, minimally invasive surgical devices and innovative diagnostics, primarily investing at the Series A stage in US-based startups while increasingly orienting its strategy toward opportunities in the Asian market, offering capital alongside a global network, generally as a co-investor. The firm is led by Managing Partner Aaron Pearson and Senior Managing Partner James M. Cornelius, and has raised multiple vehicles, Twilight Venture Partners I and II. Across roughly 21 investments it has produced one IPO and several acquisitions, with named portfolio companies including MBX Biosciences, Endocyte, BioStorage Technologies, NeoChord and NICO, whose exit came in September 2024. Specific fund sizes and cheque ranges are not publicly disclosed. By pairing deep operating experience from the pharmaceutical and medical-device industries with early-stage capital, Twilight Venture Partners backs founders developing therapeutics, surgical devices and diagnostics, increasingly bridging US innovation with Asian market opportunities.

Twin Ventures is an AI-focused angel and pre-seed fund founded in 2018 and based in San Francisco, California, that builds and fosters AI-first startups. The firm was created by brothers Swapnil and Snehal Shinde, who previously co-founded the AI travel assistant Mezi, where Swapnil was CEO and Snehal was Chief Product Officer and CTO, before its acquisition by American Express. Drawing on that operating background, Twin backs entrepreneurs building disruptive ventures that solve real-world problems and aim to define new markets and become category leaders through Applied AI, offering hands-on technical, product and operational expertise in areas such as natural language processing, neural networks, human-assisted AI, machine learning, personalization, AI analytics, chatbots and messaging. As an early-stage investor it typically writes cheques of around $100,000 with follow-on capacity of up to roughly $150,000, and it frequently partners and co-invests alongside larger venture firms in seed and Series A rounds. The firm has invested in approximately 19 companies across the United States, India and Israel, spanning enterprise applications, high tech, retail and other sectors. Its most notable investments include Flam, an AI-native mixed-reality and interactive-content platform whose $4.57 million seed round Twin co-led with Inventus Capital Partners, and Oddr, a legal-tech platform that raised a $2 million seed round led by Saama Capital and Twin Ventures in October 2022. By combining founder-operator experience with early AI conviction, Twin Ventures backs Applied-AI founders and co-invests alongside larger firms as their rounds come together.

Twine Ventures is a venture capital firm based in San Francisco, founded in 2021 by Leshika Samarasinghe. The firm focuses on early-stage investments in sectors like healthcare, climate tech, and financial empowerment, aiming to support mission-driven founders whose work ties purpose and profit. Twine invests primarily at the seed and Series A stages, offering check sizes ranging from $100,000 to $1 million. Their portfolio includes companies like Waltz Health, Rupa Health, and Alpha Grid, with a focus on leveraging technology such as AI and data science to drive improvements in healthcare and sustainability. Additionally, Twine is committed to diversity, with a strong emphasis on investing in ventures led by women and BIPOC founders. Twine operates with a hands-on approach, providing more than just capital by supporting founders with go-to-market strategies and scaling their companies through competitive fundraising.

Two Sigma Ventures, established in 2012 and based in New York, is a venture capital firm specializing in early-stage investments. The firm focuses on sectors such as artificial intelligence, data science, healthcare, biotechnology, and fintech. Notable investments include companies like Recursion Pharmaceuticals, GitLab, and Ripple. They have a portfolio of 113 companies and have achieved 25 successful exits. Two Sigma Ventures typically invests between $500,000 to $5 million, leveraging its expertise in data and technology from its parent company, Two Sigma Investments, to support innovative startups​.

Type One Ventures is a venture capital firm founded in 2019 and based in Malibu, California. The firm is deeply focused on investing in early-stage, seed, and Series A companies, specifically in sectors driving humanity toward technological advancement. These include space technology, robotics, AI, automation, and nanotechnology, with a mission inspired by the Kardashev Scale to help humanity progress toward a Type I civilization. Type One Ventures backs transformative companies such as Gravitics and Lunar Outpost, both leaders in space exploration and infrastructure. They also invest in groundbreaking ventures across diverse fields, including human longevity and the future of mobility. The firm typically takes a hands-on approach, offering not just capital but strategic guidance, leveraging a team of founders, operational experts, and technologists to support the long-term success of their portfolio. With investments ranging from space tech to human health and automation, Type One Ventures actively seeks visionary founders who are solving complex, high-impact problems. Their geographic focus is global, particularly in the U.S. and Europe, and they often co-invest with other major firms in the deep tech and space industries. Key members of the team include founding partner Tarek Waked and general partner Abdo John Hajj, both of whom drive the firm’s forward-looking investment strategy.

Tyson Ventures is the corporate venture capital arm of Tyson Foods, one of the world's largest food companies, established in December 2016 and based at the company's headquarters in Springdale, Arkansas. Operating through the legal entity Tyson New Ventures LLC, the fund was seeded with $150 million from Tyson Foods to back startups changing the food industry through food technology, emerging sources of protein and sustainable nutrition, and has since deployed more than $100 million across emerging proteins, food and worker-safety technologies and sustainable food production. The fund concentrates on three priority pillars, emerging and alternative proteins, technology enablers and sustainability, with managing director Reese Schroeder citing key innovation themes spanning alternative proteins, environmental impact, digital platforms, shelf-life extension, animal well-being, consumer-driven platforms, and AI, machine learning and automation, typically as a strategic co-investor. As a strategic investor, Tyson Ventures has made roughly 42 investments and built one of the more closely watched alternative-protein portfolios in corporate venturing. Those include early stakes in cell-based meat companies Memphis Meats, now UPSIDE Foods, and Future Meat Technologies, and an early position in plant-based pioneer Beyond Meat that it exited in 2019 ahead of Beyond's IPO. More recent activity includes investments in JLE Truckwash in 2024 and Athian in late 2025, and the firm runs an annual Tyson Demo Day pitch event to source promising food-system innovators. By pairing capital with the scale and supply chain of a global food company, Tyson Ventures backs the technologies reshaping protein, food and sustainability.

U.S. Venture Partners (USVP) is one of Silicon Valley's longest-established venture capital firms, founded in 1981 by Bill Bowes, Stuart Moldaw and Robert Sackman and headquartered in Menlo Park, California. An early entrant to the venture industry, USVP has invested more than $4.3 billion since inception across more than 500 companies, of which 93 have completed initial public offerings and over 100 more have been profitably acquired. The firm specialises in early-stage investing, with a strategy of being the lead Series A or B investor in companies based in the United States or Israel, concentrating on four core sectors: cybersecurity, enterprise software, consumer including e-commerce, and healthcare and IT-enabled healthcare services. Its team, including Dafina Toncheva, Jacques Benkoski, Rick Lewis, Steve Krausz, Casey Tansey and Jonathan Root, brings together former investors, entrepreneurs, CEOs, technologists and domain experts with well over 100 years of combined experience. In December 2022 USVP closed its thirteenth fund, USVP XIII, at $400 million, and from 2020 to the present its funds have distributed $1.1 billion to investors. Its extensive portfolio and track record include Box, Yammer, Pluto TV, HotelTonight, Trunk Club, Happy Returns, Check Point Software, Imperva, Trusteer, ThreatMetrix, Cato Networks, Arkose Labs, Guidewire, Human Interest, HeartFlow, Inari Medical, Inspire Medical Systems, Omada Health, Carrot Fertility and Zerto, with its most recent disclosed deal being Tiny Fish in August 2025. With four decades of leading early-stage rounds in the US and Israel, USVP remains a defining Silicon Valley venture firm.

UB Ventures, rebranded FIRSTLIGHT Capital in November 2024, is a Tokyo-based venture capital firm founded in 2018 as the corporate venture arm of Uzabase, the Japanese business intelligence company behind the SPEEDA and NewsPicks platforms. The firm invests in early-stage software and IT companies from seed to Series A, concentrating on SaaS, professional services, artificial intelligence, IoT, media, the metaverse and broader digital transformation, with a particular thesis around startups tackling the challenges of Japan's depopulating, aging society and modernising legacy industries. Its geographic focus spans Japan and the United States, generally as a co-investor. UB Ventures launched its first vehicle, UBV Fund-I, in June 2018 dedicated to digital media and B2B/SaaS, growing it to roughly JPY 1.53 billion after a second close in early 2019 with backing from investors such as Dentsu, Fukuoka Bank, Sankei Digital, GMO VenturePartners, Ricoh, Tokyu Land and Uzabase. It subsequently raised a much larger second fund of JPY 10 billion, around $64 million, aimed at innovation for a depopulating society. The firm is led by founder and general partner Osamu Iwasawa and runs a compact team. Across its funds it has made roughly 79 investments, with notable portfolio companies including the spaced-repetition learning app Monoxer, fitness-SaaS provider OptFit and LobbyAI, reflecting a focus on business-productivity and vertical SaaS software. By pairing capital with Uzabase's business-intelligence expertise and a thesis tuned to Japan's demographic challenges, UB Ventures backs software founders modernising legacy industries.

Ubiquity Ventures is a Palo Alto-based seed-stage institutional venture capital firm founded in 2017 by Sunil Nagaraj, managing approximately $200 million across three funds. The firm invests in what it calls 'software beyond the screen,' startups applying software, machine learning and artificial intelligence to physical-world problems through sensors, hardware, robotics and connected devices that you can touch, hear and feel. Ubiquity follows a self-described 'nerdy and early' philosophy, backing technical founders at the very earliest stages, often pre-incorporation, and typically writing cheques in the $1 to 5 million range, leading or co-leading seed rounds. Before founding the firm, Nagaraj spent the better part of a decade at Bessemer Venture Partners, where he led the seed rounds of Auth0, acquired by Okta for $6.5 billion, and Zapier and made early investments in Rocket Lab and Twitch, acquired by Amazon for $1 billion; earlier he founded and ran Triangulate, a machine-learning-driven online dating startup. Ubiquity closed its debut fund of $30 million in 2018, raised $51 million for Fund II in 2020, and secured $75 million for Fund III in January 2024 under a 'disciplined deeptech' thesis. The portfolio spans roughly 42 companies including two unicorns, with notable names such as Diligent Robotics, Esper, Kinetic, BusRight, Camino, Caddi and Eyebot, concentrated in enterprise applications, industrial technology, robotics and sustainability. By backing technical founders applying software to the physical world at the earliest stages, Ubiquity Ventures leads and co-leads seed rounds in deep-tech and robotics companies.

UL Ventures is the corporate venture investment and acceleration arm of UL Solutions, the Northbrook, Illinois-based global independent safety science company that has championed safety, security and sustainability for more than 120 years. Founded in 2017 by Simin Zhou, who also serves as UL Solutions' Global Head of Strategy, Development and Sustainability, the fund partners with entrepreneurs to foster innovation in emerging technologies and new markets that align with UL's mission. It backs early-stage digital and technology companies across healthcare, retail, manufacturing, supply chain, the built environment, energy and automotive sectors, looking for businesses whose products advance safety, security and sustainability and that can benefit from UL's deep technical expertise, testing capabilities and global customer network, typically as a strategic co-investor. Zhou and her team review close to 1,000 startups each year through conferences, networking and outreach, ultimately investing in only around 1% of the companies they meet, a highly selective approach that has produced a portfolio of roughly 21 investments. Notable portfolio companies include the healthcare-analytics startup KenSci; SkySpecs, which provides autonomous drone-based predictive maintenance and inspection for wind farms and raised an $8 million Series B alongside Statkraft Ventures and Capital Midwest; and Resilinc, a cognitive supply-chain risk-management platform that combines public-domain data with supplier intelligence to help customers manage disruptions. By pairing capital with UL's testing capabilities, technical expertise and global customer network, UL Ventures backs founders whose technologies advance safety, security and sustainability across critical industries.

Ulu Ventures, based in Palo Alto, is a leading seed-stage venture capital firm with strong ties to Stanford and Silicon Valley. They focus on funding diverse entrepreneurial teams, particularly those led by women and minority founders. Ulu Ventures has made over 200 investments, with notable exits including Proterra, Taulia, and Blue River Technology​​. Their investment strategy is data-driven, aiming to reduce cognitive biases and systematically identify key drivers of risk and uncertainty. They invest in sectors such as enterprise IT, EdTech, FinTech, healthcare, and sustainability​ (Ulu Ventures)​. With an emphasis on diversity, 76% of their funded companies have diverse founders​​. The firm is co-founded by Miriam Rivera and Clint Korver, who bring extensive experience in entrepreneurship and venture capital. Ulu Ventures is recognized for its thoughtful and rigorous approach to venture funding, which has resulted in a portfolio that includes companies like Guild Education, Genesis Therapeutics, and Lex Machina​

Unbridled Ventures is a founder-focused early-stage venture capital fund based in Louisville, Kentucky. The firm is built around a group of accomplished entrepreneurs and angel investors who contribute both capital and hands-on operating expertise to help founders build and scale their companies, framing an investment as the beginning of a long-term partnership aimed at maximizing value for all stakeholders. Unbridled invests primarily at the seed and Series A stages, with typical cheques in the range of roughly $200,000 to $500,000, generally as a co-investor, and takes a generalist but technology-oriented approach across sectors including cloud computing, artificial intelligence, data analytics and business intelligence, SaaS, fintech, ed-tech, ad-tech, enterprise software, information technology, healthcare and media and entertainment. The fund is led by general partners Darren King, who has also been involved in launching the related Kentucky Select Fund angel vehicle, and Vik Chadha, supported by a deep bench of Louisville- and Kentucky-based limited partners and angel investors. Operating a relatively concentrated portfolio, Unbridled emphasizes a deliberate process and clear investment criteria before deploying capital. Disclosed and reported portfolio companies include Backstitch, Tailwind Imaging, Automotus and Gun Interactive, reflecting the firm's focus on backing regional founders and emerging software and technology businesses. By combining capital with the operating experience of its entrepreneur-led partnership and a strong Kentucky angel network, Unbridled Ventures backs early-stage technology founders and supports them as long-term partners through their formative growth stages.

Uncommon Capital, founded in 2014, is a venture capital firm that focuses on early-stage investments from pre-seed to Series A rounds. The firm is based in San Francisco and has a strong emphasis on software companies, particularly in sectors like B2B SaaS, marketplaces, consumer non-social, developer tools, and fintech. Uncommon Capital has a diverse portfolio with notable investments in companies such as Razorpay, a leading payment processing solution provider; Talkdesk, a cloud-based contact center software; and Function of Beauty, an internet-first brand offering customized skincare and haircare products. The firm also boasts investments in emerging companies like Morf Health, a health tech startup, and Antares Industries, focusing on environmental technology. The firm is led by experienced partners, including Tikhon Bernstam, co-founder of Scribd and Parse, and Jamie Quint, a seasoned product growth practitioner who has consulted for companies like Twitch, Everlane, and Substack​. Uncommon Capital distinguishes itself by providing hands-on operational support to its portfolio companies, helping them with product development, data infrastructure, marketing strategies, and engineering hiring.

Uncork Capital -- founded in 2004 as SoftTech VC by Founding Partner Jeff Clavier and rebranded in 2017 -- is a prominent San Francisco Bay Area seed-stage venture capital firm widely regarded as one of the original institutional seed funds in Silicon Valley. The firm leads and co-leads seed rounds, typically investing $750,000 to $2 million with a target ownership of 10 to 15% at entry. Sector coverage spans SaaS, developer tooling, marketplaces, consumer services, fintech, space, and frontier technology. The leadership team is now led by Managing Partner Andy McLoughlin alongside partners Susan Liu, Tripp Jones, and Amy Saper, with Jeff Clavier continuing as Founding Partner. Uncork has grown across eight core funds and four breakout vehicles: early funds scaled from under $1 million to $15 million, $55 million, $85 million, and $100 million, followed by combined raises of $200 million and then $300 million in 2019 and $300 million again in May 2025 -- Uncork VIII at $225 million plus Uncork Plus IV at $75 million, aimed at backing roughly 35 new companies over three years. Across 260-plus investments the firm has produced 10 unicorns and major exits including Postmates (acquired by Uber in 2020), SendGrid (IPO 2017, acquired by Twilio in 2019), Eventbrite (IPO 2018), Poshmark (IPO 2021), and Fitbit. Active portfolio includes LaunchDarkly, Tailscale, Carrot Fertility, Loft Orbital, Hallow, Wrapbook, ClassDojo, Front, Human Interest, and Gamma, which became a unicorn in 2025. Uncork's twenty-year track record across multiple market cycles -- and its discipline in backing founders at the earliest stage with meaningful ownership -- has established it as one of the most consistent seed-stage performers in Silicon Valley.

Uncorrelated Ventures, headquartered in San Francisco, specializes in early-stage investments in infrastructure software, decentralized finance, and fintech sectors. Founded by Salil Deshpande in 2019, the firm has a portfolio that includes companies like Tandem PV, HockeyStack, and Bodo.ai. They typically engage in Seed and Series A rounds, with an average check size of $17M. The fund is known for its hands-on approach, offering strategic support and leveraging a robust network to help startups scale. Uncorrelated Ventures values clear, innovative pitches that demonstrate significant market potential and technological advancement. Key team members include founder Salil Deshpande, a veteran in the venture capital space, and a dedicated team with diverse expertise in technology and investment management. Startups can approach Uncorrelated Ventures through their extensive network or direct outreach, emphasizing the unique aspects of their technology and market approach.

Underdog Labs is a pre-seed venture capital firm based in Sebastopol, California, with a focus on supporting early-stage founders as they navigate the critical first milestones of their startups. Founded by Alex Chang and David Hehman in 2019, the firm specializes in working with passionate entrepreneurs who have promising ideas but need guidance and capital to turn these into scalable businesses. Underdog Labs targets very early-stage companies, often being the first institutional investors after initial angel rounds. The firm is industry-agnostic, but it has a strong focus on sectors like artificial intelligence, SaaS, fintech, health tech, and consumer products. With a hands-on approach, Underdog Labs provides not just capital but also strategic mentorship, leveraging the extensive entrepreneurial experience of its founders to help startups achieve product-market fit and scale effectively. The firm typically invests between $100K and $500K per company and has built a diverse portfolio of startups across various industries. Underdog Labs is particularly known for its commitment to backing underrepresented founders, further cementing its role as a key player in the early-stage venture ecosystem.

Underscore.VC, established in 2015, is a Boston-based venture capital firm dedicated to early-stage B2B software startups. With a strong emphasis on community, Underscore integrates a unique Core Community of experienced entrepreneurs and industry leaders who actively support portfolio companies. This approach ensures founders receive comprehensive guidance and resources tailored to their specific needs​. Notable investments by Underscore.VC include companies such as Project44, Salsify, Slang, Soofa, and TetraScience, showcasing their focus on B2B fintech, vertical SaaS, and emerging technologies​. The firm primarily invests in pre-seed and seed rounds, typically leading these rounds and committing substantial support beyond just financial backing. Their strategy is rooted in building strong, collaborative relationships with founders, emphasizing a partnership approach rather than just a financial transaction. They value transparency, long-term vision, and active involvement in the companies they support. This philosophy is reflected in their careful selection process and active participation in the growth and scaling of their investments​. For startups looking to engage with Underscore.VC, it's beneficial to demonstrate a strong alignment with their community-driven values and a clear, innovative vision for their business model. Approaching them with a well-thought-out plan and readiness to leverage their extensive network can significantly enhance the chances of forming a successful partnership.

Unicorn Growth Capital is a forward-thinking venture capital firm, established in 2020 and headquartered in New York City. The firm focuses on investing in fintech-enabled companies that are reshaping the financial services infrastructure of the digital economy. Unicorn Growth Capital specializes in bridging traditional finance (TradFi) with decentralized finance (DeFi), positioning itself at the forefront of innovation in Web3 technologies, blockchain, and cryptocurrency. This unique investment strategy aims to support the development of new financial systems that are more accessible, efficient, and inclusive. Led by Barbara Iyayi, the firm’s CEO and Founding Partner, Unicorn Growth Capital targets early-stage investments, particularly in emerging markets such as Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. The firm believes that these regions offer significant opportunities for financial technology innovations that can address longstanding challenges in financial inclusion and economic development. Unicorn Growth Capital’s portfolio is diverse and impactful, featuring companies like VertoFX, a global B2B payments platform; Bitmama, a startup driving crypto adoption in Africa; and Credrails, which is building open banking infrastructure across the continent. By backing these high-growth startups, Unicorn Growth Capital is not only driving financial innovation but also contributing to the broader goal of economic empowerment in underserved markets. With its strategic focus and expertise, Unicorn Growth Capital is well-positioned to continue leading investments in the fintech sector, particularly as the digital economy continues to evolve and expand​.

Unicorn Venture Partners is a Los Angeles-based early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2018 by Dave Lin and Jonathan Hung, with Phillip Sarofim involved at its formation. The firm backs seed and early-stage rounds in US-based technology and consumer-focused startups, spreading its investments across sectors from consumer and retail to high tech, and pairs capital with hands-on engagement, strategically testing new business models and offering consulting-style support to help founders reach Series A, generally as a co-investor. The team describes itself as entrepreneurs, operators and 'finance geeks' with experience across nearly every role in the venture ecosystem, including founder, CFO, product management, growth marketing, sales, board directorships and M&A advisory, and collectively claims more than $2 billion in exits. Managing Partner and CIO Dave Lin previously served as CFO at Maker Studios and is a serial entrepreneur, while Managing Partner Jonathan Hung is a well-known Los Angeles angel investor who likens the investor's role to that of a college counsellor guiding founders to their next round. Launched with around $5 million of seed capital, the fund has built a concentrated portfolio of roughly 15 companies that has already produced two unicorns, one IPO and three acquisitions, with marquee early investments including Coinbase, Lime, Cerebral and Solugen. By combining operator and finance backgrounds with hands-on support, Unicorn Venture Partners backs early-stage technology and consumer founders and helps prepare them for their next institutional round.

Unilever Ventures is the corporate venture capital and private-equity arm of consumer-goods giant Unilever, founded in 2002 and headquartered in London with a significant investing presence in Mumbai. The firm provides strategic capital and operational expertise to founders building the next generation of consumer brands, commerce technologies and B2B and enterprise solutions, leveraging Unilever's global scale, supply chain and brand-building know-how. Its investment focus spans three areas: beauty and wellness, consumer brands across skincare, haircare, personal care, nutrition, supplements, longevity and holistic wellness; commerce, technology enabling next-generation retail, e-commerce and consumer discovery; and B2B and enterprise technology serving consumer goods, retail and adjacent industries. Unilever Ventures is most active at the seed and Series A stages, frequently acting as an early strategic investor alongside financial venture funds, with typical cheques ranging from roughly $500,000 to $15 million, and willing to lead; it has also acted as a limited partner, backing emerging managers such as Selva Ventures' $34 million fund. The firm has run five funds, including the New Voices Fund, and over its roughly two-decade history has invested in around 137 companies, averaging about seven new investments per year over the last decade. It is led by managing partners Olivier Garel and Stephen Willson, with partner Pawan Chaturvedi heading India and Asian investments from Mumbai. Notable portfolio brands include Saie, Kopari, BYBI, Beauty Bakerie and India's Secret Alchemist, SkinInspired and WishCare. By pairing capital with Unilever's brand-building scale, the firm backs the next generation of consumer and commerce companies.

Union Labs, founded in 2018 and based in San Mateo, California, is a deep-tech venture capital firm focusing on pre-seed and seed-stage investments. Co-founded by Nate Williams and Chris Kim, Union Labs primarily invests in startups tackling big challenges across sectors like robotics, AI/ML, IoT, and smart infrastructure. The firm aims to solve complex global problems through innovative technology, often working directly with founders to de-risk the journey to product-market fit. Union Labs has made 28 investments, with notable companies like Pico MES, which develops factory operations software, and Urban Machine, focusing on forestry processing. The firm incubates many of its companies, having initially grown out of Kleiner Perkins with backing from Google Ventures, allowing it to offer both financial and hands-on operational support. This approach ensures that its startups benefit from Union Labs' extensive network and expertise. Union Labs is committed to advancing deep-tech solutions that contribute to a smarter, more connected world.

Union Square Ventures (USV), a venture capital firm based in New York City, focuses on investing in early-stage technology startups. Their investment philosophy is centered on finding companies at the edge of large markets being transformed by technological and societal pressures. USV looks for new behaviors and business models enabled by technology, rapid experimentation, and broadening access to resources and opportunities. USV’s portfolio includes a range of notable companies such as Twitter, Etsy, MongoDB, and Twilio. They have invested across various sectors including social media, marketplaces, developer tools, health, fintech, web3, and climate tech. Their approach involves maintaining relatively small fund sizes and collaborating closely as a team to make investment decisions and support portfolio companies.

United Ventures is an independent Italian venture capital firm founded in 2013 by Massimiliano Magrini, former country manager of Google Italy, and Paolo Gesess, and headquartered in Milan. The firm invests in digital technologies, software, enterprise software, fintech, cloud, the Internet of Things, cybersecurity, marketplaces, B2B and B2C platforms and deep tech, backing visionary entrepreneurs who tackle critical, often underestimated problems and aim to digitise sectors that improve quality of life and promote sustainable development, and it is willing to lead. United Ventures invests primarily at the early stage across Western Europe, North America and Israel, with around 70% of its current portfolio companies being Italian. The firm manages two early-stage funds and a growth vehicle, UV T-Growth; the 2023 close of United Ventures III, a EUR 150 million early-stage fund that targets 15 to 18 European technology companies with initial tickets of EUR 1 million to EUR 8 million, brought total funds under management toward EUR 500 million. With a team of around 15 professionals, including investment partners Giulia Giovannini and Sara Lovato and operating partner Jacopo Drudi, United Ventures has built a track record of roughly 35 investments, several IPOs and notable exits, including 10x-plus returns on FACEIT and Musixmatch in 2022. Portfolio companies include wealthtech Moneyfarm, online grocery marketplace Everli, crypto exchange Young Platform, used-car platform Cazoo and fraud-prevention firm Cleafy, with its most recent disclosed deal being Cleafy's Series B in March 2026. As one of Italy's leading independent VCs, United Ventures backs digital-technology founders across Europe, North America and Israel.

UnityPoint Health Ventures is the corporate venture capital arm of UnityPoint Health, one of the most integrated health systems in the United States, launched in 2019 and based in West Des Moines, Iowa. The firm runs a $100 million Innovation Fund that invests in early-stage growth companies across four areas: digital health, medical devices, therapeutic spaces and health care services, spanning digital therapeutics, health IT, tech-enabled services, medical devices and diagnostics, while deliberately steering clear of pharma, biopharma and drug discovery. It concentrates on seed, Series A and Series B rounds, typically writing first checks of $1 million to $3 million, and is willing to lead. Beyond capital, a core part of its value proposition is strategic: it connects portfolio companies with UnityPoint's clinical and operational leaders to demo and validate solutions, and helps accelerate and scale them through prioritized IT access, expedited contracting, and marketing and earned-media support, all aligned with the health system's goals of lowering costs, improving quality of care and advancing population-health initiatives. The fund is led by Matthew Warrens, Managing Director of Innovation, and Austin Duke, Venture Investing Director. Its portfolio of around 17 companies, which has produced one IPO and three acquisitions, includes Health Catalyst, b.well Connected Health, whose $16 million Series A it led, OpenLoop Health, Carta Healthcare, HealthSnap and TailorMed, with its most recent disclosed deal being TailorMed's Series D in November 2024. By pairing capital with access to an integrated health system's clinical and operational network, UnityPoint Health Ventures backs the technologies improving care quality and lowering costs.

University Ventures is a New York City-based investment firm founded in 2011 and focused exclusively on the global higher-education and workforce-education sector. Founded by a quartet of veterans of the for-profit and nonprofit education worlds, including co-founder and managing director Daniel Pianko, a former Goldman Sachs banker and the first outside director of Altius Education, and managing director Ryan Craig, founding director of Bridgepoint Education, the firm pursues a strategy it calls 'innovation from within,' partnering with leading universities to jointly develop and deploy innovative higher-education programs across Europe and the United States. Its models combine the entrepreneurship, capital and management expertise of the private sector with the academic integrity, quality-assurance processes and brands of traditional institutions. University Ventures manages roughly $300 million across its funds, anchored by a $100 million-plus Fund I whose two largest investors were German media group Bertelsmann and the University of Texas Investment Management Company. The firm invests from seed through growth stages, most actively at Series A, concentrating on edtech and education-enterprise companies, and it is willing to lead. Its portfolio and track record, which includes one IPO and several acquisitions, features IT-training and staffing firm Revature, whose Series A it led alongside Eden Capital and USA Funds, Synergis Education, Appier, Techtonic, a Brandman University partnership and campus-engagement platform Ready Education, whose $5.3 million Series A it led with Y Combinator. By co-developing programs with universities, University Ventures backs the next generation of higher-education and workforce companies.

UniWill Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2017 and based in Palo Alto, California, in the heart of the Bay Area. The fund invests in emerging technologies and the business models built around them, spanning ag-tech, fintech, ed-tech, clean-tech, artificial intelligence, space access, IoT, TMT, waste management, alternative protein and digital health, almost entirely in the United States. Its investment philosophy is organised around three guiding themes, 'Health,' 'Happiness' and a 'Young Entrepreneurial Spirit,' reflecting a conviction that technology should ultimately serve human wellbeing, and it has also championed impact-oriented investing. UniWill concentrates on seed and early-stage technology companies and runs a fund of around $40 million, generally as a co-investor. The firm is led by a two-partner team: co-founder Winston Sun, who established UniWill in 2017 and manages the Bay Area headquarters, and Crysti Chen, who holds a Master of Management in Global Affairs from Tsinghua University's Schwarzman College, an MS.Ed in Education Entrepreneurship from the University of Pennsylvania, and a BA in Political Economy and International Studies from the University of Washington. Across a portfolio of roughly 18 companies, UniWill has backed four unicorns, including construction-equipment marketplace EquipmentShare, 3D-printed rocket maker Relativity Space and fintech data network Plaid, and has seen one IPO and one acquisition; its most recent disclosed investment was in Soar Robotics in June 2023. By organising its thesis around human wellbeing and emerging technology, UniWill Ventures backs early-stage US founders across a wide frontier of sectors.

E14 Fund is an MIT-affiliated venture capital firm focused on supporting deep-tech startups emerging from the MIT community. Established in 2013 and rooted in the MIT Media Lab, the fund specializes in companies that are addressing critical global challenges through breakthrough science and engineering. E14 Fund invests in early-stage startups, typically from pre-seed to Series A, with a focus on industries such as robotics, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and synthetic biology. Some notable investments include Formlabs, a leader in 3D printing technology, and Overjet, a pioneer in AI-powered dental care solutions. The fund is more than just a capital provider; it acts as a strategic partner, helping founders transition from academic research to building scalable businesses. E14 leverages the vast MIT network to connect entrepreneurs with industry leaders, mentors, and technical resources that can help accelerate their growth. A significant portion of the firm’s profits is reinvested into MIT, highlighting its commitment to fostering long-term innovation within the university ecosystem. Led by managing partners Calvin Chin and Habib Haddad, E14 Fund works closely with founders to address both scientific and business challenges, providing hands-on support throughout their journey. The fund’s portfolio companies typically possess unique intellectual property and a clear path to market dominance, reflecting E14’s focus on ventures with transformative potential. By supporting startups from their earliest stages, E14 Fund plays a crucial role in translating groundbreaking MIT research into impactful, market-ready technologies.

Unpopular Ventures is a venture capital firm founded by Peter Livingston, focusing on early-stage tech startups that are often overlooked by mainstream investors. They have invested in over 300 startups globally, with a portfolio spanning various industries and regions. Notable investments include Jeeves, a global business banking platform, Farcana, a battle royale shooter game, and Foundation Devices, developers of Bitcoin-centric tools. The firm's strategy is to find and invest in unconventional opportunities that have the potential for significant impact and growth. They emphasize global investments, particularly in emerging markets, driven by Livingston's own experience living and working around the world. This global perspective allows them to identify and support startups that are off the beaten path but have strong growth potential​. Unpopular Ventures operates both as a syndicate and a rolling fund on AngelList, providing flexible investment options to their backers. The firm's unique approach and diverse portfolio have made it a significant player in the venture capital landscape, despite its name.

Unshackled Ventures, founded in 2014 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, is a venture capital firm dedicated to supporting immigrant entrepreneurs. The firm focuses on early-stage investments, particularly in technology and innovation sectors. Unshackled Ventures aims to provide not only capital but also visa support, enabling immigrant founders to build successful companies in the U.S. Their investment portfolio includes a diverse array of companies. Notable investments include Lily AI, which uses AI to improve retail personalization, and Pod Foods, a B2B marketplace for food brands and retailers. Other significant companies in their portfolio are Plantible Foods, a sustainable food company, and Career Karma, a platform helping people find jobs through bootcamps. Unshackled Ventures has made a total of 86 investments and has seen 17 exits, highlighting their effectiveness in nurturing startups to maturity. Their approach involves investing at the very earliest stages, often at "day zero," to help founders navigate the complexities of building a business from the ground up. The team is led by co-founders Nitin Pachisia and Manan Mehta, who are committed to leveraging their own experiences as immigrants to support other immigrant founders. Their mission is to unlock the potential of these entrepreneurs by providing the necessary resources, guidance, and community support to achieve their visions.

Untapped Capital is a venture capital firm based in Bellevue, Washington, founded in 2020 by Jessica Jackley and Yohei Nakajima. The firm focuses on pre-seed investments, targeting unexpected and often overlooked founders who are pioneering the latest technologies to build a more abundant future. Untapped Capital operates as a generalist VC, meaning they do not limit themselves to specific industries but instead invest across a broad spectrum, with a particular interest in companies driving innovation in climate tech, healthcare, and productivity software. The firm is known for its hands-on approach, running itself much like a startup to better understand and support the challenges faced by the founders they back. Untapped Capital has made 36 investments to date, with notable companies in their portfolio including Covalent, a leader in climate tech, and Mars Materials, which focuses on sustainable environmental solutions. Their investment strategy is centered around early-stage companies, often being one of the first institutional investors to commit capital. The team at Untapped Capital leverages their deep expertise and network to provide strategic guidance, helping their portfolio companies scale effectively. They have also developed a reputation for integrating cutting-edge AI tools and methodologies to enhance the growth and development of the startups they support. This innovative approach has made Untapped Capital a distinctive player in the venture capital landscape, particularly in supporting founders who might otherwise be overlooked by traditional VCs​.

Unusual Ventures is a seed-stage venture capital firm founded in 2018 by John Vrionis and Jyoti Bansal. They focus on providing hands-on support to early-stage startups in sectors like infrastructure software, SaaS, fintech, and consumer applications. Notable investments include Arctic Wolf Networks, Carta, Robinhood, Harness, and Vivun. Unusual Ventures differentiates itself by embedding experienced operators with startups, offering deep operational support in areas such as marketing, sales, and recruiting. This approach helps founders navigate the challenging early stages of their business, working closely to find product-market fit and build a strong foundation for future growth. Their engagement model is designed to provide comprehensive support, acting as interim executives to ensure startups have the resources they need to succeed. The firm also emphasizes diversity and social impact, partnering with institutions that are positive forces in education, healthcare, and the arts. This mission-driven approach ensures that the returns generated contribute to meaningful progress. With offices in Menlo Park, San Francisco, and Boston, Unusual Ventures has raised multiple funds, including their recent $485 million Fund III, bringing their total assets under management to over $1 billion. This commitment underscores their dedication to supporting seed-stage founders with unparalleled resources and expertise.

UP.Partners is a venture capital firm dedicated to transforming the mobility sector. Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, UP.Partners focuses on investing in groundbreaking technologies that improve the movement of people and goods. The firm targets early-stage ventures in various mobility sectors, including air, land, sea, and space. The fund's strategy emphasizes investment in enabling technologies, such as software for precise positioning, electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, and sustainable aviation fuels. UP.Partners' notable investments include Skydio, a leader in flight autonomy; Beta Technologies, which develops eVTOL aircraft; and UnitX, a manufacturing quality assurance platform. UP.Partners manages a $230 million venture fund and collaborates with major corporations like Alaska Airlines, ARK Invest, and Woven Capital, the investment arm of Toyota's Woven Planet Group. The firm also hosts the annual UP.Summit, a pivotal event for the mobility community, bringing together entrepreneurs, investors, and industry leaders to drive innovation in transportation. The firm was co-founded by aviation and technology entrepreneurs Ben Marcus and Cyrus Sigari, along with Adam Grosser, a veteran investor with a strong background in climate-focused companies. They are supported by a team of experts, including Ally Warson and industry leaders like Brian McClendon and Eric Hirshberg. UP.Partners seeks out bold entrepreneurs with innovative ideas that can transform mobility, aiming to make transportation cleaner, faster, safer, and more cost-effective. The firm provides not only capital but also strategic partnerships and resources to help startups scale effectively.

Upfront Ventures, founded in 1996 and based in Santa Monica, California, is a prominent venture capital firm focused on early-stage technology investments. With over $2 billion in total funds raised, the firm has supported more than 200 companies across various sectors, including digital media, SaaS, consumer internet, and retail innovation. Notable investments include well-known companies like PayPal Credit, thredUP, Apeel Sciences, and Ulta. The firm's investment strategy typically involves leading seed and Series A rounds, providing not just capital but also strategic guidance and resources to help startups scale. They have a strong presence in the Los Angeles tech ecosystem, contributing to the growth of Silicon Beach. Upfront Ventures is also known for hosting the annual Upfront Summit, a major tech conference in Los Angeles that gathers industry leaders and innovators. Led by managing partners Yves Sisteron and Mark Suster, Upfront Ventures combines extensive industry experience with a commitment to transparency and long-term partnership with entrepreneurs. Their investments are global, with a focus on leveraging their strategic location in Los Angeles to support the thriving local startup scene. For startups looking to engage with Upfront Ventures, a clear demonstration of innovative solutions and strong market potential is key. The firm values introductions through its network and prefers pitches that align with its investment focus and ethos​.

Upheaval Investments is a venture capital firm based in Chicago, focused on early-stage investments in disruptive technologies. The firm actively seeks out companies that are leveraging innovative solutions to tackle fundamental problems, particularly within the technology, healthcare, and industrial sectors. They invest globally, supporting startups from pre-seed through Series A rounds. The fund's approach is characterized by a commitment to partnering closely with entrepreneurs to accelerate growth and build impactful businesses. Their portfolio spans a diverse array of sectors, including AI, cleantech, robotics, and autonomous vehicles. Upheaval Investments is led by Riley Florsheim, who emphasizes a hands-on approach to fostering innovation and guiding companies from their earliest stages. While specific portfolio companies are not widely publicized, the firm's strategy revolves around identifying visionary founders with the potential to drive significant change across industries.

UpHonest Capital, founded in 2015 and based in Santa Clara, California, is a venture capital firm focused on early-stage investments. They invest across various sectors, including consumer, enterprise, deep technology, and web 3.0, supporting companies from Seed to Series A stages. The firm has built a substantial portfolio, investing in over 400 companies, with 28 unicorns and 23 exits via M&A or IPO. Notable investments from UpHonest Capital include companies such as Checkr, an AI-based platform for employee background verification; Hims & Hers, a telehealth service; Rippling, a human capital management software; and Instacart, a leading online grocery platform. Other significant investments include Turing AI, Golden, and Substack. UpHonest Capital is known for its sector-agnostic approach and its active support for portfolio companies, often co-investing with major firms like Sequoia, Accel, and Andreessen Horowitz. The firm also emphasizes building a vibrant ecosystem for entrepreneurs and investors through initiatives like the UpHonest Scouts and Beta Fellowship programs.

Upper90, founded in 2018, is a hybrid investment firm based in New York City that provides a mix of credit and equity to technology startups. The firm focuses on e-commerce, fintech, and supply chain finance, offering capital solutions that enable founders to scale their businesses with less dilution. Upper90 has managed over $2.2 billion across 43 portfolio companies, supporting ventures like Thrasio, Clearco, Octane, and Crusoe Energy​. The firm's investment strategy involves leading with credit and participating in equity, with initial credit facilities ranging from $5 million to $30 million, scaling up to $50 million as companies grow. Upper90 targets companies with predictable revenue or asset collateral, allowing them to finance growth efficiently while retaining more ownership​. Upper90's team, led by co-founder and CEO Billy Libby, prides itself on providing operational support and strategic advice to its portfolio companies, helping them navigate complex capital challenges and optimize their growth strategies​.

UPS Ventures, historically known as the UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund, is the corporate venture capital arm of United Parcel Service, founded in 1997 and based at the company's Atlanta, Georgia headquarters. The fund makes early- to mid-stage investments in startups that are strategically relevant to the world's largest package-delivery and global logistics company, using its capital both to develop critical commercial partnerships and to gather 'knowledge returns' on emerging technologies and market spaces, generally as a co-investor. Its areas of interest span logistics and transportation, warehousing and distribution, retail, healthcare, alternative fuel, wireless, biometrics and a broad sweep of information-technology categories from business and productivity software to networking, semiconductors and IT services. Over its long history the fund has made around 66 investments and recorded 23 exits. It is closely associated with UPS's bets on autonomous and aerial logistics, including drone-delivery pioneers Matternet, a UPS Flight Forward partner since 2019, and CyPhy Works, as well as autonomous-trucking company Peloton Technology. Other holdings include logistics-software companies such as Inxeption, Brazilian last-mile player Mandaê, and additive-manufacturing firm Fast Radius, its last disclosed exit in February 2022. Long led by Managing Director Rimas Kapeskas, the fund continues to invest, with a recent disclosed deal in healthcare-services company RxS in July 2025, and operates within UPS's broader multibillion-dollar automation strategy. By pairing capital with strategic partnership and knowledge returns, UPS Ventures backs the technologies shaping the future of logistics.

Upside Partnership, founded by Kent Goldman in San Francisco, is a seed and pre-seed venture capital firm known for its early-stage investments in technology and software sectors. Some notable companies in their portfolio include Hims & Hers, Allbirds, and Life360, highlighting their ability to identify high-growth potential startups. Upside Partnership is industry-agnostic, focusing on purpose-built teams and companies with a strong vision and operational efficiency. They invest primarily in the U.S. market, often being the first institutional investor to commit, which allows them to shape the initial growth trajectory of their portfolio companies. Their strategy involves writing initial checks of around $500K, with 70% of their fund reserved for supporting founders in subsequent rounds. They place a high value on long-term partnerships and are known for their hands-on approach, guiding startups through their growth phases with a combination of mentorship and strategic advice. Kent Goldman, previously a partner at First Round Capital, brings extensive experience in early-stage investing. Christina Hunt, another key partner, has a strong background in both startup operations and venture capital, ensuring that Upside Partnership provides comprehensive support to its founders. This blend of expertise and a founder-first philosophy makes Upside Partnership a distinguished player in the venture capital space.