Raising money for an AI startup is both exciting and overwhelming. The space is hot, investors are everywhere, but finding the right backer is still extremely challenging.
Here’s a quick gut-check before you start reaching out (a checklist by Andrew Ackerman from the How I Raised It podcast):
- Make sure your startup is actually fundable, not just fund-seeking.
- Don’t let one weak link in your story (team, traction, market, or plan) sink the whole pitch.
- Show progress. Even small milestones make you more credible.
- Be clear with your ask—how much, why, and what it gets you.
- Skip the mass emails. Warm intros open doors, cold blasts close them.
This list of 25 AI-focused investors is designed to save you time and give you intel on the best VC firms to fund your business. You’ll find their websites, past investments, preferred stages, and key partners to reach out to (yes — with LinkedIn links). It’s your shortcut to spend less time guessing and more time building.
Let’s dive in.
1. Uncork Capital
Website: uncorkcapital.com
Notable Investments: Postmates, Eventbrite, Fitbit, SendGrid, LaunchDarkly
Preferred Stage: Seed / early-stage
Location: San Francisco, CA
Important Team Members:
- Jeff Clavier — Founding Partner
- Andy McLoughlin — Managing Partner
- Tripp Jones — Partner
2. First Round Capital
Website: firstround.com
Notable Investments: Notion, Clay, EvolutionIQ
Preferred Stage: Seed
Location: San Francisco, CA & New York, NY
Important Team Members:
- Josh Kopelman — Founder & Partner
- Rob Hayes — Partner
- Bill Trenchard — Partner
3. Felicis Ventures
Website: felicis.com
Notable Investments: Shopify, Canva, Notion, Plaid, Runway, Mercor, Supabase
Preferred Stage: Seed → Growth (emphasis on early)
Location: Menlo Park, CA
Important Team Members:
- Aydin Senkut — Founder & Managing Partner
- Sundeep Peechu — Managing Partner
- Victoria Treyger — Senior Venture Partner
4. Forum Ventures
Website: forumvc.com
Notable Investments: Bloom AI, Fireflies.ai, Private AI, VendorPM
Preferred Stage: Pre-seed / Seed / Accelerator
Location: New York, NY (with San Francisco presence)
Important Team Members:
- Michael Cardamone — CEO & Managing Partner
- Jonah Midanik — Managing Partner
- Bocar Dia — Partner
- Olivia O’Sullivan — Partner & COO
5. Unusual Ventures
Website: unusual.vc
Notable Investments: Harness, Traceable AI, Artic Wolf, Strella
Preferred Stage: Seed / early-stage
Location: Menlo Park, CA
Important Team Members:
- John Vrionis — Founder & Managing Partner
- Jyoti Bansal — Co-Founder
- Sandhya Hegde — Venture Partner
- Lars Albright — General Partner
- Sarah Leary — Venture Partner
6. SignalFire
Website: signalfire.com
Notable Investments: Grammarly, Frame.io, Flock Freight, Ro, Stampli
Preferred Stage: Seed → Series B (multi-stage)
Location: San Francisco, CA
Important Team Members:
- Chris Farmer — Founder & CEO
- Ilya Kirnos — Founding Partner & CTO
- Wayne Hu — General Partner
- Chris Scoggins — General Partner
7. Mainsail Partners
Website: mainsailpartners.com
Notable Investments: LIV, ChiroHD, Inn-Flow, SmartMoving, ProShop
Preferred Stage: Growth equity (bootstrapped B2B software companies)
Location: San Francisco, CA
Important Team Members:
- Gavin Turner — Managing Partner & Co-Founder
- Emily Azevedo — Partner
- David Farsai — Partner
8. Blumberg Capital
Website: blumbergcapital.com
Notable Investments: Braze, Nutanix, DoubleVerify, Fundbox, IntSights
Preferred Stage: Seed / Series A (early-stage)
Location: San Francisco, CA
Important Team Members:
- David J. Blumberg — Founder & Managing Partner
- Yodfat Harel Buchris — Managing Director
- Bruce Taragin — Managing Director
9. Nimble Partners
Website: nimblepartners.vc
Notable Investments: (Fund is newer; partners previously invested in companies like Coinbase, Slack, Pinterest, Snowflake, LinkedIn through past firms)
Preferred Stage: Multi-stage (seed, growth, secondaries)
Location: San Francisco, CA
Important Team Members:
- Seth Spalding — Partner
- Ken Wallace — Partner
10. Primary Venture Partners (Primary VC)
Website: primary.vc
Notable Investments: Alloy, Alma, Casap
Preferred Stage: Seed / Series A
Location: New York, NY
Important Team Members:
- Brad Svrluga — Co-Founder & General Partner
- Ben Sun — Co-Founder & General Partner
- Jason Shuman — General Partner
11. General Catalyst
Website: generalcatalyst.com
Notable Investments: Airbnb, Stripe, Snap, Glean AI, Mistral, Helsing
Preferred Stage: Seed → Growth (multi-stage)
Location: Cambridge, MA & San Francisco, CA
Important Team Members:
- Joel Cutler — Managing Director
- Hemant Taneja — CEO
- Quentin Clark — Managing Director
- Holly Maloney — Managing Director
12. Wireframe Ventures
Website: wireframevc.com
Notable Investments: Span.io, Enveda, Mammoth Biosciences, Palantir (exit), Gridware, Canopy Climate
Preferred Stage: Seed
Location: San Francisco, CA
Important Team Members:
- Paul Straub — Co-Founder & Managing Director
- Lily Bernicker — Partner
- Harsh Patel — Co-Founder & Managing Partner
13. Basis Set Ventures
Website: basisset.com
Notable Investments: Quince, Assembled
Preferred Stage: Seed
Location: San Francisco, CA
Important Team Members:
- Lan Xuezhao — Founder & Managing Partner
- John Mannes — Partner
14. Zetta Venture Partners
Website: zettavp.com
Notable Investments: Scale AI, Tractable, Domino Data Lab, Clearbit
Preferred Stage: Seed
Location: San Francisco, CA
Important Team Members:
- Mark Gorenberg — Managing Director
- Jocelyn Goldfein — Managing Director
15. Menlo Ventures
Website: menlovc.com
Notable Investments: Uber, Roku, Benchling, Anthropic
Preferred Stage: Seed → Growth (multi-stage)
Location: Menlo Park, CA
Important Team Members:
- Shawn Carolan — Partner
- Mark Siegel — Managing Partner
- Steve Sloane — Partner
- Greg Yap — Partner
16. Obvious Ventures
Website: obvious.com
Notable Investments: Beyond Meat, DarwinAI, Corvus Insurance, Dexterity
Preferred Stage: Seed / Series A
Location: San Francisco, CA
Important Team Members:
- James Joaquin — Co-Founder & Managing Director
- Vishal Vasishth — Co-Founder & Managing Director
17. Soma Capital
Website: somacap.com
Notable Investments: Rappi, Rippling, Deel, Ironclad
Preferred Stage: Seed
Location: San Francisco, CA
Important Team Members:
- Aneel Ranadive — Managing Partner
18. Almaz Capital
Website: almazcapital.com
Notable Investments: Yandex, Parallels, GridGain, GoodData
Preferred Stage: Early stage (Series A / B)
Location: Portola Valley, CA & Berlin, Germany
Important Team Members:
- Alexander Galitsky — Co-Founder & Managing Partner
- Pavel Bogdanov — General Partner
- Daniil Stolyarov — Partner
19. Radical Ventures
Website: radical.vc
Notable Investments: Cohere, Waabi, Xanadu, Unlearn, Writer, You.com
Preferred Stage: Seed / Series A
Location: Toronto, ON & San Francisco, CA
Important Team Members:
- Jordan Jacobs — Co-Founder & Managing Partner
- Tomi Poutanen — Co-Founder & Partner
- Rob Toews — Partner
20. Gradient Ventures
Website: gradient.com
Notable Investments: Reclaim.ai, Rad AI, PopSQL, Plannuh
Preferred Stage: Seed
Location: San Francisco, CA (Google/Alphabet HQ ties in Mountain View)
Important Team Members:
- Darian Shirazi — Managing Partner
- Zach Bratun — General Partner
- Clayton Petty — Partner
21. AIX Ventures
Website: aixventures.com
Notable Investments: Atomic AI, Ideogram AI, Lovable
Preferred Stage: Pre-seed / Seed
Location: San Francisco, CA
Important Team Members:
- Richard Socher — Founder
- Anthony Goldbloom — Investment Partner
22. NFX
Website: nfx.com
Notable Investments: Lyft, Doordash, Poshmark, HoneyBook, Outdoorsy
Preferred Stage: Seed
Location: San Francisco, CA & Herzliya, Israel
Important Team Members:
- James Currier — General Partner
- Gigi Levy-Weiss — General Partner
- Pete Flint — General Partner
23. Bain Capital Ventures
Website: baincapitalventures.com
Notable Investments: LinkedIn, Flywire, Clari, SendGrid, Attentive
Preferred Stage: Seed → Growth (multi-stage)
Location: San Francisco, CA & New York, NY
Important Team Members:
- Ajay Agarwal — Partner
- Merritt Hummer — Partner
- Matt Harris — Partner
24. DCVC (Data Collective VC)
Website: dcvc.com
Notable Investments: Planet Labs, Zymergen, Freenome, Recursion, Atomwise
Preferred Stage: Early-stage → Growth
Location: Palo Alto, CA
Important Team Members:
- Matt Ocko — Co-Managing Partner
- Spencer Punter — Partner, COO
25. Benchmark
Website: benchmark.com
Notable Investments: Uber, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Discord
Preferred Stage: Early stage (Seed / Series A)
Location: San Francisco, CA
Important Team Members:
- Bill Gurley — General Partner
- Peter Fenton — General Partner
- Eric Vishria — General Partner
26. Greylock Partners
Website: greylock.com
Notable Investments: Airbnb, LinkedIn, Facebook, Figma, Roblox, Cresta AI
Preferred Stage: Seed → Series B (multi-stage)
Location: Menlo Park, CA
Important Team Members:
- Reid Hoffman — Partner
- David Sze — Advisory Partner
- Asheem Chandna — Partner
- Jerry Chen — General Partner
Ending Note :)
Fundraising is tough, but remember—you don’t need every investor to say yes. You just need the right one to believe in you.
The investors on this list are already betting big on AI. They’re looking for founders who are bold enough to solve hard problems and clear enough in their vision to pull others along. That could be you.
So do the work. Refine your story. Share your progress. Reach out with confidence.
Because the future of AI won’t be built by chance—it’ll be built by founders who take the shot.
Good luck :)
