Insight Partners is a global private equity and venture capital firm established in 1995, specializing in growth-stage investments in software, internet, and data services companies. With over $20 billion in assets under management, the firm has invested in more than 300 companies worldwide. Insight Partners emphasizes a hands-on approach to collaboration, leveraging the expertise of its team to foster significant growth and success for its portfolio companies. The firm promotes a culture that views growth as a pathway to opportunity, positioning itself as a trusted partner in the software industry.
Science is a California-based investment firm founded in 2012 that focuses on early-stage investments in technology companies, with a particular interest in markets in the United States and India. The firm specializes in incubation, seed, and early-stage investments across various sectors, including fintech, blockchain, mobile media, Internet of Things, gaming, and mobile applications. Science has co-founded and invested in over 60 companies, demonstrating a commitment to identifying entrenched markets and societal shifts, as well as fostering disruptive ideas through highly focused teams. With a preference for minority stakes in its portfolio companies, Science operates from its headquarters in Santa Monica and maintains additional offices in Karnataka, India, and Yerevan, Armenia.
Techstars is a global startup accelerator founded in 2006, headquartered in Boulder, Colorado. It provides a supportive environment for entrepreneurs through various programs, including mentorship-driven accelerators, startup programs, and corporate innovation partnerships. Techstars connects founders with a vast network of mentors, investors, and industry experts to foster company growth. The organization operates multiple accelerator programs worldwide, focusing on diverse sectors such as mobility, retail, and social impact. It also manages a venture capital fund that invests in innovative technology companies at early stages. With over 1,000 companies in its accelerator portfolio, Techstars has developed a reputation for nurturing successful startups across various markets, helping them scale and achieve significant valuations.
Founded in 2009, Founder Collective is a venture capital firm headquartered in New York City, with additional offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and San Francisco, California. The firm specializes in seed-stage and early-stage investments, primarily targeting technology-related companies across various sectors, including e-commerce, healthcare, advertising, mobile, and the Internet of Things. With approximately $50 million under management, Founder Collective focuses on East Coast investments while maintaining a global reach. The firm is built by a network of successful entrepreneurs and is industry agnostic, though it prefers companies with a strong information technology component.
Speedinvest is a European venture capital firm based in Vienna, Austria, founded in 2011. It focuses on early-stage investments in technology-related companies, targeting sectors such as fintech, insurtech, deep tech, and consumer tech. The firm typically invests between €250,000 and €3 million, aiming for minority stakes of up to 20% in its portfolio companies. Speedinvest emphasizes operational support and seeks to collaborate closely with entrepreneurs, often taking on operational roles for six months to a year. With a network that extends to Silicon Valley, Speedinvest positions itself as a pivotal investment and development hub within Europe’s start-up ecosystem, actively investing in Central and Eastern European markets including Austria, Germany, and the UK.
UV Partners, Inc., operating as Pelion Venture Partners, is a venture capital firm established in 1986, with a focus on early-stage investments in technology companies across the United States. They specialize in investing in information technology and life sciences companies, with a particular emphasis on B2B software. The firm's investment team, consisting of 7 members, leverages their deep and diverse industry experience to provide hands-on support to portfolio companies. Pelion Venture Partners seeks to invest in companies based in the Western United States, particularly in regions like the Intermountain West, the Pacific Northwest, Southern California, and Northern California. They typically invest between $0.5 million and $10 million in a company over multiple rounds of funding, aiming to take a lead investor role in the first institutional financing round and often securing a Board seat in their portfolio companies. With offices in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Manhattan Beach, California, Pelion Venture Partners aims to help entrepreneurs transform early-stage concepts into successful industry-leading companies.
Flywheel Ventures is a venture capital firm based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, that focuses on seed, early-stage, and growth capital investments in technology and physical sciences. The firm is particularly interested in sectors such as software, software-as-a-service, semiconductors, mobile computing, and clean technology, among others. Flywheel Ventures targets investments primarily in the Southwestern and Rockies regions of the United States, with a particular emphasis on New Mexico, Colorado, and Arizona, while also co-investing in California-based technology companies. The firm typically invests between $50,000 and $1 million initially, maintaining a follow-on funding reserve ratio of 3:1 or greater. Flywheel Ventures aims to address significant global challenges through its investments and prefers to take a lead role, often securing a board seat in its portfolio companies. Established in 1999, the firm also collaborates with other investment firms to support future financing rounds.
Athenian Venture Partners, established in 1997 and based in Ohio, is a venture capital firm that focuses on early-stage investments in the Information Technology and Healthcare sectors, including Digital Health. The firm is dedicated to identifying innovative companies led by skilled entrepreneurs and collaborates closely with them to foster growth and development. Athenian adopts a hands-on approach, actively engaging with company management to enhance value throughout the business life cycle. By doing so, the firm aims to maximize shareholder value while contributing to the economic vitality of the markets in which it operates.
Advantage Capital is a venture capital firm founded in 1992, specializing in growth equity, lending, and mezzanine debt investments in companies at various stages of development, excluding seed stage. The firm focuses on small businesses and invests in low-income communities, both urban and rural, to support state and local economic development efforts. Advantage Capital seeks to invest in companies that develop or apply proprietary technologies primarily in industries such as communication, information technology, business services, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, life sciences, and energy. Additionally, the firm provides debt and equity capital to real estate development firms and projects. It primarily invests in underserved states and communities in the United States, with an initial investment range between $0.5 million and $10 million. Advantage Capital partners with other investment firms and government agencies to support bank lending and economic initiatives, aiming to bring businesses, technologies, and jobs to communities in need.
Valor Equity Partners is a private equity firm based in Chicago, established in 1995, that specializes in operational growth investments across various sectors, including consumer, infrastructure, industrial services, and manufacturing. The firm focuses on high-growth companies at different stages of development and aims to partner with entrepreneurs who are dedicated to excellence and industry transformation. Valor Equity Partners typically invests between $10 million and $75 million in platform companies with revenues ranging from $30 million to $200 million and EBITDA between $5 million and $20 million. The firm also has a presence in North America and India, targeting investments in a wide array of industries, including healthcare, technology, clean energy, and financial services. With a commitment to solving the challenges of growth and scale, Valor Equity Partners seeks to be a lead investor, emphasizing both control and non-control equity investments.