fintech

Founders Fund

Check: $1M-$100M+ (multi-stage, also invests personally and through Thiel Capital)

The original contrarian VC. 'We wanted flying cars, instead we got 140 characters.' Seeks companies that can become category-defining monopolies in markets others ignore. First principles thinking is non-negotiable. The key question: 'What important truth do few people agree with you on?' Backs revolutionary technology, not incremental improvements. The Venn diagram of 'right' and 'different' is where he invests. Thiel's intellectual framework is deeply philosophical — draws from René Girard's mimetic theory (competition is imitation, and imitation destroys value), Leo Strauss, and libertarian economics. Founders Fund's motto: 'We wanted flying cars, instead we got 140 characters' — a critique of Silicon Valley's focus on trivial consumer apps instead of transformative technology. Thiel distinguishes between 'definite optimism' (having a concrete plan to build a better future) and 'indefinite optimism' (vaguely hoping things get better). He champions the former. Created the Thiel Fellowship ($100K grants for young people to drop out of college and build companies) — alumni include Vitalik Buterin (Ethereum), Austin Russell (Luminar Technologies), and others.

BoxGroup

Check: $500K-$5M (recently raised a $550M fund in Oct 2025, significantly larger than previous funds)

One of the most active and respected seed investors in NYC. Co-founded TechStars NYC (now Techstars NYC), deeply embedded in the New York startup ecosystem since its earliest days. Known for being highly accessible, fast to decide, and genuinely helpful post-investment. Just raised a $550M fund (Oct 2025) — a massive step up from previous funds, signaling BoxGroup's evolution from small seed fund to significant early-stage player. Not thesis-driven — David reacts to founders and ideas he finds compelling rather than fitting investments into a predefined framework. This flexibility has served him well — his portfolio spans fintech (Plaid), healthcare (Oscar, Ro), consumer (Harry's, Away), and more. The common thread isn't sector but founder quality and early product-market fit signals. David is deeply connected to the NYC startup ecosystem and has helped shape it over the past 15+ years. He's often one of the first calls founders make when starting a company in New York.

First Round Capital

Check: $500K-$3M (seed only)

The seed-stage specialist. Invests earliest and deepest at seed — First Round was one of the firms that pioneered institutional seed investing. Built First Round into a platform that punches well above its check size — extensive founder community (~1000 active founders), expert network (First Round Network), and operational support. First Round Review (their media arm) produces some of the best tactical startup content anywhere — deeply researched guides on hiring, product, management, and go-to-market. Believes the best seed investors win by helping, not just funding. Josh's personal background as a serial entrepreneur (Half.com, Infonautics) gives him deep empathy for founders. He's lived the founding journey and knows what early-stage companies actually need. First Round's community model is a key competitive advantage — founders help each other, creating a network effect that makes the fund more valuable with every new investment. Known for being one of the most founder-friendly VCs — fast to respond, honest about passing, and genuinely helpful when invested.

General Catalyst

Check: $1M-$100M+ (multi-stage, GC manages $25B+)

'Responsible innovation' thesis: technology should solve real problems for real people, not create consumer distractions. Strong health and enterprise focus. Author of 'Unscaled' — argues that technology is unscaling the economy, allowing small, nimble companies to compete with large incumbents by renting scale (cloud, AI, platforms) rather than building it. Recently evolved GC into a 'global transformation company' — not just investing but also building internal ventures, acquiring companies, and providing 'transformation services' to portfolio companies and external partners. This is a controversial evolution — GC is now part VC, part PE, part consulting firm. Hemant believes the traditional VC model is outdated and that the next great investment firm needs to do more than write checks. Backs companies that endure and compound over decades. Deep conviction that AI will transform healthcare, reducing costs 10x while improving outcomes. Views technology as a tool for social good, not just wealth creation.

Union Square Ventures (USV)

Check: $1M-$25M

Backs 'trusted brands that broaden access to knowledge, capital, and well-being by leveraging networks, platforms, and protocols.' The access thesis is the through-line: every investment should make something important more accessible to more people. Willing to invest in companies without a business model if the product will attract millions. Lives with uncertainty. Now investing in climate tech (both bits and atoms) through a dedicated fund. Fred is thesis-driven — USV publishes its investment thesis publicly and updates it periodically. Each fund has a specific thesis, and every investment must fit. Historically moved through phases: Web 2.0 networks → mobile → crypto/web3 → climate. One of the earliest VCs to take crypto seriously (invested in Coinbase in 2013). Co-founded USV with Brad Burnham in 2003 after learning hard lessons from the dot-com bust at Flatiron Partners.

Ribbit Capital

Check: $1M-$50M+

Grew up in Venezuela during hyperinflation and institutional collapse. That lived experience of broken money systems drives everything. Mantra: 'The world needs more financial innovation and less financial engineering.' Backs 'rebels' who challenge incumbent financial institutions. Shifting thesis from last decade ('giving people access to money') to this decade ('contextual money' — tailoring financial services using data, AI, and personalized interfaces). Views Ribbit as a startup that deploys capital, not a traditional VC firm. Has said that every generation reinvents financial services and that the best fintech companies don't just digitize existing services — they create entirely new financial behaviors. Deeply global in orientation — has backed companies across the US, Brazil, Mexico, India, UK, Canada, and more.

Gil Capital (Solo GP)

Check: $500K-$10M+ (flexible, has written checks as large as $50M+ in later-stage co-investments)

One of the largest and most successful solo GP funds ever ($1B+). Unusually dense hit rate across breakout companies — has invested in more unicorns than most institutional funds. Invests based on pattern recognition from decades of operating and investing. Moves fast, decides fast — known for making investment decisions in a single meeting. Written 'The High Growth Handbook,' the definitive guide on scaling from Series B to IPO. Being on your cap table is a strong signal to other investors — 'Elad Gil is on the cap table' has become a credibility marker in Silicon Valley. Currently most excited about AI as a platform shift comparable to mobile and cloud. Has shifted from primarily angel investing to writing larger checks ($5-50M+) as his fund has grown. Views the current AI wave as the most important technology shift since the internet.

Sequoia Capital

Check: $500K-$50M+ (stage dependent)

The defining voice of Sequoia's AI thesis and arguably the most influential AI investor-thinker in Silicon Valley. Co-authors a series of landmark essays with Pat Grady that have become the canonical frameworks for understanding generative AI's evolution. Core conviction: the application layer — not foundation models — is where enduring value accrues. Foundation models are commoditizing rapidly (only five scaled players remain: Microsoft/OpenAI, Amazon/Anthropic, Google, Meta, xAI), so the real opportunity is in vertical AI applications that solve end-to-end human problems. Believes we have entered the 'Age of Abundance' where AI makes once-scarce labor available everywhere at near-zero cost, transforming the addressable market from software ($1T) to services ($10T+). In this world, 'taste' — the human judgment to decide what to build and how — becomes the scarcest resource. Her January 2026 essay declares AGI is functionally here in the form of long-horizon agents that can sustain multi-step work, correct errors, and persist toward goals autonomously. Sequoia has deployed roughly $150M into foundation models but over $1.5B into application-layer companies, reflecting a 10:1 bet on applications over infrastructure.

Craft Ventures

Check: $1M-$50M

Pioneered 'Bottom-Up SaaS' — the strategy of applying consumer growth tactics to B2B products. At PayPal he learned viral distribution; at Yammer he proved it could work in the enterprise, growing from zero to $56M ARR in under four years before selling to Microsoft for $1.2B. The core filter is predictable, compounding recurring revenue with strong unit economics. Invented the 'Burn Multiple' metric (net burn / net new ARR) that has become an industry-standard efficiency benchmark. Believes the best SaaS companies combine the growth potential of B2C with the enterprise budgets of B2B. Invested in 20+ unicorns. Operator-investor who thinks in SaaS metrics and has published detailed frameworks (Burn Multiple, Difficulty Ratio, The Cadence, Pipeline Metrics) that founders can reverse-engineer. Recently transitioned from General Partner to Venture Partner at Craft as the firm moved away from seed-stage investing.

Union Square Ventures (USV)

Craft Ventures

San Francisco, CA

AUM: $3B

Sequoia Capital

Menlo Park, CA

AUM: $85B+

General Catalyst

New York, NY

AUM: $25B

Ribbit Capital

Palo Alto, CA

AUM: $4B

First Round Capital

New York, NY

AUM: $1B+

BoxGroup

New York, NY

AUM: $500M

Founders Fund

San Francisco, CA

AUM: $12B

Gil Capital (Solo GP)