Cervin
Founded 2011 · 3 known investors
Cervin (Cervin Ventures) is a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage enterprise application, infrastructure, and tools startups. It manages $335 million across five funds plus opportunity funds.
Also known as Cervin Ventures
Founders & leadership
Cervin was founded in 2011 by Neeraj Gupta.
Investors · 3
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Cervin (Cervin Ventures) is an early-stage venture capital firm headquartered at 820 Ramona Street, Unit 200, Palo Alto, California. It invests in enterprise technology companies building tools, applications and infrastructure products, with stated focus areas spanning enterprise software, data and AI, cybersecurity, DevOps, cloud and networking. The firm describes its capital targets as Seed and Series A rounds, and also runs a pre-seed program making $250,000 investments.
The partnership includes co-founder and partner Neeraj Gupta (industry solutions and data infrastructure), partner Shirish Sathaye (next-generation and cloud-based enterprise software, AI-powered businesses, wireless and wireline networking, data infrastructure and systems), partner Daniel Karp (cloud-native infrastructure, DevOps, ITOps, developer tools, cyber security, networking, data management and open-source-first enterprise motions), and co-founder and partner Preetish Nijhawan. In 2023 the firm added Karp to broaden infrastructure and developer-stack coverage and created a portfolio services team led by Scott Brown, previously in marketing roles at Hum Capital and Sapphire Ventures, to provide post-investment business development, research, go-to-market consulting and marketing and communications support.
Beyond capital, Cervin positions its offering around three areas: product and market strategy work alongside founders; access to a network of domain experts, investment partners and operations professionals; and customer development, including identifying user personas and design partners for portfolio companies at the early stages of product development and go-to-market.
Business model
Cervin operates as a venture capital fund manager, raising capital from limited partners (the site maintains an LP information section and LP portal) and deploying it into equity positions in early-stage enterprise technology startups, with pre-seed checks of about $250,000 and participation in seed and Series A rounds. Returns are generated through exits; the firm cites more than a dozen exits from portfolio companies including Punchh, Replay, EdCast and Tynker.
Traction
As of September 2023 Cervin reported more than $335 million in assets under management, investments in more than 50 companies across the United States, Israel and India, and more than a dozen exits including Punchh, Replay, EdCast and Tynker. During 2023 it added 10-plus new portfolio companies, including Bolster, Causely, FireCompass, Lightlytics, OwnID, Ratio and Vendelux, and led rounds such as Conveyor's $12.5 million Series A and FireCompass's $7 million raise. Portfolio companies named on its site include AiFi, ArmorCode, Kapital, Celona, Paystand, Redo, Remi and Stream Security. Portfolio follow-on activity reported for 2023 included ArmorCode's $40 million Series B, Catch+Release's $8.8 million raise, Vendelux's $14 million Series A, Coast's $2.1 million seed, Kapital's $40 million Series B plus a $125 million warehouse capital line, Peerlogic's $5.6 million Series A and Type's $2.8 million seed. Pre-seed investments in 2023 included Brinker, Docsum and Hegel AI. Later investment announcements cover Callidus (July 2025), Sequifi (August 2025), Woz (October 2025) and RADICL Defense (February 2026).
Latest developments
Cervin has published investment announcements for Callidus, described as automating legal work, in July 2025; Sequifi, in workforce finance, in August 2025; Woz in October 2025; and RADICL Defense, focused on enterprise-grade security for small and medium businesses, in February 2026. In November 2023 it participated in Vendelux's $14 million Series A led by FirstMark Capital.
▸Full profile — market position, go-to-market, geography, history
Market position
Cervin describes itself as an early-stage venture capital firm dedicated to enterprise technology, with over $335 million in assets under management as of September 2023 and investments in more than 50 companies. Its 2023 fund close of $162 million was its largest capital raise to date. The firm emphasizes a disciplined, operator-led approach and avoidance of short-lived hype cycles, and states it has had more than a dozen successful exits.
Cervin emphasizes the operating and entrepreneurial backgrounds of its investment partners as the basis for hands-on help with product and market strategy, a rigorous and disciplined investment approach maintained through market cycles, and an in-house portfolio services team providing post-investment go-to-market, business development, research and marketing support. It also uses a structured pre-seed program with $250,000 checks to build pipeline.
Go-to-market
The firm sources and supports deals through its partners' operating and entrepreneurial backgrounds, a pre-seed program used to build pipeline, published investment rationale posts and a quarterly newsletter, and a dedicated portfolio services team offering post-investment business development, research, go-to-market consulting and marketing support. It also runs a portfolio jobs board for its companies.
On the investment side, founders of early-stage (pre-seed, seed and Series A) enterprise technology companies in the United States, Israel and India; on the fundraising side, limited partners investing in its funds.
Geography
Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, with portfolio investments across the United States, Israel and India.
History
Cervin has been investing in enterprise technology for more than a decade as of 2023. It was co-founded by Neeraj Gupta and Preetish Nijhawan. In 2023 the firm closed $162 million in new capital, its largest raise to date, bringing assets under management to more than $335 million; the same year it expanded its investment team with partner Daniel Karp, launched a portfolio services team under Scott Brown, and added more than ten new portfolio companies. It has continued to announce new investments through 2025 and into 2026.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 10
launches, deals, and filingsCervin published its investment rationale for RADICL Defense, which brings enterprise-grade security to small and medium businesses.
Cervin announced its interest in Sequifi, a workforce finance company.
Cervin Ventures announced an investment in Callidus, positioned around compressing legal work from 40 hours to 10 minutes.
Cervin Ventures participated in a $14 million Series A for event intelligence platform Vendelux, led by FirstMark Capital with other venture firms and angel investors.
$14M source ↗
Cervin introduced a portfolio services team led by Scott Brown, previously head of marketing at Hum Capital and Sapphire Ventures, to provide portfolio companies with business development, research, go-to-market consulting, and marketing and communications support.
Cervin Ventures announced the close of $162 million in new capital, its largest raise to date, to invest in Seed and Series A startups in enterprise software, data and AI, cybersecurity, DevOps, cloud and networking. The firm reported over $335 million in assets under management following the close.
$162M source ↗
Cervin increased its investment coverage by adding Daniel Karp as a partner focused on enterprise infrastructure and developer stacks, including cloud-native infrastructure, DevOps, ITOps, developer tools, cybersecurity, networking, data management and open-source-first enterprise motions.
Cervin Ventures led a $12.5 million Series A for Conveyor, a compliance startup whose first product automates customer security reviews.
$12.5M source ↗
Cybersecurity company FireCompass raised $7 million in funding led by Cervin, targeting red teaming and attack surface management.
$7M source ↗
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Cervincervin.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Cervin do?
- Cervin Ventures is a Palo Alto early-stage venture capital firm backing seed and Series A enterprise technology startups.
- Who founded Cervin?
- Cervin was founded by Neeraj Gupta in 2011.
- Who are Cervin's investors?
- Cervin's investors include Cervin, Accel, HarbourVest Partners (Canada).