1955 Capital
Venture capitalSan Francisco · Pre-Seed–Series A · 6 people tracked
Also known as 1955 CAPITAL LLC
Investment thesis
1955 Capital focuses on the translational gap between scientific discovery and company building, investing at the earliest stages before markets are obvious. The firm backs breakthroughs in biology, materials, and computation, arguing that most capital arrives too late and traditional institutions are ill-equipped to commercialize foundational science. Its operator-led approach involves working closely with founders and scientists to shape technology, build teams, and accelerate the path from lab to scale. Focus areas include energy and infrastructure, biology and human health, food and resources, and computation and intelligence. The firm reports top-quartile performance and partnerships with leading global investors.
Source: firm website, verified Aug 25, 2026.
Team · 6 people
from the firm's website
What they invest in
from 7 of 13 portfolio companiesBiotech ×4Medical Devices ×4Healthtech ×3AI & Machine Learning ×2Digital Health ×2New Materials ×2AgTech ×1Cleantech ×1
HQs:United States×4Japan×1
Investments · 13 tracked
founders shown can be your intro pathBy year:2021 · 12018 · 12016 · 13 dated
AcuamarkDx is a molecular diagnostics company developing early cancer detection technology using proprietary qPCR and machine learning-driven assays for cancer screening and recurrence monitoring.
AI & Machine LearningBiotechDigital HealthHealthtechMedical Devices
Bernard Peperstraete(Co-Founder & CEO)
Ampaire develops hybrid-electric propulsion systems for aircraft, with the AmpDrive technology deployed across multiple aircraft types to reduce fuel consumption, maintenance costs, and noise emissions.
CleantechClimate TechEnergyHardwareSpace TechLos Angeles, US
Kevin Noertker(Executive Officer, Director)Cory Combs(Executive Officer, Director)Ryan Bilton(Executive Officer, Director)
Co-investorsAutodesk FoundationHemisphere Ventures LLCTechstarsMassive
Craif develops biomarker analysis and AI-driven diagnostic solutions to enable early disease detection and personalized treatment through non-invasive testing of body fluids.
AI & Machine LearningBiotechHealthtechMedical DevicesTokyo, JP
Ryuichi Onose(Executive Officer, Director)inYuki Ichikawa(Director)Mika Yui(Director)
Co-investorsGlobal BrainAozora Corporate Investment
Crop Enhancement develops CropCoat, a nontoxic crop treatment that leaves no residue on the harvested crop, aimed at agricultural growers.
AgTechNew Materials
Co-investorsBandgap VenturesPhoenix Venture PartnersSpruce Capital Partners
Combining cost & safety of lead-acid and performance & lifetime of Li-ion
Santa Clara, US
Christiaan W Beekhuis(Executive Officer, Director)
BoardDan Miller(Director)Roger Strauch(Director)inMichele Klein(Director)Ray Kubis(Director)
Co-investorsThe Roda Group
The Fynder Group develops a biotechnology platform using extremophile fungi to produce specialty ingredients, biopharmaceutical drugs, and bio-based materials for food, beverage, pharmaceutical, and textile applications.
BiotechFoodTechNew MaterialsChicago, US
Matthew Strongin(Founder)in
Co-investorsBreakthrough Energy VenturesDanone Manifesto VentureLauder PartnersSoftBank Vision Fund
Noah Medical develops the Galaxy System, a robotic bronchoscopy platform that integrates advanced imaging, precision targeting, and adaptive workflow for real-time lesion localization and lung diagnostics.
HealthtechMedical DevicesRobotics
Co-investorsChina Growth CapitalLYFE CapitalProsperity7 VenturesShangBay Capital LLC
Advanced materials for auto and construction markets
<UNKNOWN>
San Francisco, US
Bastian Lehman(Founder & CEO)Sam Street(Founder)inSean Plaice(Director)Bastian Lehmann(Executive Officer, Director)Lee Fixel(Director)
BoardScott Banister(Director)
Co-investorsAngelPadBrighter CapitalCrosslink CapitalEntrée CapitalExpansion Venture CapitalFirstMark Capital+31 more
3D printing for industrial applications and heavy manufacturing
Developers of advanced, low-emission railway propulsion platform
VitalBio develops the VitalOne, a diagnostic device that delivers comprehensive lab-grade blood test results in minutes from a small blood sample, using robotics, biochemistry, computer vision, and microfluidics.
BiotechDigital HealthMedical Devices
Vasu Nadella(Founder)in
Co-investorsNext VenturesInovia CapitalLachy GroomMarc BenioffNorthpond VenturesSam Altman+6 more
Producer of high-value chemicals through waste slag upcycling
Portfolio news
latest coverage across their companies
Postmates · fortuneindia.com · Jul 17, 2026
Craif · techcrunch.com · May 5, 2025
Frequently asked questions
- How many investments has 1955 Capital made?
- 1955 Capital has 12 tracked investments.
- What stage does 1955 Capital invest at?
- 1955 Capital invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A stages.
- What is 1955 Capital's typical check size?
- 1955 Capital typically writes checks of $5M – $10M.
- What sectors does 1955 Capital focus on?
- 1955 Capital focuses on AgTech, AI & Machine Learning, Biotech, Climate Tech, Data & Infrastructure, Deep Tech, Energy, FoodTech, Healthtech, Medical Devices, New Materials, Robotics.
- Where is 1955 Capital located?
- 1955 Capital is headquartered in San Francisco, US.
- Does 1955 Capital lead rounds?
- 1955 Capital typically participates in rounds rather than leading them.
- Who does 1955 Capital co-invest with?
- 1955 Capital most often shares deals with Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Global Brain, Lauder Partners, among 21 tracked co-investors.
Co-investors · 18
Founders Fund is a venture capital firm that backs technology companies building transformative products.
Uncork Capital (formerly SoftTech VC) is a seed-stage venture firm that invests early in founders, with a focus on AI-native companies building leverage and scale.
Breakthrough Energy, founded by Bill Gates, backs innovators developing affordable, reliable, and clean energy technologies, investing across manufacturing, electricity, agriculture, transportation, and buildings.
Sequoia Capital is a venture capital firm that partners with founders to build technology companies.
Lightspeed is a global venture capital firm that has spent over two decades backing innovative companies as an early and first investor.
Khosla Ventures is a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage companies focused on technology, mobile, and clean energy sectors, including biotechnology applications. The firm provides capital and strategic support to entrepreneurs developing breakthrough technologies across multiple markets.
HCVC is a venture capital firm that backs founders working to industrialize scientific and technological progress across deep tech, robotics, and hard science domains.
Bling Capital is a seed-stage venture firm that backs entrepreneurs seeking to find and scale product-market fit, supported by its Bling Product Council of over 100 product leaders.
AME Cloud Ventures is a venture fund led by Jerry Yang, co-founder of Yahoo!, that invests in technology-heavy companies building infrastructure and value chains around data.
August Capital is a venture capital firm that invests in a small number of companies, providing hands-on support to entrepreneurs building their businesses.
OrbiMed is a global healthcare-focused investment firm providing financing and operational support to companies across biopharmaceuticals, medical devices, digital health, diagnostics, and healthcare services.
Golden Ventures is a seed-stage venture capital firm that backs early-stage technology companies, with a portfolio concentrated in Canada.
▶6 more co-investors
Version One VenturesJohnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDCFlagship PioneeringWaverley CapitalVantagePoint Capital PartnersQiming Venture Partners USA
Firms observed investing alongside 1955 Capital, from public investor directories. Shared companies are the overlap with 1955 Capital's recorded portfolio.
Similar investors
DCVC (Data Collective) is a deep tech venture capital firm that backs entrepreneurs using computational approaches to solve large-scale real-world problems across many industries.
Everywhere Ventures is an early-stage venture firm, backed by a community of founders and operators as LPs, that writes early checks (including pre-seed) into startups across many sectors and geographies.
Innovation Industries is a deep tech investor backing companies with ground-breaking technologies aimed at addressing fundamental global challenges, providing support to help them scale and maximize environmental, social, and economic impact.
Snatched Ventures is a San Francisco-based early-stage venture capital firm backing DeepTech startups focused on sustainable innovation and operational transformation. It is led by a two-GP team combining corporate development and institutional investment management experience.
Vesna is a deep-tech venture fund, described as the first Slovenian-Croatian deep tech fund, backed by the European Investment Fund, investing in early-stage technologies spun out of Slovenian and Croatian R&D institutions.