Afore Capital
Venture capitalActively deployingSan Francisco · Pre-Seed–Seed · 17 people tracked
Also known as AFORE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, LLC
Investment thesis
Afore Capital focuses exclusively on pre-seed, pre-traction companies, writing high-conviction first checks of $500k to $2M+. The firm positions itself as founder-friendly and product-oriented, backing raw ideas and early visions before there is meaningful traction. Rather than mitigating risk, Afore embraces it, seeking upside potential alongside founders. The team emphasizes speed in decision-making, direct and candid feedback, and hands-on support — describing itself as a 'SWAT team' for founders. Many of its investors are former founders themselves, aiming to help companies build immediately and raise subsequent rounds later.
Source: firm website, verified Aug 3, 2026.
Team · 17 people
from the firm's website & public directories
What they invest in
from 47 of 113 portfolio companiesAI & Machine Learning ×29SaaS ×19Enterprise Software ×16Fintech ×10Data & Infrastructure ×9Developer Tools ×6Healthtech ×6HR Tech ×5
HQs:United States×34Canada×1South Africa×1
Investments · 113 tracked
founders shown can be your intro pathFlatfile provides a platform for automating data onboarding, mapping, transformation, and validation using AI-guided workflows.
AI & Machine LearningData & InfrastructureEnterprise SoftwareDenver, US
AVERY CHASE(Executive Officer, Director)FRANCES SCHWEIP(Director)David Boskovic(Executive Officer, Director)Eric Crane(Executive Officer, Director)
BoardRORY O'DRISCOLL(Director)
Hypercubic provides AI software for mainframe modernization, helping enterprises and governments rebuild and secure their critical infrastructure systems.
AI & Machine LearningDeep TechDeveloper ToolsEnterprise SoftwareSan Francisco, US
Openmart provides a verified database of 50,000+ real estate investors across the United States, including investment firms, property investors, and syndicates, with enriched contact data for B2B sales and marketing teams.
AI & Machine LearningB2B MarketplacesData & InfrastructureEnterprise SoftwareSaaSSales TechSan Francisco, US
Wayside is a venture-backed startup based in New York City.
AI & Machine LearningHR TechSaaSSector AgnosticNew York City, US
Ish Baid
Bengaluru
Krishna Mehra(Director)Piyush Agarwal(Director)Achintya Gupta(Executive Officer, Director)Gaurav Jain(Director)
BoardJoseph Ruscio(Director)
Board seatGaurav Jain· per SEC Form D · $11.3M raise · filed Jun 2026
Waterloo
Peter Heinke(Executive Officer, Director)Edward Livingston(Executive Officer, Director)Anamitra Banerji(Director)Sam Spadafora(Director)Alim Dhanji(Director)Fred Wilson(Director)
Board seatAnamitra Banerji· per SEC Form D · $30M raise · filed Jul 2015
El Segundo, US
Awais Ahmed Nadeem Alduri(Executive Officer, Director, Promoter)Kshitij Gokul Khandelwal(Executive Officer, Director, Promoter)Eiji Yafuso(Executive Officer)Hemanth Mohapatra(Director)Sanjay Nath(Director)
Board seatGaurav Jain· per SEC Form D · $5M raise · filed Nov 2024
Boxbot provides automated, high-density storage systems for logistics operations, using AI-driven capabilities to optimize vehicle loading, cross-dock buffering, and item retrieval across last-mile delivery, air cargo, and industrial applications.
AI & Machine LearningLogistics & Supply ChainRobotics
Bulk MRO operates a B2B supply chain and finance platform serving enterprise, government, and SME customers with industrial products, metals, agro-commodities, chemicals, and logistics services.
B2B MarketplacesEnterprise SoftwareFintechLogistics & Supply ChainSaaSNew York City, US
Devang Shah(Founder)inGaurang Shah(Founder/Director)inCharles Lorenceau(Director)
Scranton, US
Jason DePietropaolo(Executive Officer, Director)Michael Averto(Executive Officer, Director)
Develop Health automates prior authorization and benefit verification for healthcare providers across EHRs and payers, while providing access intelligence to pharmaceutical manufacturers.
AI & Machine LearningDigital HealthEnterprise SoftwareHealthtechMenlo Park, US
Mel van Londen(Co-Founder & CEO)Ben Easton(Co-Founder & CTO)
BoardSara Choi(Director)
Develop Health provides AI-powered prescription automation that streamlines prior authorization and predicts medication coverage and costs at the point of prescription.
AI & Machine LearningHealthtech
FleetPanda develops a cloud-based dispatch and delivery platform for fuel distributors, including tank wagon, truck & trailer, bulk transport, lubricants, and propane operations.
Enterprise SoftwareLogistics & Supply ChainSaaS
Goldcast provides AI-powered video content creation and management tools that transform long-form videos into production-ready clips, blogs, and social content for go-to-market teams.
AI & Machine LearningMarketing TechNew York, US
Kishore Kothandaraman(Cofounder)Sumir Chadha(Director)Palash Soni(Executive Officer, Director)
HoneyBee provides a financial wellness program for employees that includes access to 0% interest funds for debt and expense management, financial education webinars, and confidential money coaching sessions.
FintechHR TechWellness & Fitness
Honeycomb provides observability and monitoring software that helps engineering teams understand how their software behaves in production.
AI & Machine LearningCloud ComputingData & InfrastructureDeveloper ToolsEnterprise Software
Charity Majors(Co-founder & CTO)inChristine Yen(CEO & Co-founder)in
Inngest is an execution layer for agents and workflows that helps engineers build and optimize event-driven workflows without manual retry logic or queue management.
AI & Machine LearningCloud ComputingDeveloper ToolsRoyal Oak, US
Tony Holdstock-Brown(CEO & Founder)Dan Farrelly(CTO & Founder)Jamin Ball(Director)Daniel Farrelly(Executive Officer, Director)
BoardDan Cahana(Director)
Rows marked “SEC filing” are inferred from directors named on the company's SEC Form D — public regulatory data, not a portfolio list published by the firm.
Frequently asked questions
- What stage does Afore Capital invest at?
- Afore Capital invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed stages.
- What is Afore Capital's typical check size?
- Afore Capital typically writes checks of $500K – $2M.
- What sectors does Afore Capital focus on?
- Afore Capital focuses on Sector Agnostic.
- Where is Afore Capital located?
- Afore Capital is headquartered in San Francisco, US.
- Does Afore Capital lead rounds?
- Yes, Afore Capital leads investment rounds.
Media · Podcasts & interviews
featuring the team🇨🇦 Canadian vs 🇺🇸 American Pitch Decks: What VCs Really Want to See | Gaurav Jain, Afore Capital
TechTO · Gaurav Jain
Maximizing Customer Feedback ft. Afore Capital Cofounder & Managing Director Gaurav Jain
Grace Gong · Gaurav Jain
Early-stage Success: Insights From Afore Capital's Gaurav Jain on Investing in Pre-seed Companies
Grace Gong · Gaurav Jain
Afore Capital's Gaurav Jain on the Emergence of Pre-Seed Investing and How They Stay Differentiated
The BARE Ventures Podcast · Gaurav Jain
Gaurav Jain from Afore Capital on Investing in pre-seed companies
Life Self Mastery · Gaurav Jain
384th 1Mby1M Roundtable February 1, 2018: With Gaurav Jain, Afore Capital
1Mby1M Roundtables · Gaurav Jain
Images
Co-investors · 169
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Andreessen Horowitz's Strategic Partnerships page describes collaborations that connect its portfolio companies with established institutions to help scale and deploy their technology.
Craft Ventures is a venture capital firm founded and run by former founders, operators, and investors who provide startups with hands-on support, senior talent access, and proven scaling playbooks.
Menlo Ventures is a venture capital firm that backs transformative, early-stage technology companies reshaping how people live and work.
Tiger Global is a research-driven investment firm that partners with innovative, high-quality companies over the long term across various stages of their lifecycle.
Sapphire Ventures is a venture capital firm founded in 2011 that backs technology companies, offering operating support such as executive talent and customer introductions to its portfolio.
NextView Ventures is a seed-stage venture capital firm that works closely with founders, providing hands-on support to help build companies from inception to scale.
Inovia Capital is a full-stack venture capital firm based in Canada with a presence in Europe, partnering with founders to build enduring global technology companies.
2048 Ventures is a thesis-driven early-stage venture capital firm based in New York and Boston that backs founders building future technologies.
Worklife Ventures is an early-stage venture firm that backs technical founders, often meeting them very early (before they leave their current roles) and helping with the non-technical aspects of company building.
Valar Ventures is a venture capital firm focused on backing exceptionally focused founder teams with large ambitions across fintech, payments, and financial services globally.
Underscore VC is an early-stage venture firm based in Boston that invests in B2B software startups globally, connecting founders to Boston's innovation ecosystem.
▶157 more co-investors
Designer FundImagination CapitalSequoia CapitalFounders FundKhosla VenturesTechstarsIndex VenturesFelicis VenturesSV AngelKleiner PerkinsDCVC (Data Collective)GreycroftPioneerScale Venture PartnersFlybridge Capital Partners8VCTwo Sigma VenturesBetter Tomorrow VenturesMaC Venture CapitalContrary CapitalGolden VenturesNotation CapitalMerus CapitalRebel FundBrighter CapitalRosecliff VenturesGeneral CatalystBessemer Venture PartnersAccelNew Enterprise Associates (NEA)Alumni VenturesFounder CollectiveUberFoundation CapitalBoxGroupEverywhere VenturesGreat Oaks Venture CapitalBattery VenturesQuiet CapitalSusa VenturesGoat CapitalLiquid VenturesFundersClubUpHonest CapitalC2 InvestmentsLux CapitalPrecursor VenturesCaffeinated CapitalLookout VenturesObvious VenturesCanvas VenturesStellar CapitalAdditionAmplify PartnersFloodgateMeritech Capital PartnersBowery CapitalElectric CapitalTodd and Rahul’s Angel FundSierra VenturesSoma CapitalQED InvestorsAbstractRibbit CapitalNot Boring CapitalOperator LPDN CapitalFlatiron HealthThrive CapitalGustoWEEKENDM13LightbankEQT Ventures500 StartupsUncorrelated VenturesGaingelsEntrepreneur FirstTribe Capital FirstlookCowboy VenturesNext Play VenturesLatitud VenturesMoxxie VenturesScribble VenturesLakestarSpider CapitalWork-BenchAnthemis VentureReach CapitalClimate CapitalShrug CapitalRecursive VenturesLocalGlobeK9 VenturesCollaborative Fund (Collab Fund)Altimeter CapitalHouseMischiefJetstream305 VenturesBasementConstruct CapitalGutter CapitalRavelin CapitalThe Venture CollectiveConvective CapitalScout VenturesStealth CapitalWormhole CapitalNational Science FoundationAlsop Louie PartnersBlume VenturesAlpaca VCLightShed VenturesTA VenturesHuman CapitalPIPELINE CAPITAL PARTNERSKyber Knight Capital8090 IndustriesDarling Venturessuper{set}FocalBasecamp FundTrust VenturesSchematic VenturesFlint CapitalRiverPark VenturesSilicon BadiaLightspeed India PartnersDivergent CapitalChampion Hill VenturesE12 Venture Capital, LlcLooking Glass CapitalAudaciousCoughdrop CapitalFeenix Venture Partners LLCAirbus VenturesManiv MobilityHarpoon VenturesCubit CapitalEmbedded VenturesLavrock VenturesCountdown CapitalCrossbeam Venture PartnersType One VenturesLearnLaunch Fund AcceleratorStaircase Ventures1435 CapitalAmerica's Frontier FundEnergize CapitalO.G. Venture PartnersAlpine Space VenturesMoonshots CapitalIceNineCannage CapitalSpaceFundLightning Capital
Firms observed investing alongside Afore Capital, from public investor directories. Shared companies are the overlap with Afore Capital's recorded portfolio.
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