Fundraising Fox

Ardent Venture

Venture capital

Washington · Pre-Seed–Series B · 14 people tracked

Also known as ARDENT VENTURE PARTNERS, LLC

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Investment thesis

Ardent invests at the earliest stage in AI-native companies, aiming to back category creators before the market recognizes them. The firm spends 12–18 months researching markets and developing conviction before deals reach the market, then moves quickly with a structured process and clear terms. It leads pre-seed and seed rounds and stays closely involved after investing, providing customer introductions, fundraising support through Series A, operational playbooks, financial guidance, and peer sessions with portfolio founders. Ardent seeks unconventional, highly ambitious founders rebuilding categories from first principles, prioritizing conviction over consensus.

Source: firm website, verified Aug 25, 2026.

Stage
Pre-Seed–Series B
Check
$250K – $3M
HQ
Washington, District of Columbia, US
Leads rounds
Leads
Instruments
Equity
Founded
2019
Last 12 months
2 investments
AUM
$2B
VC funds
4
Tracked investments
67

Team · 14 people

from the firm's website & public directories

6 people who came through Ardent Venture went on to found or lead other companies.

What they invest in

from 32 of 67 portfolio companies

AI & Machine Learning ×16SaaS ×15Fintech ×13Enterprise Software ×9Data & Infrastructure ×8Marketing Tech ×5Future of Work ×3AdTech ×2

HQs:United States×20Finland×1India×1

Who they back

founder profiles across 18 portfolio companies
56%
solo founders
10 of 18 mapped founding teams
57%
repeat founders
of 14 founders with career history

Founding team size:solo founder×102 founders×33 founders×5

Where their founders studiedfrom 13 founders with education data

Carnegie Mellon University ×2The University of Texas at Austin ×2University of Pennsylvania ×2

Where their founders worked beforefrom 14 founders with career history

Stanford University ×2

Accelerator rootsportfolio companies that came through a program

Y Combinator ×6

Investments · 67 tracked

founders shown can be your intro path

By year:2026 · 12025 · 52024 · 12021 · 12015 · 19 dated

Verituityverituity.cominFeb 2025✓ verified

Verituity provides a payouts platform that delivers verified, on-time payments with payment choice for businesses and their payees, aiming to reduce payout complexity, risk, and cost.

Enterprise SoftwareFintechSaaSMclean, US

Benjamin Turner(Executive Officer, Director)Ben Turner(Chief Executive Officer & President)Chris Smith(Chief Operating Officer)Anthony Renzette(Chief Product Officer)Andy Brooks(Chief Financial Officer)

BoardDonald Dixon(Director)in

Board seatPhilip Bronner· per SEC Form D

Co-investorsForgePoint CapitalMTECH CAPITALSandbox Industries

ICX Mediaicxmedia.com𝕏Jul 2015AcquiredSEC filingmedium confidence

A Vietnamese-language online gambling/betting portal promoting the "Sumvip" real-money gaming app, with downloads for APK/iOS/Android and deposit/withdrawal support across multiple banks and e-wallets.

GamingWashington, US

Michael B. Avon(Executive Officer, Director, Promoter)

BoardTom MacIsaac(Director)

Board seatPhil Herget· per SEC Form D · $2.5M raise · filed Mar 2016

Co-investorsBlazar Ventures, LLCGrotech VenturesNRVPJC

Pilotdeskpilotdesk.aiMay 2024

No-code AI workflow automation platform for ad operations and account management, rebranded from PilotDesk to Swivel in 2025.

New York, US

Matthew Burr Dearborn(Executive Officer, Director)Richard Kuan-Hung Lin(Executive Officer, Director)Joseph Rothschild Hirsch(Executive Officer, Director)

Board seatMike Shehan· per SEC Form D

Range Finance, Inc.Nov 2025SEC filingmedium confidence

Range is a McLean, Virginia AI-powered wealth management platform combining financial planning software with in-house advisers.

Mclean, US

Fahad Hassan(Executive Officer, Director)David Cusatis(Executive Officer, Director)

BoardSimon Wu(Director)Darian Shirazi(Director)inAlexander Niehenke(Director)in

Board seatHaroon Mokhtarzada· per SEC Form D · $63.5M raise · filed Feb 2026

Co-investorsGradient VenturesScale Venture Partners

SamCartsamcart.comin𝕏Dec 2021SEC filingmedium confidence

SamCart offers an e-commerce platform focused on optimizing checkout and product sales pages for online sellers and direct-to-consumer businesses.

Creator EconomyDirect to ConsumerE-commerceMarketing TechSaaSFulton, US

Brian Moran(Founder)inScott Moran(Founder)inBrian(Co-founder)Scott(Co-founder)KUNAL ARORA(Director)JUSTIN SMITH(Executive Officer)

Board seatHaroon Mokhtarzada· per SEC Form D · $93.2M raise · filed Dec 2024

Co-investorseGateway CapitalFin CapitalTTV Capital

Abundantly

All-in-one fundraising platform for nonprofits with 0% fees, built-in rewards, and 2.5% APY on raised dollars

Cadriancadrian.comin𝕏

Cadrian AI runs large-scale automated interviews with a company's employees to map workflows, surface operational bottlenecks, and identify where AI can deliver ROI.

AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareFuture of Work

Catchcatch.coin𝕏Acquired

Catch provides automated financial management and benefits solutions for independent workers and freelancers, handling tax withholding, retirement savings, and health insurance enrollment without relying on traditional employer-provided benefits.

FintechHealthtechInsurTechNew York City, US

Andrew Ambrosino(Founder)in

Co-investorsCrosslink CapitalKube VCLoup VenturesY CombinatorBlumberg CapitalGradient Ventures+1 more

Chowlychowly.comin𝕏

Chowly offers an AI-powered platform for independent restaurants that shifts orders from third-party delivery apps to commission-free first-party channels, including branded websites, mobile apps, and online ordering connected to the POS.

AI & Machine LearningFoodTechSaaSChicago, US

Sterling Douglass-Barnes(Executive Officer, Director)Sterling Douglass(Co-Founder & CEO)inJustin McNally(Co-Founder & Chief Innovation Officer)Joseph Lawton(Chief Operating Officer)Tom Lawton(Chief Revenue Officer)Mark Whittle(Chief Technology Officer)

Co-investorsBluestein VenturesChicago VenturesFlyover CapitalHyde Park Venture PartnersMultiplier CapitalSandalphon Capital

Collectivecollective.comin𝕏

Collective is an online back-office platform for self-employed people and single-person businesses ("Businesses-of-One"), offering services such as business formation, taxes, and accounting.

FintechFuture of WorkSaaS

Hooman Radfar(Founder & CEO)in

Co-investorsAglae VenturesBetter Tomorrow VenturesExpaGradient VenturesInnovius CapitalKindred Ventures+9 more

Crunchbase

AI-powered recruiter helping startups find the best talent

Cruxcruxclimate.comin𝕏Apr 2025 · $50M

Crux is a capital platform that modernizes financing for clean energy and critical infrastructure projects through advisory, investment, technology, and intelligence services.

CleantechData & InfrastructureEnergyFintechNew York, US

Allen Kramer(Co-founder & COO)inAlfred Johnson(Co-founder & CEO)in

Co-investorsAcrew CapitalAndreessen HorowitzBroadscaleCommonweal VenturesGiant Ventures Global LlpLorimer Ventures+7 more

Crux Climate

Capital markets technology company changing the way clean energy and manufacturing projects are financed in the US

Co-investorsCanapi Ventures

Daywater

Capital markets technology company changing the way clean energy and manufacturing projects are financed in the US

Drillbitdrillbit.comin

Drillbit provides an AI-powered customer acquisition and job booking system for trade businesses and franchise networks.

AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareFuture of WorkSaaSAustin, US

Alexander Seutin(Founder)in

Co-investorsJ17 CapitalTranspose Platform ManagementY CombinatorLombardstreet Ventures

Ecueecue.aiin

e:cue provides education-specific data science and AI agents, including its "Cue" AI analyst, that unify siloed marketing, admissions, and student data to improve enrollment, reduce acquisition costs, and predict student retention.

AI & Machine LearningEdTechMarketing Tech

Ferris AItryferris.aiin

Ferris builds AI agents that support professional services sales and delivery, covering the workflow from RFP through UAT.

AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareSaaS

Fintentionalfintentional.ai
Gather

Platform that helps teams move goods efficiently and prevent disruptions without adding complexity

Gather AIgather.aiin𝕏

Gather AI builds a "Physical AI" platform for logistics warehouses, using forklift-mounted cameras and drones with computer vision to capture inventory data, then reasoning over it to surface priorities and route tasks to teams.

AI & Machine LearningLogistics & Supply ChainRoboticsPittsburgh, US

Geetesh Dubey(Co-founder)inSankalp Arora(Co-founder & CEO)Daniel Maturana(Co-founder)Li Wu(Executive Officer)Andrew Hoffman(Chief Technology Officer)Robert IV R. Myer(Director, Promoter)

Co-investorsBling CapitalDundee VCDundee Venture CapitalExpaSmith Point CapitalTribeca Venture Partners+5 more

Givebuttergivebutter.comin𝕏

Givebutter offers all-in-one fundraising software for nonprofits, including donation forms, events, auctions, a built-in donor CRM, and marketing tools across email, text, and direct mail.

FintechImpact & Social GoodSaaS

Max Friedman(Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer)Liran Cohen(Co-Founder, Chief Technology & Product Officer)Ari Krasner(Co-Founder)Jordan Bauer(Chief Financial Officer)Keith Kirk(VP of Engineering)Matthew Carufel(Chief Revenue Officer)

Co-investorsBessemer Venture Partners

Givesmartgivesmart.comin

GiveSmart provides fundraising and donor management software for nonprofits and schools, with tools for online campaigns, mobile bidding auctions, event ticketing, peer-to-peer fundraising, and donor tracking.

Impact & Social GoodSaaS

Gridlinegridline.coin𝕏Jan 2026 · $18.5M

Lets users build institutional-grade portfolios of alternative investments.

Peter Bilali(Founder)in

Co-investorsBLH Venture Partners, LLCFINTOP CapitalKnoll VenturesTech Square Ventures

Hiatus

An end-to-end platform for wealth management to build, manage, and scale private market investments.

New York, US

Jesse Carter Russell(Manager of Issuer)Todd Huntington Gower(Executive Officer, Director)James David Callis(Executive Officer, Director)

Iconvest

End-to-end platform for wealth management to build, manage, and scale private market investments

Incentivioincentivio.comin

Incentivio offers a guest engagement platform for multi-unit restaurant brands, combining online ordering, loyalty programs, marketing automation, and analytics into one system.

FoodTechMarketing TechSaaSBoston, US

Sashika Dias(Executive Officer, Director)Rajat Bhakhri(Executive Officer, Director)

BoardPhil Bronner(Director)Julia Taxin(Director)inSean Dowling(Director)James Frischling(Director)

Co-investorsBlueTree Venture CapitalBranded Strategic HospitalityConductor CapitalData Point CapitalGrotech VenturesOsage Venture Partners

Insight

Decision intelligence suite turning daily consumer surveys into actionable insights across brands, markets, and audiences

Lendflowlendflow.comin𝕏

Lendflow provides a platform for fintechs, lenders, and vertical SaaS companies to offer lending and financial products to their customers.

AI & Machine LearningCloud ComputingFintechAustin, US

Jon Fry(Founder)inMatthew Watts(Founder)in

Co-investorsFrontier VenturesKnoll VenturesNavitas CapitalUnderscore VCY CombinatorGTMfund+1 more

LEO1leo1.in

Indian edu-fintech, formerly Financepeer, offering fee financing and a 'Financial SAAS' payment card platform to educational institutions.

Mumbai, IN

Debi Prasad Baral(Founder)Naveesh Reddy(Founder)in

Co-investorsJITO Angel NetworkQED Investors

Linecooklinecook.com

Linecook is an AI-powered social app that lets close friends share their home cooking with each other.

AI & Machine LearningConsumerSocial

Loam AIAcquired

Platform helping teams move goods efficiently and prevent disruptions without adding complexity

Methodmethodfi.comin𝕏Jan 2025 · $41.5M

Method builds financial connectivity infrastructure that enables software companies and financial services firms to embed banking, payments, and account data capabilities into their platforms.

Data & InfrastructureFintechSaaSNew York City, US

Jose Bethancourt(Founder)inJesus Marco del Carmen(Founder)inMit Shah(Co-founder, COO)in

Co-investorsAbstract VenturesAndreessen HorowitzCameron VenturesEmergence Capital PartnersLeonis CapitalRuna Capital+7 more

Monarch

Dedicated numeric reasoning tool that agents and LLM orchestrators can call for accurate, adaptive numeric and tabular data

Montramontra.comin

Montra is an AI platform that generates video and static ads from a brand's existing store assets, pulling products, images, and branding from connected Shopify or WooCommerce stores.

AdTechAI & Machine LearningMarketing Tech

Co-investorsBackwards Capital

Moov

Embedded application for international money transactions focused on Latin America

Morning Consultmorningconsult.comin𝕏

Morning Consult runs continuous daily consumer surveys across 100+ countries and provides a decision intelligence platform with AI agents that turn this data into market research and consumer insights.

AI & Machine LearningData & InfrastructureMarketing TechWashington, US

Michael Ramlet(Executive Officer, Director)inEvan Judge(Executive Officer)Eric Salama(Director)Karen Van Bergen(Director)Ben Fitzgerald(Director)Craig Shelburne(Director)

Co-investorsAdvance Venture PartnersSavano Capital PartnersSusquehanna Growth EquityFirst In

Nelnet

All-in-one campus and financial platform

Nelnet Campus CommerceAcquired

All-in-one campus and financial platform.

Optic

AI-powered analytics providing trustworthy insights

Paga

An embedded application for international money transactions focused on Latin America.

Pallapalla.comin

Palla provides APIs and white-label solutions for fintech companies and financial institutions to enable peer-to-peer payments and cross-border transfers in seconds across 180+ countries.

Fintech

Enrique Perezalonso(Founder)inAndrew Mason(Founder)in

Co-investors2080 VenturesOlive Tree CapitalRevolutionY CombinatorCowboy VenturesDash Fund+2 more

Pallapalla.app

Palla provides APIs and white-label solutions for financial institutions and fintech companies to enable peer-to-peer payments and instant cross-border transfers across 180+ countries.

Fintech

Co-investorsEvolution VenturesMVP VenturesOlive Tree CapitalCowboy VenturesDash FundDeepWork Capital+3 more

Palla Financialin

Palla is a Miami-based cross-border payments platform that lets financial institutions embed instant international transfers.

Miami, US

Gregory Louis Piccolo(Executive Officer, Director)Andrew Scott Mason(Executive Officer, Director)Enrique Perezalonso(Executive Officer, Director)

BoardDavid Golden(Director)Dave Wright(Director)Heidi Miller(Director)

Co-investorsCowboy Ventures

PB Life

Digital home for pickleball enthusiasts and coaches to find local courts, connect with players, and play more pickleball

Pickle

A digital home for pickleball enthusiasts and coaches to find courts, connect with players, and play more.

Pickleball+ (or similar)

A digital home for pickleball enthusiasts and coaches where users can find local courts, connect with players, and play more pickleball.

Pickleheadspickleheads.com

Digital home for pickleball enthusiasts and coaches where users can find local courts, connect with players, and play more pickleball

Co-investorsOverlineNetwork VenturesService Provider Capital

Preqinpreqin.comin𝕏Acquired

Preqin provides private markets data, analytics, and benchmarking across private equity, venture capital, hedge funds, real estate, private credit, infrastructure, secondaries, and natural resources.

Data & InfrastructureFintechSaaS

Rainforestrainforestpay.comin

Rainforest provides payment processing infrastructure as a payment facilitator (payfac) service designed for vertical SaaS platforms to embed payments capabilities.

Enterprise SoftwareFintechSaaS

Joshua Silver(Founder)in

Co-investorsAccelInfinity VenturesMatrixTech Square Ventures

Redbud

AI receptionists and LLM-based quoting tool with CRM for residential contractors to manage jobs

Roe AIroe-ai.comin

Roe AI builds AI agents that investigate fraud, dispute, AML, KYC/KYB, and sanctions cases end-to-end, reading customer, transaction, and case data where it lives and producing cited, audit-ready dispositions and SAR narratives.

AI & Machine LearningCybersecurityData & InfrastructureEnterprise SoftwareFintechSan Mateo, US

Richard Meng(Founder)

Co-investorsGradient Ventures

Sila

Low-code platform enabling banks to offer embedded banking services to clients directly, disintermediating fintech companies

Sooth

Building a global forecasting foundation model that provides calibrated probabilities for events weeks, months, and years ahead, along with the reasoning behind those forecasts.

Sooth Labssooth.incin

Sooth builds an AI-powered global foresight engine that delivers reliable probabilistic forecasts to help organizations make strategic decisions under uncertainty by analyzing interconnected risks across markets, supply chains, and geopolitical events.

AI & Machine LearningData & InfrastructureEnterprise Software

Co-investorsFelicis VenturesS32

Soothlabssoothlabs.comin

Sooth develops a foresight engine that uses AI and machine learning to deliver calibrated probabilistic forecasts for organizations facing strategic decisions under uncertainty.

AI & Machine LearningData & InfrastructureEnterprise SoftwarePittsburgh, US

Chuck Hoover(Founder)

Staffing 360

An AI-powered recruiter that helps startups find the best talent.

Sulapacsulapac.comin𝕏

Sulapac develops a biodegradable plastic alternative made from biomaterials that breaks down fully without leaving microplastics, designed for use in packaging and consumer products across industries including cosmetics and food service.

Circular EconomyCleantechNew MaterialsHelsinki, FI

Suvi HaimiinLaura Tirkkonen-Rajasalo(Co-founder)in

Co-investorsLifeline VenturesBonnier CapitalRegeneration.VC

Superpositionsuperposition.aiin

Superposition offers an AI recruiting agent that autonomously sources, screens, contacts, and books candidates, requiring only human approval at each step.

AI & Machine LearningHR TechSaaS

Swivelswivel.workApr 2025 · $5.8M

The page is an affiliate review and comparison guide for US sweepstakes casino platforms, ranking sites and explaining their coin models and prize redemption.

Co-investorsNext Coast VenturesBreyer CapitalJLL SparkTribeca Venture Partners

Swivel AIswivel.aiin

Swivel provides an agentic orchestration system for ad operations, translating operator-defined monetization strategy into continuous automated actions across advertising workflows, platforms, and channels.

AdTechAI & Machine LearningSaaS

Co-investorsMotley Fool Ventures

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.

Portfolio news

latest coverage across their companies

Frequently asked questions

How many investments has Ardent Venture made?
Ardent Venture has 59 tracked investments, 1 of which have exited via acquisition or IPO, including 4 dated in the last 24 months.
What stage does Ardent Venture invest at?
Ardent Venture invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A, Series B stages.
What is Ardent Venture's typical check size?
Ardent Venture typically writes checks of $250K – $3M.
What sectors does Ardent Venture focus on?
Ardent Venture focuses on AI & Machine Learning, Consumer, Data & Infrastructure, Enterprise Software, Fintech, Marketplaces, Robotics, SaaS.
Where is Ardent Venture located?
Ardent Venture is headquartered in Washington, US.
Does Ardent Venture lead rounds?
Yes, Ardent Venture leads investment rounds.
Who does Ardent Venture co-invest with?
Ardent Venture most often shares deals with Y Combinator, Andreessen Horowitz, FINTOP Capital, among 80 tracked co-investors.

Media · Podcasts & interviews

featuring the team

IMPACT AI: Phil Bronner Co Founder and Managing Partner - Ardent Venture Partners

Corporate Startup Lab · Phil Bronner

Images

Ardent Venture photoArdent Venture photoArdent Venture photoArdent Venture photoArdent Venture photoArdent Venture photo

Co-investors · 4

ForgePoint Capital

ForgePoint Capital is a thesis-driven venture firm investing in early-stage companies in cybersecurity, AI, and infrastructure software.

Both backed · 1
$5M – $50M
Teamworthy Ventures

Teamworthy Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm led by Managing Partner Thomas D. Lehrman, with offices in New York and Nashville, and a network of operator venture partners.

Patron

Patron is an early-stage venture firm that backs founders building consumer and application startups that have already launched, focusing on intuitive, automated, and taste-driven products.

$100K – $1M
SpringTime Ventures

SpringTime Ventures is a seed-stage venture firm investing in early-stage startups across healthcare, fintech/insurtech, and logistics/supply chain in the USA.

$500K – $1M

Firms observed investing alongside Ardent Venture, from public investor directories. Shared companies are the overlap with Ardent Venture's recorded portfolio.

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