AUTHENTIC VENTURES
Venture capitalActively deployingOakland · Pre-Seed–Series A · 8 people tracked
Also known as AUTHENTIC VENTURES INVESTMENT MANAGER, LLC
Investment thesis
Authentic Ventures backs founders early, often before there is consensus on what they are building, prioritizing judgment and conviction over agreement. Investing since 2016 across multiple funds, the firm focuses primarily on AI software companies, with a strong emphasis on AI-native businesses where technology is central to value creation. Positioned as generalists by design, they avoid anchoring to specific sectors and instead concentrate on identifying founders capable of building enduring companies. They value both capital efficiency and ambition, seeking founders with strong independent judgment, deep problem understanding, fast learning ability, clarity of thinking, and resilience. The Authentic Network connects founders with operators, investors, and advisors.
Source: firm website, verified Aug 25, 2026.
Team · 8 people
from the firm's website
What they invest in
from 43 of 48 portfolio companiesAI & Machine Learning ×22SaaS ×18Enterprise Software ×11Fintech ×7Marketplaces ×6Consumer ×5Developer Tools ×4Future of Work ×4
HQs:United States×31
Who they back
founder profiles across 18 portfolio companiesFounding team size:solo founder×112 founders×64+ founders×1
Accelerator rootsportfolio companies that came through a program
Investments · 48 tracked
founders shown can be your intro pathBy year:2023 · 22019 · 12018 · 12015 · 12014 · 16 dated
AppLovin operates a mobile advertising platform that helps businesses scale their products and marketing.
AdTechGamingMarketing TechPalo Alto, US
Adam Foroughi(Executive Officer, Director)Eduardo Vivas(Director)Maggie Jin(Executive Officer)
BoardHerald Chen(Director)
Co-investorsDniproFlex Capital PartnersNimble PartnersStreamlined VenturesWebb Investment NetworkGriffin Gaming Partners
Guardant Health develops blood-based testing (liquid biopsy) for cancer detection and monitoring across all stages of the disease.
BiotechDigital HealthHealthtechMedical DevicesRedwood City, US
AmirAli Talasaz(Executive Officer, Director)Helmy Eltoukhy(Executive Officer, Director)inMichael Wiley(Executive Officer)
BoardWarren Hogarth(Director)Samir Kaul(Director)in
Co-investors8VCCota CapitalFelicis VenturesKhosla VenturesLightspeed Venture PartnersLotus Capital+6 more
Accord builds sales execution software that embeds sales methodology into the selling workflow and uses AI agents to handle non-call work, giving sales leaders visibility into deal progression and enabling targeted coaching.
AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareSaaSSales TechSan Francisco, US
Ross Rich(Founder)inRyan Rich(Founder)in
Co-investorsMatrixY CombinatorEarl Grey Capital
Adapt is an AI coworker that integrates with tools like Slack, GitHub, and Linear to answer questions, run analyses, automate workflows, and build internal apps and dashboards across a company's connected systems.
AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareSaaS
Co-investorsActivant CapitalBackwards CapitalNexus BayPredictive VCHeadlineSusa Ventures
AI Insurance provides software for policy, insured, and claims management in the specialty insurance sector.
AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareFintechInsurTechSaaSNew York City, US
Cameron MacArthur(Founder)in
Co-investorsHaymaker VenturesY CombinatorMAGIC FundTCV
Amira Learning provides AI-powered reading instruction software for schools, combining the Science of Reading with machine learning to deliver reading growth at scale.
AI & Machine LearningEdTechLas Vegas, US
Peter Jungwirth(Executive Officer)Adam Porsch(Executive Officer)
BoardAmit Patel(Director)Lindsay Lee(Director)Mark Angel(Executive Officer, Director)David Schwab(Director)
Co-investorsGSV VenturesOwl VenturesVertical Venture PartnersRethink Capital Partners
Apartment List operates an online rental marketplace that uses a quiz-based AI matching system to connect renters with apartments that fit their preferences and lifestyle.
AI & Machine LearningMarketplacesPropTechSan Francisco, US
John Douglas Kobs II(Executive Officer, Director)Charles Christopher Herndon(Executive Officer, Director)John Kobs(Founder)Chris Erickson(Co-founder)
BoardJosh Hannah(Director)Dana Stalder(Director)in
Co-investorsAndre IguodalaCanaan PartnersGlynn Capital ManagementMatrixTenaya CapitalTribeca Early Stage Partners+3 more
Byteboard offers a technical interview platform used by companies to assess and hire engineering candidates, with an emphasis on reducing bias in the hiring process.
Future of WorkHR TechSaaS
Co-investorsCowboy VenturesScribble VenturesCleo Capital
Cambly connects language learners with tutors for online English instruction.
EdTechFuture of WorkSan Francisco, US
Sameer Shariff(Founder)inKevin Law(Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer / learning leader)
Co-investors500 GlobalBessemer Venture PartnersChapter OneHaystackMONASHEESRitual Capital+4 more
Cerebrium provides a cloud platform for deploying and operating AI applications, including real-time voice bots and large-scale inference pipelines, abstracting infrastructure complexity for teams building AI products.
AI & Machine LearningCloud ComputingData & InfrastructureDeveloper ToolsEnterprise SoftwareNew York City, US
Michael Louis(Founder)inJonathan Irwin(Founder)in
Co-investorsDepth VenturesGradient VenturesY Combinator
Co-investorsOne Planet GroupRothenberg Ventures
Clearbrief is an AI-powered legal research and brief-drafting tool that helps attorneys verify citations, extract facts from documents, and create hyperlinked briefs with built-in fact-checking and timeline generation.
AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareLegalTechLas Vegas, US
Jacqueline Schafer(Executive Officer, Director, Promoter)in
BoardMonique Idlett(Director)in
Co-investorsHow Women InvestReign VenturesMadrona Venture GroupSequoia Capital
Co-investorsMaC Venture Capital
Credit Mountain provides a white-labeled platform that converts a credit union's loan declines and adverse action notices into a "path back to approval," giving declined members plain-English explanations, a credit-improvement roadmap, and branded credit monitoring, then alerting the credit union when members are ready to reapply.
FintechSaaS
Co-investorsCurql Collective, LLCEarly Light VenturesNext Level VenturesRiptide Ventures
DataDasher is an AI assistant for financial advisors that records real-time meeting notes across Zoom, Teams, phone, and in-person meetings and writes notes, tasks, and follow-ups into CRMs like Redtail, Salesforce, and Wealthbox.
AI & Machine LearningFintechSaaS
Enterprise SoftwareSan Francisco, US
Shayaan Emran(Founder)Edward Zhang(Founder)
Co-investorsOlive Tree CapitalTranspose Platform ManagementY CombinatorBonAngels Venture PartnersKakao Ventures
Dimension AI is a precedent-based SEC filing software that extracts and structures data verbatim from public EDGAR filings to draft, benchmark, and review documents such as annual reports, capital markets filings (S-1, 424(b)), and N-2 reports for registered funds.
AI & Machine LearningFintechLegalTech
Gametime is a ticket marketplace for live events including sports games, concerts, and shows, offering all-in pricing with fees included and a lowest-price guarantee.
ConsumerMarketplacesSports TechSan Francisco, US
Brad Griffith(Founder)Colin Evans(Executive Officer, Director)
BoardBrian O'Malley(Director)Jeff Mallett(Director)
Co-investorsAccelBlitzscaling VenturesIconica PartnersMaven VenturesNext Legacy PartnersNimble Partners
GlareDB is a lightweight SQL database for running analytics queries across a variety of data sources.
AI & Machine LearningData & InfrastructureDeveloper Tools
Co-investorsPsyMed VenturesSpacecadet Ventures
Juxta develops a UPS (positioning system) that enables real-time location tracking and coordination for organizations across industries including defense, logistics, and manufacturing.
AI & Machine LearningDeep TechEnterprise SoftwareIoTSector AgnosticSan Francisco, US
John Ferrara(Founder)in
Co-investorsCRV (Charles River Ventures)Duke Capital PartnersY Combinator
Keygraph is an application security platform that runs continuous, AI-driven penetration testing on every build, reporting findings only when accompanied by a working exploit.
AI & Machine LearningCybersecurityDeveloper Tools
Co-investorsPear VCUrban Innovation
Kit provides email marketing and commerce tools for creators and independent businesses to reach audiences and monetize their work through newsletters and storefronts.
Creator EconomyMarketing TechSaaS
Nathan Barry(Founder + CEO)in
Co-investorsBrighter CapitalExpaMission Bay CapitalMission BiocapitalWAGMI VenturesOceans Ventures+1 more
Kuli Kuli sells moringa-based food and wellness supplements, including gummies, capsules, and powders aimed at consumers focused on nutrition and wellness.
ConsumerDirect to ConsumerFoodTechImpact & Social GoodWellness & FitnessOakland, US
Lisa Curtis(Founder)in
Co-investorsAstiaCeniarthCerity Partners VenturesInvestEcoNext Wave ImpactPortfolia+2 more
Wander operates a network of vacation rental homes that come with amenities such as fast WiFi, gyms, and pools, along with cleaning teams and on-call support.
MarketplacesPropTechTravel & Hospitality
Co-investorsActivant CapitalAdapt VenturesAdvection Growth CapitalAntiBackwards CapitalCapital Factory+7 more
Puntt provides AI-driven automation of manual marketing content reviews for regulated brands, checking creative assets and copy for compliance.
AI & Machine LearningMarketing TechSaaSWashington, US
Ronnie Coleman(Executive Officer, Director)Stephanie Nachemja-Bunton(Executive Officer)
BoardMandy Cole(Director)in
Co-investorsStage 2 CapitalRethink Capital Partners
Namecoach offers audio name-pronunciation recordings that embed online so people can learn how to correctly say each other's names, and supports gender pronoun communication.
AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareSaaSPalo Alto, US
Praveen Ramesh Shanbhag(Executive Officer, Director)
Co-investors640 OxfordAiSprouts VCBisk VenturesForefront VentureImpact America FundMetaplanet+5 more
Newday is an impact investing firm that manages portfolios for values-oriented investors seeking to align their capital with social and environmental outcomes.
FintechImpact & Social Good
Doug Heske
Co-investorsEMERGENT VENTURES
Offsight provides a software platform for offsite and prefab construction manufacturers, using AI for predictive quality control, workflow automation, materials management, and labor tracking across factory production.
Advanced ManufacturingAI & Machine LearningConstruction TechSan Francisco, US
Vikas Muraliin
Co-investorsAllied Venture PartnersGaruda VenturesOyster VenturesThe MBA Fund
Osmosis provides automated fundraising research for asset managers, generating allocator briefs, ranked LP targets, and timing alerts from real-time allocator conversations such as IC meetings and CIO interviews.
AI & Machine LearningFintechSaaS
Patreon is a membership platform that enables creators to build communities, share exclusive work, and monetize their output through direct fan support, eliminating algorithmic dependence.
Creator EconomyMarketplacesSaaSSan Francisco, US
Jack Conte(Founder)inSam Yam(Founder)in
BoardDaniel Rimer(Director)inDick Costolo(Director)Goli Sheikholeslami(Director)Anne Raimondi(Director)
Co-investorsAccompliceAtelierCoatue ManagementCRV (Charles River Ventures)Defy PartnersDeviation Capital+11 more
Pilot provides bookkeeping and accounting services, modernizing financial operations for small businesses and startups.
Enterprise SoftwareFintechHR TechSaaSSan Francisco, US
Jessica McKellar(Founder)inWaseem Daher(Founder)
Co-investorsIndex VenturesAkkadian VenturesBezos ExpeditionsCRV (Charles River Ventures)Founders Circle CapitalGeodesic Capital+6 more
Puntt provides AI-driven automated review of marketing and creative assets for regulated brands, checking content against brand and compliance rules to reduce manual review and rework.
AI & Machine LearningMarketing TechSaaS
RealRoots is a women's community that matches members into small groups of compatible women in their city through a short survey, then organizes guided in-person social experiences and events led by a host.
ConsumerMarketplacesSocial
Co-investorsAtland VenturesLobster CapitalVery Serious VenturesLombardstreet Ventures
SendOwl is a digital commerce platform that enables creators and entrepreneurs to sell digital products directly to customers without using marketplaces or intermediaries.
Creator EconomyE-commerceSaaS
Co-investorsCostella KirschGeneral Partnership
Sisense provides embedded analytics software that enables teams to integrate data visualization and insights into business applications.
AI & Machine LearningData & InfrastructureEnterprise SoftwareSaaSNew York, US
Ariel Katz(Chief Executive Officer)Amir Orad(Executive Officer, Director)Todd Sloan(Executive Officer)
BoardTeddie Wardi(Director)inBob Goodman(Director)inItzik Parnafes(Director)in
Co-investorsBattery VenturesBessemer Venture PartnersInsight PartnersClaltechFounders Circle CapitalGrand Ventures+7 more
Snyk is a developer-focused security platform that identifies and fixes vulnerabilities in code, dependencies, containers, and cloud infrastructure using AI-powered analysis.
AI & Machine LearningCybersecurityDeveloper ToolsBoston, US
Guy Podjarny(Director)Peter McKay(Executive Officer, Director)inStephanie Dominy(Executive Officer)
BoardPhilippe Botteri(Director)inMatthew Weigand(Director)inKen Fox(Director)
Co-investors2050 CapitalAccelAlkeon InnovationAmity VenturesAmplify PartnersAtlassian Ventures+31 more
AI & Machine LearningMilpitas, US
Swupnil Sahai(Executive Officer)Richard Hsu(Director)
Co-investorsAfterWork VenturesAmino CapitalSony Ventures CorporationTechstars
Therapydia provides physical therapy services with individualized treatment plans tailored to each patient's needs and recovery goals.
HealthtechWellness & FitnessMill Valley, US
Edward Benjamin Dehan(Executive Officer, Director)
BoardBen Capell(Director)Michael de Anda(Director)
TrueShort produces original movies and series designed for viewing on mobile phones, offered exclusively through its own platform.
ConsumerMedia & Entertainment
Co-investorsBackwards CapitalKhosla Ventures
Sparrow provides employee leave management software and expert services that automate federal, state, and local leave filings, integrate with HRIS, payroll, insurance carriers, and state agencies, and help HR and People Ops teams maintain compliance and contain costs.
Future of WorkHR TechSaaSSan Francisco, US
Deborah Hanus(Founder)Samarth Keshava(Founder)
Vacatia operates an online platform for buying, selling, and booking timeshare and resort vacation accommodations, offering resort-style lodging paired with hotel-like services.
ConsumerMarketplacesPropTechTravel & HospitalitySan Francisco, US
Steven Muldowney(Executive Officer)Caroline Shin(Executive Officer, Director)
BoardNoah Doyle(Director)inAmy Errett(Director)inRobert Spottswood(Director)Keith Cox(Director)
Co-investorsBee PartnersBrainstorm VenturesJavelin Venture PartnersZenStone Venture CapitalTrue Ventures
Verbal is an AI platform that audits healthcare interactions—including calls, video telemedicine, clinical notes, and chat—to ensure compliance with internal protocols and external standards like TJC and URAC.
AI & Machine LearningDigital HealthHealthtechSaaSCovina, US
Eric Lee Escobedo WuWaleed Mohsen
Co-investors500 GlobalCivilization Ventures Management, LlcCosmic Venture PartnersEast Post Road VenturesK20 FundTechstars+1 more
Alterion provides a runtime control plane that sits between enterprise AI agents and infrastructure to observe, monitor, and govern agent behavior in real time.
AI & Machine LearningCybersecurityEnterprise SoftwareSan Francisco, US
Asim Husain(Founder)inAlharith Hussin(Founder)in
Co-investorsWestbound Equity Partners
Wicked Saints Studio is a game development studio that designs narrative-driven, interactive story games, including its World Reborn project.
GamingMedia & EntertainmentMedford, US
Jessica Murrey(Executive Officer, Director)inThomas Gewecke(Director)inAlicia Clifton(Executive Officer, Director)in
Co-investorsBronze InvestmentsOregon Venture FundPortland Seed FundRogue Womens Fund
Exits · 2
IPOs and acquisitions across the tracked portfolioApplovin (Exit)NASDAQ: APPGuardant HealthNASDAQ: GH
Portfolio news
latest coverage across their companiesCredit Mountain · themiddlemarket.com · Aug 4, 2026
Applovin (Exit) · applovin.com · Jul 17, 2026
Guardant Health · investing.com · Jul 16, 2026
DeepGrove · en.wowtale.net · Jul 1, 2026
Sisense · calcalistech.com · Jul 1, 2026
AI Insurance · devx.com · Jun 26, 2026
TrueShort · businessinsider.com · May 13, 2026
Frequently asked questions
- How many investments has AUTHENTIC VENTURES made?
- AUTHENTIC VENTURES has 41 tracked investments, 1 of which have exited via acquisition or IPO.
- What stage does AUTHENTIC VENTURES invest at?
- AUTHENTIC VENTURES invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A stages.
- What is AUTHENTIC VENTURES's typical check size?
- AUTHENTIC VENTURES typically writes checks of $100K – $1M.
- What sectors does AUTHENTIC VENTURES focus on?
- AUTHENTIC VENTURES focuses on AI & Machine Learning, Deep Tech, SaaS, Sector Agnostic.
- Where is AUTHENTIC VENTURES located?
- AUTHENTIC VENTURES is headquartered in Oakland, US.
- Does AUTHENTIC VENTURES lead rounds?
- AUTHENTIC VENTURES typically participates in rounds rather than leading them.
- Who does AUTHENTIC VENTURES co-invest with?
- AUTHENTIC VENTURES most often shares deals with Y Combinator, Backwards Capital, Accel, among 145 tracked co-investors.
Images
Co-investors · 17
Predictive is an early-stage venture capital firm based in New York City that partners closely with founders to secure enterprise design partners, validate products, and drive go-to-market execution in foundational industries.
South Park Commons is a community and early-stage fund supporting talented founders and technologists exploring what to build, offering a residency program and first-check funding.
Adapt Ventures is a private investment firm that backs founders building disruptive companies.
Alumni Ventures (AV) is a venture capital firm that co-invests alongside lead VCs in startups, backing founders with capital and access to a large investor and operator community.
Redpoint Ventures is a venture capital firm established in 1999 by former partners from leading venture firms, focusing on early-stage technology companies across multiple sectors. The firm leverages its partners' technology investment experience and an extensive network of entrepreneurs and industry contacts to support portfolio company growth.
Notable Capital is a venture capital firm that has partnered with founders for over two decades, backing companies from the earliest stages through to exit.
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.
Foundation Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm that commits to founders at the idea stage and maintains long-term relationships with portfolio companies through their growth journey.
Believes that best ideas happen offline. Offline Ventures is Interested in companies that are driven by both profit and purpose while taking great care of the world around them
Fifth Wall is an investment firm focused on technology for the built environment (PropTech), backing startups that make the spaces where people live, work, and play smarter, safer, and more energy efficient.
Stellar Capital invests in founders building software, internet, and technology companies.
▶5 more co-investors
Not Boring CapitalHanabi CapitalCompany CapitalSRB VenturesParadox Capital
Firms observed investing alongside AUTHENTIC VENTURES, from public investor directories. Shared companies are the overlap with AUTHENTIC VENTURES's recorded portfolio.
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