Character
Venture capitalActively deployingMilwaukee · Pre-Seed–Series A · 3 people tracked
Also known as CHARACTER CAPITAL LLC
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Investment thesis
Built around the Design Sprint method, they focus on AI in science/medicine, run a small accelerator (Labs, cohorts ≤15), and provide direct partner access and open training.
Source: firm website, verified Sep 29, 2026.
Team · 3 people
from public directoriesFounder mafia
2 people who came through Character went on to found or lead other companies.
What they invest in
from 36 of 38 portfolio companiesAI & Machine Learning ×25SaaS ×19Enterprise Software ×15Healthtech ×8Deep Tech ×7Data & Infrastructure ×6Developer Tools ×6Digital Health ×6
HQs:United States×24
Investments · 38 tracked
founders shown can be your intro pathBy year:2026 · 42025 · 62024 · 12014 · 112 dated
Bindwell develops pesticides using artificial intelligence and machine learning to address crop loss and pest resistance.
Advanced ManufacturingAgTechAI & Machine LearningSan Francisco, US
Tyler Rose(Founder)inNavvye Anand(Founder)in
Co-investorsGeneral CatalystY CombinatorSV AngelNoxo Capital468 CapitalA.Capital Ventures+8 more
Coheso provides an AI-powered "legal front door" that captures legal requests from email, Slack, and Teams into a single queue, answering routine questions from company documents and routing complex matters to attorneys with AI-drafted reviews and context attached.
AI & Machine LearningLegalTechSaaS
Ned Gannon(CEO)inManish Agnihotri(Co-Founder & Head of Artificial Intelligence)inChirag Mehta(Co-Founder & Head of Product)inAditya Rathod(Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer)in
Co-investorsTola CapitalCrew CapitalFirsthandVCConnecticut Innovations
1Fort AI builds an AI workforce platform for insurance brokers that automates manual workflows like quoting, invoicing, and servicing, enabling brokers to spend more time with clients.
AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareInsurTechSaaSNew York, US
Anthony Marshi(CEO)inToby Hung(COO)inLeon Rishniw(CTO)in
Co-investors8-Bit CapitalBonfire VenturesConnetic VenturesDraper AssociatesCharacter VCCompany Ventures+2 more
Amari is a customs entry automation platform that uses AI to interpret trade regulations, extract data from shipping documents, classify HTS codes, and generate ABI-ready draft customs entries for review.
AI & Machine LearningLogistics & Supply ChainSaaS
Co-investorsFirst Round CapitalHustle Fund
Apoxy provides a hosted data plane for managing both ingress and egress traffic without sidecars, built on Envoy and the CNCF Gateway API for Kubernetes.
Cloud ComputingData & InfrastructureDeveloper ToolsEnterprise SoftwareSan Francisco, US
Matt Ward(Founder)inDmitry Ilyevsky(Founder)in
Co-investorsY Combinator
AxionOrbital Space develops AI models that convert synthetic aperture radar data into optical-like imagery, enabling continuous Earth observation regardless of cloud cover or time of day.
Advanced ManufacturingSpace TechSan Francisco, US
Dhenenjay Yadav(Founder)inAtharva Peshkar(Founder)in
Co-investorsPioneerY CombinatorBlast.ClubCCL Investments SaRLFounders FutureGrey Street Partners+5 more
Crosslink Capital is a venture capital and investment firm managing portfolios across multiple sectors.
Sector AgnosticSan Francisco, US
Co-investorsSmartGateVCUnion Grove Venture PartnersAlumni VenturesBehind Genius VenturesCorrelation VenturesIntact Ventures+1 more
CTGT develops a governance layer for AI systems that enables direct intervention at the neural network representation level to ensure reliable, policy-aligned AI behavior for enterprises.
AI & Machine LearningData & InfrastructureDeep TechEnterprise SoftwareSan Francisco, US
Cyril Gorlla(Founder)inTrevor Tuttle(Founder)in
Co-investorsDeepwater Asset ManagementGradient VenturesKeshif VenturesLoup VenturesSterling RoadTranspose Platform Management+7 more
Decisional provides AI agents that automate operational tasks within existing business software, handling workflows such as expense reconciliation, preventive maintenance, and field service management.
AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareFuture of WorkSaaSSan Francisco, US
Dhruv Tandon(Co-Founder, CEO)inSai Neeraj Kanuri(Founder)inAdit Sanghvi(Founder)in
Co-investorsMoonfire VenturesY Combinator
Extend builds infrastructure that processes unstructured data at scale for applications in healthcare, real estate, insurance, and finance.
AI & Machine LearningData & InfrastructureDeveloper ToolsEnterprise SoftwareNew York City, US
Kushal Byatnal(Founder)inEli Badgio(Founder)in
Co-investorsBlue Trail PartnersHawk Hill VenturesHomebrewInvest In DataY CombinatorAmerican Express Ventures (Amex)+14 more
Fathom provides AI-powered meeting intelligence that automatically captures notes, summaries, and transcripts while surfacing decisions and action items across Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams.
AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareFuture of WorkSaaSSan Francisco, US
Richard White(Founder)in
Co-investorsACTAI VenturesEarl Grey CapitalImmeasurableMaven VenturesRackhouse Venture Management LpSoma Capital+19 more
Folia Health is a digital health platform that enables patients and caregivers to track symptoms, treatments, and health outcomes through personalized surveys, generating home-reported outcomes data used by life sciences companies and researchers to understand real-world treatment impacts.
Data & InfrastructureDigital HealthEnterprise SoftwareHealthtechSaaSMassachusetts, US
Nell Meosky Luo(CEO and Chairman)inDan Toffling(Co-Founder & CTO)inRavi Bhatt(Founder)inPaul T. Meosky(Executive Officer, Director)
Co-investorsBantam GroupCorrelation VenturesCrosslink CapitalElevate VenturesIU VenturesJoyance Partners+12 more
Great Question is a UX research platform that combines participant recruitment, study management, mixed-method research capabilities, and AI-powered analysis in a single system.
Developer ToolsEnterprise SoftwareMarketing TechSaaSSan Francisco, US
Ned Dwyer(Founder / CEO)inPJ Murray(Founder)in
Co-investorsFundersClubImmeasurableInovia CapitalNOMO VenturesY CombinatorAmplify.LA+18 more
Hatch Fertility is an egg donation and surrogacy agency that matches intended parents with screened egg donors and surrogates and supports them through the family-building process.
Digital HealthFemTechHealthtech
Co-investorsBlue Sea CapitalHighland Creek PartnersDifferential VenturesFoundation CapitalKleiner PerkinsTiferes Ventures
Hatch is a platform that helps nonprofit fundraisers, prospect researchers, and campaign managers identify and cultivate donors by enriching their donor CRM data with up to 90 additional data points from licensed third-party sources.
AI & Machine LearningData & InfrastructureImpact & Social GoodSaaSWoodcliff Lake, US
Moshe Hecht(Founder & CEO)in
Co-investorsDifferential VenturesFoundation CapitalKleiner PerkinsOlive Tree VenturesTiferes VenturesTrue Ventures
House Rx provides a platform that enables physicians and pharmacists at specialty clinics to collaborate on medical and pharmacy care delivery.
Enterprise SoftwareHealthtechSaaS
Ogi Kavazovic(Founder)in
Co-investors1984 Ventures Management, LlcBessemer Venture PartnersCencora VenturesFirst Round CapitalNew Enterprise Associates (NEA)Cerity Partners Ventures+3 more
Hypernatural is an AI video editor that lets brands and storytellers generate, storyboard, and edit full-length videos from scripts, visuals, and audio.
AI & Machine LearningCreator EconomyMarketing TechMedia & EntertainmentElm Grove, US
Chris Kolbe(Executive Officer, Director)in
Co-investorsAdverb VenturesAIX VenturesUnderscore VCCharacter VC
Inductive Bio builds AI and machine learning software to accelerate drug discovery for pharmaceutical and biotech researchers, combining computational chemistry with expertise in translating complex drug programs from preclinical to clinical stages.
AI & Machine LearningBiotechDeep TechBrooklyn, US
Josh Haimson(Executive Officer, Director)inBen Birnbaum(Ph.D.)inAlexander Taylor(Ph.D.)in
BoardRohan Ganesh(Director)in
Co-investorsAlleyCorpAndreessen HorowitzCoalition OperatorsEnsemble LabsLux CapitalObvious Ventures+5 more
Intermezzo provides API-first global payroll software powered by AI, designed for companies managing teams across multiple countries.
AI & Machine LearningFintechHR TechSaaSLas Vegas, US
Siddharth Ram(Co-founder)inKumar Ramanathan(Co-founder)inJeffrey Robert Baldi(Director)
Orbital Industries is an "AI Industrial" company that develops physical AI models—including AI-accelerated simulators and autoresearch agents for advanced materials—to speed up the design and manufacture of hardware products.
AI & Machine LearningDeep TechNew Materials
Co-investorsFly Ventures
Phaidra develops an AI control platform that uses reinforcement learning to optimize energy efficiency and operational performance in data centers and AI factories.
AI & Machine LearningCloud ComputingDeep TechEnergySeattle, US
Jim Gao(Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer)inVeda Panneershelvam(Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer)inKatie Hoffman(Co-Founder, President, and Chief Operating Officer)in
Co-investorsCollaborative FundCool Climate CollectiveEast Valley VenturesFlying Fish VenturesIncubate USIndex Ventures+9 more
Poetiq builds self-improving AI systems that sit on top of existing LLMs to extract and synthesize their embedded knowledge into reliable reasoning strategies, using far less data than traditional reinforcement learning post-training.
AI & Machine LearningDeep TechEnterprise SoftwareMountain View, US
Ian Fischer(Founder)in
Co-investorsOperator CollectiveOutset Capital468 CapitalFYRFLY Venture PartnersSurface VenturesY Combinator
Prism TPO provides a drug pricing transparency platform for independent oncology practices, integrating distributor pricing, GPO contracts, and reimbursement data to enable clear visibility into net drug economics and informed purchasing decisions.
Digital HealthEnterprise SoftwareHealthtechSaaS
Ina Ochoche(Head of Engineering)in
Co-investorsLRVHealth
Rasyn.ai offers Marigold, an AI research assistant that lets scientists ask research questions, run tools, or delegate entire tasks, returning results such as structures, charts, code, and papers in panels.
AI & Machine LearningBiotechDeep TechHealthtechSaaSSan Francisco, US
Ayush Chauhan(Founder)inDaood Hashmi(Founder)inAnsh Tiwari(Founder/CEO)
Co-investorsY CombinatorArray Ventures Management LlcCaladanCapitalize VCGeneral AdvanceInflection Point Ventures+4 more
Reclaim offers an AI scheduling assistant that automatically optimizes a user's calendar around priorities, meetings, tasks, and focus time.
AI & Machine LearningFuture of WorkMarketing TechSaaSSales TechSeattle, US
Henry S.(Founder)inAlexandra Taylor(Director, Promoter)Kyle Buckingham(Executive Officer, Director, Promoter)
Co-investorsCorrelation VenturesCurious CapitalFirebolt Ventures Management Company, LlcFlying Fish VenturesGradient VenturesHumans Of The Internet+3 more
SkillSync provides a shared platform for storing and organizing AI coding agent sessions, letting users centralize sessions from tools like Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor, share them via URL, and convert successful workflows into reusable skills.
AI & Machine LearningDeveloper ToolsSaaS
Sohar Health is a front-end revenue cycle management platform that uses technology and machine learning to automate insurance claims processing for healthcare providers.
AI & Machine LearningDigital HealthEnterprise SoftwareHealthtechNew York City, US
Ashish Mandavia(Founder)inLucas Gordon(Founder)in
Co-investorsKindred CapitalRLC VenturesY CombinatorGeneral CatalystKindredMaiora Rebel Ventures+2 more
TimeCopilot is an open-source forecasting agent that pairs large language models with time series foundation models (such as Amazon Chronos, Salesforce Moirai, Google TimesFM, and Nixtla TimeGPT) to automate model selection, forecasting, and natural-language explanation.
AI & Machine LearningData & InfrastructureDeveloper Tools
Azul GarzaRenée Rosillo
Unsupervized builds affordable, high-performance humanoid robots deployed in real-world operational facilities including warehouses, logistics hubs, and manufacturing environments.
AI & Machine LearningDeep TechLogistics & Supply ChainRobotics
Shapath(Chief Executive Officer)Ranita(Chief Technology Officer)
Versa provides a receipt capture and reconciliation platform for corporate travel and expense management.
Enterprise SoftwareFintechSaaSNew York City, US
Ted Power(Founder)inThomas Moore(Founder)in
Co-investorsCollaborative FundS3 VenturesSoma CapitalY CombinatorAndreessen HorowitzKleiner Perkins+4 more
Weave Bio offers an AI-native regulatory platform for preparing and managing eCTD-formatted regulatory dossiers, automating data organization, authoring, review, publishing and response management across the therapeutic lifecycle.
AI & Machine LearningBiotechSaaSSan Francisco, US
Ari Caroline(Co-founder, Chief Strategy Officer)inBrandon Rice(Co-founder, Chief Executive Officer)in
Co-investorsFirsthandVCGround Up VenturesMagnetic VenturesRaptor GroupTMVUS Venture Partners+1 more
Zest offers a platform for managing corporate gift orders, enabling customization, processing, invoicing, and tracking of high-touch gifting campaigns.
B2B MarketplacesE-commerceEnterprise SoftwareMarketplacesRetail TechSaaS
Alex IngramJeremy Feinstein
Other
Tracked investments with no reachable website or further public details — typically companies that wound down, renamed, or were absorbed.
Nevara
Portfolio news
latest coverage across their companiesRasyn · ycombinator.com · Aug 3, 2026
Amari · pear.vc · Feb 19, 2026
Poetiq · thesaasnews.com · Feb 3, 2026
AxionOrbital Space · ycombinator.com · Jan 6, 2026
Bindwell · techcrunch.com · Nov 13, 2025
Weave Bio · finsmes.com · Oct 17, 2025
Phaidra · finsmes.com · Oct 1, 2025
Sohar Health · finance.yahoo.com · Sep 23, 2025
Frequently asked questions
- How many investments has Character made?
- Character has 38 tracked investments, including 10 dated in the last 24 months.
- What stage does Character invest at?
- Character invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A stages.
- What is Character's typical check size?
- Character typically writes checks of $2M.
- What sectors does Character focus on?
- Character focuses on Biotech, Enterprise Software, Healthtech, SaaS.
- Where is Character located?
- Character is headquartered in Milwaukee, US.
- Does Character lead rounds?
- Character typically participates in rounds rather than leading them.
Media · Podcasts & interviews
featuring the teamMaking time for what matters | Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky (Authors of Make Time, Character VC)
Lenny's Podcast · John Zeratsky
John Zeratsky, Character Capital GP on Startup Sprints & Design DNA
Grace Gong · John Zeratsky
Quantifying Startup Potential: The OATS Scorecard | John Zeratsky | Character
Understanding VC · John Zeratsky
Co-investors · 1
Cultivation Capital is a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage companies with the potential to transform how people live and work, backing them from Series Seed through Series B.
Firms observed investing alongside Character, from public investor directories. Shared companies are the overlap with Character's recorded portfolio.
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