What stage does CircleUp invest at?

CircleUp invests at the Seed, Series A stages.

What is CircleUp's typical check size?

CircleUp typically writes checks of $1M – $5M.

Where is CircleUp located?

CircleUp is headquartered in San Francisco, US.

Does CircleUp lead rounds?

Yes, CircleUp leads investment rounds.

CircleUp

Venture capital

San Francisco · Seed–Series A · 3 people tracked

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Investment thesis

A quant investor using Helio's ML platform to source and evaluate consumer brands, uniquely offering integrated equity and non-dilutive credit underwriting to create a full CPG financing stack.

Invests inAgTech Consumer Direct to Consumer E-commerce FoodTech Retail Tech San Francisco United States

Stage

Seed–Series A

Check

$1M – $5M

San Francisco, California, US

Leads rounds

Leads

Team · 3 people

from public directories

Ben Lee· Managing Director, Circleup Funds· San Francisco, California, United Statesin 𝕏

Ben combines a Stanford physics background with a quantitative, machine‑learning approach screening 1M+ brands to serve the missing middle, finding spiky, differentiated consumer brands like Liquid I.V., sold to Unilever.

Karen Howland· General Partner· Austin, Texas, United Statesin

Karen Howland brings 15 years of hedge-fund rigor and the Helio platform monitoring 1M+ CPG brands to quantify brand strength and source secondary-market deals, expanding access to underrepresented founders.

Pat Robinson· Managing Director - Circle Up Growth Partners· Los Angeles, California, United Statesin

Pat Robinson brings Mainsail growth private equity experience that blends software-style rigor with consumer-brand building, insisting shipping and credit-card fees be above-the-line and flagging a ~$1M DTC sales ceiling.

Frequently asked questions

What stage does CircleUp invest at?: CircleUp invests at the Seed, Series A stages.
What is CircleUp's typical check size?: CircleUp typically writes checks of $1M – $5M.
What sectors does CircleUp focus on?: CircleUp focuses on AgTech, Consumer, Direct to Consumer, E-commerce, FoodTech, Retail Tech.
Where is CircleUp located?: CircleUp is headquartered in San Francisco, US.
Does CircleUp lead rounds?: Yes, CircleUp leads investment rounds.

Media · Podcasts & interviews

featuring the team

$125M Fund Managing Director on How to Build Consumer Brands - Karen Howland of CircleUp

MGR Agency · Karen Howland

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