Conviction
Venture capitalActively deployingSan Francisco Β· Pre-SeedβSeries B Β· 3 people tracked
Also known as Conviction Partners Β· Conviction Partners Expansion Β· CONVICTION PARTNERS, LLC
Investment thesis
Conviction backs AI-native, 'Software 3.0' companies, believing the industry is very early in turning powerful AI models into products that transform industries. The firm invests early, frequently as the first investor, writing checks from $1M to $25M. It gravitates toward technical teams β engineers, researchers, product people, domain experts, and dropouts β that build with velocity and pragmatism. Conviction positions itself as hands-on with deep domain understanding and a broad network deployed on behalf of portfolio companies, aiming to help founders become their most ambitious selves.
Source: firm website, verified Aug 3, 2026.
Team Β· 3 people
from public directories
What they invest in
from 21 of 26 portfolio companiesAI & Machine Learning Γ21Enterprise Software Γ8Developer Tools Γ6Cloud Computing Γ5SaaS Γ5Cybersecurity Γ3Data & Infrastructure Γ3Consumer Γ2
HQs:United StatesΓ11FranceΓ1
Investments Β· 26 tracked
founders shown can be your intro pathFlapping Airplanes is a foundational AI research lab working on the data efficiency problem, aiming to build models that learn from far fewer training examples than current systems.
AI & Machine LearningDeep TechSan Francisco, US
ASHER SPECTOR(Executive Officer, Director)BENJAMIN SPECTOR(Executive Officer, Director)
HeyGen is an AI video generation and dubbing platform that allows users to create and localize videos by writing scripts and selecting AI-generated voices, eliminating the need for cameras, actors, and traditional production resources.
AI & Machine LearningMarketing TechMedia & EntertainmentSaaSLos Angeles, US
Joshua Xu
New York, US
Nicolae Rusan(Director)Kareem Amin(Executive Officer, Director)
Board seatMike VernalΒ· per SEC Form D Β· $40M raise Β· filed Jan 2025
Adaptive is an AI-native healthcare provider that delivers home health services by combining artificial intelligence-driven operations with in-home clinicians to improve patient outcomes and reduce hospital readmissions.
AI & Machine LearningDigital HealthHealthtech
Baseten provides AI inference and infrastructure services that optimize model deployment, serving, and orchestration across the full stack.
AI & Machine LearningCloud ComputingDeveloper Tools
Tuhin Srivastava(CEO and Co-Founder)inAmir Haghighat(CTO and Co-Founder)inPhil Howes(Co-Founder & Chief Scientist)inPankaj Gupta(Co-Founder)in
San Francisco, US
Gabe Stern(Executive Officer)Jay Simons(Director)Shravan Narayen(Director)Philip Howes(Director)Amir Haghighat(Executive Officer, Director)Danielle Herzberg(Executive Officer)
Culminate Security developed an AI-powered security analyst that autonomously triages and investigates SOC alerts and SIEM signals, delivering evidence-based verdicts and remediation recommendations.
AI & Machine LearningCloud ComputingCybersecurity
Vera ChanRon FeldmanRex Guo
Distributed Spectrum builds software for radio spectrum management that combines machine learning, signal processing, and embedded systems.
AI & Machine LearningDeep TechHardwareNew York, US
Alex Wulff(Founder & CEO)Ben Harpe(Founder & COO)Isaac Struhl(Founder & CTO)
Listen Labs offers an AI-moderated video interview platform that recruits and interviews verified customers in parallel, then synthesizes the findings into memos, slides, and highlight reels.
AI & Machine LearningFintechMarketing TechSaaS
Mistral builds and open-sources frontier AI models, developer tools, and applications for organizations in finance, manufacturing, defense, energy, and the public sector to solve complex problems.
AI & Machine LearningCloud ComputingDeveloper ToolsEnterprise Software
Arthur Mensch(Co-founder and CEO)Guillaume Lample(Co-founder and Chief Science Officer)Timothee Lacroix(Co-founder and CTO)
RunSybil provides AI-powered active defense and offensive security capabilities for enterprise security teams, automating hacker-level threat detection and response.
AI & Machine LearningCybersecuritySan Francisco, US
Brian Byun(Director)Ari Herbert-Voss(Executive Officer, Director)in
Sierra helps businesses build better, more human customer experiences using AI.
AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareSaaSNew York, US
Bret Taylor(Co-Founder)Clay Bavor(Co-Founder)Caryn Seidman-Becker(Chief Executive Officer)Todd Schroeder(Executive Officer)Edward O'Connor(Executive Officer)RAYMOND TORRES(Executive Officer)
Sunday builds household robots that learn from human demonstration to automate everyday tasks in real homes.
AI & Machine LearningConsumerHardwareRoboticsSilicon Valley, US
Tony Zhao(CEO, Co-Founder)Cheng Chi(CTO, Co-Founder)
Rows marked βSEC filingβ are inferred from directors named on the company's SEC Form D β public regulatory data, not a portfolio list published by the firm.
Frequently asked questions
- What stage does Conviction invest at?
- Conviction invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A, Series B stages.
- What is Conviction's typical check size?
- Conviction typically writes checks of $1M β $25M.
- What sectors does Conviction focus on?
- Conviction focuses on AI & Machine Learning.
- Where is Conviction located?
- Conviction is headquartered in San Francisco, US.
- Does Conviction lead rounds?
- Yes, Conviction leads investment rounds.
Media Β· Podcasts & interviews
featuring the teamWhy βthe labs will build itβ is the wrong startup fear | Sarah Guo (Conviction)
Rippling Β· Sarah Guo
State of Startups and AI 2025 - Sarah Guo, Conviction
AI Engineer Β· Sarah Guo
Ep. 7: Pranav Reddy, Conviction Partner
Delta Institute Β· Pranav Reddy
Investing with Conviction | Sarah Guo, Founder of Conviction | Ep. 5
Uncapped with Jack Altman Β· Sarah Guo
Conviction in an AI-Native World with Sarah Guo | 2025 Upfront Summit
Upfront Ventures Β· Sarah Guo
Images
Co-investors Β· 64
Sequoia Capital is a venture capital firm that partners with founders to build technology companies, with a strong current focus on artificial intelligence.
Index Ventures is a venture capital firm that backs founders across the globe, investing in the people behind ideas from early through later stages.
Felicis Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm that has backed founders for over 20 years, leading or co-leading the majority of its investments across seed and Series A rounds.
Bain Capital Ventures is the venture arm of Bain Capital, backing founders from incubation and seed through growth-stage, leveraging Bain Capital's global platform, industry expertise, and network.
Menlo Ventures is a venture capital firm that backs transformative, early-stage technology companies reshaping how people live and work.
Spark Capital is a venture capital firm that backs founders across technology and consumer companies; it notably led Twitter's Series B in 2008.
Andreessen Horowitz's Strategic Partnerships page describes collaborations that connect its portfolio companies with established institutions to help scale and deploy their technology.
IVP (Institutional Venture Partners) is a venture capital firm that backs high-growth companies, drawing on five decades of experience investing in 400 companies with 135+ IPOs.
Pear VC is an early-stage venture firm specializing in pre-seed and seed investments, run by former founders and operators who provide recruiting, sales coaching, and fundraising support to portfolio companies.
Accel is a venture capital firm that partners with exceptional founding teams, positioning itself as a first partner to startups globally.
Khosla Ventures is a venture capital firm known for backing bold, contrarian bets in world-class teams that can reshape entire industries.
Greylock Partners is a venture capital firm that backs founders at the earliest stages, often as their first investor before a product exists.
βΆ52 more co-investors
Redpoint VenturesInsight PartnersBenchmarkTiger Global ManagementGreycroftMadrona Venture Group01 AdvisorsThrive CapitalAI FundTRANSFORMATION CAPITALFounders FundUncork CapitalFirst Round CapitalFoundation CapitalNorwest Venture PartnersBattery VenturesGoat CapitalC2 InvestmentsForerunner VenturesLookout VenturesAmplify PartnersBond Capital ManagementStride VCParadigmHanabi CapitalWingGSV AccelerationSalesforce Japan Co.,Ltd.CyberstartsArray Ventures Management LlcEclipse VenturesCowboy VenturesRenegade PartnersCisco InvestmentsMosaic VenturesPreston-Werner VenturesWalden InternationalAlvenMulticoin CapitalPropeller VCRadical VenturesPlaid1984 Ventures Management, LlcGreatPoint VenturesSyngenta Group VenturesChingona VenturesMatchstick VenturesGSV VenturesAir Street CapitalBlossom CapitalEnergize VenturesGSR
Firms observed investing alongside Conviction, from public investor directories. Shared companies are the overlap with Conviction's recorded portfolio.
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