How many investments has DERIVE VENTURES made?

DERIVE VENTURES has 28 tracked investments, 1 of which have exited, including 4 dated in the last 24 months.

What stage does DERIVE VENTURES invest at?

DERIVE VENTURES invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A stages.

What sectors does DERIVE VENTURES focus on?

DERIVE VENTURES focuses on Consumer, FoodTech, PropTech, Travel & Hospitality.

Where is DERIVE VENTURES located?

DERIVE VENTURES is headquartered in San Francisco, US.

Does DERIVE VENTURES lead rounds?

DERIVE VENTURES typically participates in rounds rather than leading them.

Who does DERIVE VENTURES co-invest with?

DERIVE VENTURES most often shares deals with Branded Strategic Hospitality, Camber Creek, Y Combinator, among 53 tracked co-investors.

DERIVE VENTURES

Venture capital

San Francisco · Pre-Seed–Series A · 17 people tracked

Also known as DERIVE VENTURES MANAGEMENT COMPANY, LLC

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Find your way into DERIVE VENTURES

468 people in our graph share verified history with the DERIVE VENTURES team — schools, employers, funds. One of them is your warm intro.

Dan Bartusunlockedknows Tyler Carrico · together at Bank of America Merrill Lynch (overlapped)

×7knows the team · via Bank of America Merrill Lynch

knows the team · via University of Virginia

×2knows the team · via Yale University

knows the team · via UVA McIntire School of Commerce

✨ Fox Verdict

Investment thesis

Derive Ventures invests at the early stage in the next generation of hospitality, experiences, travel technology, and real estate companies. The firm seeks to bridge the gap between technology and travel by supporting founders shaping the industry's future. For entrepreneurs, it offers access to decision makers across the travel industry to drive sales and partnerships, and it draws insights and best practices from across categories and verticals to advance the sector. Its stated priority is generating strong, differentiated, asymmetric returns for investors.

Invests inConsumer FoodTech PropTech Travel & Hospitality North America San Francisco United States

Source: firm website, verified Sep 15, 2026.

Stage

Pre-Seed–Series A

San Francisco, US

Leads rounds

Follows

Instruments

Equity

Founded

2021

Last 12 months

3 investments

AUM

$42M

VC funds

Tracked investments

Acquisitions

Team · 17 people

from the firm's website & curated

Mike Scott· Managing Partner

Co-founded Derive Ventures in 2021. Previously a private equity professional at KSL Capital Partners with over $4B of hospitality and travel transaction experience, and earlier an investment banker at J.P. Morgan. Advises hospitality brand Paradero and holds a BBA from the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business.

Tyler Carrico· Managing Partner· San Francisco, Californiain

Co-founded Derive Ventures in 2021. Previously an investment professional at Thayer Ventures involved in deploying $50M across 12 portfolio companies, and earlier an investment banker in BoA Merrill Lynch's TMT group. Holds a BS from the University of Virginia's McIntire School of Commerce.

Michael Goldin· Industry Partner

Industry Partner with a decade in travel technology and hospitality startups. Founder of Storied Collection, a luxury accommodation soft brand, and former business development director at Rented.com and NoiseAware. Graduate of Auburn University.

Brian De Lowe· Advisor

President and Co-Founder of Proper Hospitality and of Kor Real Estate Partners, having closed over $1B of lifestyle real estate projects since 2012. Leads corporate strategy, brand development, and acquisitions across hospitality and real estate. USC Marshall School of Business graduate.

Chelsea Salamone· Vice President

Joined Derive Ventures in 2024 with over a decade of hospitality experience, including 5+ years at Standard International and prior roles at Kimpton, Pyramid Hotel Group, and Hilton. Holds a BS in Hospitality Management from Boston University.

Ellen Keszler· Advisor

Advisor and executive who has served on more than 10 private and public company boards in travel technology and hospitality, including CWT and Sojern. Named to the PhocusWright Hall of Fame in 2022.

Krissy Gathright· Advisor

Hospitality and REIT leader with 25+ years of experience who retired as COO of Apple Hospitality REIT in 2020. Serves on multiple public and nonprofit boards and is active in venture investing and advising. Holds a BS in Accounting from the University of Virginia's McIntire School of Commerce.

Noah Fosse· Venture Partner

Joined Derive Ventures in 2022. Previously an investment banker at Eastdil Secured in the M&A/Corporate Advisory group, working on transactions such as the $3.6B sale of BlueRock Residential to Blackstone. Holds a master's in real estate finance and a bachelor's from the University of Michigan.

Peter Cole· Advisor

Advisor and lifelong hospitality executive who began at Marriott and served as CFO of The Ritz-Carlton and CEO of Design Hotels. Founder of the advisory firm Eclectic Companies. Graduate of the University of Wisconsin with an MBA from the University of Maryland.

Rick Hoffman· Advisor

Tenured hospitality executive with a 23-year career at Marriott, retiring in 2023 as Global Officer of Business Development. Led major M&A including the $13B Starwood acquisition and Marriott's technology investments and fund commitments. Earlier a litigation attorney at Williams & Connolly. University of Michigan Law graduate.

Rob· Denver

Co-Founder and Executive Vice Chairman of the Jose Andres Group, a global food hospitality company with 30+ restaurants. Co-founded World Central Kitchen and founded FoodTech Angels to back early-stage food technology companies. Yale graduate with an MBA from UC Berkeley Haas.

Rob Levy· Advisor· Denver

Advisor and executive in marketplace and tech-enabled services, having served as CFO of Evolve and OpenLoop and in leadership roles at HomeAdvisor. Graduate of Harvard with an MBA from Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

Rob Wilder· Advisor

Advisor and Co-Founder and Executive Vice Chairman of the Jose Andres Group, a global food hospitality company. Co-founded World Central Kitchen and founded FoodTech Angels. Graduate of Yale with an MBA from UC Berkeley Haas.

Frédérique Leclerc· Advisorin

Frédérique Leclerc joined Iris Capital in 2007 as an accountant and now serves as Chief Accountant and Finance Manager. Before Iris, she worked at SGA, a firm focused on finance and accounting for funds and SMBs, taught accounting in Paris, and held an accounting management role at the Le Framboisier department stores. Earlier in her career she was an accountant at GEF and ran her own bakery; she holds a degree in management accounting and the French Superior Diploma in Accounting and Management.

Jeff Jackson· Advisor· Dallas, Texas, United Statesin

Chairman of Derive Ventures, with a career in transportation and distribution including 14 years at American Airlines and 11 years at Sabre as CFO and EVP Corporate Development. Was a General Partner at Thayer Ventures from 2012. Graduate of Dartmouth College with an MBA from Northwestern's Kellogg School.

Rob Wilder· Advisor· Austin, Texas, United Statesin

Venture Partner at FTW Ventures and a 40-year veteran of food and restaurants. Co-founder of the José Andrés Group and World Central Kitchen, and founder of FoodTech Angels.

Rosana R.· Advisor· San Francisco Bay Areain

Rosana R. works on the Product Finance & Strategy team for Content Understanding at Netflix, where she manages operational frameworks, identifies automation opportunities across the Content Platform, and applies GenAI tools to content operations. She previously founded and led a media company and worked in strategy operations at Google, leading strategy for more than 10 new products across YouTube. For the past three years, she has led venture investing for the family office GWP Impact, investing in early-stage companies and advising founders.

What they invest in

from 21 of 28 portfolio companies

SaaS ×10Travel & Hospitality ×8Enterprise Software ×7PropTech ×7AI & Machine Learning ×5Consumer ×4Fintech ×4FoodTech ×3

HQs:United States×14Mexico×1

Who they back

founder profiles across 7 portfolio companies

53%

repeat founders

of 15 founders with career history

Where their founders studiedfrom 14 founders with education data

Cornell ×2The Wharton School ×2

What their founders studiedfrom 13 founders with field-of-study data

Finance & Accounting ×4Computer Science ×3Economics ×3Business & Management ×2Humanities ×2

Where their founders worked beforefrom 15 founders with career history

Thayer Investment Partners (TIP) ×3Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. ×2Tinder ×2

Accelerator rootsportfolio companies that came through a program

Y Combinator ×2

Investments · 28 tracked

founders shown can be your intro path

By year:2026 · 1 2025 · 2 2024 · 1 2023 · 1 2022 · 2 2016 · 18 dated

Biltbilt.com in 𝕏

Bilt is a rewards program that lets renters and homeowners earn points on rent and mortgage payments, either through partner properties' resident portals or its BillPay product for any home.

B2B MarketplacesConsumerFintechPropTechNew York, US

Ankur Jain(Founder)in David Wyler(Founder)inAlexander Lockwood Klokus(Executive Officer, Director)

BoardKenneth Chenault(Director)Harley Miller(Director)in Alex Fiance(Director)in

Co-investorsAcrew Capital Camber Creek Elizabeth Street Ventures Fifth Wall Fin Capital Flucas Ventures +8 more

Canary Technologiescanarytechnologies.com in 𝕏

Canary Technologies provides digital management software for hotels, replacing traditional paper-based administrative and operational workflows used across the hospitality industry.

Enterprise SoftwareSaaSNew York City, US

Harman Narula(Founder)inSJ Sawhney(Founder)in

Co-investors7BC Venture Capital Brighton Park Capital Commerce Ventures F-Prime Capital Insight Partners Oyster Ventures +3 more

Centstrycents.com inNov 2016

Cents Assist is an AI-powered receptionist service built for laundry and laundromat businesses that handles customer calls, texts, and chat inquiries 24/7.

AI & Machine LearningData & InfrastructureFuture of WorkHR TechIoTRetail TechSaaSLawrence, US

Eliezer Cohen(Executive Officer, Director)Allen Konstam(Executive Officer, Director)Ira Chaimovits(Executive Officer, Director)

Co-investorsBessemer Venture Partners Camber Creek Diagram Capital Newfund Capital Recall Capital RiverPark Ventures +4 more

Cornellcornell.edu in 𝕏

Cornell is a privately endowed research university with a public mission and federal land-grant status in New York State.

EdTechIthaca, US

Crunchtimecrunchtime.com inAug 2026 · $80M

Crunchtime provides restaurant operations management software for multi-unit and enterprise restaurant brands, covering inventory management, labor and scheduling, operations execution, learning and development, and kitchen management.

AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareFoodTechSaaSSan Francisco, US

Co-investorsBattery Ventures Golub Growth Osage Venture Partners Schooner Capital Ten Coves Capital

Directogetdirecto.com in 𝕏

Directo is a browser extension and platform that connects travelers directly to hotels and property managers, bypassing booking intermediaries.

B2B MarketplacesConsumerTravel & Hospitality

Co-investorsKima Ventures

Guideslyguidesly.com in 𝕏Dec 2024 · $9.5M

Guidesly is a mobile platform that connects outdoor adventurers with verified guides for activities including fishing, hunting, skiing, diving, and other outdoor experiences.

ConsumerMarketplacesSports TechTravel & HospitalityBuffalo, US

Taylor Lord(Cofounder, Head of Product)inDavid Lord(Founder & CEO)in

Board John Gordy(Director)inEileen Shapiro(Director)

Co-investorsBantam Group Launchpad Venture Group Aspen Capital Group Elysian Park Ventures Greycroft Partners Half Court Ventures

Life Houselife-house.com in

Lark Hotels is a hotel management company that partners with independent, design-driven boutique hotels across America, providing operational expertise, strategic guidance, and support from pre-opening through ongoing management.

PropTechTravel & HospitalityKennebunkport, US

Rob Blood(Founder)in

Co-investorsComcast Ventures Inertia Ventures JLL Spark Thayer Ventures Tiger Global Management

MarginEdgemarginedge.com in 𝕏

MarginEdge builds a restaurant management platform that handles invoice processing, inventory, cost tracking, and accounting integrations for restaurant operators.

FintechFoodTechSaaSArlington, US

Roy Phillips(Co-founder, Client Services)inBo Davis(Co-founder & CEO)in Brian Mills(Co-founder & CTO)inEmma Whelan(Chief Financial Officer)inJess Finnefrock(Chief Operating Officer)inTara Clever(Chief Revenue Officer)in

Co-investorsBranded Strategic Hospitality Connetic Ventures IrishAngels Schooner Capital Osage Venture Partners Ten Coves Capital

meezgetmeez.com in

meez is a digital recipe management platform for restaurant and kitchen teams, letting them create scalable recipes, manage editing permissions, notify staff of recipe changes, and build interactive training with videos and images.

Enterprise SoftwareFoodTechFuture of WorkSaaSNew York, US

Joshua Sharkey(Founder)in

Co-investorsBranded Strategic Hospitality Correlation Ventures Noro-Moseley Partners Struck Capital AME Cloud Ventures Craft Ventures +2 more

Nayanaya.tech in 𝕏Sep 2022 · $5M

Naya Create 3.0 is a customizable keyboard product that allows users to configure their setup by selecting modules, switches, and keycaps to personalize their input device.

ConsumerHardware

Co-investorsNV NOM Carao Ventures Flybridge Capital Partners K50 Ventures Primary Venture Partners

Naya Homesnayahomes.co in 𝕏

Naya Homes by Casago operates a curated portfolio of vacation rental properties and luxury beachfront accommodations across Mexico's Pacific coast destinations, including Puerto Vallarta and the Riviera Nayarit.

MarketplacesTravel & HospitalityPuerto Vallarta, MX

Co-investorsCarao Ventures Clocktower Ventures Flybridge Capital Partners BBG Ventures Primary Venture Partners

Opertooperto.com inMar 2023 · $25M

Operto develops technology solutions tailored to hospitality businesses, addressing operational and guest experience challenges.

Enterprise SoftwarePropTechSaaSTravel & Hospitality

Co-investorsFUSE BlackPines Capital Partners Centana Growth Partners Thayer Ventures Watchfire Ventures

Runwiserunwise.com in 𝕏

Runwise provides a wireless building control system that replaces traditional control infrastructure, which typically requires many devices, extensive wiring, and days of installation labor, with a single control installed wirelessly in a day or less.

CleantechIoTPropTech

Lee Hoffman(Founder)in Michael Cook(Founder)in

Co-investorsHelium-3 Ventures MassMutual Ventures Menlo Ventures Multiplier Capital NextView Ventures Notation Capital +2 more

Sensible Weathersensibleweather.com in 𝕏May 2022 · $12M

Sensible Weather offers a Weather Guarantee product that automatically reimburses travelers up to 100% of their daily rate or booking cost when qualifying weather (such as rain or excessive heat) occurs during trips or outdoor activities like camping, golf, ski trips, theme parks, and concerts.

Climate TechInsurTechTravel & HospitalitySanta Monica, US

Nick Cavanaugh(Founder)inHeidi A. Lawson(Director)

Board Jay Ganatra(Director)in

Co-investorsAmex Ventures Infinity Ventures Wonder Ventures 75 & Sunny Elysian Park Ventures Infinity VC +1 more

Thayer Investment Partnersthayerinvestmentpartners.com

Thayer Investment Partners is a venture capital firm focused on travel technology investing, backing companies that reshape travel, hospitality, and tourism operations.

Travel & Hospitality

Chris Hemmeter(Co-founder & Managing Partner)in Tyler Carrico(Managing Partner)inMike Scott(Managing Partner)in

Co-investorsGideon Hixon Fund

TopKeytopkey.io in 𝕏

Topkey is an AI-powered financial operating system designed for property managers that automates bill categorization, receipt processing, and financial reporting across properties to streamline accounting operations.

AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareFintechPropTechSaaSSan Francisco, US

Jonathan Sukhia(Founder)in Bryan Beshore(Founder)in

Co-investorsAndreessen Horowitz Felicis Ventures Y Combinator Wischoff Ventures

Vendvendhq.com in 𝕏Nov 2025 · $17.5MAcquired

Vend, now part of Lightspeed and marketed as Lightspeed Retail (X-Series), is a cloud-based point-of-sale and retail management platform for retailers to manage inventory, sales, customers, payments, and reporting across in-store and online channels.

E-commerceRetail TechSaaS

Co-investorsFolklore Ventures Movac Point Nine Punakaiki Fund Qualgro Square Peg Capital +2 more

VendParkvendpark.io in

Vendpark provides a parking management platform that gives property teams real-time visibility into parking operations, revenue, and occupancy across multiple locations through a centralized dashboard.

AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareIoTPropTechSaaS

Karan Singhal(Founder)in

Co-investorsAPA Venture Partners Communitas Capital Partners Floating Point Blue Heron Capital

Wayway.co in

Way offers a platform for brands to launch, market, and manage customer experiences such as events and reservable resources from a unified dashboard.

Enterprise SoftwareMarketing TechSaaSTravel & HospitalityAustin, US

Co-investorsInsight Partners Side Door Ventures

weblinknestment.com in

Nestment provides first-time homebuyers with 1:1 coaching supported by AI-powered market data and analysis, homebuying education, and referrals to vetted real estate agents and lenders.

AI & Machine LearningFintechPropTech

Matt Trocker(VP of Coaches)

Co-investorsAspira Capital Cleo Capital The MBA Fund VamosVentures Westbound Equity Partners IDEA Fund Partners+1 more

Other

Tracked investments with no reachable website or further public details — typically companies that wound down, renamed, or were absorbed.

HospitalitynetOperto Guest Technologiesrecent newsSkipperVend Park

Portfolio news

latest coverage across their companies

Payments technology firm Piston raises $15 million in Series A funding round to build out US network — Retail Technology Innovation Hub

Way · retailtechinnovationhub.com · Sep 11, 2026

MarginEdge Raises $80 Million Series D As Platform Processes $28 Billion In Restaurant Purchasing

MarginEdge · pulse2.com · Aug 21, 2026

TravelX Raises Series A to Scale Post-Booking Revenue Management · Thayer Investment Partners

Thayer Investment Partners · thayer.vc · Aug 19, 2026

Sterling Raises A$3.15M in Seed Funding

Vend · finsmes.com · Aug 17, 2026

MarginEdge Raises $80 Million as Competition for the AI-Powered Restaurant Back Office Intensifies |

Crunchtime · restauranttechnologynews.com · Aug 13, 2026

Papa Johns on X: "Just tested the X Money funding loop for a few days. - Instant transfer from Bilt Obsidian → X Money worked - No card rewards earned on those transfers - Robinhood Gold Credit declined outright as “money transfer” - 6% APY on X Money is real (interest is already accruing) - Hit htt

Bilt · x.com · Aug 11, 2026

Canary Technologies Raises $80M Series D Led by Brighton Park Capital to Expand AI-Powered Hotel Guest Management Platform - VC Tavern

Canary Technologies · vctavern.com · Jul 6, 2026

AI-Powered Parking Startup Vend Park Secures $17.5M To Transform A Forgotten Real Estate Asset - Success Focused Real Estate License Classes And More November 20, 2025

Vend Park · cameronacademy.com · Nov 20, 2025

Frequently asked questions

How many investments has DERIVE VENTURES made?: DERIVE VENTURES has 28 tracked investments, 1 of which have exited, including 4 dated in the last 24 months.
What stage does DERIVE VENTURES invest at?: DERIVE VENTURES invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A stages.
What sectors does DERIVE VENTURES focus on?: DERIVE VENTURES focuses on Consumer, FoodTech, PropTech, Travel & Hospitality.
Where is DERIVE VENTURES located?: DERIVE VENTURES is headquartered in San Francisco, US.
Does DERIVE VENTURES lead rounds?: DERIVE VENTURES typically participates in rounds rather than leading them.
Who does DERIVE VENTURES co-invest with?: DERIVE VENTURES most often shares deals with Branded Strategic Hospitality, Camber Creek, Y Combinator, among 53 tracked co-investors.

Co-investors · 12

Flybridge Capital Partners

Flybridge Capital Partners is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in entrepreneurs building companies with global reach. The firm focuses on supporting innovative ventures from their initial funding stages.

Both backed · 2

Naya Naya Homes

$250K – $10M

Camber Creek

Camber Creek is a venture capital firm focused on real estate technology (proptech), partnering closely with founders and leveraging its network of real estate industry limited partners to support portfolio companies.

Both backed · 2

Bilt Cents

$1M

Carao Ventures

Carao Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm focused on small and medium-sized markets across Latin America, backing technically skilled entrepreneurs aiming to disrupt uncompetitive industries.

Both backed · 2

Naya Naya Homes

K50 Ventures

K50 Ventures is a venture firm backing founders reinventing the physical economy, with a focus on the transformation of industrials through reshoring, electrification, and AI-native infrastructure.

Both backed · 2

Bilt Naya

$50K – $250K

Bessemer Venture Partners

Bessemer Venture Partners is a global venture capital firm that partners with entrepreneurs across enterprise, consumer, and healthcare sectors from early stages through growth.

Both backed · 1

Cents

$5M – $100M

FJ Labs

FJ Labs is an early-stage investment firm specializing in marketplaces and network-effect businesses, taking an angel-style co-investment approach alongside institutional venture funds worldwide.

Both backed · 1

meez

$100K – $3M

Clocktower Ventures

Clocktower Ventures is the fintech-focused venture practice of Clocktower Group, backing technology companies transforming financial services across consumer and enterprise. It is based in Santa Monica, California.

Both backed · 1

Naya Homes

$100K – $20M

Alumni Ventures

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.

$100K – $10M

Inovia Capital

Inovia Capital is a full-stack venture capital firm based in Canada with a presence in the EU, partnering with founders to build global technology companies.

$250K – $8M

Trinity Ventures

Trinity Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in mission-driven entrepreneurs and their companies.

$500K – $6M

Coinbase Ventures

Coinbase Ventures is the venture investment arm of Coinbase that backs early-stage founders building across the crypto and Web3 ecosystem.

$100K – $10M

1517

1517 is a venture capital fund and community backing college dropouts, uncredentialed founders, and deep tech scientists at the earliest stages, from R&D/idea through seed. It was founded by the cofounders of the Thiel Fellowship and also provides grants and a global community of hackers, makers, and scientists.

$50K – $1M

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

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