Hyphen Capital
Venture capitalActively deployingSan Francisco · Pre-Seed–Late Stage · 13 people tracked
Investment thesis
Hyphen Capital backs Asian American entrepreneurs at the earliest stages, betting on what founders can build rather than their connections. The firm is stage agnostic and often doubles down on strong founders. Beyond capital, Hyphen plugs founders into a network of 1,000+ founders and operators drawn from leading companies of the last decade, offering warm introductions to customers, investors, and hires, plus product and go-to-market feedback from experienced builders. Motivated by the underrepresentation of Asian American founders despite examples like YouTube and DoorDash, Hyphen aims to make the next generation of these success stories the norm rather than the exception.
Source: firm website, verified Aug 7, 2026.
Team · 13 people
from the firm's website & public directories
What they invest in
from 40 of 63 portfolio companiesAI & Machine Learning ×17SaaS ×14Enterprise Software ×13Consumer ×12Fintech ×9Marketplaces ×6Direct to Consumer ×5Future of Work ×5
HQs:United States×16
Investments · 63 tracked
founders shown can be your intro path
Workstream provides technology and services for the global deskless economy, serving the 2.7 billion workers and business owners in this segment.
AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareFuture of WorkHR TechSaaS
Desmond Lim(Founder & CEO)
Boo is a social and dating app that connects people based on shared interests and personality types (such as MBTI and zodiac signs), featuring community feeds, daily questions, and user-shared posts.
ConsumerSocial
Calico provides intelligent software systems for apparel brands' product teams, helping them manage product development, specs, and manufacturing across a network of vetted factories.
AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareSaaS
Concha Labs manufactures personalized over-the-counter hearing aids using patented speech-in-noise technology, intended for individuals with mild to moderate hearing loss.
HealthtechMedical Devices
Density AI designs custom AI accelerators optimized for frontier-scale large language model inference, combining near-memory compute architecture with high-bandwidth memory density.
AI & Machine LearningDeep Tech
Formation Bio develops drugs through partnerships with health systems, academic medical centers, and research sites, focusing on clinical trials in dermatology, rheumatology, and cardiometabolic diseases.
AI & Machine LearningBiotechDeep TechDigital HealthHealthtech
Ben Liu(CEO & Co-Founder)Linhao Zhang(Co-Founder)
Italic designs and sells home goods including towels, bedding, scent products, and hosting items focused on everyday rituals.
ConsumerDirect to ConsumerE-commerceWalnut, US
Daniel Gulati(Director)Byron Ling(Director)Jeremy Cai(Executive Officer, Director, Promoter)Annie Chen(Executive Officer)
BoardDon Stalter(Director)
Jumpspeak is an AI-powered mobile language-learning app that uses an active immersion method, having users practice real-world conversations with AI chatbots and receive real-time speech, pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary feedback.
AI & Machine LearningConsumerEdTech
Lighthouse is a rental marketplace that lists apartments and pays users a cash back rebate when they sign a new lease at properties in its network.
ConsumerFintechMarketplacesPropTech
ModernLoop is a platform for automated interview scheduling that helps recruiting teams manage candidate scheduling and track hiring metrics.
Enterprise SoftwareHR TechSaaSSan Francisco, US
Must Love makes graham crackers sweetened with dates instead of refined sugar or high-fructose corn syrup.
ConsumerDirect to ConsumerFoodTech
Nguyen Coffee Supply sells Vietnamese coffee products, including ground espresso, marketed to consumers.
ConsumerDirect to ConsumerE-commerce
Parsagon builds an AI system that collects and analyzes public policy documents from government bodies across multiple jurisdictions, helping enterprises and policy organizations identify regulatory changes and insights they might otherwise overlook.
AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareSan Francisco, US
Sandy Suh(Founder)in
Playbook is a digital asset management tool for organizing, understanding, and sharing creative files.
AI & Machine LearningCloud ComputingCreator EconomyMarketing TechSaaS
Jessica Ko(CEO & Co-Founder)
Brex provides financial products and services designed for modern companies, including corporate cards, expense management software, and integrated financial solutions.
AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareFintechSaaSSan Francisco, US
Andy Su(Founder)inTiffany Wong(Founder)inHayden Jensen(Founder)inAlex Sailer(Founder)inHenrique Dubugras(Co-CEO)
Short Story designs and sells clothing made specifically for petite women, with sizes tailored to women 5'4" and under.
AI & Machine LearningConsumerDirect to ConsumerE-commerceMarketplacesSan Francisco, US
Sidechat is a mobile app for finding and joining online communities.
ConsumerSocial
Simplify is a job search platform that helps candidates discover relevant positions, auto-fill applications, and access transparent salary and company culture data.
AI & Machine LearningConsumerFuture of WorkHR TechMarketplacesSaaSSan Francisco, US
Michael Yan(Founder)inEthan Horoschak(Founder)inRushil Srivastava(Founder)in
FintechSan Francisco, US
Kevin Irwin(Director)Ashwini Gupta(Director)Dukkyu Park(Director)Soyeon Kim(Executive Officer, Director)
Worca is a founder-curated talent agency that places Asia-based professionals with US companies, covering builder roles (product, AI, full-stack, and data engineering) and operator roles (revenue ops, business ops, finance, supply chain, customer success, and SDR/AE).
B2B MarketplacesFuture of WorkHR Tech
Frequently asked questions
- What stage does Hyphen Capital invest at?
- Hyphen Capital invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A, Late Stage stages.
- What sectors does Hyphen Capital focus on?
- Hyphen Capital focuses on Sector Agnostic.
- Where is Hyphen Capital located?
- Hyphen Capital is headquartered in San Francisco, US.
- Does Hyphen Capital lead rounds?
- Hyphen Capital typically participates in rounds rather than leading them.
Media · Podcasts & interviews
featuring the teamDon't Wait For Permission, Go After Your Dreams: Dave Lu, Hyphen Capital
WeCruitr Media · Dave Lu
AHN Legends | Dave Lu | Hyphen Capital
AHN · Dave Lu
Dave Lu // S2 Ep 126 // Investing Into AAPI Founders With Hyphen Capital
AHN · Dave Lu
Images
Co-investors · 4
UpHonest Capital is a Silicon Valley-based investment firm founded in 2017 that supports cross-border entrepreneurship and investment between China and the United States, and runs media, scout, and incubation programs.
Starta is a venture ecosystem to find, foster, and fund early-stage talent in tech.
Amadeo operates at the intersection of credit and structured finance, offering corporate private investment in founder-led small and medium-sized businesses, asset-backed securities structured for fintech lenders, and joint venture partnerships with specialty finance companies.
Firms observed investing alongside Hyphen Capital, from public investor directories. Shared companies are the overlap with Hyphen Capital's recorded portfolio.
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