What stage does Santa Barbara Venture Partners invest at?

Santa Barbara Venture Partners invests at the Growth, Late Stage stages.

What is Santa Barbara Venture Partners's typical check size?

Santa Barbara Venture Partners typically writes checks of $2M – $50M.

What sectors does Santa Barbara Venture Partners focus on?

Santa Barbara Venture Partners focuses on Consumer, Enterprise Software, Marketing Tech, SaaS, Sector Agnostic.

Where is Santa Barbara Venture Partners located?

Santa Barbara Venture Partners is headquartered in Santa Barbara, US.

Santa Barbara Venture Partners

Venture capital

Santa Barbara · Growth–Late Stage · 7 people tracked

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Investment thesis

SBVP differentiates itself through deep operational expertise in customer acquisition and marketing. Rather than acting solely as a capital provider, the firm embeds its sales, marketing, and customer-acquisition specialists alongside portfolio companies to drive revenue growth. The firm emphasizes being a high value-add investor, noting that portfolio CEOs often rank SBVP as their most valuable investor even when it is not their largest. This operator-led, growth-focused model reflects a belief that go-to-market execution is a critical determinant of startup success.

Invests inConsumer Enterprise Software Marketing Tech SaaSSector AgnosticSanta Barbara United States

Source: firm website, verified Aug 3, 2026.

Stage

Growth–Late Stage

Check

$2M – $50M

Santa Barbara, California, US

Instruments

Equity

Founded

2020

Last 12 months

1 investment

AUM

$11M

Tracked investments

Team · 7 people

from the firm's website & public directories

Dan Engel· Founder & Managing Partner· Santa Barbara, Californiain

Dan Engel is Founder and Managing Partner at Santa Barbara Venture Partners. He founded FastSpring, a fintech SaaS company that grew to become one of the fastest-growing companies in North America before its acquisition by Accel-KKR in 2018, and previously led online customer acquisition at Google (AdWords and AdSense) as well as revenue efforts for GoToMyPC/GoToMeeting and Picasa. He began his career as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Idealab incubator.

d•••@santabarbaravp.comreveal

Daniel Hedden· Partner· Santa Barbara, California, United Statesin

Dan Hedden is a Partner at Santa Barbara Venture Partners, where he helps source investment opportunities. He previously led business development teams across industries including B2B SaaS, semiconductor manufacturing, and residential real estate. He holds a Master of Technology Management from UC Santa Barbara and a B.S. in Environmental Management from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.

d•••@santabarbaravp.comreveal

Andrea Hurtado· Marketing & Platform Lead· Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United Statesin

Christy Noay· Research Assistant

Jennifer Weisman· Fund Finances· Waltham, Massachusetts, United Statesin

Jennifer Weisman manages fund cash flow, limited partner accounts, and financial reporting at SBVP, handling capital call planning, reconciliation, payroll, internal controls, audit support, and compliance reporting. She began her career in audit at KPMG and holds a CPA license in Pennsylvania. She earned an MA in Applied Economics from San Diego State University and a BS in Accounting and Finance from Hawaii Pacific University.

Sarah Stark· Venture Capital Fund Operations· Fort Smith, Arkansas, United Statesin

Sarah Stark handles administrative operations at Santa Barbara Venture Partners. She previously worked with Dan at several of his prior companies on administrative operations, sales lead prospecting, and sales analysis. She started her career in the non-profit sector as a Children's Advocate at a domestic violence shelter.

Kevin Davis· Santa Barbara, Californiain

What they invest in

from 2 of 3 portfolio companies

AI & Machine Learning ×2Mobility & Transportation ×2Deep Tech ×1GovTech ×1Logistics & Supply Chain ×1SaaS ×1

HQs:United States×2

Investments · 3 tracked

founders shown can be your intro path

By year:2025 · 1 2024 · 12 dated

Automotusautomotus.co in 𝕏Dec 2025 · $9M

Automotus provides automated curb management solutions for cities, airports, and fleets that use AI-powered cameras and data analytics to manage parking, reduce congestion, and enforce traffic violations.

AI & Machine LearningGovTechMobility & TransportationSaaSLos Angeles, US

Jordan Justus(Executive Officer, Director)Harris Lummus(Executive Officer, Director)

BoardOliver Libby(Director)Tom Spengler(Director)Gabe Klein(Director)

Co-investorsBand of Angels IrishAngels Keiki Capital Quake Capital Techstars Weatherford Capital

BuyerCaddybuyercaddy.com

Goleta, US

Craig Harris(CEO)Pawan Nachnani(Director)

BoardJohn Greathouse(Director)Mike Tucker(Director)in

Co-investorsScOp Venture Capital Rincon Venture Partners

Orca AIorca-ai.io inMay 2024 · $23M

Orca AI applies computer vision and deep learning to maritime shipping, providing situational awareness and automation tools to help commercial vessels navigate more safely and operate more efficiently.

AI & Machine LearningDeep TechLogistics & Supply ChainMobility & Transportation

Yarden Gross(Co-founder & CEO)inDor Raviv(Co-founder & CTO)inShoval Bolotin(VP Product / Operations)inFabrizio Ferraro(Global Sales Lead)inLirit(CFO)inAmit(VP R&D)in

Co-investorsAnkona Capital Brighton Park Capital MizMaa Ventures OCV Partners theDOCK

Portfolio news

latest coverage across their companies

Automotus, the startup that uses AI to automate cities, receives a new round of $9 million in funding •

Automotus · contxto.com · Jan 7, 2026

Token-details - BuyerCaddy

BuyerCaddy · buyercaddy.com · Oct 22, 2025

Orca AI secures $72.5M in Series B to advance AI-powered maritime navigation | Ctech

Orca AI · calcalistech.com · May 6, 2025

Frequently asked questions

What stage does Santa Barbara Venture Partners invest at?: Santa Barbara Venture Partners invests at the Growth, Late Stage stages.
What is Santa Barbara Venture Partners's typical check size?: Santa Barbara Venture Partners typically writes checks of $2M – $50M.
What sectors does Santa Barbara Venture Partners focus on?: Santa Barbara Venture Partners focuses on Consumer, Enterprise Software, Marketing Tech, SaaS, Sector Agnostic.
Where is Santa Barbara Venture Partners located?: Santa Barbara Venture Partners is headquartered in Santa Barbara, US.

Media · Podcasts & interviews

from their channel

Continuous Liquidity in Venture: Dan Engel on Exits, SPVs, and Marketing-Driven Value Creation

Santa Barbara Venture Partners

Images

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