How many investments has SHAKTI made?

SHAKTI has 46 tracked investments, 3 of which have exited.

What stage does SHAKTI invest at?

SHAKTI invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A stages.

What is SHAKTI's typical check size?

SHAKTI typically writes checks of $250K – $2M.

What sectors does SHAKTI focus on?

SHAKTI focuses on AI & Machine Learning, Deep Tech, SaaS.

Where is SHAKTI located?

SHAKTI is headquartered in San Francisco, US.

Does SHAKTI lead rounds?

Yes, SHAKTI leads investment rounds.

Who does SHAKTI co-invest with?

SHAKTI most often shares deals with Y Combinator, 500 Global, Alumni Ventures, among 176 tracked co-investors.

SHAKTI

Venture capital

San Francisco · Pre-Seed–Series A · 9 people tracked

Also known as SHAKTI CAPITAL, LLC

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Investment thesis

SHAKTI positions itself as an early-stage specialist, investing at the earliest possible moments — pre-revenue, pre-product, and sometimes pre-incorporation. The firm backs founders reimagining large, frequently used ('toothbrush') use cases with AI, emphasizing conviction in founders before traditional traction metrics exist.

Invests inAI & Machine Learning Deep Tech SaaS Global San Francisco United States

Source: firm website, verified Sep 29, 2026.

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Stage

Pre-Seed–Series A

Check

$250K – $2M

San Francisco, CA, US

Leads rounds

Leads

Instruments

Equity

Founded

2019

Private fund assets

$71.9M

VC funds

Tracked investments

Unicorns

IPOs

Acquisitions

Team · 9 people

from the firm's website

Keval Desai· Founder & Partner· San Franciscoin 𝕏

Keval Desai is Founder and Partner at SHAKTI, with three decades of experience in Silicon Valley as an engineer, entrepreneur, product leader, and investor. He co-founded the online payments company Achex, later joined Google before its IPO to lead monetization products including AdWords, Access, and Google TV, and spent a decade as a GP at Interwest before starting SHAKTI. He holds an M.S. in computer science, a B.E. in electrical engineering, and an MBA, and has taught VC/PE at Berkeley Haas.

Liz Harrow· Partner· New Yorkin

Liz Harrow is a Partner at SHAKTI, based in New York. She previously spent more than ten years at Morgan Stanley in equity research and venture capital roles, most recently as Vice President of the firm's startup accelerator program focused on supporting diverse founders. She holds an MBA from NYU Stern School of Business and a B.A. from Colgate University.

Sydney Landau· Partner· New Yorkin

Sydney Landau is a Partner at SHAKTI, based in New York, having joined the firm full-time after interning there during college. Earlier in her career she interned in Morgan Stanley's Private Wealth Management division and completed the Tuck School of Business mini MBA program. She holds a B.A. in Psychology and Economics from Colby College, where she captained the Women's Varsity Tennis team.

Bryan Power· Venture Partner· Bay Area (Oakland)in

Bryan Power is a Venture Partner at SHAKTI with over 20 years of experience in human resources and talent acquisition, supporting founders on hiring, team scaling, and company culture. He previously led the global People Team at Yahoo covering more than 10,000 employees across 30 offices, held a similar role at Square during its growth from 350 to 1,600 employees ahead of its 2015 IPO, and spent eight years at Google. He advises several technology companies in San Francisco.

Jesse Haines· Venture Partner· New Yorkin

Jesse Haines is a Venture Partner at SHAKTI who supports founders with go-to-market strategy and storytelling, drawing on more than 20 years in marketing. She spent 17 years at Google leading marketing for emerging products such as Mobile Ads, YouTube Ads, Hardware, and Google TV Ads, and founded Grow with Google, a workforce development program that trained over 10 million Americans in digital skills. Earlier roles included positions at Tommy Hilfiger, Bain & Company, and Outward Bound, and she holds an MBA from Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management and a B.A. from Brown University.

Adriel Saporta· Venture Fellow· Brooklyn, New York, United Statesin 𝕏

Kavita Kochar· Venture Fellow· Chicagoin

Kavita Kochar is a Fellow at SHAKTI and a Director of Product at Fetch, a consumer rewards mobile company. She has more than 15 years of product experience at venture-backed technology companies including Google and Groupon, with prior work covering ads, search, eCommerce, and merchant sales tooling. She earned a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Maryland, College Park, and an MBA from Stanford Business School.

Natasha Prasad· Venture Fellow· San Franciscoin

Natasha Prasad is a Venture Partner at SHAKTI who has spent nearly two decades building tech companies across the U.S. and Australia. She previously held product leadership roles at Paperless Post and Atlassian, co-founded the fitness tech startup FitSessions (acquired by ClassPass), led ClassPass's expansion into Australasia as Country Manager, and served as an executive at digital health companies Cleo Labs and Sword Health. Earlier she was an investor with Goldman Sachs's Private Equity Group in London and New York, and she currently serves as COO of TURN, a reuse platform for businesses. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, an M.A. in Economics from Cambridge University, and a B.A. in Mathematics from Delhi University.

Salahuddin Choudhary· Venture Fellow· Bay Areain 𝕏

Salahuddin Choudhary is a Fellow at SHAKTI and a Product Lead at Google working on Generative AI experiences for Android. He previously led Health Research and Experience teams at Google and DeepMind, focusing on applying AI to healthcare, and earlier worked on consumer mobile products at Facebook and Google Maps and Local Search, as well as founding a mobile app startup. He holds a B.A. in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University.

What they invest in

from 26 of 46 portfolio companies

AI & Machine Learning ×15SaaS ×12Enterprise Software ×9Circular Economy ×3Consumer ×3Data & Infrastructure ×3Developer Tools ×3EdTech ×3

HQs:United States×20South Africa×2Australia×1India×1

Who they back

founder profiles across 21 portfolio companies

24%

solo founders

5 of 21 mapped founding teams

35%

repeat founders

of 31 founders with career history

Founding team size:solo founder×52 founders×83 founders×64+ founders×2

Where their founders studiedfrom 27 founders with education data

Stanford University ×3University of Pennsylvania ×3Carnegie Mellon University ×2Columbia University ×2University of California, Berkeley ×2Yale University ×2

What their founders studiedfrom 29 founders with field-of-study data

Computer Science ×13Engineering ×7Economics ×3Mathematics & Statistics ×3Humanities ×2Physics ×2

Where their founders worked beforefrom 31 founders with career history

Google ×7Carnegie Mellon University ×3Block ×2Block Inc ×2Goldman Sachs ×2Ixio Analytics ×2Microsoft ×2Purdue University ×2

Accelerator rootsportfolio companies that came through a program

Y Combinator ×6

1 founders hold a PhD · 3 hold an MBA (of 29 with degree data)

Investments · 46 tracked

founders shown can be your intro path

By year:2021 · 3 2015 · 14 dated

Backblazebackblaze.comNASDAQ: BLZE

Backblaze provides cloud storage infrastructure and services built on commodity hardware, including B2 Cloud Storage for object storage across AI workloads and multi-cloud environments, and Computer Backup for automated backup of laptops and desktops, serving over 500,000 customers across 175 countries with approximately 5 billion gigabytes of data under management.

San Francisco, US

Gleb Budman(Co-founder, Chief Executive Officer and Chairperson of the Board)in Brian Wilson(Co-Founder)inBilly Ng(Co-Founder)Casey Jones(Co-Founder)inDamon Uyeda(Co-Founder)Tim Nufire(Co-Founder)in

Co-investorsTMT Investments

Abacusaiabacus.ai in 𝕏

Abacus.AI develops a generative AI platform with two offerings: ChatLLM, a multi-modal AI assistant for individuals and small teams, and Abacus.AI Enterprise, which provides AI automation, chatbots, and business process integration for large organizations.

AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareSaaSSan Francisco, US

Arvind Sundararajan(CTO & Co-Founder)inSiddartha Naidu(Founder)in Bindu Reddy(CEO & Co-Founder)in

Co-investorsIndex Ventures Khosla Ventures Tiger Global Management Alkeon Innovation Coatue Management Collective Liquidity +2 more

AlphaXivalphaxiv.org in 𝕏

alphaXiv is a platform that connects academic papers, researchers, and organizations, providing AI-grounded answers based on underlying research work.

AI & Machine LearningDeep TechMedia & Entertainment

Rehaan Ahmad(Founder)inLino Le Van(Founder)in

Co-investorsUpfront Ventures Haystack Innovation Endeavors Menlo Ventures

Camblycambly.com in 𝕏

Cambly connects language learners with tutors for online English instruction.

EdTechFuture of WorkSan Francisco, US

Sameer Shariff(Founder)inKevin Law(Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer / learning leader)in

Co-investors500 Global AUTHENTIC VENTURES Bessemer Venture Partners Chapter One GV (Google Ventures)Haystack +20 more

Canvacanva.com

Design platform; Blackbird invested when it was just an idea and in every round since.

SocialSurry Hills, Nsw, AU

Melanie Perkins(Co-founder & CEO)inClifford Obrecht(Executive Officer, Director)Cliff Obrecht(Co-founder & COO)in Cameron Adams(Co-founder & CPO)inIan LeeJeffrey Story

Co-investors3Spoke Capital 500 Global AirTree Ventures Alkeon Innovation Alpha Square Group Altra Venture +49 more

Criyacriya.co in 𝕏SeedDefunct

Criya AI builds software that automatically generates go-to-market content such as email campaigns, landing pages, and pitch decks by analyzing customer data and integrating brand guidelines and market research.

AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareSales TechSan Francisco, US

Deboshree Dutta(Founder)in

Co-investorsFika Y Combinator Felicis Ventures

Cuyanacuyana.com

Cuyana is a direct-to-consumer luxury leather goods and accessories brand that designs customizable bags and accessories made from sustainable materials.

Circular EconomyConsumerDirect to ConsumerSan Francisco, US

Shilpa Shah(Founder)inKarla Gallardo(Founder)in

Co-investorsCanaan Partners Comcast Ventures Greycroft H.I.G. Capital H.I.G. Growth Partners

Felt Mapsfelt.com in 𝕏Aug 2021

Felt is a cloud-native, extendable platform for creating, visualizing, and analyzing geospatial data on interactive maps, with support for drag-and-drop file uploads, geocoding, and cartographic styling.

Data & InfrastructureDeveloper ToolsSaaSTelluride, US

Tomer Alpert(Manager & Chief Executive Officer)inGRACIE EVERITT(FOUNDER)Sam Hashemi inKearston Grace Everitt(Chief Operating Officer)Rachel Zack in

Co-investorsBain Capital Ventures Designer Fund Energize Capital Footwork Moxxie Ventures Allison Pickens Ventures +4 more

Gatikgatik.ai in 𝕏

Gatik develops Level 4 autonomous trucks for regional freight and e-commerce delivery, operating commercial fleets for retailers including Walmart, Loblaw, Kroger, and others.

AI & Machine LearningLogistics & Supply ChainRoboticsSilicon Valley, US

Gautam Narang(CEO)inArjun Narang(CTO)in Apeksha Kumavat(Chief Engineer)in

Co-investorsAlumni Ventures Basecamp Fund Dynamo Ventures Flucas Ventures Fontinalis Partners Fraser McCombs Capital +9 more

Gen.Ggeng.gg 𝕏

Gen.G is a professional esports organization that manages competitive teams across multiple games including League of Legends, Valorant, and PUBG, as well as motorsports racing.

Creator EconomyEdTechGamingLos Angeles, US

Arnold Hur(CEO)

Co-investorsBattery Ventures Canaan Partners Conductive Ventures Dreamers VC GFT Ventures New Enterprise Associates (NEA)+6 more

Glacierendwaste.io in 𝕏

Glacier develops AI-powered robotic systems for material recovery facilities (MRFs) to improve recycling sorting and material quality.

AI & Machine LearningCircular EconomyRoboticsSan Francisco, US

Rebecca Hu-Thrams(Founder)in Areeb Malik(Founder)in

Co-investorsAlleyCorp Alumni Ventures Asymmetric Capital Partners Ecosystem Integrity Fund Jetstream New Enterprise Associates (NEA)+8 more

HireArthireart.com in 𝕏

HireArt provides a platform for sourcing, employing, and managing contract workers on a W-2 basis for companies.

Enterprise SoftwareFuture of WorkHR TechSaaSNew York City, US

Nicholas Sedlet(Founder)in Dain Lewis inElli SharefChristopher M. Forbes(Executive Officer, Director)

Co-investorsY Combinator 500 Global Band of Angels Dnx Ventures Felicis Ventures Green Tree Equity +6 more

Infillainfilla.com in

Infilla provides software tools for municipal planning departments to streamline permitting and housing approval workflows.

GovTechPropTechSaaS

Co-investorsBloomberg Beta Urban Innovation

NameCoachname-coach.com in 𝕏Jun 2015

Namecoach offers audio name-pronunciation recordings that embed online so people can learn how to correctly say each other's names, and supports gender pronoun communication.

AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareSaaSPalo Alto, US

Praveen Ramesh Shanbhag(Executive Officer, Director)

Co-investors640 Oxford AiSprouts VC AUTHENTIC VENTURES Bisk Ventures Forefront Venture Impact America Fund +5 more

Neptyneneptyne.com in 𝕏SeedDefunct

Neptyne is a spreadsheet application with an integrated Python environment that allows users to write code alongside traditional spreadsheet formulas, with AI assistance for non-programmers.

AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareNew York City, US

Douwe Osinga(Founder)in Jack Amadeo(Founder)in

Co-investorsDivide by Zero Olima Ventures Y Combinator Amino Capital Capitalize VC firstminute capital +4 more

Newscrednewscred.com

An AI platform for marketing that helps teams create and optimize digital experiences, run marketing workflows, and personalize customer interactions.

AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareMarketing TechSaaSNew York, US

Asif Rahman(Executive Officer)in Shafqat Islam(Executive Officer, Director)in Iraj Islam(Executive Officer, Director)inBrian LaRock(Executive Officer)

BoardDoug Pepper(Director)Liron Gitig(Director)

Co-investorsAdvance Venture Partners Escalate Capital Partners Lerer Hippeau FirstMark Capital Shasta Ventures

Pipedrivepipedrive.com in 𝕏

Pipedrive is a cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses to manage sales pipelines, track leads, and automate sales processes.

AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareSaaSSales TechNew York, US

Urmas Purde(Founder)in Paulo Cunha(Pipedrive CEO)in

Co-investorsVista Equity Partners AngelPad Atomico Bessemer Venture Partners Camber Partners Digital Health Ventures +12 more

Queenlyqueenly.com in 𝕏Jul 2021 · $2.3MDefunct

Queenly is an online marketplace where users can buy and rent formal wear across iOS, Android, and web platforms.

ConsumerDirect to ConsumerE-commerceMarketplacesSan Francisco, US

Trisha Bantigue(Founder)in Kathy Zhou-Patel(Founder)inMengzhou Zhou(Director)

Co-investorsAlumni Ventures Amino Capital Interlace Ventures Y Combinator Andreessen Horowitz Bamboo Capital Partners +14 more

Scrollmarkscrollmark.com

Scrollmark is a social intelligence platform that links every follow, comment, DM, and story reply to a persistent customer profile enriched with contact info, sentiment, and purchase intent, then syncs it to CRM and CDP systems.

AI & Machine LearningMarketing TechSaaS

Co-investorsFalconX Ventures

Stableusestable.com in 𝕏Series A

Stable provides business infrastructure services enabling distributed companies to incorporate, manage bank accounts, and handle tax filing from any location.

AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareSaaSNew York City, US

Sarah Ahmad(Founder)in Collin Pham(Founder)inNeil Gandhi(Entrepreneur & Founder)

Co-investorsLombardstreet Ventures Range VC Y Combinator Burst Capital Coatue Management Coughdrop Capital +8 more

Stitchstitch.money in 𝕏

Stitch provides payment infrastructure enabling businesses to accept, send and manage online and in-person payments while offering consumers in South Africa financial management tools.

FintechSaaSSouth Africa, ZA

Mohamed Oueida(Founder & CEO)Kiaan Pillay(Founder)in Junaid Dadan(Founder)in

Co-investors500 Global CRE Venture Capital Digital Currency Group Future Africa Glynn Capital Management High Alpha +10 more

Swiftlygoswift.ly in 𝕏

Swiftly provides a data platform for public transit agencies to track vehicle locations, generate real-time passenger information and arrival predictions, and analyze historical operations data.

Data & InfrastructureGovTechMobility & Transportation

Co-investorsBuilders + Backers JMI Equity Renewal Funds Via ID Wind Venture Wormhole Capital +2 more

Tangramtangramvision.com in

Tangram Vision develops MetriCal, a multi-modal sensor calibration suite for calibrating cameras, LiDAR, and IMUs across a product's lifecycle.

AI & Machine LearningDeveloper ToolsRobotics

Co-investors2048 Ventures Trucks VC

The RealRealtherealreal.com in 𝕏

The RealReal is an online marketplace for authenticated luxury consignment, allowing consumers to buy and sell pre-owned designer clothing, accessories, jewelry, watches, and home goods.

Circular EconomyConsumerE-commerceMarketplacesSan Francisco, US

Julie Wainwright(Executive Officer, Director)Matt Gustke(Executive Officer)inHenry V. Barry(Executive Officer)

Board Mathias Schilling(Director)inCynthia Ringo(Director)Keval Desai(Director)in

Co-investorsAcrew Capital Aspect Ventures Bright Pixel Capital Canaan Partners DBL Partners Expansion Venture Capital +12 more

Vahanvahan.co in 𝕏

Vahan provides AI-powered recruitment and payroll services for blue-collar workforce scaling across India.

AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareHR TechSaaSBengaluru, IN

Madhav Krishna(Founder)in

BoardSuren Dutia(Director)Rishi Srivastava(Director)

Co-investorsAlumni Ventures Locus Ventures Nurture Venture Partners Pioneer Siesta Ventures Soma Capital +18 more

Vunglevungle.com in 𝕏acquired by Liftoff

Vungle, part of Liftoff, provides mobile performance marketing, app monetization, and creative solutions built on Cortex, an AI/machine-learning growth platform.

AdTechAI & Machine LearningDeveloper ToolsMarketing TechMedia & EntertainmentSaaS

Zain Jaffer(CoFounder)inJack Smith

Co-investors500 Global AngelPad Crosslink Capital Eniac Ventures GV (Google Ventures)Sierra Ventures +12 more

Zindizindi.africa inOct 2021

Zindi is a professional network and AI challenge platform where data scientists and AI builders compete on practical machine learning challenges developed with businesses, NGOs, and governments.

AI & Machine LearningB2B MarketplacesData & InfrastructureEdTechFuture of WorkImpact & Social GoodEbene, ZA

Ekow Duker(Executive Officer, Director)in Celina Lee(Executive Officer, Director)inKarim Beguir(Director)

Board Dan Zigmond(Director)in

Co-investorsFounders Factory Africa Mo Angels Compound Launch Africa Ventures

Other

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

248AidaptiveAthenascopeBetteromicsBoltCloveCosmoserveGimbal SpaceKinetic AutomationMusubiNextWorkSnackSparrowStitch MoneyStudio JaduThe LobbyTRACEXVERSO

Exits · 3

1 IPOs · 2 acquisitions

BackblazeNASDAQ: BLZEBetteromicsacq. by AppleVungleacq. by Liftoff

Portfolio news

latest coverage across their companies

Self-driving truck startup Gatik raises $200M following PepsiCo deal

Gatik · techcrunch.com · Aug 25, 2026

Felt Raises $15M in Funding

Felt Maps · finsmes.com · Jul 16, 2025

Glacier Raises $16M in Series A Funding

Glacier · finsmes.com · Apr 30, 2025

Frequently asked questions

How many investments has SHAKTI made?: SHAKTI has 46 tracked investments, 3 of which have exited.
What stage does SHAKTI invest at?: SHAKTI invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A stages.
What is SHAKTI's typical check size?: SHAKTI typically writes checks of $250K – $2M.
What sectors does SHAKTI focus on?: SHAKTI focuses on AI & Machine Learning, Deep Tech, SaaS.
Where is SHAKTI located?: SHAKTI is headquartered in San Francisco, US.
Does SHAKTI lead rounds?: Yes, SHAKTI leads investment rounds.
Who does SHAKTI co-invest with?: SHAKTI most often shares deals with Y Combinator, 500 Global, Alumni Ventures, among 176 tracked co-investors.

Media · Podcasts & interviews

from their channel

Hear from our Titans ...

SHAKTI VC

How to Go Viral in the Age of AI with Tiffany Zhong (Founder & CEO, noplace)

SHAKTI VC

Building and scaling day one teams with Bryan Power (Frmr Head of People, Nextdoor & Square)

SHAKTI VC

Founder Interview with TRACE - The First Pre-Sale Marketplace

SHAKTI VC

Why Venture? - Mike Steib

SHAKTI VC

Making the Right Bets with Mike Steib, 4X CEO, Author, Shakti Titan

SHAKTI VC

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