Sterling Road
Venture capitalActively deployingSan Francisco · Pre-Seed–Seed · 9 people tracked
Investment thesis
Sterling Road backs founders at the earliest point — often before a deck is polished or a round is set — with a typical first check of about $50k. The firm emphasizes hands-on support, offering regular coaching sessions to help teams get to market and grow quickly, specializing in taking companies from zero to one. It builds long-term relationships, making follow-on investments in teams that demonstrate progress and frequently participating in every subsequent round over many years.
Source: firm website, verified Aug 3, 2026.
Team · 9 people
from the firm's website
What they invest in
from 65 of 99 portfolio companiesAI & Machine Learning ×43Enterprise Software ×32SaaS ×16Data & Infrastructure ×13Developer Tools ×12Healthtech ×12Fintech ×9Deep Tech ×6
HQs:United States×37United Kingdom×8France×1Nigeria×1Netherlands×1
Investments · 99 tracked
founders shown can be your intro pathServe Robotics manufactures autonomous delivery robots designed for urban last-mile delivery.
HardwareLogistics & Supply ChainRoboticsRedwood City, US
Ali Kashani(Executive Officer, Director)Euan Abraham(Executive Officer)Brian Read(Executive Officer)Touraj Parang(Executive Officer, Director)Ali Pourdad(Director)April Pannell(Executive Officer)
9 Mothers builds counter-drone defense systems that enable rapid deployment of point defense at infantry-mobile scale.
Advanced ManufacturingAI & Machine LearningDefense TechHardwareIoTAustin, US
Russell Smith(Founder / CEO)inRoman Khomenko(Founder)inBogdan Pyzh(Co-Founder, COO)in
Beheard is a marketing intelligence platform that uses a foundation model tuned on continuous buyer signals and interview data to enable marketing teams to test creative, campaigns, and positioning against real buyers before launch.
AI & Machine LearningMarketing Tech
Breinify is a personalization platform that enables B2C and D2C brands to deploy AI-powered customer experiences across web, email, SMS, and other channels.
AI & Machine LearningMarketing TechSaaS
Browser Use provides AI-powered browser automation infrastructure with anti-detection capabilities, CAPTCHA solving, and custom LLMs designed for web-based agent tasks at scale.
AI & Machine LearningData & InfrastructureDeveloper ToolsEnterprise SoftwareSan Francisco, US
Chow Central operates a delivery-focused food service in Nigeria that serves meals quickly at lower cost than traditional restaurants by operating within concentrated local areas.
ConsumerFoodTechLagos, NG
Tosin Onafuye(Founder)inChristopher Obasi(Founder)inAdeyemi Onafuye(Founder)in
Clarm Atlas is a no-code platform that enables business teams to build and deploy autonomous AI agents from approved internal sources, tools, and compliance rules for operational workflows.
AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareFuture of WorkSan Francisco, US
Marcus Storm-Mollard(Founder - CEO)in
AI-powered smart chicken coops for backyard food production
A team communication and collaboration platform that provides monitoring of communication performance through call logs and messaging statistics, along with built-in messaging features for workplace teams.
Cloud ComputingEnterprise SoftwareFuture of WorkSaaSLondon, GB
Nick Browne(Founder)inEdward Clayton(Founder)inLeo George Albert Bartle(Director)
Elyos provides AI agents designed for trades and field service businesses, automating customer service, scheduling, sales, and administrative tasks.
AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareSaaSLondon, GB
Adrian Johnston(Founder)inPhilippa Brown(Founder)inPanos Stravopodis(Founder & Chief Technology Officer)in
Fitbod is a resistance training app that generates and adapts personalized workouts based on the user's ability and progress.
AI & Machine LearningConsumerWellness & FitnessSan Francisco, US
Jess Venticinque(Executive Officer, Director, Promoter)Allen Chen(Executive Officer, Director, Promoter)Jason Calacanis(Director)Jesse Venticinque
Chicago, US
Denise Umubyeyi(Director)Jasmine Shells(Executive Officer, Director)Heather Hiles(Director)
GRU Space develops technology for human habitation on the Moon and Mars.
Advanced ManufacturingDeep TechSpace TechSan Francisco, US
Skyler Chan(Founder)inKevin Cannon(Founding Member of Technical Staff)
Gather is a content platform that helps marketing teams create primary-research-backed content designed to rank in answer engines and generative search results.
AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareMarketing TechSaaSSan Francisco, US
Mayank Mehta(CEO)Anand(CTO)
Hydra provides analytics query execution for Postgres databases with separated compute resources, automatic scaling, and built-in caching, designed for time series and event data workloads across multiple deployment environments.
Data & InfrastructureDeveloper ToolsEnterprise SoftwareSan Francisco, US
Joseph Sciarrino(Founder)in
Hydra develops Brokkr, an operating system that enables independent data centers to operate AI Factories by providing shared infrastructure, customer access, and monetization tools on a unified network.
AI & Machine LearningCloud ComputingMiami, US
Garrett Johnson(Executive Officer, Director)inAaron Ginn(Executive Officer, Director)in
Hype provided link-in-bio, lead generation, and growth tools for creators, gyms, coaches, and athletes.
Creator EconomyMarketing TechSaaS
Juno is an AI health assistant that helps people with chronic illness track symptoms, identify patterns, and create reports for medical appointments, based on university research and user feedback from over 1,000 patients.
AI & Machine LearningDigital HealthHealthtechWellness & FitnessSan Francisco, US
Knoetic provides an AI-powered platform for Chief People Officers, combining a curated community of people leaders with AI agents that automate HR workflows and provide personalized insights from anonymized patterns of 3,000+ CPOs.
AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareHR Tech
Leda provides self-administered DNA testing kits and related services for individuals who have experienced sexual assault, aiming to improve evidence collection and support for survivors.
HealthtechImpact & Social Good
Liesel Vaidya(Executive Officer, Director)Madison Campbell(Executive Officer, Director)
Lightsprint is an AI-native platform where developers, product managers, and designers plan, build, and ship software together using parallel cloud agents.
AI & Machine LearningDeveloper ToolsEnterprise SoftwareSan Francisco, US
Ben Ong(Founder/CEO)inBenedict Chan(Founder)inHeng Hong Lee(Founder)in
Starcloud builds data center infrastructure deployed in space, leveraging continuous solar energy and radiative cooling to enable large-scale compute clusters for AI training.
Data & InfrastructureDeep TechSpace Tech
Ezra Feilden(Executive Officer, Director)inPaul Adrian Oltean(Executive Officer, Director)Philip Johnston(Executive Officer, Director)in
BoardMorgan Beller(Director)
Luminal provides a compiler-based platform for AI inference optimization that compiles machine learning models into optimized native code for GPUs and ASICs, delivering 2-3x faster throughput than traditional runtime inference engines.
AI & Machine LearningCloud ComputingDeveloper Tools
Metofico builds a no-code platform for analyzing large and complex datasets in life science research, allowing scientists without programming expertise to extract insights from neuroscience, behavioral tracking, and other experimental data.
Developer ToolsEnterprise SoftwareSaaSLondon, GB
Metreecs provides data science and AI-driven insights to businesses, leveraging client data, external factors, and business trends to help companies operate more efficiently and profitably.
AI & Machine LearningData & InfrastructureEnterprise SoftwareParis, FR
Martin Dimitrov(Founder)inElie Dufeu(Founder)inThibaut Pellegrin(Founder)in
Minimal AI provides AI agents for e-commerce customer support automation, capable of resolving up to 90% of support tickets across multiple channels without requiring hiring.
AI & Machine LearningE-commerceEnterprise SoftwareSaaSAmsterdam, NL
Mundo AI creates a multilingual dataset library to address the scarcity of high-quality training data in languages other than English for AI model development.
AI & Machine LearningData & InfrastructureEnterprise SoftwareSan Francisco, US
Jason Liao(CEO and Founder)inNaijide Anwaer(Founder)inGarreth Lee(Founder)inKenneth Wu(Founder)in
Nanograb develops gene therapy delivery systems using artificial intelligence to identify peptide-nanoparticle combinations that transport genetic medicines to targeted cells and tissues.
BiotechHealthtechSan Francisco, US
Debesh Mandal(Founder)inChristopher Lau(Founder)inShanil Panara(Founder)in
Nova Credit aggregates global credit bureau data, bank transaction data, and payroll information to help lenders assess borrowers and provide fairer access to credit for underserved populations including international newcomers, gig workers, and others traditionally excluded from the financial system.
Data & InfrastructureEnterprise SoftwareFintechNew York City, US
Misha Esipov(Founder/CEO)inLoek Janssen(Cofounder)
Frequently asked questions
- What stage does Sterling Road invest at?
- Sterling Road invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed stages.
- What is Sterling Road's typical check size?
- Sterling Road typically writes checks of $50K – $150K.
- What sectors does Sterling Road focus on?
- Sterling Road focuses on Sector Agnostic.
- Where is Sterling Road located?
- Sterling Road is headquartered in San Francisco, US.
- Does Sterling Road lead rounds?
- Yes, Sterling Road leads investment rounds.
Media · Podcasts & interviews
featuring the teamAI and the future of work with Ash Rust, former CEO and pre-seed investor at Sterling Road
PeopleReign · Ash Rust
Entrepreneurs@Manchester: Ash Rust, Managing Partner @ Sterling Road
Alliance Manchester Business School · Ash Rust
The Created Economy 018: Interview with Ash Rust of Sterling Road
Created Economy · Ash Rust
Ash Rust | Sterling Road - Retrospective
Peter Saddington · Ash Rust
ASH RUST | Sterling Road - Venture Capitalists are a Mechanism to Stop Failure! | CHARGE MORE - S1E4
Peter Saddington · Ash Rust
Co-investors · 23
Andreessen Horowitz's Strategic Partnerships page describes collaborations that connect its portfolio companies with established institutions to help scale and deploy their technology.
General Catalyst is a venture capital and investment firm that backs founders across industries, with a strong focus on AI-driven transformation, fintech, healthcare, and other sectors.
Streamlined Ventures is an early-stage venture firm that partners with founders and invests at the seed stage to help build large-scale companies.
XYZ Venture Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm that partners with founders from the earliest stages, supporting portfolio companies across fundraising, go-to-market, product, and sales.
Kapor Capital is an impact-focused venture firm backing seed and early-stage startups that create economic opportunity and address inequality across sectors such as education, work, finance, justice, food and health.
2048 Ventures is a thesis-driven early-stage venture capital firm based in New York and Boston that backs founders building future technologies.
__Twitter.png)
Gaingels is a large venture investor that co-invests alongside lead VCs in companies committed to building diverse and inclusive teams, while advocating for LGBTQ+ representation and equity of access in venture capital.
GutBrain Ventures is an early-stage technology venture capital firm led by investor and former entrepreneur Bob Davoli, who partners closely with founders and management teams to help build and scale high-growth software and technology companies.
Cornerstone VC is an early-stage venture capital firm backing ambitious tech founders from diverse backgrounds, investing from pre-seed through to pre-Series A and following on as companies scale.
Cake Ventures is a venture capital firm that invests in companies addressing demographic change and serving emerging internet user populations. The firm focuses on early-stage technology companies in this space.
Alumni Ventures (AV) is a venture firm that gives accredited individual investors access to professionally managed, diversified venture portfolios by co-investing alongside leading lead VC firms. It offers annual funds, syndicate deal-by-deal investing, and various investor clubs.
Everywhere Ventures is an early-stage venture firm that backs founders globally, supported by a community of founders and operators as LPs.
▶11 more co-investors
SOSVStride VCDN CapitalHustle FundMucker CapitalUnpopular Venturesxfactor venturesAmplo VenturesBECO Capital1984 Ventures Management, LlcConvergence Ventures
Firms observed investing alongside Sterling Road, from public investor directories. Shared companies are the overlap with Sterling Road's recorded portfolio.
Similar investors
AirTree Ventures runs the Pioneers community, a program supporting women and gender-diverse operators, founders and aspiring founders working in high-growth startups, offering mentorship, events and access to the AirTree team.
B Capital is a venture and growth investment firm that backs technology companies, including a dedicated Resilience Tech practice focused on energy, industrial and infrastructure systems.
Balderton Capital's portfolio page listing companies it has backed across stages, sectors, and geographies, primarily in Europe.
Clear Ventures is an early-stage venture firm that backs founding teams pursuing new markets, typically investing as the first institutional investor.
DCVC (Data Collective) is a venture capital firm that backs founders building companies which apply technology to major challenges across areas such as energy, biotech, agriculture, and machine learning.