Vertex Ventures
Venture capitalPalo Alto · Seed–Series A · 18 people tracked
Also known as HC CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, LLC · Vertex Ventures Collaborators
Investment thesis
Vertex US invests in early-stage founders building infrastructure and SaaS companies, leading or co-leading seed and Series A rounds with checks from $500K to $10M. Founded by former company builders, the firm emphasizes high-conviction, hands-on partnership, drawing on its own operating experience to help technical founders nail go-to-market strategy and assemble strong teams. It positions itself as investing in people rather than products, bringing curiosity and candor throughout the partnership.
Source: firm website, verified Aug 3, 2026.
Team · 18 people
from the firm's website & public directories
:format(webp)/f/174198/3860x2650/c830853dbe/steel-blue-ben-1.png)
/f/186615/5051x3823/de0aaebaf4/insik-rhee.jpg)
/f/186615/4000x6000/051bb5a4a4/jonathan.jpg)
:format(webp)/f/174198/3860x2650/7d47185916/steel-blue-piyush.png)
/f/186615/3172x3796/21d38a9455/sandeep-bhadra.jpg)
What they invest in
from 23 of 59 portfolio companiesAI & Machine Learning ×18Enterprise Software ×9Data & Infrastructure ×8SaaS ×8Developer Tools ×7Cloud Computing ×5Cybersecurity ×4Fintech ×4
HQs:United States×11
Investments · 59 tracked
founders shown can be your intro pathScyllaDB is a NoSQL database built for data-intensive applications requiring high throughput and predictable low latency, powering real-time AI systems at billion-scale data volumes.
AI & Machine LearningData & InfrastructureDeveloper ToolsSaaSNew York, US
Avi Kivity(CTO)
San Mateo, US
Board seatIn Sik Rhee· per SEC Form D · $35M raise · filed Mar 2021
Palo Alto, US
Sameer Verma(Director)Anand Rajkumar(Executive Officer)Tanmai Gopal(Executive Officer, Director)Rajoshi Ghosh(Director)
Board seatSandeep Bhadra· per SEC Form D
#07-00
Jeff Richards(Director)Kee Lock Chua(Director)Nupur Sadiwala(Executive Officer)Samuel Lim(Executive Officer, Director)Roderick Perry(Director)Ali Erfan(Director)
Board seatKee Lock Chua· per SEC Form D · filed May 2019
Somerville, US
Dayna Grayson(Director)Rony Daniel Kubat(Executive Officer, Director)Natan Linder(Executive Officer, Director)Laurent Vernery(Director)
Board seatSandeep Bhadra· per SEC Form D · $100M raise · filed May 2024
Palo Alto, US
In Sik Rhee(Director)Eric Anderson(Director)Tomer Ben Moshe(Director)Jonathan Eini(Director)Ori Rafael(Chief Executive Officer and Director of Issuer)Gadi Porat(Director)
Board seatIn Sik Rhee· per SEC Form D
Attentive provides a multi-channel customer engagement platform that includes email, SMS, RCS, push notifications, and AI-powered lifecycle orchestration for direct-to-consumer brands.
AI & Machine LearningDirect to ConsumerMarketing TechBarcelos, Braga
Yannick Oswald(Director)Cristina Fronseca(Director)Pedro Araujo(Founder)Luis Braga(Founder)Daniel Araujo(Founder)
Simplifies IAM and manages Identity Governance for customers.
Clearpol provides AI-powered software solutions for post-acute and long-term care providers, including clinical oversight with real-time alerts, automated plan-of-correction generation, and regulatory compliance management.
AI & Machine LearningHealthtechSaaS
Learns systems, traces incidents to root causes, and turns noisy alerts into engineering insight.
Cloud computing training and content.
Intelligent software for purchasing, debugging, and optimizing enterprise hardware.
Cyberhaven provides data detection and response (DDR) software that helps security teams investigate incidents involving data exfiltration and insider threats by reconstructing the complete timeline and context of user actions and data movements.
AI & Machine LearningCybersecurityData & InfrastructureEnterprise Software
Desktop Metal develops additive manufacturing (3D printing) platforms and materials for production-volume manufacturing, targeting engineers, designers, manufacturers, and medical professionals.
Advanced ManufacturingDeep TechHardwareBurlington, US
Ric Fulop(Executive Officer, Director)Dayna Grayson(Director)
Docker provides containerization and application development platform tools including sandboxes, governance, and security solutions for developers.
AI & Machine LearningCloud ComputingData & InfrastructureDeveloper ToolsEnterprise SoftwareSan Francisco, US
Solomon Hykes(Founder/CEO)inJerry Yang(Director)Marc Verstaen(Director)Mike Gupta(Executive Officer)Daniel Scholnick(Director)Peter Fenton(Director)in
Nodeless Kubernetes Engine that reduces infrastructure cost and simplifies operations.
Automates the entire contracting process from a single platform.
Workday provides a cloud-based AI platform with specialized agents for automating and optimizing processes across HR, finance, IT, legal, and operations for enterprises.
AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareSaaS
Secures the modern app-driven lifestyle across banking, email, shopping, and browsing.
Software-defined storage for enterprises building private, hybrid, or multi-cloud environments.
End-to-end platform connecting real estate development from design to construction to management.
LaunchDarkly provides a feature management platform that enables development teams to release code changes safely through feature flags, detect production issues in real time, and run experiments without redeploying applications.
AI & Machine LearningCloud ComputingDeveloper ToolsSaaS
Edith Harbaugh(Founder & CEO)
Insurance-technology platform eliminating security deposits from apartment operating infrastructure.
Lightbeam provides data security, governance, and privacy solutions that work across Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, and other platforms, enabling partners to offer AI security and compliance services to enterprises.
AI & Machine LearningCybersecurityData & InfrastructureEnterprise Software
Locus provides payment infrastructure and financial access controls for autonomous AI agents, enabling them to purchase API services, compute resources, and tools within programmable spending rules.
AI & Machine LearningDeveloper ToolsEnterprise SoftwareFintechSan Francisco, US
Cole Dermott(Founder)in
Provides detailed mobile data for sales and marketing teams.
PaaS for deploying and scaling modern applications
Formerly Gitpod; mission control for a team of software engineering agents across the SDLC.
Detects and protects against human, non-human, and AI identity threats across cloud and on-premise.
Transforms scattered data into reproducible, discoverable datasets in the cloud.
Helps data teams review changes before merging a pull request.
Personalized product insights assistant powered by adaptive AI for product discovery.
No-code Analytics Automation platform combining data integration, analysis, and RPA.
Building infrastructure for AI agents to interact with the world through tool calls.
Living, intelligent bio-robotic swarms based on insects with custom backpacks for control, sensing, and communication.
Multi-cloud Network Security Platform delivered as a service.
World leader in payment tokenization and trusted credential management platform.
AI-powered video analytics turning real-world video into actionable intelligence.
Company behind Apache Zeppelin, an open source data notebook for data engineers and scientists.
Rows marked “SEC filing” are inferred from directors named on the company's SEC Form D — public regulatory data, not a portfolio list published by the firm.
Frequently asked questions
- What stage does Vertex Ventures invest at?
- Vertex Ventures invests at the Seed, Series A stages.
- What is Vertex Ventures's typical check size?
- Vertex Ventures typically writes checks of $500K – $10M.
- What sectors does Vertex Ventures focus on?
- Vertex Ventures focuses on AI & Machine Learning, Cloud Computing, Cybersecurity, Data & Infrastructure, Developer Tools, Enterprise Software, Fintech, Robotics, SaaS.
- Where is Vertex Ventures located?
- Vertex Ventures is headquartered in Palo Alto, US.
- Does Vertex Ventures lead rounds?
- Yes, Vertex Ventures leads investment rounds.
Media · Podcasts & interviews
featuring the teamInvestor Connect - Episode 135 - Jonathan Heiliger of Vertex Ventures
Hall Martin · Jonathan Heiliger
Staying Laser Focused in the Rapidly Changing VC Industry, w/Jonathan Heiliger of Vertex Ventures US
VITALIZE Venture Capital · Jonathan Heiliger
Episode 319 Sandeep Bhadra from Vertex Ventures
ListenDeck Studio · Sandeep Bhadra
Images
Similar investors
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.
Fly Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm that backs founders from the zero-to-one stage, with portfolio companies that have collectively raised over $3B in follow-on funding.
GV (formerly Google Ventures) is a venture investment firm that backs founders across many industries, aiming to build long-term relationships and support companies across multiple stages and milestones.
Khosla Ventures is a venture capital firm known for backing bold, contrarian bets in world-class teams that can reshape entire industries.
Scale Venture Partners is an early-stage investor that partners with AI companies to help them grow from founder-led growth into a scalable go-to-market operation.