San Francisco · Seed · 7 people tracked
Also known as WAVE CAPITAL LLC
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Investment thesis
Wave is a selective, concentrated seed-stage fund that only leads rounds and makes at most four investments per year. It backs businesses with a clear mission and, most importantly, founders the partners would want to work for. The partners draw on operating experience building teams at companies such as Airbnb, Dropbox and Facebook, positioning themselves not just as investors but as members of a startup's early team.
Source: firm website, verified Sep 29, 2026.
Team · 7 people
from public directoriesWhat they invest in
from 5 of 5 portfolio companiesHealthtech ×3Marketplaces ×3Consumer ×2FoodTech ×2SaaS ×2Creator Economy ×1Digital Health ×1Enterprise Software ×1
HQs:United States×5
Investments · 5 tracked
founders shown can be your intro pathBy year:2023 · 12022 · 12021 · 22019 · 15 dated
Bobbie manufactures baby formula and builds workplace support for parents.
ConsumerFoodTechHealthtechWellness & FitnessSan Francisco, US
Laura Modi(Founder)in
BoardSarah Hardy(Director)Sara Adler(Director)
Co-investors1st Course CapitalBaukunstGroundForce CapitalIngeborg InvestmentsLakehouse Venture PartnersNextView Ventures+5 more
Float operates a technology platform that enables nurses to administer specialty medications to patients at home, serving patients requiring specialty infusions and healthcare providers seeking to shift treatment delivery from hospitals and clinics.
Digital HealthHealthtechMarketplacesMedical DevicesCarlsbad, US
Ryan Johnson(Founder)inChristy Johnson(Founder)inLauren Sullivan(Executive Officer, Director)in
BoardMike Ghaffary(Director)inSara Adler(Director)in
Co-investorsAlso CapitalCanvas VenturesY Combinator
Hotplate is a pre-order platform for food makers including bakers, chefs, and food producers to manage orders, inventory, and customer communication.
ConsumerFoodTechMarketplacesSaaSSan Francisco, US
Ben Klenk(Founder)inRishi Talati(Founder)inSara Adler(Director)Andy Prevalsky(Executive Officer, Director)Rangaraj Tirumalai(Founding Engineer)Joana Nguyen(Recruiter)
Co-investorsY CombinatorSeed River
The Luupe is a global online marketplace where brands can license professional photos and videos or commission custom visual projects from a community of professional photographers, directors, and creators.
Creator EconomyMarketplacesMedia & EntertainmentMaplewood, US
Keren Sachs(Founder)inSara Alder(Director)
Thatch provides APIs and embeddable components that enable platforms and software providers to offer ICHRA (Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement) benefits to their customers.
Enterprise SoftwareFintechHealthtechHR TechInsurTechSaaS
Adam Stevenson(Founder)inChris Ellis(Founder)
Co-investorsAndreessen HorowitzAvid VenturesGeneral PartnershipIndex VenturesLux CapitalNotre Dame Founders Fund+6 more
Frequently asked questions
- How many investments has Wave Capital made?
- Wave Capital has 5 tracked investments.
- What stage does Wave Capital invest at?
- Wave Capital invests at the Seed stage.
- What is Wave Capital's typical check size?
- Wave Capital typically writes checks of $25K – $1M.
- What sectors does Wave Capital focus on?
- Wave Capital focuses on Sector Agnostic.
- Where is Wave Capital located?
- Wave Capital is headquartered in San Francisco, US.
- Does Wave Capital lead rounds?
- Yes, Wave Capital leads investment rounds.
Media · Podcasts & interviews
featuring the teamBuilding Wave Capital - Sara Adler, General Partner, Wave Capital
Venture Voices · Sara
Co-investors · 12
Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) is a venture capital firm founded in 2009 by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, known for pioneering the platform model with a large team of operators supporting founders across stages.
Freestyle Capital is a venture firm that leads seed rounds in early-stage technology companies, backing founders with operating experience, connections, and conviction.
Pioneer Fund is an investment fund backed by 540+ Y Combinator alumni that invests in and supports top startups coming out of Y Combinator.
Hack VC is a venture capital firm investing in early-stage crypto, blockchain infrastructure, decentralized finance, and AI companies.
Shrug Capital started as a viral joke tweet that became a $3M venture fund, blending elite Silicon Valley investors with celebrities like Tony Hawk and The Chainsmokers to create an unusually strong bridge between tech and entertainment culture. The fund backs companies with "effortless sharing" potential that are culturally resonant enough to explain enthusiastically to non-tech friends, while the partners act as obsessive fans who tattoo portfolio logos and turn their personal lives into marketing campaigns for their companies.
Pioneer Square Labs operates as a startup studio and venture capital fund, partnering with founders to build world-changing companies by combining exceptional founders, innovative ideas, and investment capital.
Hummingbird Ventures is a global venture capital firm that backs outlier founders across all stages, from inception to IPO, without limiting itself to specific verticals or geographies.
Backed is a European seed-stage venture fund that leads and invests early in founders building companies in frontier technology.
A globally recognized venture capital firm designed to provide access to highly competitive venture deals to individual investors, consistently recognized for top-decile DPI performance and as one of the most active US venture firms.
Firms observed investing alongside Wave Capital, from public investor directories. Shared companies are the overlap with Wave Capital's recorded portfolio.
Similar investors
4DI Ventures was co-founded by repeat tech operator and ESET Southern Africa founder Justin Stanford, giving it unusually deep cybersecurity and software operating experience rather than a purely financial background, and originated from Stanford's own angel-investing experiments that directly led to both the firm's creation and the launch of the Silicon Cape Initiative. The firm explicitly describes its style as "nurture capital" with intensive, hands-on engagement, and Stanford is vocal about avoiding the "unicorn at all costs" mentality in African tech, instead emphasizing sustainable market readiness and fundamentals in a more conservative, durability-focused investment approach.
83North is a global venture capital firm that invests in and helps entrepreneurs build large, category-defining companies, backing startups across multiple stages and sectors.
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Accel is a venture capital firm that partners with exceptional teams, positioning itself as a first partner to founders globally.
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