Drew Volpe
InvestorGeneral Partner at First Star Ventures · Board director at Genialis
Boston, Massachusetts
Writes $100K – $1M checks · typically $500K
About
Drew Volpe is a founding general partner at First Star Ventures, a Boston-based seed and pre-seed fund backing technical founders. Before venture capital, he was founding VP of Product Development at conversational AI company Semantic Machines, cofounder and CTO of location analytics startup Locately (through its acquisition), and Director of Product Development at Endeca Technologies, which Oracle acquired for more than $1 billion. He mentors and speaks at MassChallenge, Techstars, MIT, and Harvard, and holds an AB in computer science from Harvard University.
Contact· published on Drew's own website
Invests in
AI & Machine LearningBiotechClimate TechCloud ComputingCrypto & Web3Data & InfrastructureDeep TechDeveloper ToolsEnterprise SoftwareGamingHardwareIoTRoboticsSaaS
Board director at Genialis
Intro paths
In turn, Drew can intro founders to Genialis's investors below.
Genialis's investors · 6
Co-founders at Genialis
Experience
- First Star VenturesFounder / Managing Partnercurrent2016 — presentGreater Boston Area
- IORGANBIOInvestorcurrent2025 — present
- Romix BiosciencesInvestorcurrent2025 — present
- JellyfishInvestorcurrent2017 — present
- Zep AI (YC W24)Investorcurrent2026 — present
- ChiselStrike Inc.Investorcurrent2021 — present
- Zanskar Geothermal & Minerals, Inc.Investorcurrent2021 — present
- SaolaAIInvestorcurrent2023 — present
- RobigoInvestorcurrent2021 — presentCambridge, Massachusetts, United States
- Plex ResearchInvestor / Board Directorcurrent2017 — presentGreater Boston Area
- Nomic BioInvestorcurrent2019 — present
- Salient PredictionsFounding Investorcurrent2020 — present
- VistapathInvestorcurrent2021 — presentCambridge, Massachusetts, United States
- GenialisInvestor / Board Directorcurrent2017 — presentGreater Boston Area
- Tranquil DataInvestor / Board Observercurrent2018 — presentGreater Boston Area
- Sia (Nebulous Inc.)Investor / Boardcurrent2016 — presentGreater Boston Area
- Scoot ScienceInvestorcurrent2019 — present
- MCJInvestorcurrent2020 — present
- MassChallengeMentor and Judgecurrent2010 — present
- OortInvestor2019 — 2023
- Feature Labs, Inc.Investor / Board Observer2017 — 2019Greater Boston Area
- Semantic MachinesVP Product Development2014 — 2015Greater Boston Area
- Highland Capital PartnersEIR2013greater boston area
- Locatelyco-founder and CTO2008 — 2013Boston, MA
- Endeca TechnologiesDirector, Product Development2004 — 2008
- IdiomSoftware Engineer2003 — 2004
- ElyticsSoftware Engineer2001 — 2002
- MIT Media LabResearch Assistant2000 — 2001
- Harvard UniversityTeaching Fellow1998 — 1999
Skills & more
+12 more
Software PatentsWeb DevelopmentDistributed SystemsScalabilitySoftware EngineeringWeb ApplicationsRecruitingStrategic PartnershipsBusiness StrategyStart-upsAdtechEntrepreneurshipFrom Drew's professional profile.
Deals · 1
GenialisBoard seat
via First Star Ventures · filed Jan 2023 · $13.9M raise
Attribution from SEC filings, press coverage, and firm rosters.
Other disclosed investments
Investor
Jellyfishnplex biosciencesOculiiPlusOne RoboticsSeven BridgesSkynet Labs (Sia)
Sources: SEC Form D filings · curated public sources.
Colleagues at First Star Ventures
Network9
Investors connected to Drew in public investor directories — a warm-intro map.
Frequently asked questions
- Who is Drew Volpe?
- Drew Volpe is a founding general partner at First Star Ventures, a Boston-based seed and pre-seed fund backing technical founders. Before venture capital, he was founding VP of Product Development at conversational AI company Semantic Machines, cofounder and CTO of location analytics startup Locately (through its acquisition), and Director of Product Development at Endeca Technologies, which Oracle acquired for more than $1 billion. He mentors and speaks at MassChallenge, Techstars, MIT, and Harvard, and holds an AB in computer science from Harvard University.
- Where does Drew Volpe work?
- Drew Volpe is General Partner at First Star Ventures and Board director at Genialis.
- What does Drew Volpe invest in?
- Drew Volpe invests in AI & Machine Learning, Biotech, Climate Tech, Cloud Computing, Crypto & Web3, Data & Infrastructure, Deep Tech, Developer Tools, Enterprise Software, Gaming, Hardware, IoT, Robotics, SaaS.
- What check size does Drew Volpe write?
- Drew Volpe typically writes checks of $100K – $1M.
- What boards does Drew Volpe sit on?
- Drew Volpe holds tracked board seats at Genialis.
- What companies has Drew Volpe invested in?
- Investments tracked here include Jellyfish, nplex biosciences, Oculii, PlusOne Robotics, Seven Bridges, Skynet Labs (Sia).
- Where did Drew Volpe go to school?
- Drew Volpe studied at Harvard University (AB, Computer Science); The Roxbury Latin School.
Same school
Also attended Harvard University1,561
+ 1,555 more
Also attended The Roxbury Latin School11
+ 5 more
