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Sam Cates

Investor

Venture Partner at Virta Ventures

San Francisco Bay Area

Writes $10K – $100K checks · typically $25K

Find your path to Sam

345 people in our graph share verified history with Sam — schools, employers, funds. One of them is your warm intro.

Russell SproleunlockedSam: together at Virta Ventures (2026)
×5Sam: together at Virta Ventures
×6Sam: together at GE Energy

About

Sam Cates is a Venture Partner at Virta Ventures, where he focuses on investments in data and machine learning applications across emerging domains. He works within a venture capital fund structured around a network of investors and operators.

Contact· published on Sam's own website

Experience

  1. Virta VenturesVenture Partnercurrent2026 — present
  2. daybreakExploringcurrent2020 — present
  3. Positive SumPartner and Founder2020 — 2026San Francisco Bay Area
  4. GEVenture Investing2014 — 2019
  5. GE DigitalBusiness Development2013 — 2014San Ramon, CA
  6. GECorporate Audit Staff2011 — 2013Fairfield, CT
  7. GE EnergyFinancial Management Program2009 — 2011Atlanta, GA

Skills & more

Microsoft Excel2PowerPoint1Financial Modeling15Managerial Finance16Auditing6Strategic Financial Planning1Business Development12Mergers & Acquisitions8Acquisition Integration1Process Improvement1Analysis5Financial Analysis13
+12 moreCorporate FinanceFinanceForecastingAccountingBusiness StrategyFinancial PlanningCoachingProcess SimplificationCross-functional Team LeadershipProgram ManagementBusiness Process ImprovementStart-ups
  • Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder — CFA Institute

From Sam's professional profile.

Investments

Investor

Balena Ltd.CareswitchEntrepreneur FirstHourworkInvertManufacturedPassthroughTegus

Per curated public sources.

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Colleagues at Virta Ventures

Charlie Warren
Advisor at Virta Ventures
David Bill
Operating Partner at Virta Ventures
Dipak Kumar
Investor at Virta Ventures
Eyal Zurr
Advisor at Virta Ventures
Farlan Dowell
Operating Partner at Virta Ventures
Frank Russell Sprole
General Partner at Virta Ventures
Garrett Goldberg
Venture Partner at Virta Ventures
Lee Hoffman
Advisor at Virta Ventures

Network1

Adam Demuyakor
Founder & Managing Partner at Wilshire Lane Capital

Investors connected to Sam in public investor directories — a warm-intro map.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Sam Cates?
Sam Cates is a Venture Partner at Virta Ventures, where he focuses on investments in data and machine learning applications across emerging domains. He works within a venture capital fund structured around a network of investors and operators.
Where does Sam Cates work?
Sam Cates is Venture Partner at Virta Ventures.
What check size does Sam Cates write?
Sam Cates typically writes checks of $10K – $100K.
What companies has Sam Cates invested in?
Investments tracked here include Balena Ltd., Careswitch, Entrepreneur First, Hourwork, Invert, Manufactured, Passthrough, Tegus.
Where did Sam Cates go to school?
Sam Cates studied at Clemson University (Bachelor of Science, B.S., Financial Management).

Same school

Shared employers