Audacious Ventures

Partnering with the most ambitious founders in technology and helping them achieve their most audacious goals

ActiveVenture Capital

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Updated: Feb 17, 2026 ·

Financial History

Total Raised

N/A

Valuation

N/A

Investments Made

Date	Company	Round	Lead Investor(s)	Co-Investor(s)
Dec 1, 2024	Lica World	$4.0M Seed	—	8VC, Accel, Afore Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Benchmark, Bessemer Venture Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Glenn Solomon, South Park Commons, Amjad Masad, Balaji Srinivasan, Gokul Rajaram, Marco Zappacosta, Michael Ma, Natalie Luu
Dec 1, 2024	Aimon Labs	$2.0M Seed	—	8VC, Afore Capital, South Park Commons, Michael Ma
Oct 1, 2024	Melio	$150.0M Series E	—	Accel, Aleph VC, Bessemer Venture Partners, Coatue, Company Capital, Corner Ventures, DST Global, General Catalyst, Innovation Endeavors, Intuit Ventures, Kima Ventures, La Famiglia, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Makers Fund, Motier Ventures, Oak HC/FT, SOSV, Visionaries Club, Anne Wojcicki, Bernard Arnault, Kevin Lin, Mike Hudack, Nate Mitchell
Aug 1, 2024	Openmart	$3.0M Seed	—	8VC, Afore Capital, Amino Capital, Brighter Capital, C2 Investment, Gaingels, Crystal Huang, Hyperplane Venture Capital, Imagination Capital, Pantera Capital, Pareto Holdings, Preston-Werner Ventures, Rebel Fund, Right Side Capital Management, Sapphire Ventures, South Park Commons, Suli, Sunset Ventures, Uncorrelated Ventures, UpHonest Capital, Y Combinator, Amjad Masad, Bob Young, Ding Zhou, Furqan Rydhan, Gabriel Jarrosson, Hubert Thieblot, Kulveer Taggar, Marco Zappacosta, Michael Ma, Saturnin Pugnet, Vishal Rao
Jul 1, 2024	Resquared	$5.0M Seed	—	Oren Yunger, SNR, Bobby Lo, Oleg Rogynskyy, Shlomo Kramer
Jul 1, 2024	Tezi	$9.0M Seed	—	8VC, Afore Capital, Audrey Capital, Ride Ventures, South Park Commons, Tribe Capital, Y Combinator, Adam D'Angelo, Bhavin Turakhia, Justin Mateen, Kunal Shah, Marco Zappacosta, Mark Goines, Michael Ma, Pete Koomen, Sean Rad
Feb 1, 2024	Jamix	$3.0M Seed	—	1984 Ventures, Alumni Ventures, Congruent Ventures, Ali Tamaseb, Giant Ventures, Joe Kraus, Initialized Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mayfield, Recall Capital, SNR, Touchdown Ventures, Oleg Rogynskyy, Vivek Patel
Oct 1, 2023	Openmart	$500K Seed	—	8VC, Afore Capital, South Park Commons, Y Combinator, Marco Zappacosta, Michael Ma
Jun 1, 2023	Parabola	$24.0M Series B	—	Abstract Ventures, AirAngels, Alt Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, AngelPad, Ascend Vietnam Ventures, Battery Ventures, B Capital Group, BILL, Connect Ventures, Craft Ventures, Era Ventures, First Round Capital, Founders' Co-op, Greylock, ICONIQ Capital, LGF, Lightspeed India Partners, Madrona Ventures, Matrix, Merus Capital, MKT1 Capital, mParticle, Norwest Venture Partners, Openview Venture Partners, Paradox Capital, Pareto Holdings, Pear VC, Sapphire Ventures, Stripe, The Hit Forge, Todd and Rahul's Angel Fund, Yamaha Motor Ventures, Y Combinator, Akshay Kothari, Alex Payne, Allison Pickens (Allison Pickens Ventures), Aston Motes, Austin Walters, Chris Murphy, Chris Schagen, Christian Reber, Cristina Cordova, Derrick Li, Dharmesh Shah, Emily Kramer, Eric Wu, Evan Moore, Gokul Rajaram, Immad Akhund, Jon Brelig, Mathilde Collin, Melissa Tan, Mike Hennessey, Mike Hudack, Ron Pragides, Roxanne Varza, Ryan Chan, Saran Chari, Scott Belsky, Stanley Tang, Thibaud Elziere, Tony Xu, Zack Kanter
May 1, 2023	Vartana	$20.0M Series B	—	General Catalyst, Joe Kraus, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Makers Fund, Mayfield, Oak HC/FT, Recall Capital, Anne Wojcicki, Kevin Lin, Mike Hudack, Nate Mitchell, Vivek Patel
Jan 1, 2023	Vartana	$12.0M Series A	—	Joe Kraus, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mayfield, Recall Capital, Vivek Patel
Oct 1, 2022	Meilisearch	$15.0M Series A	—	Abstract Ventures, Alt Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, LGF, Stripe, Todd and Rahul's Angel Fund, Akshay Kothari, Christian Reber, Gokul Rajaram, Mathilde Collin, Scott Belsky, Guillermo Rauch
Sep 1, 2022	Papaya	$4.0M Seed	—	Aglae Ventures, AirAngels, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, FJ Labs, Galdana Ventures, General Catalyst, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Lowercarbon Capital, Makers Fund, Oak HC/FT, Otherwise Fund, Serena Ventures, Seven Seven Six, Sherpalo Ventures, Social Capital, Sweet Capital, Unruly Capital, World Fund, Anne Wojcicki, Claire Hughes Johnson, James Beshara, Kevin Lin, Manu Ginobilli, Marcos Galperin, Nate Mitchell, Sahil Lavingia, Scott Belsky, Seth Goldman, Tobias Lutke
Sep 1, 2022	Theorycraft Games	$50.0M Series B	—	General Catalyst, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Makers Fund, Oak HC/FT, Anne Wojcicki, Kevin Lin, Mike Hudack, Nate Mitchell
Jun 1, 2022	Sesame	$27.0M Series B	—	Armilar Venture Partners, General Catalyst, Giant Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Makers Fund, Oak HC/FT, Passion Capital, Seedcamp, Anne Wojcicki, Felipe Navio, Juan Urdiales, Kevin Lin, Martin Villig, Mike Hudack, Nate Mitchell, Rolf Schrömgens, Tom Blomfield, Victoria van Lennep
Jun 1, 2022	Tenet	$18.0M Seed	—	Abstract Ventures, Alt Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst, Giant Ventures, Human Capital, Lakestar, LGF, Second Century Ventures, Stripe, Tenaya Capital, Todd and Rahul's Angel Fund, UpHonest Capital, Abe Burns, Adrian Aoun, Akshay Kothari, Christian Reber, Mathilde Collin, Scott Belsky
Jun 1, 2022	Entrepreneurs First	$160.0M Series C	—	Abstract Ventures, Kevin Hartz, Altair Capital Management, Alt Capital, Alumni Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Angel investor, AngelList, Animoca Brands, Anti fund, Aster Capital, Audrey Capital, David Ibnale, Balderton Capital, Bascom Ventures, Better Tomorrow Ventures, BITKRAFT Ventures, Brainchild, C2 Investment, Cedar Capital Group, Coughdrop Capital, Craft Ventures, Dragonfly Capital Partners, Jenny Fielding, Scott Hartley, Felicis Ventures, Flex Capital, Flourish Ventures, Footwork, Founders Fund, Fuel Capital, Greylock, Vidu Shanmugarajah, Heavybit, Infinite Capital, Infinite Niches, Invariantes Fund, KAAN Ventures, Kompas VC, LAUNCH, LGF, Moment Ventures, Paradigm, Positive Sum VC, Proton Enterprises, Seven Seven Six, Shrug Capital, SNR, Stripe, The Hit Forge, Thrive Capital, Todd and Rahul's Angel Fund, Tribe Capital, Trust Fund, Union Square Ventures, Unusual Ventures, Vibe Capital, Alex Rodriguez, Y Combinator, Akshay Kothari, Anthony Pompliano, Babak Nivi, Charlie Cheever, Charlie Songhurst, Christian Reber, Chris Wang, Clark Landry, David Petraeus, Evan Brown, Gokul Rajaram, Greg Tseng, Gretchen Howard, Henry Kravis, James Park, Jeremy Yap, Karim Atiyeh, Kevin Hart, Kurt Bilafer, Kyle Vogt, Leore Avidar, Marc Benioff, Marco A. Casas, Marcy Simon, Mark Cuban, Mark Pincus, Mathilde Collin, Matthew Dellavedova, Miki Kuusi, Moshe Lifschitz, Rand Hindi, Sahil Lavingia, Sahin Boydas, Scott Belsky, Sebastien Borget, Spencer Kimball, Tobias Lutke, William Hockey
Jun 1, 2022	Ethena	$30.0M Series B	—	Abstract Ventures, Aglae Ventures, AirAngels, Alt Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Blackbird Ventures Australia, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, DFJ Growth, Dragonfly Capital Partners, Felicis Ventures, FJ Labs, F Prime Capital, Future Ventures, LGF, Lowercarbon Capital, Monarch Collective, Otherwise Fund, Serena Ventures, Seven Seven Six, Sherpalo Ventures, Social Capital, Stripe, Susa Ventures, Sweet Capital, Thrive Capital, Todd and Rahul's Angel Fund, Unruly Capital, What If Ventures, World Fund, Adrian Aoun, Akshay Kothari, Akshay Sriprasad, Alice Zhang, Azeem Azhar, Christian Reber, Claire Hughes Johnson, David Petraeus, Gokul Rajaram, Henry Kravis, James Beshara, Manu Ginobilli, Marcos Galperin, Mathilde Collin, Sahil Lavingia, Scott Belsky, Seth Goldman, Tobias Lutke, Vinay Hiremath, William Hockey
Jun 1, 2022	STAGE	$5.0M Seed	—	Abstract Ventures, Alt Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Exponent Founders Capital, F Prime Capital, General Catalyst, Greylock, LGF, Monarch Collective, Sequoia Capital, Solana Ventures, SRB Ventures, Stripe, Todd and Rahul's Angel Fund, Akshay Kothari, Balaji Srinivasan, Christian Reber, Gokul Rajaram, John Collison, Lisa Cuesta, Mathilde Collin, Sam Altman, Scott Belsky, Vinay Hiremath, Vivek Patel, William Hockey
Jun 1, 2022	Multiverse	$220.0M Series D	—	1776, Andreessen Horowitz, Aventures Capital, Balderton Capital, Ballistic Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Connect Ventures, Cowboy Ventures, Dig Ventures, DST Global, Firework Ventures, FPV Fund, Garage Technology Ventures, Geek Ventures, General Catalyst, Harrison Metal, ICONIQ Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, LocalGlobe, Jeff Richards, Penny Jar Capital, Sand Hill Angels, Sapphire Ventures, SNR, Tenaya Capital, Ulu Ventures, Vista Venture Partners, Wellington Management, Ashish Toshniwal, Ben Kaminski, Dharmesh Shah
May 1, 2022	earnJARVIS	$4.0M Seed	—	AngelList, FJ Labs, Joe Kraus, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mayfield, Recall Capital, Solana Ventures, Vivek Patel
Apr 1, 2022	Sydecar	$8.0M Seed	—	Acrobator Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Better Tomorrow Ventures, Climate Capital, Deciens Capital, DST Global, First Republic Bank, Frontier Dawn Partners, General Catalyst, Indicator Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Makers Fund, Oak HC/FT, Octopus Ventures, One Way Ventures, Oper8r, Peak, Point72 Ventures, rali_cap, Hayden Simmons, Stash Ventures, TEN13, The Fintech Fund, Third Prime, Tomahawk.VC, Valar Ventures, Andreas Dittes, Anne Wojcicki, Chris Murphy, Cornelius Walter, Kevin Lin, Louis Beryl, Maia Bittner, Mike Hudack, Nate Mitchell, Richard Talbot, Rohini Pandhi, Victor Jacobsson, William Tunstall-Pedoe
Mar 1, 2022	Inworld AI	$10.0M Seed	—	btov Partners, Connect Ventures, General Catalyst, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Makers Fund, Oak HC/FT, Point Nine Capital, Transcend Fund, Anne Wojcicki, Daniel Dinh, Eden Chen, Kevin Lin, Mike Hudack, Nate Mitchell, Ryan Wyatt, Tony Jamous
Feb 1, 2022	PopSQL	$14.0M Series A	—	Accomplice VC, Background Capital, FundersClub, Gradient Ventures, Jude Gomila Rolling Fund, MZ, Plug & Play Ventures, Soma Capital, The Hit Forge, WorkLife Ventures, Immad Akhund, Jeff Chang, Max Mullen
Jan 1, 2022	Vartana	$7.0M Seed	—	Expa, General Catalyst, GV, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Makers Fund, Oak HC/FT, Susa Ventures, Anne Wojcicki, Balaji Srinivasan, Jevon MacDonald, Joi Ito, Kevin Lin, Mark Pincus, Mike Hudack, Mike Krieger, Nate Mitchell, Sundeep Madra, Tim Jurka

Financial History

Total Raised

N/A

Valuation

N/A

Leadership Team

Key people at Audacious Ventures.

Nakul Mandan

Partner

Leadership Team

Key people at Audacious Ventures.

Nakul Mandan

Partner

Deep Dive

High-Level Overview

Audacious Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2020 and based in San Francisco, California. Its mission is to partner with the most ambitious technology founders and help them achieve their most audacious goals by providing capital and strategic support. The firm emphasizes backing exceptional teams and actively assists portfolio companies in recruiting top talent, particularly in engineering, sales, and marketing roles. Audacious Ventures invests primarily at the pre-seed and seed stages, focusing on sectors such as artificial intelligence, healthcare, construction, sales/marketing tools, fintech, and climate tech. By combining capital with hands-on operational support, the firm aims to accelerate startup growth and build scalable, repeatable go-to-market engines, thus significantly impacting the early-stage startup ecosystem[1][5].

Origin Story

Founded in April 2020, Audacious Ventures was established with the vision of supporting founders capable of "improbable outcomes"—entrepreneurs who pursue bold, transformative ideas in large markets. The founding team includes Nakul Mandan (Founder and Partner), Max Zang, Muzzammil Zaveri, and Will Genesen, among others. The firm evolved with a strong focus on not just funding but also actively recruiting and building extraordinary teams around visionary founders. This integrated approach distinguishes it from many traditional venture capital firms and reflects its belief that audacity, tenacity, and exceptional teams are critical to startup success[1][6][5].

Core Differentiators

Unique Investment Model: Focus on pre-seed and seed-stage investments combined with strategic talent recruitment support.
Network Strength: Deep connections in engineering, sales, and marketing talent pools to help portfolio companies build A+ teams.
Track Record: Portfolio includes diverse sectors such as AI, fintech, climate tech, and healthcare, with companies like Vartana, Tome, WorkOS, and Multiverse.
Operating Support: Hands-on assistance in transitioning founders from founder-led sales to scalable go-to-market engines, removing capital constraints, and accelerating growth[1][5].

Role in the Broader Tech Landscape

Audacious Ventures rides the wave of early-stage technology innovation, particularly in AI, fintech, and climate tech, sectors experiencing rapid growth and disruption. The timing is critical as these markets demand not only capital but also operational expertise and talent acquisition to scale effectively. By focusing on founders with audacious visions and providing them with both funding and team-building resources, the firm influences the broader ecosystem by increasing the likelihood of startup success and fostering innovation in high-impact sectors. This approach helps shape the future of technology by enabling startups to move from improbable ideas to market-leading companies[1][5].

Quick Take & Future Outlook

Looking ahead, Audacious Ventures is positioned to continue expanding its influence in early-stage venture capital by deepening its talent recruitment capabilities and broadening its sector focus within technology. Trends such as AI advancement, climate tech urgency, and fintech innovation will likely shape its investment strategy. The firm's commitment to partnering with founders capable of "improbable outcomes" suggests it will remain a key player in nurturing transformative startups, potentially scaling its fund size and portfolio impact. Its integrated model of capital plus operational support may set a new standard for early-stage investing, influencing how venture capital firms engage with founders in the future[1][5].

Sources

High-Level Overview

Origin Story

Core Differentiators

Unique Investment Model: Focus on pre-seed and seed-stage investments combined with strategic talent recruitment support.
Network Strength: Deep connections in engineering, sales, and marketing talent pools to help portfolio companies build A+ teams.
Track Record: Portfolio includes diverse sectors such as AI, fintech, climate tech, and healthcare, with companies like Vartana, Tome, WorkOS, and Multiverse.
Operating Support: Hands-on assistance in transitioning founders from founder-led sales to scalable go-to-market engines, removing capital constraints, and accelerating growth[1][5].