Coughdrop Capital

Coughdrop Capital is an early-stage venture firm based in San Francisco and Los Angeles

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)
Sep 1, 2025	Hello Patient	$23.0M Series A	—	8VC, Alumni Ventures, Flex Capital, Harlem Capital, Innovation Endeavors, Max Ventures, Next Play Ventures, Scale Venture Partners, Andrew Berman, Julius Genachowski, Russell Fradin, Russ Fradin
Jun 1, 2025	Turnstile	$23.0M Series A	—	Kevin Hartz, Andreessen Horowitz, BITKRAFT Ventures, Coatue, Convective Capital, CRV, Daft Capital, Flex Capital, Founders Fund, Goat Capital, Infinite Niches, Invariantes Fund, Jetstream, MS&AD Ventures, Otherwise Fund, Pareto Holdings, Pioneer Fund, Sapphire Ventures, Sequoia Capital, The Hit Forge, Thirty Five Ventures, Todd and Rahul's Angel Fund, Tribe Capital, Y Combinator, YOBE Ventures, Andre Iguodala, Bradley Horowitz, Jonathan Swanson, Joshua Reeves, Joshua Webster, Ryan Shea, Sahin Boydas, Scott Belsky, Suhail Doshi
Jun 1, 2025	Glean	$150.0M Series F	—	Kevin Hartz, Addition, Amplify Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Banana Capital, Battery Ventures, BITKRAFT Ventures, CapitalG, Cedar Capital Group, Coatue, Convective Capital, CRV, Daft Capital, Day One Ventures, DST Global, Emergence Capital, Felicis Ventures, FirstMark Capital, Flex Capital, Founders Fund, Friends & Family Capital, General Catalyst, Global Founders Capital, Goat Capital, Greenoaks Capital, Greylock, Dave Munichiello, Infinite Niches, In-Q-Tel, Insight Partners, Invariantes Fund, IVP, Jetstream, Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mantis VC, Matrix, MS&AD Ventures, Otherwise Fund, Pareto Holdings, Pioneer Fund, QBE Ventures, Ride Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, Sand Hill Angels, Sapphire Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Singular, Snowflake Ventures, Spark Capital, Summit Partners, SV Angel, Telescope Partners, The Hit Forge, Theory Forge Ventures, Thirty Five Ventures, Todd and Rahul's Angel Fund, Tribe Capital, Wellington Management, Y Combinator, YOBE Ventures, Andre Iguodala, Azeem Azhar, Ben Tossell, Bradley Horowitz, Brandon Philips, Jonathan Swanson, Joshua Reeves, Joshua Webster, Kulveer Taggar, Mathilde Collin, Paul Graham, Paul Stahura, Ryan Shea, Sahin Boydas, Scott Belsky, Siqi Chen, Suhail Doshi, Thijn Lamers
Apr 1, 2025	Larridin	$17.0M Series A	—	8VC, Kevin Hartz, Alumni Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, BITKRAFT Ventures, Coatue, Convective Capital, CRV, Daft Capital, Flex Capital, Founders Fund, Goat Capital, Gradient Ventures, Infinite Niches, Invariantes Fund, Jetstream, Liquid 2 Ventures, MS&AD Ventures, Next47, Otherwise Fund, Pareto Holdings, Pioneer Fund, Sapphire Ventures, Sequoia Capital, The Hit Forge, Thirty Five Ventures, Todd and Rahul's Angel Fund, Tribe Capital, Y Combinator, YOBE Ventures, Ameet Patel, Amit Agarwal, Andre Iguodala, Bradley Horowitz, Jonathan Swanson, Joshua Reeves, Joshua Webster, Louis Lehot, Ryan Shea, Sahin Boydas, Scott Belsky, Suhail Doshi
Mar 1, 2025	Maritime Fusion	$500K Seed	—	Y Combinator
Mar 1, 2025	Sayso	$40.0M Seed	—	UP.Partners, Tom McInerney
Mar 1, 2025	Mercury	$300.0M Series C	—	2048 Ventures, 8VC, Kevin Hartz, Alumni Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Anti fund, Bain Capital Ventures, BITKRAFT Ventures, Coatue, Convective Capital, CRV, Daft Capital, Jenny Fielding, Scott Hartley, Exponent Founders Capital, Flex Capital, Founders Fund, Goat Capital, Infinite Niches, Invariantes Fund, Jetstream, Max Ventures, MS&AD Ventures, Nexus Venture Partners, Otherwise Fund, Pareto Holdings, Pioneer Fund, Primary Venture Partners, Renegade Partners, Sapphire Ventures, Scale Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital, The Hit Forge, Thirty Five Ventures, Todd and Rahul's Angel Fund, Tribe Capital, Y Combinator, YOBE Ventures, Andre Iguodala, Andrew Berman, Bradley Horowitz, Eric Wu, Immad Akhund, Jonathan Swanson, Joshua Reeves, Joshua Webster, Matt Brezina, Russell Fradin, Russ Fradin, Ryan Shea, Sahin Boydas, Scott Belsky, Sri Batchu, Suhail Doshi
Dec 1, 2024	Enterpret	$21.0M Series A	—	8VC, Alumni Ventures, Canaan Partners, Digital Currency Group, Flex Capital, Foundamental, Initialized Capital, Kleiner Perkins, Max Ventures, Scale Venture Partners, Andrew Berman, Bradley Horowitz, Russell Fradin, Russ Fradin, Vinay Hiremath
Oct 1, 2024	Ware	$25K Seed	—	UP.Partners, Tom McInerney
Oct 1, 2024	Hello Patient	$6.0M Seed	—	8VC, Acrew Capital, AirAngels, Alumni Ventures, Amplify Partners, Fifty Years, FirstMark Capital, Flex Capital, G20 Ventures, Kearny Jackson, Max Ventures, NextView Ventures, Preston-Werner Ventures, Scale Venture Partners, Silicon Valley Connect, Adam Lisagor, Andrew Berman, Chris Schaepe, Russell Fradin, Russ Fradin
Sep 1, 2024	Sandgarden	$5.0M Seed	—	1776, AirAngels, Ambush Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Buckley Ventures, City Light Capital, Gutter Capital, Lampros Capital Partners, Logos Labs, Neu Venture Capital, Sequoia Capital, SRB Ventures, Emily Kramer, Greg Isenberg, Loic Le Meur, Manik Gupta, Marc McCabe, Mike Hudack, Russell Smith, Sam Corcos, Sam Parr, Steve Schlafman, Zachary Sims
Sep 1, 2024	Glean	$260.0M Series E	—	Kevin Hartz, Addition, Amplify Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Banana Capital, BITKRAFT Ventures, Coatue, Convective Capital, CRV, Daft Capital, Day One Ventures, DST Global, Emergence Capital, Felicis Ventures, Flex Capital, Founders Fund, Friends & Family Capital, General Catalyst, Global Founders Capital, Goat Capital, Greenoaks Capital, Greylock, Dave Munichiello, Infinite Niches, In-Q-Tel, Invariantes Fund, IVP, Jetstream, Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mantis VC, Matrix, MS&AD Ventures, Otherwise Fund, Pareto Holdings, Pioneer Fund, QBE Ventures, Ride Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, Sand Hill Angels, Sapphire Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Spark Capital, Summit Partners, SV Angel, The Hit Forge, Theory Forge Ventures, Thirty Five Ventures, Todd and Rahul's Angel Fund, Tribe Capital, Y Combinator, YOBE Ventures, Andre Iguodala, Azeem Azhar, Ben Tossell, Bradley Horowitz, Brandon Philips, Jonathan Swanson, Joshua Reeves, Joshua Webster, Kulveer Taggar, Mathilde Collin, Paul Graham, Paul Stahura, Ryan Shea, Sahin Boydas, Scott Belsky, Siqi Chen, Suhail Doshi, Thijn Lamers
Sep 1, 2024	Ever Loved	$25K Seed	—	Earl Grey Capital, Vibe Capital
Mar 1, 2024	UnrealEstate	$200K Seed	—	Kevin Hartz, Andreessen Horowitz, BITKRAFT Ventures, Coatue, Convective Capital, CRV, Daft Capital, Flex Capital, Founders Fund, Goat Capital, Infinite Niches, Invariantes Fund, Jetstream, MS&AD Ventures, Otherwise Fund, Pareto Holdings, Pioneer Fund, Sapphire Ventures, Sequoia Capital, The Hit Forge, Thirty Five Ventures, Todd and Rahul's Angel Fund, Tribe Capital, Y Combinator, YOBE Ventures, Andre Iguodala, Bradley Horowitz, Jonathan Swanson, Joshua Reeves, Joshua Webster, Ryan Shea, Sahin Boydas, Scott Belsky, Suhail Doshi
Feb 1, 2024	Glean	$200.0M Series D	—	Kevin Hartz, Addition, Amplify Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Banana Capital, BITKRAFT Ventures, Coatue, Convective Capital, CRV, Daft Capital, Flex Capital, Founders Fund, General Catalyst, Goat Capital, Greylock, Dave Munichiello, Infinite Niches, In-Q-Tel, Invariantes Fund, IVP, Jetstream, Khosla Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mantis VC, MS&AD Ventures, Otherwise Fund, Pareto Holdings, Pioneer Fund, QBE Ventures, Ride Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, Sand Hill Angels, Sapphire Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Social Impact Capital, Spark Capital, The Hit Forge, Thirty Five Ventures, Todd and Rahul's Angel Fund, Tribe Capital, Uncork Capital, Y Combinator, YOBE Ventures, Andre Iguodala, Bradley Horowitz, Brandon Philips, Helen Liang, Jonathan Swanson, Joshua Reeves, Joshua Webster, Ryan Shea, Sahin Boydas, Scott Belsky, Suhail Doshi
Apr 1, 2023	Rise	$4.0M Seed	—	1776, ACME Capital, AirAngels, Ambush Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Buckley Ventures, Catapult Capital, City Light Capital, Connect Ventures, CRV, Double Prime LLP, Earlybird Venture Capital, Generative Ventures, Gutter Capital, Lampros Capital Partners, Logos Labs, Neu Venture Capital, Passion Capital, Sequoia Capital, SRB Ventures, Techstars, The Fintech Fund, Turing Capital, Vayner RSE, Balaji Srinivasan, Dileep Thazhmon, Eddie Lou, Emily Kramer, Eric Demuth, Francesco Simoneschi, Greg Isenberg, James Beshara, Loic Le Meur, Manik Gupta, Marc McCabe, Mike Hudack, Sam Corcos, Sam Parr, Shervin Pishevar, Steve Schlafman, Trevor McFedries, William Mougayar, Zachary Sims
Mar 1, 2023	ClimateChoice	$2.0M Seed	—	1776, AirAngels, Ambush Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Buckley Ventures, City Light Capital, Gutter Capital, Lampros Capital Partners, Logos Labs, Neu Venture Capital, Sequoia Capital, SRB Ventures, Emily Kramer, Greg Isenberg, Loic Le Meur, Manik Gupta, Marc McCabe, Mike Hudack, Russell Smith, Sam Corcos, Sam Parr, Steve Schlafman, Zachary Sims
Jan 1, 2023	Metaplane	$8.0M Seed	—	Afore Capital, Alumni Ventures, Bascom Ventures, Creandum, Earl Grey Capital, Flybridge, Industrious Ventures, Khosla Ventures, LAUNCH, Primetime Partners, Ride Home Fund, SNR, Stellation Capital, Synergis Capital, Team8, Alain Hanover, Hanno Renner, Immad Akhund, Narendra Rocherolle, Rob May, Roland Grenke, Saturnin Pugnet, Guillermo Rauch
Oct 1, 2022	Muse Tax	$120K Seed	—	Afore Capital, Earl Grey Capital, Jenny Fielding, Scott Hartley, Everywhere Ventures (The Fund), Far Out Ventures, Industrious Ventures, LAUNCH, M25, Primetime Partners, Ride Home Fund, Dharmesh Shah, Immad Akhund, Narendra Rocherolle
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, Audacious Ventures, Audrey Capital, David Ibnale, Balderton Capital, Bascom Ventures, Better Tomorrow Ventures, BITKRAFT Ventures, Brainchild, C2 Investment, Cedar Capital Group, 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
May 1, 2022	Outverse	$1.0M Seed	—	1776, AirAngels, Ambush Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Atomico, Banana Capital, Buckley Ventures, Cherry Ventures, City Light Capital, Double Down, Encomenda Smart Capital, Jenny Fielding, Scott Hartley, Gutter Capital, Lampros Capital Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Logos Labs, Makers Fund, Neu Venture Capital, Northzone, Passion Capital, Point Nine Capital, Seedcamp, Sequoia Capital, Seven Seven Six, SRB Ventures, Sweet Capital, YLEM, Aleksander Leonard Larsen, Emily Kramer, Greg Isenberg, Loic Le Meur, Manik Gupta, Michael Pennington, Mike Hudack, Peter Sellis, Russell Smith, Sam Corcos, Sam Parr, Steve Schlafman, Zachary Sims
May 1, 2022	CHEQ	$2.0M Seed	—	1776, AirAngels, Ambush Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Breega, Buckley Ventures, City Light Capital, Connect Ventures, Gutter Capital, Lampros Capital Partners, Logos Labs, Neu Venture Capital, Sequoia Capital, SRB Ventures, Ameet Patel, Emily Kramer, Greg Isenberg, Loic Le Meur, Manik Gupta, Marc McCabe, Russell Smith, Sam Corcos, Sam Parr, Steve Schlafman, Zachary Sims
May 1, 2022	Glean	$100.0M Series C	—	Kevin Hartz, Addition, Amplify Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Banana Capital, BITKRAFT Ventures, Coatue, Convective Capital, CRV, Daft Capital, Flex Capital, Founders Fund, General Catalyst, Goat Capital, Greylock, Dave Munichiello, Infinite Niches, In-Q-Tel, Invariantes Fund, IVP, Jetstream, Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mantis VC, MS&AD Ventures, Otherwise Fund, Pareto Holdings, Pioneer Fund, QBE Ventures, Ride Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, Sand Hill Angels, Sapphire Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Spark Capital, The Hit Forge, Thirty Five Ventures, Todd and Rahul's Angel Fund, Tribe Capital, Y Combinator, YOBE Ventures, Andre Iguodala, Bradley Horowitz, Brandon Philips, Jonathan Swanson, Joshua Reeves, Joshua Webster, Ryan Shea, Sahin Boydas, Scott Belsky, Suhail Doshi
Mar 1, 2022	Certa	$15.0M Series A	—	7BC Venture Capital, Accel, Andreessen Horowitz, Boldstart Ventures, Cantos Ventures, Canvas Ventures, CapitalX, Citi Ventures, Dreamers VC, Fin Capital, Goat Capital, Insight Partners, IVP, LAUNCH, LGF, Mantis VC, Mouro Capital, Operator Ventures, Point72 Ventures, Precursor Ventures, Route 66 Ventures, Rubicon VC, Saga, Sound Ventures, The House Fund, Triatomic Capital, Yes VC, Zelkova Ventures, Arianna Huffington, Drew Houston, Jason Citron, Jeff Seibert, Sahil Lavingia, Samvit Ramadurgam, Scott Belsky, Wayne Chang
Feb 1, 2022	Backbone	$40.0M Series A	—	7BC Venture Capital, Adjacent, Andreessen Horowitz, Backed VC, Boldstart Ventures, Bonfire Ventures, Cantos Ventures, Canvas Ventures, Dreamers VC, General Catalyst, Index Ventures, IVP, LAUNCH, LGF, Operator Ventures, Precursor Ventures, Rubicon VC, Saga, Sound Ventures, The House Fund, Toba Capital, Triatomic Capital, Yes VC, Zelkova Ventures, Arianna Huffington, Drew Houston, Jeff Seibert, Mark Cuban, Samvit Ramadurgam, Scott Belsky, Wayne Chang

Financial History

Total Raised

N/A

Valuation

N/A

Leadership Team

Key people at Coughdrop Capital.

Leadership Team

Key people at Coughdrop Capital.

Deep Dive

High-Level Overview

Coughdrop Capital is an early-stage venture firm known for its founder-first approach and rapid decision-making, investing in ambitious founders building technology-driven startups. The firm’s mission centers on empowering smart entrepreneurs at the earliest stages—often pre-seed or seed—with not just capital, but hands-on operational support and deep founder empathy. Coughdrop Capital’s investment philosophy emphasizes speed, founder alignment, and long-term partnership, making it a preferred choice for founders who value both strategic guidance and operational experience.

The firm primarily backs B2B software startups, with a strong focus on sectors like SaaS, fintech, cybersecurity, and enterprise technology. By investing early and staying deeply involved, Coughdrop Capital has played a pivotal role in shaping the growth trajectories of several breakout startups, contributing to the broader momentum in the early-stage tech ecosystem.

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Origin Story

Founded in 2015 by brothers Austin Petersmith and Stu Smith, Coughdrop Capital emerged from their shared experience as both founders and investors. The duo’s journey began in Bend, Oregon, but the firm has since expanded its footprint to San Francisco and Los Angeles, reflecting its growing influence in the tech investment landscape. Austin and Stu bring a rare blend of operational expertise and investor insight, having navigated the challenges of building and scaling startups themselves.

Their evolution from local investors to a nationally recognized micro-fund was fueled by a commitment to speed and founder support. Coughdrop Capital quickly distinguished itself by making investment decisions within 24 hours of meeting founders—a practice that resonated with time-constrained entrepreneurs. Over the years, the firm has cultivated a reputation for being more than just a source of capital, becoming a trusted partner for founders navigating the complexities of early-stage growth.

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Core Differentiators

Speed & Founder-Centric Process: Coughdrop Capital is known for its rapid investment decisions, often committing within 24 hours of meeting founders, which is a significant advantage in competitive early-stage rounds.
Operational Experience: Both Austin and Stu have firsthand experience as founders and operators, allowing them to provide actionable advice on go-to-market strategy, sales, product development, and fundraising.
Founder Empathy: Their approach is deeply rooted in founder empathy, with portfolio founders consistently praising their hands-on support and long-term commitment.
Strong Network: Backed by notable LPs such as Jack Altman, Delian Asparouhov, Village Global, and the AngelList Systematic Fund of Funds, Coughdrop Capital leverages a powerful network to help founders secure follow-on funding and strategic partnerships.
Track Record: The firm has invested in high-profile startups like Lattice, Superhuman, Mercury, Fast, and Symbl.ai, many of which have gone on to raise significant later-stage rounds and achieve notable exits.

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Role in the Broader Tech Landscape

Coughdrop Capital is riding the wave of the micro-fund revolution, where small, agile funds are increasingly shaping the early-stage ecosystem. The firm’s focus on B2B software and fintech aligns with broader trends in enterprise digitization, remote work, and financial innovation. By investing early and providing operational support, Coughdrop Capital helps founders navigate the critical transition from idea to product-market fit, accelerating the pace of innovation in key sectors.

Their success also reflects a shift in how founders choose investors—not just for capital, but for strategic partnership and operational expertise. As the startup ecosystem becomes more competitive, Coughdrop Capital’s model of speed, founder empathy, and hands-on involvement is setting a new standard for what founders expect from early-stage investors.

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Quick Take & Future Outlook

Coughdrop Capital is poised to continue its influence in the early-stage tech ecosystem, particularly as demand for founder-friendly, operationally savvy investors grows. The firm’s ability to move quickly and provide meaningful support will remain a key advantage in an increasingly crowded market. As new trends in AI, fintech, and enterprise software continue to emerge, Coughdrop Capital is well-positioned to back the next generation of breakout startups.

Looking ahead, the firm’s focus on founder relationships and operational excellence will likely shape the evolution of micro-funds and early-stage investing. Coughdrop Capital’s journey—from a small, founder-driven fund to a nationally recognized player—demonstrates the power of empathy, speed, and deep operational insight in building generational companies.

Sources

High-Level Overview

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Origin Story

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Core Differentiators

Speed & Founder-Centric Process: Coughdrop Capital is known for its rapid investment decisions, often committing within 24 hours of meeting founders, which is a significant advantage in competitive early-stage rounds.
Operational Experience: Both Austin and Stu have firsthand experience as founders and operators, allowing them to provide actionable advice on go-to-market strategy, sales, product development, and fundraising.
Founder Empathy: Their approach is deeply rooted in founder empathy, with portfolio founders consistently praising their hands-on support and long-term commitment.
Strong Network: Backed by notable LPs such as Jack Altman, Delian Asparouhov, Village Global, and the AngelList Systematic Fund of Funds, Coughdrop Capital leverages a powerful network to help founders secure follow-on funding and strategic partnerships.
Track Record: The firm has invested in high-profile startups like Lattice, Superhuman, Mercury, Fast, and Symbl.ai, many of which have gone on to raise significant later-stage rounds and achieve notable exits.

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Role in the Broader Tech Landscape

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