Helpful Capital

ActiveVenture Capital

Updated: Dec 5, 2025 ·

Financial History

Total Raised

N/A

Valuation

N/A

Investments Made

Date	Company	Round	Lead Investor(s)	Co-Investor(s)
May 1, 2023	Ayar Labs	$25.0M Series C	—	Applied Ventures, Cantos Ventures, ENIAC Ventures, Kickstart Fund, Rabo Ventures
Jul 1, 2022	SuperNFT	$7.0M Series A	—	Abstract Ventures, Addition, Founder Collective, IA Ventures, WGI Group, Chris Murphy, DJ Patil, Jon Steinberg, Scott Belsky
May 1, 2022	LootLocker	$2.0M Seed	—	Abstract Ventures, Act One Ventures, Addition, Expert Dojo, foobar.vc, Founder Collective, Human Capital, IA Ventures, Incisive Ventures, L'ATTITUDE Ventures, Launchpad Venture Group, Pitbull Ventures, Single Fin Ventures, WGI Group, Alex Beckman, Chris Murphy, Dale Okuno, DJ Patil, Esther Dyson, Jon Steinberg, Roger Ehrenberg, Scott Belsky
Apr 1, 2022	Ayar Labs	$130.0M Series C	—	Applied Ventures, Cantos Ventures, ENIAC Ventures, Kickstart Fund, Rabo Ventures
Dec 1, 2021	GroupUps	$1.0M Seed	—	7BC Venture Capital, Aperture Venture Capital, Applied Ventures, BootstrapLabs, Cantos Ventures, ENIAC Ventures, EVE Atlas, Gaingels, Good Growth Capital, Ingeborg Investments, Kickstart Fund, Rabo Ventures, Revolution, Two Sigma Ventures, Anthony Pompliano, Hoda Eydgahi, Sam Palmisano, Thomas Tull, Will Szczerbiak
Nov 1, 2021	Cerbos	$3.0M Seed	—	Abstract Ventures, Addition, Atlassian Ventures, Awesome People Ventures, Crane Venture Partners, EQT Ventures, Founder Collective, Golden Section Ventures, IA Ventures, Slack Fund, Stellar Capital, Target Global, Valar Ventures, WGI Group, Wing Venture Capital, World Fund, Charles Delingpole, DJ Patil, Dylan Field, Jon Steinberg, Roger Ehrenberg, Scott Belsky, Stefan Jeschonnek
Nov 1, 2021	Tino	$32.0M Series A	—	Abstract Ventures, Addition, Founder Collective, Global Founders Capital, IA Ventures, Kaszek Ventures, monashees, Norte Ventures, QED Investors, Silence, Soma Capital, WGI Group, Alex Anton, Chris Murphy, DJ Patil, Jon Steinberg, José Galló, Renato Freitas, Roger Ehrenberg, Scott Belsky
Oct 1, 2021	Slope.io	$20.0M Series A	—	Applied Ventures, Cantos Ventures, Data Tech Fund, ENIAC Ventures, Fine Day Ventures, Flagship Ventures, GFT Ventures, Kickstart Fund, Lightspeed Venture Partners, LvlUp Ventures, Paul Walker, New Enterprise Associates, Osney Capital, Quake Capital, Rabo Ventures, Venrock, Vinyl Capital, XSeed Capital
Sep 1, 2021	Iron Ox	$53.0M Series C	—	Alven, Ankona Capital, Applied Ventures, Array Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, C2 Investment, Cantos Ventures, ENIAC Ventures, Kickstart Fund, Rabo Ventures, Stellar Capital, Unless, John Collison
Sep 1, 2021	Peel	$5.0M Seed	—	Anorak Ventures, Applied Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Cantos Ventures, Data Tech Fund, ENIAC Ventures, Kickstart Fund, Pathbreaker Ventures, Rabo Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Colin Carrier
Dec 1, 2020	Metaphor	$5.0M Seed	—	Abstract Ventures, Acequia Capital, Addition, Broadway Angels, Founder Collective, IA Ventures, Kearny Jackson, PSG, SignalFire, Silicon Valley Connect, WGI Group, Chris Murphy, Greg Badros, Jon Steinberg, Roger Ehrenberg, Scott Belsky, Shishir Mehrotra
Dec 1, 2020	Canvas	$2.0M Seed	—	8VC, Abstract Ventures, A* Capital (A Star Capital), Addition, Andreessen Horowitz, Antler, Adeyemi Ajao, C2 Investment, Cambrian Ventures, Coatue, DCM, Electric Capital, Founder Collective, Founders Fund, Franklin Templeton Investments, General Catalyst, Gradient Ventures, Green Bay Ventures, IA Ventures, Incisive Ventures, iNovia Capital, Khosla Ventures, La Famiglia, LGF, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Pareto Holdings, Ribbit Capital, Roosh Ventures, Seven Seven Six, Spark Capital, Tet Ventures, Trucks Venture Capital, WGI Group, Y Combinator, Adrian Aoun, Alexandre Scialom, Ben Lang, Chris Murphy, DJ Patil, Elad Gil, Eric Wu, JD Ross, Jeffrey Wilke, Jett McCandless, Jon Steinberg, Justin Mateen, Michael Stoppelman, Roger Ehrenberg, Scott Belsky, Vinay Hiremath, Wayne Ting, William Hockey
Sep 1, 2020	Iron Ox	$20.0M Series B	—	Alven, Ankona Capital, Applied Ventures, Array Ventures, C2 Investment, Cantos Ventures, ENIAC Ventures, Kickstart Fund, Rabo Ventures, Stellar Capital, Unless, John Collison
Aug 1, 2020	CASHDROP	$3.0M Seed	—	01 Advisors, 11.2 Capital, Abstract Ventures, Kevin Hartz, Addition, Andreessen Horowitz, Array Ventures, Asylum Ventures, AXA Strategic Ventures, Bond, C2 Investment, CP Ventures, Craft Ventures, E-Merge, Founder Collective, General Catalyst, Great Oaks Venture Capital, M.G. Siegler, Harlem Capital, IA Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, LAUNCH, Ligature, Long Journey Ventures, Ludlow Ventures, Path Ventures, Point Nine Capital, Social Starts, Tribe Capital, Upfront Ventures, Vinyl Capital, Alex Rodriguez, WGI Group, Chris Murphy, DJ Patil, Dylan Field, George Godula, Hiten Shah, Jared Leto, John M. Mueller, Jon Steinberg, Julia Hartz, Kyle York, Mathilde Collin, MG Siegler, Mike Krieger, Mike Volpe, Moshe Lifschitz, Pete Moore, Rob May, Roger Ehrenberg, Scott Banister, Scott Belsky, Yoshinari Yoshikawa, Zachary Hargreaves
Aug 1, 2020	Rigetti Computing	$79.0M Series C	—	01 Advisors, Acequia Capital, Acrew Capital, Aleph VC, AllegisCyber Capital, Altair Capital Management, Alumni Ventures, Amino Capital, Amplify Partners, Anderson Angels, Array Ventures, Ascend Vietnam Ventures, Bascom Ventures, B Capital Group, Brainstorm Ventures, Canvas Ventures, Chapter One Ventures, Climate Capital, Craft Ventures, DBL Partners, Dimension Capital, Draper Associates, Dreamers VC, Earthshot Ventures, Energy Impact Partners, f7 Ventures, Family Office, Flex Capital, Foundation Capital, Founders Fund, FreeSky Capital, Frontier Ventures, Gaingels, Galaxy Digital, Grasshopper Capital, Highland Capital Partners, Humba Ventures, Ideas & Capital, Infinite Niches, Insight Partners, Javelin Venture Partners, LombardStreet Ventures, Long Journey Ventures, Mindset Ventures, Modern Venture Partners, NanoDimension, Northpond Ventures, Peak State Ventures, Plug & Play Ventures, Qiming Venture Partners, Safar Partners, Sand Hill Angels, Sequoia Capital, Streamlined Ventures, Susa Ventures, The Hit Forge, The Westly Group, Todd and Rahul's Angel Fund, Transformation Capital, Trucks Venture Capital, UpHonest Capital, Virginia Venture Partners, VZVC, WestCap, Y Combinator, Aaron VanDevender, Adam D'Angelo, Adrian Aoun, Charlie Cheever, Charlie Songhurst, Christopher Nguyen, Clark Landry, Eric Bunting, Erick Miller, Faizan Khan (Unchained Capital), Farzad Nazem, Gokul Rajaram, Greg Kidd, Ian McNish, Jed Ng, Jeff Morris, Julius Genachowski, Kintan Brahmbhatt, Louis Beryl, Marat Kichikov, Richard Cooperstein, Ryan Tedder, Sahin Boydas, Scott Banister, Siqi Chen, Sue Xu
Mar 1, 2020	Slope.io	$3.0M Seed	—	Applied Ventures, Cantos Ventures, Data Tech Fund, ENIAC Ventures, Fine Day Ventures, GFT Ventures, Kickstart Fund, Lightspeed Venture Partners, LvlUp Ventures, Osney Capital, Quake Capital, Rabo Ventures, Vinyl Capital, XSeed Capital
Mar 1, 2020	David Energy	$2.0M Seed	—	10100, 14W, 2048 Ventures, 9Yards Capital, Abstract Ventures, Kevin Hartz, Accel, ACME Capital, Addition, Amplify Partners, Basecamp Fund, Base Partners, BoxGroup, Curie.Bio, Day One Ventures, ENIAC Ventures, Founder Collective, Gotham Gal Ventures, M.G. Siegler, Heavybit, IA Ventures, Index Ventures, Insight Partners, Javelin Venture Partners, KittyHawk Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Marcy Venture Partners, mParticle, MTech Capital, Northzone, Notable Capital, Operator Partners, Prototype Capital, Ravelin Capital, RRE Ventures, RTP Ventures, Science, Sequoia Capital, Silicon Badia, Howard Lindzon, SoftBank Investment Advisers, Spacecadet Ventures, Staircase Ventures, Stellar Capital, Trinity Ventures, Two Sigma Ventures, Vast Ventures, WGI Group, Wing Venture Capital, Y Combinator, Aaron Levie, Ade Olonoh, Chris Murphy, Cory Ondrejka, DJ Patil, Greg Brockman, Greg Kidd, Jacob Kerzner, Jon Steinberg, Julia Hartz, Louis Beryl, MG Siegler, Roger Ehrenberg, Sahin Boydas, Scott Belsky, Shervin Pishevar
Nov 1, 2019	SimpleCitizen	$6.0M Seed	—	Applied Ventures, Cantos Ventures, ENIAC Ventures, Kickstart Fund, Launchpad Capital, LAUNCHub Ventures, NewFund, NextView Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners, Peterson Ventures, Rabo Ventures, Sequoia Capital, David Bettner, Yan-David Erlich
Jul 1, 2019	Ethyca	$4.0M Seed	—	Abstract Ventures, Accel, Addition, AIX Ventures, Bennu, BoxGroup, Caffeinated Capital, Chemistry VC, Coatue, Costanoa Ventures, Crosslink Capital, Dreamers VC, FirstMark Capital, First Star Ventures, Founder Collective, General Catalyst, Hercules Capital, IA Ventures, Insight Partners, Khosla Ventures, Kombo Ventures, Oceans, Penny Jar Capital, Propeller VC, Prosperity7 Ventures, QueensBridge Venture Partners, REMUS Capital, Ribbit Capital, Slack Fund, Social Capital, Sound Ventures, Top Harvest Capital, Twelve Below, Unusual Ventures, Upside Partnership, Alex Rodriguez, WGI Group, Y Combinator, Andre Iguodala, Andy Miller, Chris Murphy, DJ Patil, Eli Manning, Eric Stein, Evan Moore, George Hoyem, Janis Krums, Jared Leto, Jon Steinberg, Justin Timberlake, Karl Jacob, Kelvin Beachum Jr., Noah Goodhart, Roger Ehrenberg, Ron Garret, Sam Altman, Scott Belsky, Tom McInerney, Wayne Chang
Mar 1, 2019	Chameleon Biosciences	$3.0M Seed	—	Applied Ventures, Cantos Ventures, ENIAC Ventures, Kickstart Fund, Kleiner Perkins, Mayfield, NFX, Plum Alley Investments, Rabo Ventures, Tachyon Ventures, Tectonic Capital, Triatomic Capital, Bradley Horowitz, Jason Haider
Feb 1, 2018	Vence	$3.0M Seed	—	9Yards Capital, Kevin Hartz, Acequia Capital, Addition, Adverb Ventures, Airtree Ventures, Alven, Array Ventures, Avenir, Avid Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Blackbird Ventures Australia, Bond, C2 Investment, Craft Ventures, ENIAC Ventures, Euclid Ventures, Felicis Ventures, Founders Fund, Golden Ventures, Kairos HQ, Kickstart Fund, Kipaki Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Lowercarbon Capital, LvlUp Ventures, Jeff Richards, Osney Capital, Primary Venture Partners, Quake Capital, Rabo Ventures, Stellar Capital, Streamlined Ventures, Todd and Rahul's Angel Fund, Trucks Venture Capital, Unless, XSeed Capital, Adrian Aoun, Charlie Cheever, Charlie Songhurst, Greg Kidd, John Collison, Julia Hartz, Mark Cuban, Matt Mazzeo, Philippe Teixeira da Mota, Tom Williams
Jan 1, 2018	Iron Ox	$3.0M Seed	—	Adara Ventures, Alven, Ankona Capital, Anorak Ventures, Applied Ventures, Array Ventures, C2 Investment, Cantos Ventures, ENIAC Ventures, Jude Gomila Rolling Fund, Kickstart Fund, Rabo Ventures, Stellar Capital, Unless, John Collison, Kevin Lin, Kyle Vogt
Nov 1, 2017	Rigetti Computing	$50.0M Series B	—	01 Advisors, Acequia Capital, Acrew Capital, Aleph VC, AllegisCyber Capital, Altair Capital Management, Alumni Ventures, Amino Capital, Amplify Partners, Anderson Angels, Array Ventures, Ascend Vietnam Ventures, Bascom Ventures, B Capital Group, Brainstorm Ventures, Canvas Ventures, Chapter One Ventures, Climate Capital, Craft Ventures, DBL Partners, Dimension Capital, Draper Associates, Dreamers VC, Earthshot Ventures, Energy Impact Partners, f7 Ventures, Family Office, Flex Capital, Foundation Capital, Founders Fund, FreeSky Capital, Frontier Ventures, Gaingels, Galaxy Digital, Grasshopper Capital, Highland Capital Partners, Humba Ventures, Ideas & Capital, Infinite Niches, Insight Partners, Javelin Venture Partners, LombardStreet Ventures, Long Journey Ventures, Mindset Ventures, Modern Venture Partners, NanoDimension, Northpond Ventures, Peak State Ventures, Plug & Play Ventures, Qiming Venture Partners, Safar Partners, Sand Hill Angels, Sequoia Capital, Streamlined Ventures, Susa Ventures, The Hit Forge, The Westly Group, Todd and Rahul's Angel Fund, Transformation Capital, Trucks Venture Capital, UpHonest Capital, Virginia Venture Partners, VZVC, WestCap, Y Combinator, Aaron VanDevender, Adam D'Angelo, Adrian Aoun, Charlie Cheever, Charlie Songhurst, Christopher Nguyen, Clark Landry, Eric Bunting, Erick Miller, Faizan Khan (Unchained Capital), Farzad Nazem, Gokul Rajaram, Greg Kidd, Ian McNish, Jed Ng, Jeff Morris, Julius Genachowski, Kintan Brahmbhatt, Louis Beryl, Marat Kichikov, Richard Cooperstein, Ryan Tedder, Sahin Boydas, Scott Banister, Siqi Chen, Sue Xu
Dec 1, 2015	Rigetti Computing	$24.0M Series A	—	Acequia Capital, Bodega Partners, Craft Ventures, Dimension Capital, Drummond Road Capital, Electric Capital, Founders Fund, Humba Ventures, Matrix, Montage Ventures, Scott Sandell, Plug & Play Ventures, Streamlined Ventures, Susa Ventures, TNT Venture, Todd and Rahul's Angel Fund, Trucks Venture Capital, UpHonest Capital, VZVC, XG Ventures, Y Combinator, Adrian Aoun, Charlie Cheever, Charlie Songhurst, Daniel Shi, Greg Kidd, Louis Beryl
Sep 1, 2015	SimpleCitizen	$700K Seed	—	Applied Ventures, Cantos Ventures, ENIAC Ventures, Kickstart Fund, Launchpad Capital, LAUNCHub Ventures, NewFund, NextView Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners, Peterson Ventures, Rabo Ventures, Sequoia Capital, David Bettner, Yan-David Erlich

Financial History

Total Raised

N/A

Valuation

N/A

Leadership Team

Key people at Helpful Capital.

Jacob Brody

Managing Partner

Leadership Team

Key people at Helpful Capital.

Jacob Brody

Managing Partner

Deep Dive

Helpful Capital is an investment firm focused on providing tailored, flexible capital solutions to companies at critical inflection points, often in special situations or transitional phases. Their mission centers on partnering with management teams and shareholders to drive long-term value creation through hands-on operational support and patient capital. They typically invest in sectors such as industrial, multifamily, retail, life sciences, and special situations, emphasizing businesses that are profitable or near profitability and require strategic capital to scale or restructure. Helpful Capital plays a vital role in the startup and growth ecosystem by enabling companies to navigate complex transitions, fueling growth and operational improvements.

Founded with a focus on bespoke capital solutions, Helpful Capital was established to address the needs of under-resourced or operationally challenged businesses, including family-owned firms and corporate carve-outs. The firm’s founding partners brought experience in structured credit and equity investments, evolving their approach to emphasize flexibility and partnership. Early successes often involved providing certainty and speed in capital deployment, which helped companies stabilize and accelerate growth, setting the stage for deeper operational engagement.

Core Differentiators

Unique Investment Model: Offers highly customized capital structures, blending special situation credit with non-control equity to meet specific business needs.
Operational Support: Hands-on approach with strategic and operational expertise to help portfolio companies improve performance.
Speed and Certainty: Known for quick decision-making and reliable capital deployment, critical for companies at inflection points.
Flexible, Patient Capital: Willingness to provide longer-term, covenant-light financing tailored to intrinsic business value rather than strict credit metrics.
Relationship Focus: Emphasizes collaborative partnerships with management and shareholders to align interests and drive sustainable growth.

Role in the Broader Tech Landscape

Helpful Capital operates at the intersection of private credit and equity investment, riding the trend of increased demand for flexible, non-traditional financing solutions in a market where many companies face complex operational or financial challenges. The timing is favorable due to growing market volatility and the need for capital providers who can offer bespoke solutions beyond standard bank lending or traditional private equity. By supporting companies through transitions and growth phases, Helpful Capital influences the broader ecosystem by enabling innovation and stability in sectors that might otherwise struggle to secure appropriate funding.

Quick Take & Future Outlook

Looking ahead, Helpful Capital is poised to expand its influence by deepening its operational capabilities and broadening sector focus, particularly in areas like life sciences and industrials where specialized capital needs are rising. Trends such as increased corporate carve-outs, family business transitions, and the need for flexible capital in uncertain economic environments will likely shape their journey. Their patient, hands-on approach positions them well to capitalize on these trends, potentially becoming a go-to partner for companies seeking growth and transformation capital.

In summary, Helpful Capital’s blend of flexible capital, operational expertise, and partnership-driven philosophy uniquely positions it to support companies at pivotal moments, driving value creation and contributing meaningfully to the evolving investment landscape.

Sources

Core Differentiators

Unique Investment Model: Offers highly customized capital structures, blending special situation credit with non-control equity to meet specific business needs.
Operational Support: Hands-on approach with strategic and operational expertise to help portfolio companies improve performance.
Speed and Certainty: Known for quick decision-making and reliable capital deployment, critical for companies at inflection points.
Flexible, Patient Capital: Willingness to provide longer-term, covenant-light financing tailored to intrinsic business value rather than strict credit metrics.
Relationship Focus: Emphasizes collaborative partnerships with management and shareholders to align interests and drive sustainable growth.