Necessary Ventures

We invest in what the world needs.

ActiveVenture Capital

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Updated: Dec 5, 2025 ·

Financial History

Total Raised

N/A

Valuation

N/A

Investments Made

Date	Company	Round	Lead Investor(s)	Co-Investor(s)
Jun 1, 2024	Fizz	$14.0M Seed	—	6th Man Ventures, Active Capital, Alt Capital, ATX Venture Partners, Canaan Partners, Comal Ventures, DFJ, Founders Co-op, Indicator Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, KRM Interests LLC, Lux Capital, Maverick Capital, Menlo Ventures, Mouro Capital, Next Coast Ventures, Picus Capital, Precursor Ventures, QED Investors, Red Swan Ventures, Sunset Ventures, XStarPartners, Y Combinator, Adam Marchick, Andy Rubin, Brian Sugar, hugo angelmar, Rajiv Bala, Ravi Grover, Sri Batchu
May 1, 2024	MakersHub	$2.0M Seed	—	6th Man Ventures, DFJ, Founders Co-op, Kleiner Perkins, KRM Interests LLC, Maverick Capital, Menlo Ventures, Mouro Capital, QED Investors, XStarPartners, Adam Marchick, Andy Rubin, hugo angelmar, Ravi Grover, Sri Batchu
May 1, 2024	Plural Energy	$2.0M Seed	—	Compound
Jan 1, 2023	Sleepagotchi	$4.0M Seed	—	6th Man Ventures, DFJ, Founders Co-op, Kleiner Perkins, KRM Interests LLC, Maverick Capital, Menlo Ventures, Mouro Capital, QED Investors, XStarPartners, Adam Marchick, Andy Rubin, hugo angelmar, Ravi Grover, Sri Batchu
Feb 1, 2022	GUIDEcx	$25.0M Series B	—	Accel, Album VC, Ansa Capital, Zachary Bogue, Dimension Capital, Felicis Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Meritech Capital Partners, Peterson Ventures, WestWave Capital
Feb 1, 2022	Rubi Laboratories	$4.0M Seed	—	6th Man Ventures, Dawn Capital, DFJ, Founders Co-op, Kleiner Perkins, KRM Interests LLC, LocalGlobe, Look Up Ventures, Maverick Capital, Menlo Ventures, Mouro Capital, Passion Capital, Point Nine Capital, QED Investors, Seedcamp, XStarPartners, Y Combinator, Adam Marchick, Andy Rubin, Christian Bach, Fredrik Björk, hugo angelmar, Ian Hogarth, Leonard Picardo, Mathias Biilmann Christensen, Michael Pennington, Ravi Grover, Sri Batchu, Tim Seears
Feb 1, 2022	Bardeen	$4.0M Seed	—	10x Group, 468 Capital, Accel, Acton Capital Partners, Alkeon Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, BoxOne Ventures, Buckley Ventures, DCVC (Data Collective), Dimension Capital, Earl Grey Capital, Endeavor Venture Funds, Felicis Ventures, FirstHand Alliance, FirstMark Capital, Firstminute Capital, Goat Capital, GSV Ventures, Andrew Wheeler, Kima Ventures, La Famiglia, LAUNCH, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Maven Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Merak Ventures, Multicoin Capital, Munich Re / HSB Ventures, Pario Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, Root Ventures, Runa Capital, Shaan's All Access Fund, Team Global, Tiger Global Management, Trucks Venture Capital, Two Sigma Ventures, World Fund, Aaron King, Aaron Rankin (Sprout Social), Adam Michalski, Assaf Wand, Bill Tai, Chris Fanini, Christian Henschel, Daniel Kan, David Lieb, Dmitry Dakhnovsky, Emmanuel Thomassin, Emmett Shear, Grant Miller, Immad Akhund, Jack Boren, Jason Hunt, Jay Jamison, Joi Ito, Kyle Vogt, Marc Benioff, Mikhail Seregine, Oleg Rogynskyy, Robert Gentz, Ted Serbinski, Thomas Plantenga, Vikas Gupta, Viral Bajaria, Vishal Rao
Jun 1, 2021	Primer	$110.0M Series C	—	Addition, Amplify Partners, Audrey Capital, Avalon Ventures, Celesta, Zachary Bogue, Dell Technologies Capital, Dimension Capital, Felicis Ventures, Founders Fund, Fuel Capital, General Atlantic, Genoa Ventures, Geodesic Capital, Greylock, Sangeen Zeb, Heavybit, IDG Ventures, Lux Capital, Menlo Ventures, Alexander Rosen, Gil Penchina, Spark Capital, U&I Ventures, Vertex Ventures, Alex Payne, Eric Ries, Jack Boren, Jeremy LaTrasse, Kyle York, Mark Williamson
Mar 1, 2021	Caribou Biosciences	$120.0M Series C	—	1435 Capital Management, 6th Man Ventures, Afore Capital, DFJ, E1 Ventures, Flucas Ventures, Founders Co-op, Heavybit, Invariantes Fund, Kleiner Perkins, KRM Interests LLC, LombardStreet Ventures, Maverick Capital, Menlo Ventures, Mouro Capital, QED Investors, Robert Bosch Venture Capital, Starbridge Venture Capital, Sterling Equity, William Guo, XStarPartners, Adam Marchick, Andy Rubin, Dylan Taylor, hugo angelmar, Ravi Grover, Richard Cooperstein, Rob Meyerson, Sri Batchu, Sung ho Choi
Jan 1, 2021	Dondo	$2.0M Seed	—	6th Man Ventures, AME Cloud Ventures, Broadway Angels, DFJ, Founders Co-op, Hardware Club, Kleiner Perkins, KRM Interests LLC, Maverick Capital, Menlo Ventures, Mouro Capital, QED Investors, Raine Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, XStarPartners, Adam Marchick, Andy Rubin, Brad Garlinghouse, Dan Springer, hugo angelmar, Mark Cuban, Ravi Grover, Sri Batchu, Comcast Ventures, Foundry Group, High Alpha, Hyperplane, Ravelin Capital, Rob Meyerson, Shailendra Singh, Touchdown Ventures
Nov 1, 2020	GUIDEcx	$10.0M Series A	—	Album VC, Zachary Bogue, Dimension Capital, Felicis Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Peterson Ventures
Jun 1, 2020	Anvil	$5.0M Seed	—	6th Man Ventures, DFJ, Financial Venture Studio, Founders Co-op, Kleiner Perkins, KRM Interests LLC, Matchstick Ventures, Maverick Capital, Menlo Ventures, Mouro Capital, QED Investors, XStarPartners, Adam Marchick, Andy Rubin, hugo angelmar, Ravi Grover, Sri Batchu
Aug 1, 2019	Platform9	$25.0M Series D	—	Canvas Ventures, Costanoa Ventures, Zachary Bogue, Dimension Capital, Felicis Ventures, Hack VC, Menlo Ventures, Uncorrelated Ventures, Y Combinator, Amr Awadallah, Jaan Tallinn, Jack Boren, Justin Mateen, Marc Benioff, Steve Chen
Jun 1, 2019	Troops	$10.0M Series B	—	Chloe Sladden, Caffeinated Capital, Zachary Bogue, Dimension Capital, Electric Capital, Felicis Ventures, First Round Capital, FPV Fund, General Catalyst, Menlo Ventures, Susa Ventures, Greg Brockman, Jack Boren, Sam Altman
Apr 1, 2019	Bolt Labs	$2.0M Seed	—	6th Man Ventures, Blueberry Ventures, Dekrypt Capital, DFJ, Founders Co-op, Kleiner Perkins, Klossy, KRM Interests LLC, Marcy Venture Partners, Maverick Capital, Menlo Ventures, Mouro Capital, QED Investors, Samsung NEXT Ventures, SLVC, Vayner RSE, XStarPartners, Adam Marchick, Andy Rubin, hugo angelmar, Ravi Grover, Ryan Tedder, Sri Batchu
Nov 1, 2018	Primer	$40.0M Series B	—	11, Amazon Alexa Fund, Baukunst, Bowery Capital, Contrary Capital, Crosslink Capital, Zachary Bogue, Dimension Capital, Felicis Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Springdale Ventures, VMG Partners, XStarPartners, Jack Boren
Jun 1, 2018	Rigado	$15.0M Series A	—	6th Man Ventures, DFJ, Founders Co-op, Hyde Park Venture Partners, Kleiner Perkins, KRM Interests LLC, Madrona Ventures, Maverick Capital, Menlo Ventures, MHS Capital, Mouro Capital, QED Investors, Scale Venture Partners, VanedgeCapital Partners, XStarPartners, Adam Marchick, Andy Rubin, George Hoyem, hugo angelmar, Rob Glaser, Rudy Gadre, Sri Batchu
May 1, 2018	Decent	$8.0M Seed	—	6th Man Ventures, AAF Management Ltd., Arkitekt Ventures, Battery Ventures, Benchmark, Broadway Angels, Coatue, Curious Capital, Zachary Bogue, Decibel Partners, Dell Technologies Capital, DFJ, Dimension Capital, Jenny Fielding, Felicis Ventures, FirstMark Capital, Flybridge, Founders Co-op, F-Prime Capital Partners, Kickstart Fund, Kleiner Perkins, KRM Interests LLC, Maverick Capital, Menlo Ventures, Mouro Capital, Next Play Ventures, Operator Partners, Pareto Holdings, Peterson Ventures, Pioneer Square Labs, QED Investors, Sequoia Capital, Union Square Ventures, UpHonest Capital, Visionaire Ventures, XStarPartners, Adam Marchick, Andy Rubin, Ethan Beard, hugo angelmar, Jack Boren, Neil Parikh, Ravi Grover, Sri Batchu
Dec 1, 2017	Loft	$18.0M Series A	—	01 Advisors, 6th Man Ventures, AAF Management Ltd., AME Cloud Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Ascend Vietnam Ventures, Blockchain Capital, Blockchain Coinvestors AngelList Syndicate, Broadway Angels, Craig Shapiro, Daffy, DFJ, Dragonfly Capital Partners, Electric Capital, FJ Labs, Founders Co-op, Founders Fund, General Catalyst, Goodwater Capital, Gradient Ventures, Graph Ventures, Hardware Club, Khosla Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, KRM Interests LLC, Lightbank, Locus Ventures, Maverick Capital, Menlo Ventures, Mouro Capital, QED Investors, Robot Ventures, SciFi VC, Summit Partners, The Hit Forge, Vertex Ventures, XStarPartners, Adam Marchick, Andy Rubin, Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz, Charles Goldman, Christopher Zemina, David Kalt, Eric Ries, Fidji Simo, Henry Kravis, hugo angelmar, Julie Zhuo, Karim Atiyeh, Konstantin von Unger, Nicolas Berggruen, Ravi Grover, Scott Banister, Stani Kulechov, Stanley Druckenmiller
Oct 1, 2017	Recursion Pharmaceuticals	$60.0M Series B	—	01 Advisors, 8VC, Album VC, Chris Boshuizen, DCVC (Data Collective), Dimension Capital, Earthshot Ventures, First Round Capital, Future Ventures, Gaingels, Lux Capital, Menlo Ventures, Renegade Partners, Space Capital, Vouch Insurance, Yamaha Motor Ventures, Dylan Taylor, Jeff Seibert, Wayne Chang
Oct 1, 2017	Primer	$15.0M Venture Round	—	Amazon Alexa Fund, Bowery Capital, Crosslink Capital, Zachary Bogue, Dimension Capital, Felicis Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Jack Boren
Sep 1, 2017	Petal	$4.0M Seed	—	645 Ventures, 8VC, Abstract Ventures, Addition, Afore Capital, AlleyCorp, Alumni Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Axiom Partners, BoxGroup, Cherubic Ventures, Climate Capital, Core Innnovation Capital, Curie.Bio, Electric Capital, Felicis Ventures, First Round Capital, FJ Labs, Flex Capital, Founder Collective, Founders Fund, General Catalyst, Graph Ventures, Great Oaks Venture Capital, IA Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Modern Venture Partners, Operator Partners, Pareto Holdings, Predictive VC, Preface Ventures, PS Investments, Rainfall Ventures, RiverPark Ventures, Rosecliff Ventures, Silicon Badia, South Park Commons, Stellar Capital, Susa Ventures, The Finger Group, The General Partnership, Valar Ventures, Vouch Insurance, WorkLife Ventures, Yamaha Motor Ventures, Zeev Capital, Zinc, Adam D'Angelo, Amir Suissa, Bradley Horowitz, Brian Distelburger, Charlie Cheever, David Yaffe, Dylan Field, Gokul Rajaram, Joshua Schachter, Kelvin Beachum Jr., Matt Mazzeo, Pierre Valade, Siddharth Singhal, Vivek Garipalli, Wiley Cerilli
Jul 1, 2017	BenRevo	$2.0M Seed	—	Afore Capital, ff Venture Capital, Pioneer Fund, Vouch Insurance, Baron Davis, Musaab Hakami, Tom Williams
Jun 1, 2017	Platform9	$22.0M Series C	—	Canvas Ventures, Costanoa Ventures, Zachary Bogue, Dimension Capital, Felicis Ventures, Hack VC, Menlo Ventures, Uncorrelated Ventures, Y Combinator, Amr Awadallah, Jaan Tallinn, Jack Boren, Justin Mateen, Marc Benioff, Steve Chen
Sep 1, 2016	Troops	$7.0M Series A	—	Accel, Addition, Chloe Sladden, Audrey Capital, Battery Ventures, BDC Venture Capital, Bond, BoxGroup, Caffeinated Capital, Clean Energy Ventures, Zachary Bogue, Dimension Capital, Electric Capital, Felicis Ventures, FirstMark Capital, First Round Capital, Founder Collective, FPV Fund, General Catalyst, Great Oaks Venture Capital, iNovia Capital, Jump Capital, MATH Venture Partners, Menlo Ventures, Precursor Ventures, RiverPark Ventures, Susa Ventures, The Finger Group, Greg Brockman, Greg Kidd, Jack Boren, Megan Quinn, Sam Altman, Thomas Varghese

Financial History

Total Raised

N/A

Valuation

N/A

Leadership Team

Key people at Necessary Ventures.

Neil Devani

Managing Partner

Leadership Team

Key people at Necessary Ventures.

Neil Devani

Managing Partner

Deep Dive

High-Level Overview

Necessary Ventures is a mission-driven venture capital firm based in San Francisco, focused on investing in startups that solve fundamental societal challenges. Their philosophy centers on backing companies that address urgent global needs—such as health crises, climate change, economic inequality, and food insecurity—rather than chasing trendy or purely commercial opportunities. By supporting founders who build scalable, technology-driven solutions, Necessary Ventures aims to catalyze both financial returns and measurable social impact. Their portfolio spans fintech, health tech, edtech, biotech (platforms only), agtech, cleantech, and climatetech, positioning them at the intersection of innovation and purpose.

Origin Story

Founded in 2020 by Neil Devani, a seasoned entrepreneur and investor with experience at Rothenberg Ventures, Clinkle, and the U.S. Senate, Necessary Ventures emerged from a conviction that venture capital should be a force for solving the world’s most pressing problems. Devani’s background in both policy and tech gave him a unique perspective on how startups can drive systemic change. The firm started with a clear thesis: invest in what the world needs, not just what’s profitable. Over time, Necessary Ventures has built a reputation for hands-on support, active coaching, and a rigorous selection process, attracting founders who are as passionate about impact as they are about growth.

Core Differentiators

Mission-First Investment Model: Necessary Ventures prioritizes startups tackling real-world challenges, ensuring that capital flows to ventures with both commercial potential and positive social outcomes.
Hands-On Founder Support: Beyond funding, the firm provides strategic guidance, talent acquisition help, and access to non-dilutive capital, helping founders scale sustainably.
Broad Sector Expertise: With deep experience across fintech, health tech, edtech, biotech, agtech, and climatetech, Necessary Ventures can support founders at the intersection of technology and impact.
Active Media & Growth Networks: The firm leverages its own media channels to amplify portfolio companies, giving them visibility and traction in competitive markets.
Flexible Investment Approach: They lead pre-seed rounds ($1–2M) and participate in later stages up to pre-IPO, adapting to the needs of founders at different growth phases.

Role in the Broader Tech Landscape

Necessary Ventures is riding the wave of impact investing, a trend that’s gaining momentum as investors and founders alike seek to align profit with purpose. The timing is critical: with rising awareness of climate change, health disparities, and economic inequality, there’s growing demand for startups that can deliver scalable solutions. By focusing on sectors like health, climate, and financial inclusion, Necessary Ventures is helping to shape a tech ecosystem that values sustainability and equity. Their influence extends beyond their portfolio, as they advocate for a new standard in venture capital—one where impact is as important as innovation.

Quick Take & Future Outlook

Necessary Ventures is poised to play an increasingly important role in the future of venture capital, especially as global challenges intensify and the demand for mission-driven startups grows. The firm’s ability to combine rigorous investment discipline with deep founder support positions it to back the next generation of transformative companies. As impact investing continues to mature, Necessary Ventures will likely expand its reach, deepen its sector expertise, and further influence how capital is deployed in the tech ecosystem. In a world where the stakes are high, Necessary Ventures is proving that investing in what the world needs isn’t just the right thing to do—it’s the smartest way to build lasting value.

Sources

High-Level Overview

Origin Story

Core Differentiators

Mission-First Investment Model: Necessary Ventures prioritizes startups tackling real-world challenges, ensuring that capital flows to ventures with both commercial potential and positive social outcomes.
Hands-On Founder Support: Beyond funding, the firm provides strategic guidance, talent acquisition help, and access to non-dilutive capital, helping founders scale sustainably.
Broad Sector Expertise: With deep experience across fintech, health tech, edtech, biotech, agtech, and climatetech, Necessary Ventures can support founders at the intersection of technology and impact.
Active Media & Growth Networks: The firm leverages its own media channels to amplify portfolio companies, giving them visibility and traction in competitive markets.
Flexible Investment Approach: They lead pre-seed rounds ($1–2M) and participate in later stages up to pre-IPO, adapting to the needs of founders at different growth phases.