Parade Ventures

Parade Ventures is a investment firm

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, 2024	Legal Karma	$3.0M Seed	—	Banyan Ventures, Crosslink Capital, Jenny Fielding, Scott Hartley, Everywhere Ventures (The Fund), Founder Collective, Gradient Ventures, John Lyman, Kindred Ventures, Stellar Capital, Rob May
Aug 1, 2024	Conceive	$1.0M Seed	—	Banyan Ventures, CFV Ventures, Crosslink Capital, Jenny Fielding, Scott Hartley, Everywhere Ventures (The Fund), Founder Collective, Gradient Ventures, John Lyman, Rob May
Aug 1, 2024	Knapsack	$1.0M Seed	—	Banyan Ventures, CFV Ventures, Crosslink Capital, Jenny Fielding, Scott Hartley, Everywhere Ventures (The Fund), Founder Collective, Gradient Ventures, GV, Hustle Fund, Rob May
Sep 1, 2023	EquityList	$2.0M Seed	—	ADB Ventures, Cometa, Draper Associates, Fuel Ventures, Goodwater Capital, Hustle Fund, Jay, Magma Partners, Mana Ventures, MYASIAVC PTE LTD, Republic Capital, Unpopular Ventures, V3 Ventures, Akshay Chaturvedi, Claire Diaz-Ortiz, Kunal Shah, Mark Pincus, Nick Hunley
Feb 1, 2023	JOKR	$50.0M Series C	—	Better Tomorrow Ventures, M13, Notable Capital, Weekend Fund, Jonathan Swanson, Josh Elman, Scott Belsky, William Hockey
Dec 1, 2022	Playbook® - Company AI	$1.0M Seed	—	14Peaks Capital, Angel Invest, Balderton Capital, Embedded Ventures, Molten Ventures, Precursor Ventures, sequel, Charlie Songhurst, Nate Cavanaugh, Will Martin, Yaron Valler
Oct 1, 2022	Northstar	$24.0M Venture Round	—	Better Tomorrow Ventures, M13, Hans Tung, Notable Capital, Tiger Global Management, Weekend Fund, Y Combinator, Immad Akhund, Jonathan Swanson, Josh Elman, Scott Belsky, William Hockey
Sep 1, 2022	R2	$15.0M Series A	—	Banyan Ventures, Crosslink Capital, Jenny Fielding, Scott Hartley, Founder Collective, Gradient Ventures, John Lyman, Insight Partners, Muchmore Ventures, Rob May
Sep 1, 2022	EarlyDay	$3.0M Seed	—	14Peaks Capital, Alpaca VC, Double Down, exe, FJ Labs, Forefront Venture Partners, Gutter Capital, Ingeborg Investments, Matrix, Pareto Holdings, Precursor Ventures, Serena Ventures, Teamworthy Ventures, Vayner RSE, Claude Johnson, Jason Robins, Jawed Karim, Marco A. Casas, Mark Cuban, Matt Turk, Michael Birch, Nate Cavanaugh, Rand Hindi, Roger Dickey, Tim Lenardo
Jun 1, 2022	Afropolitan	$2.0M Seed	—	AirAngels, Andreessen Horowitz, Archetype, Audacity, Awesome People Ventures, Battery Ventures, Chapter One Ventures, CoinFund, Cometa, Divergence Ventures, Electric Ant, Electric Capital, Ethereal Ventures, Future Africa, Future Perfect Ventures, Greylock, Hack VC, Hashed, Hustle Fund, Infinity Ventures Crypto, Kearny Jackson, Kleiner Perkins, LocalGlobe, M34 Capital, Magma Partners, Makers Fund, MYASIAVC PTE LTD, Nascent, Not Boring Capital, Robot Ventures, Seed Club Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Seven Seven Six, Shima Capital, SID Venture Partners, Solana Ventures, Sound Ventures, Todd and Rahul's Angel Fund, Version One Ventures, Weekend Fund, WPP Ventures, Adam Jackson, Alex Pack, Aliaksandr Hudzilin, Alice Lloyd George, Anastasia Andrianova, Andrew Steinwold, Balaji Srinivasan, Biz Stone, Bo Shao, Brad Holden, Chris Larsen, Claire Diaz-Ortiz, David Nage, Do Kwon, Eric Wu, Greg Kidd, Imran Khan, Jeff Morris, Jehan Chu, Jess Sloss, Luis Cuende, Nathaniel Whittemore, Regan Bozman, Rene Reinsberg, Scott Belsky, Sina Habibi, Stani Kulechov, Steve Weinstein, Tegan Kline, Trevor McFedries, Tyler Scott Ward
May 1, 2022	Arklow	$50K Seed	—	Cometa, Hustle Fund, Magma Partners, MYASIAVC PTE LTD, Claire Diaz-Ortiz
May 1, 2022	Forma.ai	$45.0M Series B	—	ACME Capital, Ambridge Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Banyan Ventures, Crosslink Capital, Jenny Fielding, Scott Hartley, Founder Collective, FPV Fund, Golden Ventures, Gradient Ventures, John Lyman, Jude Gomila Rolling Fund, Long Journey Ventures, Spark Capital, The Hit Forge, Uncork Capital, Gokul Rajaram, Rob May, Sam Altman, Scott Banister, Scott Belsky, Vivek Patel
Mar 1, 2022	Knapsack	$6.0M Seed	—	Cometa, Crosslink Capital, Gradient Ventures, Hustle Fund, Magma Partners, MYASIAVC PTE LTD, Soma Capital, Sorenson Ventures, Claire Diaz-Ortiz
Dec 1, 2021	JOKR	$260.0M Series B	—	Banana Capital, Better Tomorrow Ventures, M13, Market One Capital, Northside Ventures, Notable Capital, Weekend Fund, Jonathan Swanson, Josh Elman, Oskar Hartmann, Scott Belsky, William Hockey
Oct 1, 2021	FlowPath	$1.0M Seed	—	Canaan Partners, Gil Penchina, Rob Solomon, Tirto Adji
Sep 1, 2021	Legal Karma	$750K Seed	—	Banyan Ventures, Crosslink Capital, Jenny Fielding, Scott Hartley, Everywhere Ventures (The Fund), Founder Collective, Gradient Ventures, John Lyman, Kindred Ventures, Stellar Capital, Rob May
Jul 1, 2021	JOKR	$170.0M Series A	—	Banana Capital, Better Tomorrow Ventures, M13, Market One Capital, Northside Ventures, Notable Capital, Weekend Fund, Jonathan Swanson, Josh Elman, Oskar Hartmann, Scott Belsky, William Hockey
Jun 1, 2021	Sylva	$5.0M Seed	—	Banyan Ventures, Crosslink Capital, Jenny Fielding, Scott Hartley, Founder Collective, Gradient Ventures, John Lyman, Rob May
Mar 1, 2021	Forma.ai	$10.0M Series A	—	Ambridge Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Banyan Ventures, Crosslink Capital, Jenny Fielding, Scott Hartley, Founder Collective, FPV Fund, Golden Ventures, Gradient Ventures, John Lyman, Jude Gomila Rolling Fund, Long Journey Ventures, Spark Capital, The Hit Forge, Uncork Capital, Gokul Rajaram, Rob May, Sam Altman, Scott Banister, Scott Belsky, Vivek Patel
Mar 1, 2021	Flourish Fi	$2.0M Seed	—	Cometa, Hustle Fund, Latitud, Magma Partners, MYASIAVC PTE LTD, Upload Ventures, Arthur Lazarte, Claire Diaz-Ortiz, Dennis Steele, Eric Rea, Simon Blanchard, William Hockey
Jan 1, 2021	Knapsack	$2.0M Seed	—	Cometa, Crosslink Capital, Foundation Capital, Founder Collective, Hustle Fund, Magma Partners, MYASIAVC PTE LTD, Rock Ventures, Sorenson Ventures, Thrive Capital, Upfront Ventures, Vera Equity, Claire Diaz-Ortiz, David de Picciotto
Dec 1, 2020	Reface	$6.0M Seed	—	Andreessen Horowitz, Ballistic Ventures, Better Tomorrow Ventures, Defy Partners, Dragoneer Investment Group, DST Global, Forerunner Ventures, Founders Fund, Greenoaks Capital, David Krane, IVP, M13, Hans Tung, Ribbit Capital, Roosh Ventures, SciFi VC, Sequoia Capital, Smash Capital, South Park Commons, TCV, Tiger Global Management, TQ Ventures, Vamos Ventures, Weekend Fund, Y Combinator, Aaron Levie, Elad Gil, Jared Leto, Jonathan Swanson, Justin Mateen, Larry Summers, Scott Belsky, Steve Stoute, Troy Carter, William Hockey
Nov 1, 2020	Northstar	$7.0M Series A	—	Better Tomorrow Ventures, ISAI, M13, Glenn Solomon, Hans Tung, Redpoint Ventures, Red Sea Ventures, Weekend Fund, Jonathan Swanson, Josh Elman, Paul Yacoubian, Sahil Lavingia, Scott Belsky, Suhail Doshi, William Hockey
Apr 1, 2020	Karbon	$1.0M Seed	—	Citi Ventures, Incisive Ventures, Kaszek Ventures, David de Picciotto, David Vélez, Harsh Sinha, Claire Diaz-Ortiz, Cometa, Hustle Fund, Immeasurable, Justin Mateen, Magma Partners, MYASIAVC PTE LTD, Trajectory Ventures, Wind Ventures
Sep 1, 2019	Mercury	$21.0M Series A	—	2048 Ventures, 2xN, Kevin Hartz, A* Capital (A Star Capital), Accel, Acequia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Anti fund, Atreides Management, Atria Ventures, Audrey Capital, Bam Ventures, Basecamp Fund, Better Tomorrow Ventures, Blisce, C2 Investment, Cedar Capital Group, Coatue, Convective Capital, Cota Capital, Craft Ventures, CRV, Daft Capital, Kiersten Stead, Jenny Fielding, Scott Hartley, Expon Capital, FirstMark Capital, Firstminute Capital, FJ Labs, Flybridge Capital Partners, Footwork, Foundation Capital, Founders Committee, Founders Fund, gener8tor, Goat Capital, Greenoaks Capital, Hanabi Capital, Highland Capital Partners, Insight Partners, Invariantes Fund, Jetstream, Khosla Ventures, Left Lane Capital, M13, Matrix, Maveron, Menlo Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners, Hans Tung, Outcast Ventures, Pareto Holdings, Phenomen Ventures, Pioneer Fund, Prelude Ventures, Radical Ventures, RRE Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Social Impact Capital, SOSV, Spacecadet Ventures, Spark Capital, Stellar Capital, The Community Fund, Thirty Five Ventures, Todd and Rahul's Angel Fund, Triangle Peak Partners, True Ventures, Venture Highway, Verified Capital, Weekend Fund, Adam D'Angelo, Alan Braverman, Bradley Horowitz, Bruno Bowden, Charlie Cheever, Chris M. Willliams, Dan Martell, Drew Houston, Giovanni Gardelli, Greg Brockman, Immad Akhund, Jeremy Yap, Josh Elman, Julia Hartz, Juney Ham, Marissa Mayer, Matt Brezina, Mike Krieger, Moshe Lifschitz, Nkechi Iregbulem, Peter Relan, Sam Shank, Scott Belsky, Shervin Pishevar, TJ Parker, William Hockey

Financial History

Total Raised

N/A

Valuation

N/A

Leadership Team

Key people at Parade Ventures.

Leadership Team

Key people at Parade Ventures.

Deep Dive

# Parade Ventures – High-Level Overview

Parade Ventures is a seed-stage venture capital firm focused on investing in enterprise-themed startups with strong economic fundamentals. The firm’s mission centers on empowering founders to build capital-efficient, scalable businesses by providing not just capital, but also strategic mentorship and access to a top-tier network of operators and executives. Parade Ventures prioritizes companies with recurring revenue, high margins, significant customer lifetime value, and repeatable sales models—hallmarks of sustainable enterprise growth.

Their investment philosophy emphasizes early-stage support, typically leading or co-leading seed rounds, and fostering innovation in high-growth technology and consumer sectors. By championing businesses with robust unit economics, Parade Ventures has become a pivotal partner in the startup ecosystem, helping founders navigate critical growth challenges and scale with confidence.

# Origin Story

Founded in 2018 by Shawn Merani, Parade Ventures emerged from a vision to bridge the gap between early-stage capital and hands-on operational expertise. Merani, with a background in technology and healthcare investments and a track record of over 30 deals across North America and Europe, built the firm around an operator-first approach. The fund’s early focus on enterprise startups reflected a growing trend toward capital efficiency and sustainable business models in the tech landscape.

Over time, Parade Ventures expanded its network and influence, attracting seasoned venture partners like Jeff Bonforte and establishing a reputation for deep engagement with portfolio companies. The firm’s evolution has been marked by a commitment to mentorship, strategic support, and a data-driven investment methodology, positioning it as a trusted ally for founders at the earliest stages of company building.

# Core Differentiators

Operator-First Investment Model: Parade Ventures goes beyond capital, offering founders direct access to a network of experienced operators and executives who provide strategic guidance and hands-on support.
Focus on Capital Efficiency: The firm champions startups with strong unit economics—recurring revenue, high margins, and repeatable sales—ensuring long-term sustainability.
Early-Stage Leadership: Parade typically leads or co-leads seed rounds, serving as the first institutional money in, which allows for deeper alignment with founders from day one.
Robust Mentorship & Network: Founders benefit from unparalleled mentorship and connections to top-tier talent, accelerating growth and problem-solving.
Track Record of Impact: With a history of successful exits and transformative investments, Parade Ventures has demonstrated its ability to identify and nurture high-potential startups.

# Role in the Broader Tech Landscape

Parade Ventures is riding the wave of a broader shift in venture capital toward capital efficiency and sustainable growth, especially in the enterprise sector. As the tech ecosystem matures, investors and founders alike are prioritizing businesses that can scale profitably rather than relying solely on rapid, burn-heavy expansion. This trend is amplified by macroeconomic pressures and a growing emphasis on unit economics.

By focusing on companies with strong fundamentals, Parade Ventures is helping shape a new generation of startups that are resilient, scalable, and well-positioned for long-term success. Their influence extends beyond their portfolio, as their model encourages other investors to prioritize operational excellence and founder support, contributing to a healthier, more sustainable startup ecosystem.

# Quick Take & Future Outlook

Parade Ventures is poised to remain a key player in the seed-stage venture landscape, especially as the demand for capital-efficient, operator-backed startups continues to grow. The firm’s emphasis on mentorship, strategic support, and sustainable business models positions it well to adapt to evolving market conditions and emerging trends in enterprise technology.

Looking ahead, Parade Ventures is likely to deepen its network, expand its portfolio into adjacent high-growth sectors, and further refine its data-driven investment approach. As the startup ecosystem continues to value operational excellence and founder-centric support, Parade Ventures’ influence will only grow, shaping the next wave of successful enterprise companies. Their journey reflects a broader shift in venture capital—one where sustainable growth and founder empowerment are at the forefront.

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