Upside Partnership

Upside Partnership is a venture capital firm that provides seed-stage investment to founders creating high-profile companies.

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)
Mar 1, 2025	Kosli	$10.0M Series A	—	Andreessen Horowitz, Defined, Heavybit, Insight Partners, Matrix, Next47, Y Combinator, Sahin Boydas
May 1, 2024	SolarSquare Energy	$4.0M Venture Round	—	Craig Shapiro, Energy Impact Partners, ENIAC Ventures, Freestyle Capital, Hanaco Ventures, Incite Ventures, Lowercarbon Capital, Mayfield, Pillar VC, Struck Capital, Anna Patterson, Bradley Horowitz, Claire Diaz-Ortiz, Eros Resmini, Tom Steyer
Apr 1, 2024	Quilt	$33.0M Series A	—	Alumni Ventures, Earthshot Ventures, Energy Impact Partners, ENIAC Ventures, Freestyle Capital, Hanaco Ventures, Incite Ventures, Inspired Capital, Lowercarbon Capital, Mayfield, OODA Ventures, Struck Capital, True Ventures, Anna Patterson, Bradley Horowitz, Claire Diaz-Ortiz, Eros Resmini, Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Steyer
Sep 1, 2023	Lemurian Labs	$9.0M Seed	—	Aleph VC, Alumni Ventures, Amplify Partners, Bascom Ventures, Dimension Capital, Draper Associates, Humba Ventures, Modern Venture Partners, Streamlined Ventures, Susa Ventures, VZVC, Y Combinator, Alain Hanover, Charlie Songhurst, Erick Miller, Farzad Nazem, Ian McNish, Richard Cooperstein
Sep 1, 2023	Hong Jing Drive	$14.0M Series B	—	Accel, Caffeinated Capital, Hercules Capital, Insight Partners, Khosla Ventures, Prosperity7 Ventures, Sound Ventures, Top Harvest Capital, Y Combinator, George Hoyem, Janis Krums, Karl Jacob, Roger Ehrenberg, Ron Garret, Sam Altman, Tom McInerney
May 1, 2023	Korbit Technologies	$11.0M Series A	—	Accel, Caffeinated Capital, Hercules Capital, Insight Partners, Khosla Ventures, Prosperity7 Ventures, Sound Ventures, Top Harvest Capital, Y Combinator, George Hoyem, Janis Krums, Karl Jacob, Roger Ehrenberg, Ron Garret, Sam Altman, Tom McInerney
May 1, 2023	Quilt	$9.0M Seed	—	Energy Impact Partners, ENIAC Ventures, Felicis Ventures, Freestyle Capital, Hanaco Ventures, Incite Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Lowercarbon Capital, Mayfield, Menlo Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Struck Capital, Anna Patterson, Bob Wood, Bradley Horowitz, Claire Diaz-Ortiz, Eros Resmini, Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Steyer
May 1, 2023	CUR8	$7.0M Seed	—	Airbus Ventures, Energy Impact Partners, ENIAC Ventures, Freestyle Capital, GV, Hanaco Ventures, Incite Ventures, Lowercarbon Capital, Mayfield, Struck Capital, Anna Patterson, Bradley Horowitz, Claire Diaz-Ortiz, Eros Resmini, Tom Steyer
Feb 1, 2023	Asaren	$8.0M Seed	—	Accel, Caffeinated Capital, Hercules Capital, Insight Partners, Khosla Ventures, Prosperity7 Ventures, Sound Ventures, Top Harvest Capital, Y Combinator, George Hoyem, Janis Krums, Karl Jacob, Roger Ehrenberg, Ron Garret, Sam Altman, Tom McInerney
Nov 1, 2022	SolarSquare Energy	$12.0M Series A	—	Craig Shapiro, Energy Impact Partners, ENIAC Ventures, Freestyle Capital, Hanaco Ventures, Incite Ventures, Lowercarbon Capital, Mayfield, Pillar VC, Struck Capital, Anna Patterson, Bradley Horowitz, Claire Diaz-Ortiz, Eros Resmini, Tom Steyer
Nov 1, 2022	Kosli	$3.0M Seed	—	Heavybit
Oct 1, 2022	Fursure	$3.0M Seed	—	AirAngels, Alt Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Curie.Bio, Daffy, Haystack, Kleiner Perkins, Operator Collective, Operator Partners, Rainfall Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, StartupGym, Streamlined Ventures, Gerald Parloiu, Larry Gadea, Max Mullen, Oliver Jung, Portman Wills, Sahil Lavingia, Zack Kanter
Oct 1, 2022	Metrist	$4.0M Seed	—	Costanoa Ventures, Heavybit
Jul 1, 2022	Deci AI	$25.0M Series B	—	Accel, Caffeinated Capital, Hercules Capital, Insight Partners, Khosla Ventures, Prosperity7 Ventures, Sound Ventures, Top Harvest Capital, Y Combinator, George Hoyem, Janis Krums, Karl Jacob, Roger Ehrenberg, Ron Garret, Sam Altman, Tom McInerney
Jun 1, 2022	SolarSquare Energy	$4.0M Seed	—	Craig Shapiro, Energy Impact Partners, ENIAC Ventures, Freestyle Capital, Hanaco Ventures, Incite Ventures, Lowercarbon Capital, Mayfield, Pillar VC, Struck Capital, Anna Patterson, Bradley Horowitz, Claire Diaz-Ortiz, Eros Resmini, Tom Steyer
May 1, 2022	Assembled	$51.0M Series B	—	Basis Set Ventures, Emergence Capital, Exponent Founders Capital, Mischief Venture Capital, Forest Baskett, New Enterprise Associates, Scale Venture Partners, Bob Young, Jim Lanzone, Philippe Teixeira da Mota, Ravi Parikh
May 1, 2022	Sustain.Life	$9.0M Seed	—	First Round Capital, Homebrew, Relay Ventures, Semble Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Christine Herron, Emil Michael
Feb 1, 2022	Hong Jing Drive	$16.0M Series B	—	Accel, Caffeinated Capital, Hercules Capital, Insight Partners, Khosla Ventures, Prosperity7 Ventures, Sound Ventures, Top Harvest Capital, Y Combinator, George Hoyem, Janis Krums, Karl Jacob, Roger Ehrenberg, Ron Garret, Sam Altman, Tom McInerney
Jan 1, 2022	Verusen	$25.0M Series B	—	Alt Capital, Bain Capital Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, BMW i Ventures, Daft Capital, Emergence Capital, Fifth Down Capital, Flyover Capital, Founders Fund, Glasswing Ventures, ICONIQ Capital, Mischief Venture Capital, Scale Venture Partners, Todd and Rahul's Angel Fund, Daniel Pourasghar, Howie Liu, Mark Ghermezian, Trevor Noah
Jan 1, 2022	Ironclad	$150.0M Series E	—	Kevin Hartz, Accel, Album VC, Alt Capital, Alven, Amplify Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Angel investor, Archetype, Arrive, Ascend Vietnam Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, Basis Set Ventures, Benchmark, Bling Capital, Blisce, Bond, Bow Capital, BoxGroup, Caffeinated Capital, Chapter One Ventures, CITG Capital, Coatue, CoinFund, Compound, Cowboy Ventures, Craft Ventures, CRV, Dispersion Capital, Dreamers VC, Dream Machine, Electric Capital, Flexsteel Industries Inc., Founder Collective, Franklin Templeton Investments, Freestyle Capital, Global Founders Capital, Graph Ventures, Greenoaks Capital, Griffin Gaming Partners, Helium-3 Ventures, Index Ventures, Inspired Capital, Khosla Ventures, Liquid 2 Ventures, Lux Capital, Matrix, North Island Ventures, Hans Tung, Outcast Ventures, Paradigm, Peterson Partners, Presence Capital, Reform Ventures, Roosh Ventures, Sapphire Ventures, Sarah Smith Fund, SciFi VC, Sequoia Capital, SNR, Social Capital, Soma Capital, Sound Ventures, Summit Partners, The Hit Forge, Thirty Five Ventures, Thrive Capital, Tribe Capital, Two Sigma Ventures, Union Square Ventures, Y Combinator, Yes VC, Aaron Harris, Andre Iguodala, Arash Ferdowsi, Balaji Srinivasan, Bart Swanson, Bernard Arnault, Bill Tai, Claire Hughes Johnson, Eric Wu, Evan Lee, Frederic Kerrest, Jeff Morris, Jenna Hannon, Jonathan Shipman, Joshua Reeves, Julia Hartz, Kevin Lin, Mark Pincus, Mathilde Collin, Matt Bellamy, Michael Birch, Othman Laraki, Rashaun Williams, Sahin Boydas, Scott Belsky, Theresa Johnson, Tony Xu, William Mougayar
Nov 1, 2021	Daily.co	$40.0M Series B	—	468 Capital, 8090 Industries, Addition, AirAngels, Alt Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Archetype, Audacity, Awesome People Ventures, Battery Ventures, Buckley Ventures, Chapter One Ventures, Chemistry VC, CoinFund, Comcast Ventures, Divergence Ventures, Electric Ant, Electric Capital, Ethereal Ventures, Future Perfect Ventures, Hack VC, Hashed, Haystack, Infinity Ventures Crypto, Kearny Jackson, Kleiner Perkins, LGF, Lowercarbon Capital, M34 Capital, Makers Fund, Meritech Capital Partners, Nascent, Not Boring Capital, Nyca Partners, Operator Collective, Redpoint Ventures, Renegade Partners, Robot Ventures, Root Ventures, Seed Club Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Seven Seven Six, SID Venture Partners, Solana Ventures, SOSV, Sound Ventures, TCV, Todd and Rahul's Angel Fund, Two Sigma Ventures, 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, David Nage, Do Kwon, Eric Wu, Grant Miller, Ian McHenry, Imran Khan, Jeff Morris, Jess Sloss, Larry Gadea, Luis Cuende, Max Mullen, Nathaniel Whittemore, Regan Bozman, Rene Reinsberg, Sahil Lavingia, Scott Belsky, Sina Habibi, Stani Kulechov, Steve Weinstein, Tegan Kline, Tom Steyer, Trevor McFedries, Tyler Scott Ward, Waseem Daher, Zack Kanter, Zander Lurie
Nov 1, 2021	Ethyca	$8.0M Series A	—	20VC, Accel, ActivumSG, Addition, AIX Ventures, Caffeinated Capital, Chemistry VC, Costanoa Ventures, Day One Ventures, FirstMark Capital, Hercules Capital, IA Ventures, Insight Partners, Khosla Ventures, Nyca Partners, Pareto Holdings, Point Nine Capital, Prosperity7 Ventures, Renegade Partners, Sound Ventures, Stride VC, TCV, Top Harvest Capital, TrueSight Ventures, Y Combinator, Azeem Azhar, George Hoyem, Ian Hogarth, Janis Krums, Karl Jacob, Marc McCabe, Richard Fearn, Ron Garret, Sam Altman, Tom McInerney, Zander Lurie
Oct 1, 2021	Deci AI	$21.0M Series A	—	Accel, Caffeinated Capital, Hercules Capital, Insight Partners, Khosla Ventures, Prosperity7 Ventures, Sound Ventures, Top Harvest Capital, Y Combinator, George Hoyem, Janis Krums, Karl Jacob, Roger Ehrenberg, Ron Garret, Sam Altman, Tom McInerney
Sep 1, 2021	Lean Financial	$5.0M Seed	—	10100, 1confirmation, 20VC, Abstract Ventures, Kevin Hartz, AirAngels, Alt Capital, AME Cloud Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Austin Ventures, Banana Capital, B Capital Group, Better Capital, Brainchild, Browder Capital, Buckley Ventures, Canaan Partners, Champion Hill Labs, Cisco Investments, Climate Capital, Conversion Capital, Divergence Ventures, Forerunner Ventures, Founders Fund, General Catalyst, Greylock, Hardware Club, Haystack, Human Capital, Inspired Capital, KRM Interests LLC, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Magma Partners, NEO, New Form Capital, Operator Collective, Polychain Capital, R136 Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, Robot Ventures, RRE Ventures, Semble Ventures, Seven Seven Six, Sound Ventures, SV Angel, Techstars, The Hit Forge, Thomvest Ventures, Thrive Capital, Tucker Seed Fund LLC, Ameet Patel, Balaji Srinivasan, Bradley Horowitz, David Petersen, Diego Berdakin, Dylan Field, Guy Podjarny, Jeff Chang, John Hennessy, Josh Elman, Julia Hartz, Kaushik Subramanian, Larry Gadea, Mark Pincus, Matthew Dellavedova, Sahil Lavingia, Sahin Boydas, Stani Kulechov, Tony Xu, Vitalik Buterin, Zack Kanter
Aug 1, 2021	Launch House	$3.0M Seed	—	Kevin Hartz, Cowboy Ventures, Dream Machine, Jenny Fielding, Scott Hartley, Flexsteel Industries Inc., Flybridge Capital Partners, Gaingels, Greylock, Index Ventures, Javelin Venture Partners, Laconia Capital Group, Sequoia Capital, Social Starts, Third Prime, Twenty Seven Ventures, Brian Sugar, Jonathan Shipman, Julia Hartz, Kevin Lin

Financial History

Total Raised

N/A

Valuation

N/A

Leadership Team

Key people at Upside Partnership.

Kent Goldman

Partner

Christina Kelly

Leadership Team

Key people at Upside Partnership.

Kent Goldman

Partner

Christina Kelly

Deep Dive

Upside Partnership is a seed and pre-seed venture capital firm focused on partnering with early-stage founders building high-potential companies, primarily in technology and healthcare sectors. Their mission centers on investing early in "inevitable founders"—entrepreneurs with a strong vision and operational efficiency—providing not just capital but hands-on mentorship and strategic support to help shape their growth trajectory. They typically write initial checks around $500K and reserve 70% of their fund to support founders in subsequent rounds, emphasizing long-term partnerships and founder-first philosophy[2][5].

Founded in 2014 by Kent Goldman in San Francisco, Upside Partnership has evolved to become a recognized early-stage investor with a portfolio including notable companies like Hims & Hers, Allbirds, and Life360. Kent Goldman, with prior experience at First Round Capital, and partner Christina Hunt, who brings operational and venture expertise, lead the firm. Their focus remains on identifying purpose-built teams across consumer and enterprise technology sectors in the U.S., often being the first institutional investor to commit[2][3][6].

Core Differentiators

Unique Investment Model: Focus on seed and pre-seed rounds with initial checks averaging $500K and significant reserve capital for follow-on investments, enabling sustained support.
Founder-First Philosophy: Emphasis on long-term partnerships and hands-on mentorship rather than transactional investing.
Network Strength: Access to a broad network in technology and healthcare sectors, leveraging partners’ operational and investment experience.
Track Record: Early investments in high-profile startups such as Hims & Hers and Allbirds demonstrate strong deal sourcing and growth support capabilities.
Operating Support: Combines strategic advice with mentorship to guide startups through critical early growth phases[2][5].

Role in the Broader Tech Landscape

Upside Partnership rides the trend of early-stage venture capital focusing on founder-driven innovation in technology and healthcare, sectors experiencing rapid transformation through digitalization and consumer-centric solutions. The timing is favorable due to increasing startup activity in these domains and the need for early institutional capital that not only funds but actively supports founders. By often being the first institutional investor, Upside shapes the initial growth trajectory of startups, influencing the broader ecosystem by enabling companies that address emerging market needs and technological shifts[2][3].

Quick Take & Future Outlook

Looking ahead, Upside Partnership is poised to deepen its influence by continuing to back visionary founders at the earliest stages, particularly as technology sectors like AI, healthtech, and fintech evolve rapidly. Trends such as increased digital health adoption and AI-driven software innovation will likely shape their investment focus. Their founder-centric, hands-on approach positions them well to nurture startups that could become category leaders, potentially expanding their footprint beyond the U.S. market and into new technology frontiers[2][5].

In summary, Upside Partnership exemplifies a modern seed-stage venture capital firm that combines early financial commitment with strategic partnership, enabling founders to realize their vision and impact the future of technology and healthcare innovation.

Sources

Core Differentiators

Unique Investment Model: Focus on seed and pre-seed rounds with initial checks averaging $500K and significant reserve capital for follow-on investments, enabling sustained support.
Founder-First Philosophy: Emphasis on long-term partnerships and hands-on mentorship rather than transactional investing.
Network Strength: Access to a broad network in technology and healthcare sectors, leveraging partners’ operational and investment experience.
Track Record: Early investments in high-profile startups such as Hims & Hers and Allbirds demonstrate strong deal sourcing and growth support capabilities.
Operating Support: Combines strategic advice with mentorship to guide startups through critical early growth phases[2][5].