the inception fund
helping the bold start
First checks for technical founders since 2010.
What are you building?
Partners from Inception
Clay
GTM engineering
Backed since 2017
Generalist AI
General-purpose robotics
Backed since 2024
Protect AI
AI security → Palo Alto Networks
Backed since 2022
Keycard
Identity & access for AI agents
Backed since 2025
Tessl
AI-native development
Backed since 2024
Snyk
Developer-first security
Backed since 2015
A selection of inception investments.
More companies →
From inception
You’re early. So are we.
You have an idea you can’t stop thinking about. We want to hear it, even before there’s a company. We’ll help you pressure test it and move quickly to write your first check, from $500K to $15M, so you can get building.
No hedging. No homework. What we don’t doTeam
Investors and operators for zero-to-one.
Full team →
News & Ideas
FeaturedInception Investing: the new race to be first in Venture… and Pre-Seed isn’t first any moreEd SimIdeas→Clay raises $115M at a $7.1B valuation, led by WellingtonThe New York TimesNews↗Spectro Cloud raises over $100M to expand production AI infrastructureSpectro CloudNews↗Congrats Generalist AI on $400M raise at $2B valuationBloombergNews↗GeneralistAI — When Robots Start to Improvise — Welcome to boldstartEllen ChisaIdeas→boldstart 2025 recapEd SimIdeas→Keycard: The Identity and Access Platform for AI Agents, Welcome to boldstart!Ed SimIdeas→
Latest coverage and perspectives.All news & ideas →
Podcasts
FeaturedTurpentine VC: E66: Why Inception Investing Beats Traditional Seed with Ed Sim of Boldstart VenturesEd Sim · Turpentine VCListen↗FeaturedEllen Chisa on fundraising at inceptionEllen Chisa · Fun RaisingListen↗FeaturedThe SaaS Apocalypse, Betting on People Over Products, and Founder SkillsEliot Durbin · Knowledge DistillationListen↗Everything You Know About Cybersecurity Is About to BreakEd Sim · Post MoneyListen↗Enterprise AI Biggest Opportunities: A Top VC's TakeEd Sim · CXOTalkListen↗
Conversations on inception, AI, and building companies.All podcasts →