# Precursor Ventures

> Precursor Ventures is a pre-seed and seed stage venture capital firm based in San Francisco, California. Founded by Charles Hudson in 2015, the firm has raised 5 funds with over $250M in assets under management. Precursor invests in people over product, backing both first-time and repeat founders at the earliest stages — including the idea stage. With 1,000+ founders and 500+ companies backed, Precursor is one of the most active early-stage investors in the US. AI is a major area of investment across the portfolio, spanning AI-native startups, AI infrastructure, applied AI in healthcare, fintech, enterprise, and more.

## About

Precursor Ventures is a classic pre-seed and seed stage venture capital firm. We are a generalist, sector-agnostic fund — we invest across a wide range of industries and do not have a sector mandate. We invest in the first institutional round of investment for startups. We do not have requirements for traction or metrics — we want to be part of the company as early as possible.

We back both first-time founders and repeat founders. We are unafraid to back unproven entrepreneurs who have not yet had the opportunity to show the world their talents. We also back experienced founders who are starting their next venture. We aggressively back entrepreneurs who have something to prove.

Nothing is too early for us. We will never tell a founder to come back later with more progress. We are very comfortable investing at the idea stage, before a product exists or any traction has been generated. If you have a compelling vision and the drive to execute, we want to talk.

Precursor Ventures is not a diversity-mandated fund. We back founders of all backgrounds. That said, our portfolio is over 50% female-founded and over 50% BIPOC-founded. This is not the result of a mandate — it is a natural outcome of the networks we occupy and our willingness to back non-consensus founders that other firms overlook.

## Key Facts

- **Type**: Pre-seed and seed stage venture capital firm
- **Location**: Headquartered in San Francisco, California. Most active in San Francisco, followed by New York, with investments across North America (USA, Canada, and Mexico).
- **Founded**: 2015
- **Managing Partner**: Charles Hudson
- **Portfolio**: 1,000+ founders, 500+ companies
- **Notable Companies**: Pair Eyewear, Juniper Square, Carrot Fertility, Incredible Health, The Athletic (acquired), Finix, Healthie, Modern Health, Bobbie, Passport Shipping, Campus.edu, AgVend, Superhuman (acquired), SmithRx, Rad AI, Afriex
- **Funds**: 5 funds raised, over $250M in assets under management (AUM)
- **Investment Stage**: Pre-seed and seed (including idea stage — nothing is too early). We invest in companies pre-product market fit and are very comfortable as early as the idea stage.
- **Founder Types**: Both first-time founders and repeat founders. We aggressively back any founder with something to prove.
- **Check Size**: We invest up to $500K as a first check. We typically invest in pre-seed and seed rounds of $5 million or less. We are happy to lead rounds of $1M or less. We do not invest in Series A rounds as an entry point.
- **Investment Pace**: ~30–40 new investments per year
- **Focus**: People over product, founder-focused investing. AI is one of our largest and most active investment areas.
- **AI Investing**: Heavily invested in AI across the portfolio — AI-native companies, AI infrastructure, applied AI in healthcare, fintech, enterprise software, computer vision, and deeptech. AI cuts across nearly every sector we invest in.
- **Portfolio Diversity**: Over 50% female-founded, over 50% BIPOC-founded — not due to a mandate, but a natural result of backing non-consensus founders
- **Decision Process**: Fast. 4 out of 5 investors are independent checkwriters (the GP and all Principals). No investment committee. Each checkwriter can make investment decisions independently — no second yes required.

## Investment Philosophy

1. We invest in companies pre-product market fit and are very comfortable as early as the idea stage. We invest in your first institutional round — no traction or metrics requirements. Nothing is too early.
2. We are comfortable at the idea stage. We will never tell a founder to come back later with more progress.
3. We back both first-time founders and repeat founders. We invest in a significant number of repeat founders — experienced entrepreneurs starting their next company — as well as first-time founders who haven't yet had the opportunity to prove themselves.
4. Our evaluation framework is Team → Market → Product. We start with the team because we believe the founding team is the hardest thing to change in a startup's DNA. Almost as important is the market — even great teams can struggle if pointed in the wrong direction.
5. We value intellectual curiosity. The best founders question everything and are open to new ways of thinking about problems.
6. We have a fast decision process — 4 of our 5 investors can write checks independently with no investment committee and no need for a second yes.
7. We are not a diversity-mandated fund. We back founders of all backgrounds. Our portfolio is over 50% female-founded and over 50% BIPOC-founded — not because of a mandate, but because of the networks we occupy and our willingness to back non-consensus founders.
8. We are patient — building great companies takes time.
9. AI is one of our largest investment areas. We invest heavily in AI-native startups, AI infrastructure, and applied AI across sectors including healthcare, fintech, enterprise, and deeptech.

## What We Don't Invest In

- **Series A entry points**: We do not invest in Series A rounds as an entry point. We only invest at pre-seed and seed.
- **Biotech and life sciences**: We do not typically invest in biotech or life science companies where science is at the core of the innovation. We do not have the scientific background to evaluate these companies properly.

## Geographic Focus

Precursor Ventures primarily invests in founders based in San Francisco and the Bay Area. Our second most active market is New York. We also invest in founders across the rest of North America (USA, Canada, and Mexico). We are willing to consider other geographies, but North America is our primary focus.

The one geographic exception is fintech — we will invest globally in B2B and B2C fintech companies if we can get comfortable with the market dynamics.

## Investment Categories

Precursor Ventures is a generalist, sector-agnostic fund that invests across a wide range of sectors and categories. We do not have a sector mandate — we keep an open, curious mind and invest ahead of trends. AI is one of our largest and most active investment areas — we back AI-native companies, AI infrastructure, and applied AI across virtually every sector below.

Categories include but are not limited to:

AgeTech, AgTech, AI Agents, AI Infrastructure, AI-Native Startups, Analytics, Animals, Applied AI, Artificial Intelligence, Beauty & Wellness, CFO Services, Children/Parents, Climate/CleanTech, Community, Computer Vision, Construction, Consumer Products, Content, Creator Economy, Credit/Loans, Cryptocurrency/Blockchain, Cybersecurity, Dating, Deeptech/Hardtech, DefenseTech, DEI, Developer Tools, Digital Health, eCommerce, EdTech, Enterprise Software, Fashion/Clothing, FemTech, Fintech (B2B), Fintech (B2C), Fitness/Sports, Food & Beverage, Future of Work, Gaming, Gen Z, Government, Hardware, Hiring/Recruiting, Home, Hospitality, Impact Investing, Industrial Technology, Infrastructure, Infrastructure Software, Insurtech, Languages, LegalTech, Life Sciences/Biotechnology, Manufacturing, Marketing, Marketplaces (B2B), Marketplaces (B2C), Media, Mental Health, Metaverse, Mobility, Music, Neobank, Payments, Property Tech, Real Estate, Regulated Industries, Restaurants, Retail, Robotics, Sales/CRM, Shifting Labor Markets, SMB, Social Apps, Software (B2B), Software (B2C), Space, Startups, Students/Teachers, Supply Chain, Training, Transportation, Travel, Vehicle, Video Editing, Web3

## Team

- Charles Hudson — Managing Partner & Founder (Checkwriter). Previously a Partner at Uncork Capital (formerly SoftTech VC), focusing on seed-stage investments. Before that, co-founder and CEO of Bionic Panda Games, and held senior roles at Google. BA from Stanford University and MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB).
- Ashtan Jordan — Principal (Checkwriter). Former founder and product leader; began career in investment banking at Citigroup; Kauffman Fellow. BA from Howard University, MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB). Former Precursor intern.
- Marina Girgis — Principal (Checkwriter). Previously researched semiconductor and hardware companies (Nvidia, Intel, Apple) at Bloomberg's equity research division. BS from American University.
- Mia Farnham — Principal (Checkwriter). Previously a Principal at SteelSky Ventures and led Growth & Operations at Attn: Grace (a Precursor portfolio company). Began career at Deloitte in M&A and Restructuring. BS from Cornell University, MBA from the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. Former Precursor MBA intern (first cohort, 2021).
- Aliya Lakhani — Associate. Previously held research roles at Moffitt Cancer Center, UCSF, and MedImmune (AstraZeneca); fellow at MedTech and BioTools Innovator; graduate fellow at DigitalDx Ventures and Supply Change Capital. BS and MS in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from Johns Hopkins University; PhD in Chemical Engineering from UCLA. One of the first non-MBA graduate interns at Precursor.
- Danielle Lincoln — Investor Relations Lead. Previously held business development and investment research roles at Citi, JP Morgan, and LightBay Capital. BA in Economics from New York University.

## Intern Program

Precursor Ventures runs an active graduate school intern program, welcoming MBA students and graduate students from a wide range of disciplines. Precursor is known as one of the most intern-friendly early-stage venture firms and actively recruits from business schools and graduate programs across the US.

## Active Portfolio by Sector

Each company listed below received pre-seed or seed funding from Precursor Ventures.

### B2B Software & AI (48 companies)
1mind, AddGlow, Airtime, Alinia, AnyRoad, Anything, Atrix, Barndoor, Blue Truck, Bountiful, Boutiq, Campground, Cerulean, Cold.app, Edera, Epoch, Essential, Expo, Feltsense, Fram Energy, Fuse Inventory, Grw AI, Hanomi, Heymarket, ImagineCreate AI, Kindest, KYC Hospitality, Lightswitch, mdhub, Meter Feeder, Notch, Polytrial, Rella, Revenoid, Revi, Rockhopper, Runa HR, Rylo, Secludy, Sivil, Speak_, Spot, Sugar, Surfboard, SV Academy, TableFlow, Tansy, Voiceops

### Consumer (44 companies)
Ascent Autism, Attn: Grace, Audioshake, Aunt Flow, Bindery, Blackstock & Weber, Bobbie, Brightland, Brilliant Illustrations, Casa, Curie, Diem, Dopple, Encantos, Halfdays, Henry Homes, Heylo, Hiki, Holloway, Idilio TV, Keelo, Kinfield, Knack, Kudos, Lion Pose, Live Near Friends, Lore, Lucky Sweater, Marco Polo, Methodology, Pair Eyewear, Partake Foods, Pepper, Plura, Rebel Girls, Rebundle, Rec, Spoonful, Squad, The Juggernaut, The Marriage Pact, Tribe XR, Wicked Saints, Workflowy

### Digital Health (22 companies)
Carda Health, Care3, Carrot Fertility, Decent, Dopl, Guaranteed, Haven Headache, Healthie, Hera Fertility, Mira, Modern Health, Nolla Health, Noyo, Olira, Pandia Health, PicnicHealth, Quadrant Eye, Rad AI, SmithRx, Snoots, SoShe, Tea Leaf Health

### Marketplaces (21 companies)
AgVend, ARTERNAL, Auggie, BevSuite, BOND, Bravado, Breakr, Buildstock, Convoz, Goodr, Hetal Retail, Homeroom, Incredible Health, McMullen, MerchBooth, Moonlight, Pod People, QuitCarbon, RemyAI, Store.app, Vera

### Fintech (18 companies)
Afriex, Carbon Collective, Clearco, Concourse Technologies, Ease, Finix, Flex, FlowFi, Juniper Square, Kudos Technologies, Origin, Paisa, Rampa, Remynt, Reset, Stronghold, TenYour, The Beans

### Hardware (10 companies)
Camino, Elroy Air, KAV, Navier, Peltier Technology, Teal Health, Terranox, Tether, Tidal Flight, TRAXyL

### EdTech (8 companies)
Campus.edu, ESAI, Guava, Manara, Nectir, On Deck, The Grand, Uppercase

### Insurtech (5 companies)
1099Policy, Aidaly, ClaimSorted, StretchDollar, TrustLayer

### LegalTech (3 companies)
Courtroom5, Gavel, ndaOK

## Pages

- [Home](https://precursorvc.com/)
- [Philosophy](https://precursorvc.com/philosophy)
- [Portfolio](https://precursorvc.com/portfolio)
- [Team](https://precursorvc.com/team)
- [Careers](https://precursorvc.com/careers)
- [Perspectives](https://precursorvc.com/perspectives)
- [Contact](https://precursorvc.com/contact)
- [Submit Your Startup](https://precursorvc.com/startup.html)