Early-Stage VC Firms: 15 Seed and Pre-Seed Investors Still Writing First Cheques
Most lists of "top VCs" rank firms by assets under management, which tells a first-time founder very little. What you need to know is whether a firm backs companies at your stage, how much it puts in, and whether there is a way in without a warm introduction. We checked 15 established early-stage venture capital firms on their own websites in October 2026: the stage and cheque size they publish (if they publish one), their focus, where they are based, how to apply or pitch, and their latest official fund announcement with its date.
Quick answer: if you have no investor network, start with the firms that run open applications: Y Combinator ($500K standard deal), a16z speedrun (up to $1M), Sequoia Arc, PearX from Pear VC ($500K to $2M) and Greylock Edge. In Europe, Seedcamp writes first cheques of $350K to $1.25M. AI founders can apply to Menlo Ventures' Anthology Fund, which starts at $100,000. The larger multi-stage firms (Index, Accel, General Catalyst, Lightspeed, Bessemer, Khosla, USV, Founders Fund) usually need a warm introduction to a partner.
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Early-Stage VC Firms Compared
Sources: each firm's own website, checked 27 October 2026. "Not published" means the firm's site does not state it; figures are what the firms publish and can change.
The 15 Early-Stage VC Firms for 2027
The first six firms run an open application or programme, so you can apply without knowing anyone. The others are multi-stage firms that invest from seed but mostly meet founders through introductions.
1. Y Combinator
Y Combinator in San Francisco is the best-known accelerator and still the most transparent early-stage investor. Its standard deal is the same for every accepted company: $500,000, of which $125,000 buys a fixed 7% and $375,000 goes in on an uncapped MFN SAFE. It is accepting applications for the Winter 2027 batch, which runs from January to March in San Francisco; the on-time deadline is November 2 (8pm PT), with decisions by December 11, and later applications are still considered. You can also apply early for the spring, summer and fall batches. YC invests across all sectors.
2. Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and a16z speedrun
Andreessen Horowitz is a multi-stage firm based in Menlo Park, with offices in San Francisco and New York. Its clearest route for first-time founders is a16z speedrun, a 12-week residency in San Francisco that invests up to $1M: $500K for 10% upfront via a SAFE, plus another $500K into your next round within 18 months, with more than $10M in partner credits. Applications for SR008 are open until November 1, 2026, and SR008 runs from February 1 to April 16, 2027; later applications are considered for the following residency. The latest official signal: on January 9, 2026 Ben Horowitz announced that a16z raised over $15B, including new American Dynamism, Apps, Bio + Health, Infrastructure and Growth funds.
3. Sequoia Capital (Arc)
Sequoia Capital is based on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park. It finds seed founders in several ways, including Arc, which it describes as its twice-yearly open call for pre-seed and seed stage founders; selected founders also get the Arc Intensive, a four-day programme. Sequoia does not publish an Arc cheque size. On October 27, 2025 it launched its sixth dedicated seed fund alongside a new venture fund; the partners' notes in that post name AI commerce, voice AI and a hardware renaissance among their interests.
4. Pear VC (PearX)
Pear VC has offices in San Francisco and Menlo Park and invests at pre-seed and seed. Its PearX programme for pre-seed founders lists a cheque size of $500K to $2M per company and fewer than 25 teams per cohort, and you apply on the PearX page. On October 14, 2026 it announced Fund V, a $333 million fund that takes Pear to more than $1.1 billion in assets under management. Pear says it now sees thousands of companies a year through its pre-seed and seed practices.
5. Seedcamp (Europe)
Seedcamp is a London seed fund that calls itself the first backer of its companies, which range from pre-product and pre-revenue to post-launch. Its FAQ states that its first cheque is usually between $350K and $1.25M, that it likes to lead or co-lead rounds, and that it aims to run the whole process within two weeks of meeting you, ending with a 45-minute partner pitch. On June 19, 2026 it announced $320 million in new funds: $220 million for Fund VII, its flagship first-check fund, and $100 million for its Select fund, plus a New York office to help founders crack the US market.
6. Greylock (Greylock Edge)
Greylock has offices in San Francisco and Menlo Park. Its Edge programme is a three-month company-building programme for pre-idea, pre-seed and seed founders, with flexible financing on the founder's choice of terms and more than $1M in infrastructure and AI credits; you apply on the Edge page. On July 14, 2026 it announced Greylock 18, a new $1.5 billion early-stage venture fund focused on AI-era companies. Each Greylock partner makes only one or two new investments a year.
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7. Index Ventures
Index Ventures has offices in San Francisco, New York and London and invests from seed to growth. On July 31, 2026, its 30th year, it announced new funds that bring its investing capital to $3.5 billion: a new $400 million seed fund, a new $900 million venture fund and a $2.2 billion growth fund. The post names infrastructure, cybersecurity, fintech, healthcare, productivity and consumer as areas opening up. We found no open application form on its site; reach a partner who covers your sector.
8. Accel
Accel is headquartered in Palo Alto, with teams in San Francisco, London and Bangalore. On August 11, 2026 it announced a $3.5 billion fundraise across four vehicles for its early-stage strategies in the US, Europe, Israel and India, plus capital for larger first investments and follow-ons; the post names Lovable, Cyera, Decagon, Tailscale and Swiggy among its companies. Indian and Indian-origin founders can apply to Accel Atoms, its pre-seed scaling programme; elsewhere, we found no published cheque size or open application form.
9. General Catalyst
General Catalyst has offices in San Francisco, New York, Cambridge (Massachusetts) and Washington DC, and calls seed "the beating heart of GC". Its latest fund post, Fund XII on October 24, 2024, announced about $8 billion of new capital, including around $4.5 billion for its core funds focused on seed and growth equity, for theses in AI, defence and intelligence, climate and energy, industrials, healthcare and fintech. It publishes no cheque size and we found no open application form, so founders usually reach it through a partner.
10. Lightspeed Venture Partners
Lightspeed is based on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park and says it backs companies from seed to Series F and beyond; recent posts on its site cover AI, enterprise software and AI healthcare. Its own healthtech newsletter of January 29, 2026 says it closed 2025 with $9 billion in new funds. We found no published seed cheque size or open application form on its site.
11. Menlo Ventures (Anthology Fund)
Menlo Ventures has offices in San Francisco and Menlo Park. On June 23, 2026, its 50th year, it announced $3 billion in new capital: Menlo Ventures XVII, which invests from seed to Series A, and Menlo Inflection IV for Series B and later, aimed at AI from infrastructure and frontier models to applications in enterprise, healthcare and consumer. AI founders have an open door: the Menlo Anthology Fund, a $100 million fund created with Anthropic, invests from seed to expansion stage starting at $100,000 and gives backed startups $25,000 in Anthropic credits. You apply on the fund's page.
12. Bessemer Venture Partners
Bessemer Venture Partners has offices in San Francisco, New York and Massachusetts, plus London and Tel Aviv. On September 23, 2026 it announced $5.75 billion in new capital, raised in a single close: $1.75 billion for seed and early-stage investing and $4 billion for growth. It says roughly 70 percent of its investments are made at the early stage, across AI-enabled services, SaaS, fintech, digital health, consumer and cybersecurity. We found no open application form; contact the partner who covers your sector.
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13. Khosla Ventures
Khosla Ventures is on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park and states on its contact page that it invests earliest, from pre-seed and seed to Series A. It asks founders to read its thesis and portfolio before reaching out through the contact details on that page. Its homepage examples range from Affirm and Ramp to Rocket Lab and Fortera, which makes cement with lower CO2 emissions. We found no fund announcement on its own site; according to Bloomberg, in July 2026 it was in talks to raise up to $5.5 billion, including a seed fund of about $1 billion.
14. Union Square Ventures (USV)
Union Square Ventures is a small generalist partnership in New York that invests globally and writes cheques between $1 million and $30 million; founders can share their business by email, using the address on its About page. On October 8, 2026 it announced $900 million in new funds and said its energy thesis, which had its own fund from 2021, now merges into its core fund. Its previous core fund was $275 million.
15. Founders Fund
Founders Fund describes itself as a San Francisco-based venture capital firm investing in companies building revolutionary technologies. Its website publishes no stage, cheque size or application route, but it does publish a transparent term sheet. We found no fund announcement on its own site; according to Bloomberg, its newest fund, raised in 2026, is a later-stage growth fund. Treat it as an investor you reach through a warm introduction once you have traction.
Firms That Left This List and Why
The 2025 version of this article listed 15 firms. 13 are still active and still invest early, so they stay. Two were replaced:
- Insight Partners is still active, but it brands itself around scale-ups ("Scale Up, Take Off"), and the earliest rounds showcased on its site are Series A, not pre-seed or seed. We replaced it with Pear VC.
- Neo Ventures: the old entry described a health tech and internet investor and linked only to a third-party blog post, and we could not match it to one identifiable firm. We replaced it with Seedcamp, so the list also covers Europe.
- Removed figures: the old assets-under-management numbers for a16z and Sequoia, the "41 lead rounds" count for General Catalyst and the claim about reply rates to cold emails had no source on the firms' own sites.
Two firms have no fund post on their own site this year: Khosla Ventures and Founders Fund. Both are still investing; their latest fund news comes from press reports, which we attribute above.
How to Pitch a Seed VC in 5 Steps
- Shortlist by stage and sector. Use the table above: a firm that invests "seed to growth" may still write few seed cheques. Programmes such as YC, speedrun, Arc, PearX and Edge are built for your stage.
- Use the open doors first. Applications cost nothing and do not need an introduction. Watch the deadlines: YC Winter 2027 by November 2, a16z SR008 by November 1.
- Get a warm introduction for the rest. Portfolio founders and angels are the best route. Our list of angel investor groups in North America and our early-stage VCs in Asia can widen your network.
- Pitch the partner. Keep the story tight; see how to build a fundraising pitch deck that tells a story. Expect a first call and then a partner meeting.
- Close the round. Most seed rounds use a SAFE or a priced round. Read up on term sheet negotiation before you sign.
Which Early-Stage VC Should You Choose?
- You have an idea or a prototype and no network: Y Combinator, a16z speedrun, Sequoia Arc, PearX or Greylock Edge.
- You are in Europe: Seedcamp first; Index Ventures and Accel also invest from London. See our guides to startup incubators in Europe and the best countries for startups in Europe.
- You are an Indian or Indian-origin founder: Accel Atoms.
- You build on frontier AI models: Menlo's Anthology Fund, from $100,000.
- You need a larger seed round with a lead investor: Index, Accel, General Catalyst, Lightspeed, Bessemer, Khosla or USV, through a warm introduction.
- You are a woman founder: also look at angel networks such as those in our guide to angel investors for women founders, and know the numbers in our female founder funding statistics.
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How Founders Get Ready to Raise From VCs
Seed investors want evidence, not only ambition. Run our 30-day validation sprint or validate your startup idea with our content-driven service, and avoid the classic pre-seed fundraising mistakes. If an accelerator suits you better than a fund, compare programmes in our guide to the top startup accelerators. Many partners meet founders at events: see our lists of fundraising and investor events, pitch competitions and startup events in San Francisco, New York and London. Not every startup should raise venture capital: weigh it against grants with venture capital vs grants and our overview of startup funding stages, and, in Europe, our guide to startup funding in Europe. Building deep tech? See the best cities for deep tech startups in Europe and our list of angel investors in Europe.
FAQ About Early-Stage VC Firms
What is an early-stage VC firm?
A venture capital firm that invests at pre-seed, seed or Series A, before a startup has proven its business. Some, such as Seedcamp and Pear VC, focus on the first cheque; others, such as Index Ventures or Lightspeed, invest from seed through growth.
How much does a seed VC invest?
Only some firms publish it. Y Combinator invests $500,000, a16z speedrun up to $1M, PearX $500K to $2M, Seedcamp $350K to $1.25M as a first cheque, Menlo's Anthology Fund from $100,000 and USV $1M to $30M.
Which VC firms accept applications without an introduction?
Y Combinator, a16z speedrun, Sequoia Arc, PearX, Greylock Edge, Menlo's Anthology Fund, Accel Atoms (Indian and Indian-origin founders) and Seedcamp all have an application or contact route on their websites.
What are YC's terms?
$500,000 per company: $125,000 for a fixed 7% and $375,000 on an uncapped MFN SAFE that converts in your next priced round or SAFE.
When is the YC Winter 2027 deadline?
YC's apply page gives November 2 at 8pm PT as the on-time deadline for the Winter 2027 batch, with decisions by December 11. Later applications are still considered.
What does a16z speedrun invest?
Up to $1M: $500K for 10% upfront via a SAFE, plus another $500K into your next round within 18 months, with more than $10M in credits. SR008 runs from February 1 to April 16, 2027.
Which early-stage VC firms invest in Europe?
Seedcamp is a London seed fund, Index Ventures has a London office and a new $400 million seed fund, and Accel's newest early-stage funds cover Europe and Israel.
Is Insight Partners an early-stage investor?
Not at pre-seed or seed. It brands itself around scale-ups, and the earliest rounds showcased on its site are Series A, so we replaced it in this list.
Do VC firms reply to cold emails?
Some invite them: USV gives an email address on its About page and Khosla Ventures has a contact page for founders. Most multi-stage firms work mainly through warm introductions, so use programmes and your network first.
How can I get my startup in front of more investors?
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About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
