The next wave of seed managers

Showcasing six AI-focused emerging seed managers

"Billy, these are six of the most underrated emerging seed managers in the VC ecosystem right now. They were all founded since 2020. And they all have at least five post Series A / pre Series B 'candidate' AI companies that the SignalRank algorithms like."

The current mood music in VC is largely negative. Limited liquidity. Challenging fundraising. Zombie unicorns. Uncertain macro.

This obscures the bright opportunity set with AI, where the emergence of a new platform technology is bringing with it a new wave of early stage investors. AI companies accounted for 58% of VC dollars in Q1 2025.

It is also important to highlight that there is a pipeline of new managers in the ecosystem (even when fundraising is tough). Historically, only 17% of managers ever make it to Fund IV. So the emergence, evolution, death & rebirth of new managers is part of the cycle.

Here we showcase six somewhat under-the-radar new seed managers who in a short period of time have built promising AI portfolios that are highly rated by our algorithms (sorted alphabetically, “AI” as defined by Crunchbase sector data):

1. AIX Ventures

• Website: https://aixventures.com/

• Key people: Richard Socher, Shaun Johnson

• TLDR: AI-focused venture firm led by active AI practitioners

• Unicorns: 4 on Crunchbase data including (Hugging Face, Perplexity & Windsurf)

• Candidates: 5 post A / pre B portfolio companies with high signal (including TollBit & Ataraxis)

2. Factorial Capital

• Website: http://factorialcap.com/

• Key people: Matthew Hartman

• TLDR: AI VC backed by renowned AI founders as LPs

• Unicorns: zero on Crunchbase data

• Candidates: 6 post A / pre B portfolio companies with high signal (including Adaptive ML & Modal Labs). We financed Factorial’s pro rata in Pika Labs last year.

3. Factory HQ

• Website: https://www.factoryhq.ai/

• Key people: Sam Jackson

• TLDR: Incubator & investor in deep tech / AI companies

• Unicorns: one on Crunchbase data (Together AI)

• Candidates: 6 post A / pre B portfolio companies with high signal (including Virtue AI & Vori).

4. Four Cities Capital

• Website: https://www.fourcitiescapital.com/

• Key people: George Davies, Louis Beryl, Matthew McKnight, Benjamin Hutchinson

• TLDR: HBS buddies turned distributed VCs across four cities globally

• Unicorns: 13 on Crunchbase data (including Deel, Boom Supersonic & Modern Treasury)

• Candidates: 7 post A / pre B portfolio companies with high signal (including Cushion & Jasper)

5. Operator Partners

• Website: https://www.operatorpartners.com/

• Key people: Zach Weinberg, Amit Avner, Gil Shklarski, Nat Turner

• TLDR: operators turned investors, started by deploying their own capital

• Unicorns: 8 on Crunchbase data (incl Whatnot & Spring Health)

• Candidates: 14 post A / pre B portfolio companies with high signal (incl Anagram & Finaloop)

6. Position Ventures

• Website: https://www.positionventures.com/

• Key people: Jenny He

• TLDR: helping founders nail their positioning and communications strategy

• Unicorns: zero on Crunchbase data

• Candidates: 5 post A / pre B portfolio companies with high signal (including Regrello & Twelve Labs)

Please reach out if you would like to discuss / see a longer list of up-and-coming managers.