Uncork Capital

What Uncork Capital does

Uncork Capital is a San Francisco-based seed-stage venture capital firm founded in 2004 (originally as SoftTech VC, rebranded in 2016) that invests in founder potential at the earliest stages, typically leading seed rounds with $3-5M initial checks. The firm currently invests out of Uncork VIII, a $225M seed fund, and Uncork Plus III, a $200M opportunity fund, giving it $425M in active capital. Across two decades it has backed 290+ companies and reports 100+ meaningful outcomes (exits, acquisitions, IPOs) and $60B+ in portfolio enterprise value, with $8B+ in follow-on capital raised by portfolio companies.

The firm's core product is a founder-support platform layered on top of seed capital: curated playbooks (Hiring, Compensation, Legal, Treasury Management), a named Key Advisor network, annual portfolio summits, and dedicated platform staff including a Head of Talent (Adriana Roche), Head of Operations & Platform (Ashley Cravens), and Board Partner (Whitney Bouck). The firm generates revenue through management fees (~2% of AUM) and carried interest on its venture funds, with current AUM distributed across eight seed funds and four opportunity funds. Sector coverage spans B2B applications, developer tools, consumer, and frontier tech, with an explicit AI-native investment thesis layered on top.

The firm is led by Managing Partner Andy McLoughlin and Founding Partner Jeff Clavier, with partners Susan Liu, Tripp Jones, and Amy Saper. The team includes approximately 12 members (five investing partners plus seven operator/advisor resources), which is unusually deep for a seed-stage firm at this AUM tier.

Name

Uncork Capital

Legal name

Uncork Capital

Website

http://www.uncorkcapital.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Uncork Capital is a San Francisco-based seed-stage venture capital firm investing in founder potential with $3-5M initial checks across B2B, developer tools, consumer, and frontier tech sectors, including an explicit AI-native thesis. The firm manages $425M in active funds.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Seed-Stage Venture Capital

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Emerging Manager / Seeding Platforms (Multi-Manager) (FSANAGAF)

Keywords

• Seed-stage venture capital
• Early-stage startup funding
• Venture capital investing
• Founder support platform
• Opportunity fund follow-on

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Carried Interest on Portfolio Exits: Uncork generates returns through equity stakes in portfolio companies that have produced meaningful outcomes including acquisitions (Groq, Postmates, ClassDojo, Tailscale, Fitbit, Wrapbook, Poshmark, LaunchDarkly, SendGrid, Coder, etc.) and IPOs (SendGrid). 100+ meaningful outcomes and $60B+ in enterprise value created to date.
2. Seed Fund Capital Management: Uncork VIII is a $225M seed fund and Uncork Plus III is a $200M opportunity fund, with management fees and carried interest earned across eight flagship seed funds and four opportunity funds raised since founding in 2004. Follow-on capital raised by portfolio companies totals $8B+.
3. Opportunity Fund Returns: Uncork Plus III ($200M opportunity fund) invests in later-stage rounds of existing portfolio companies (e.g., Coder Series C $90M led by KKR with Uncork participation; Gamma Series B $68M; Ivo Series B $55M; Numeral Series B $35M).

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Core offering

Uncork Capital is a seed-stage venture capital firm that invests initial rounds of typically $3-5M in early-stage technology startups, with a follow-on opportunity fund (Uncork Plus III, $200M) for later-stage participation. Beyond capital, the firm provides portfolio founders with a structured support platform including Key Advisors across engineering, product marketing, GTM, and customer success, curated playbooks (hiring, compensation, legal, cash management), and an annual portfolio summit. The firm operates two flagship vehicles: Uncork VIII ($225M seed fund) and Uncork Plus III ($200M opportunity fund).

Product overview

Uncork Capital is a single, unified seed-stage venture capital firm rather than a multi-product SaaS platform; its offering combines two flagship investment vehicles (the Uncork VIII seed fund and the Uncork Plus III opportunity fund) with the Uncork Platform, a post-investment founder support service that delivers Targeting & Learning sessions, Networking & Community, Key Advisors, and Playbooks & Resources to portfolio companies. Sectors of focus are organized through an Investment Sectors Program spanning B2B Applications, Developer Tooling/Infrastructure & Security, Consumer & Marketplaces, Frontier Tech/Hardware, and AI/ML.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Uncork VIII Seed Fund A $225 million seed-stage venture capital fund used as Uncork Capital's flagship vehicle for leading initial seed rounds, typically with initial investments of $3-5M and simple, transparent terms. Targets pre-seed and seed-stage AI-native founders.
• Uncork Plus III Opportunity Fund A $200 million opportunity fund that supports follow-on participation in Uncork portfolio companies as they grow beyond the seed stage, including participation in Series B and Series C rounds of existing portfolio companies.
• Uncork Platform An ongoing post-investment support offering for Uncork portfolio founders, providing Targeting & Learning sessions (summits, discussions, milestone-setting), Networking & Community connections, Key Advisor credits in sales/marketing/product/engineering/GTM/CS, and a library of Playbooks & Resources covering hiring, compensation, first ops hire, legal representation, seed round announcement, and cash & treasury management.

Quantifiable outcome

• $60B+ in portfolio enterprise value created
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers32 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Susa Ventures: Seed-stage firm with founder-led investing approach and operating playbook; comparable in stage focus and 'first check' posture toward AI-native and infrastructure companies.
• Contrary: Seed-stage investor with thesis-driven approach and strong founder community; comparable in stage focus and conviction-led seed investing model with university/operator network.
• Floodgate: Long-standing seed-stage firm focused on early conviction investing with deep founder support; comparable stage and approach to Uncork's 20+ year pure-play seed model.
• Cowboy Ventures: Seed-stage firm founded by Aileen Lee with focus on product-led companies; comparable in early-stage focus and community-driven founder support model.
• First Round Capital: Premier seed-stage venture firm with similar stage focus, 'first check' positioning, and a community-driven operating platform (First Round Review). Comparable in deploying initial checks of $3-5M+ with strong founder-sourcing reputation.
• Lerer Hippeau: Seed and pre-seed focused VC investing in NYC and beyond; comparable in stage focus, check size, and founder-first approach with operating support layer.
• Boldstart Ventures: Pure seed-stage firm focused on enterprise infrastructure and developer tools — overlapping sector exposure (Coder, Tailscale, SendGrid-style infra plays) and similar conviction-led thesis.
• Hustle Fund: Seed-stage VC investing in diverse founders with small initial checks ($1-3M range); comparable stage though positioned slightly earlier than Uncork's $3-5M lead checks.
• K9 Ventures: Solo GP seed-stage firm focused on technical founders and deep tech; comparable in pure seed focus and founder-conviction-driven thesis.

Broad incumbents

• Index Ventures: Multi-stage firm with active seed program alongside growth investing; comparable in that they invest at seed in similar categories but operates at much larger scale with growth-stage capital Uncork Plus III cannot match.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/uncorkcap
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/uncorkcapital

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments490 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Uncork Capital