Goodwater Capital
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2014
- HeadquartersBurlingame, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
Goodwater Capital firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Goodwater Capital
- Legal name
- Goodwater Capital, LLC
- Website
- https://goodwatercap.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2014
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Goodwater Capital is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Burlingame
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Goodwater Capital business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Venture capital fund management fees: Standard venture capital management fees earned on committed and invested capital across Goodwater's 9 funds (including a $1B Fund V and over $3.3B–$3.5B of total committed capital as of 2023–2026). Management fees support the firm's 36-person investment team and software-enabled platform operations.
- Carried interest (performance fees): Performance-based carried interest earned on fund returns from a portfolio that has produced 13 $1B+ companies in 11 years and outcomes across investments in Facebook, Spotify, Twitter, TikTok (musical.ly), Coupang, Kakao, Monzo, Toss, Zepto, and others.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Multi-year contract | Private venture capital fund commitments — not publicly priced |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels8 records
Goodwater Capital product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Goodwater Capital is a consumer-technology-focused venture capital firm that invests $5M–$50M in companies from Seed through IPO across 9 funds totaling over $3.3B in committed capital ($5B+ AUM). It supports portfolio founders with a proprietary software platform (Goodwater Sonar founder dashboard, internal benchmarking tools, and Masterclass curriculum) and an operating partner network drawn from consumer tech icons such as Facebook, Spotify, Twitter, Coupang, Kakao, Toss, and musical.ly/TikTok.
Product overview
Goodwater Capital is a venture capital firm offering a unified suite of consumer-tech investment services rather than a traditional software product. Its core offering is the Goodwater Capital fund family (9 funds, $3.3B+ committed capital) that invests $5M–$50M in consumer tech companies from Series A to IPO, supported by three named sub-offerings: the Goodwater Insights research publication (IPO teardowns and thesis reports), the public Goodwater Sonar market intelligence dashboard for founders, and the internal Goodwater Platform of operating tools, benchmarking, and Masterclasses delivered to portfolio founders. The firm's seed program (Goodwater Genesis) extends its consumer-tech reach to 600+ companies across 50+ countries.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Goodwater Sonar: Publicly available founder dashboard that aggregates consumer-tech-specific valuations, growth-at-raise benchmarks, and deal activity to help consumer founders time and price their fundraises.
- Goodwater Insights
Products and services
- Goodwater Capital Consumer Tech VC Funds Family of 9 consumer-technology-focused venture capital funds that invest $5M–$50M from Seed through IPO in consumer tech companies solving everyday problems across housing, healthcare, food, financial services, transportation, education, and entertainment; targets consumer tech founders globally with concentrated reach across North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.
- Goodwater Sonar Publicly available free founder dashboard providing consumer-specific valuations by stage, MAU growth benchmarks at time of fundraising, deal activity, and top movers; updated quarterly to help consumer tech founders scan the market, time their raise, price their round, and benchmark against cohort metrics.
- Goodwater Insights Research and content publication covering consumer tech IPO teardowns (DoorDash, Airbnb, Uber, Chime, Tinder, etc.), thesis reports, founder masterclasses, and the annual US Consumer Survey; distributed via email subscription to consumer tech founders, operators, and investors.
- Goodwater Genesis Seed Program Seed-stage portfolio and community program covering 600+ companies across 6 continents and over 50 countries; extends Goodwater's reach into the global consumer tech founder ecosystem and feeds the firm's later-stage deal pipeline.
- Goodwater Operating Platform with Masterclasses Portfolio operating platform offering Masterclasses (taught by partners and outside operators such as former Tesla President Jon McNeill, former Amazon Worldwide Consumer CEO Jeff Wilke, Intuit co-founder Scott Cook, and Tinder founder Sean Rad), the annual Top Gun CEO retreat, and concierge software tools benchmarking portfolio companies on CAC, retention, and LTV.
Quantifiable outcome
- 13 $1B+ companies in 11 years
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Goodwater Capital
Customer profileNamed customers24 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Goodwater Capital technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability5 records
Feature3 records
Goodwater Capital partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered core portfolio, flagship / core portfolio and background reference.
- Humand (co-lead with Kaszek)core portfolioGoodwater co-led Humand's $66M Series A alongside Kaszek Ventures in March 2026, with Y Combinator participation. Co-leadership indicates deeper strategic engagement beyond capital alone.
- Goodwater portfolio — Mega expansion strategyflagship / core portfolioGoodwater's partnership with Mega extends to joint market development; Goodwater led Mega's Series A to support expansion beyond marketing into broader revenue generation functions for SMBs.
- Activision Blizzard (legacy operating background)background referenceCoddy Johnson, Partner at Goodwater, was formerly President and COO of Activision Blizzard (acquired by Microsoft in 2023), bringing operating depth in media, entertainment, education, and workplace technology.
- Sonder (operating background)background referenceVivek Subramanian, Partner & CPO at Goodwater, helped scale Sonder's hospitality business to 38 cities globally before joining Goodwater. He also co-founded CalmSea (acquired by Coupang).
Scale indicators9 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Goodwater Capital competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Forerunner Ventures: Consumer-focused early-stage VC founded by Kirsten Green, widely regarded as the leading US consumer-tech specialist alongside Goodwater. Directly comparable due to exclusive consumer-tech focus, comparable check sizes at seed/Series A, and overlapping portfolio categories (commerce, fintech, health).
- Lerer Hippeau: Seed and Series A consumer-tech specialist based in NYC. Directly comparable for early-stage consumer thesis investing, founder community approach, and brand marketing to founders, though smaller AUM than Goodwater.
- Felix Capital: Europe-based consumer-focused VC investing at seed through growth in digital lifestyle, commerce, and consumer brands. Directly comparable as a sector-specialist consumer tech investor with similar thesis categories and stage mix.
Emerging players
- Female Founders Fund: Early-stage fund investing in consumer-tech and B2B SaaS with a thesis-driven focus. Comparable to Goodwater's seed-stage Genesis strategy and consumer-tech specialization, though smaller AUM and earlier vintage.
Broad incumbents
- Andreessen Horowitz (a16z): Mega-fund with deep consumer-tech exposure across seed, venture, and growth. Co-invests with Goodwater (Mega, Rork) and competes for the same founders, but a16z is multi-sector and several times the AUM.
- Sequoia Capital: Iconic broad VC with strong consumer-tech heritage. Comparable as a category-defining investor with consumer wins, but operates across all sectors and stages globally rather than specializing exclusively in consumer.
- Lightspeed Venture Partners: Multi-stage VC with consumer-tech strength (Snap, Affirm, Stitch Fix). Co-invests with Goodwater (Seekho, Level3AI) and competes for consumer-tech founders at growth stage, though sector-diversified.
- Bessemer Venture Partners: Long-tenured multi-stage VC with consumer-tech franchise. Co-led Seekho with Goodwater participation; comparable for cloud/consumer growth investing but not specialist.
- General Catalyst: Multi-stage firm with strong consumer and fintech exposure. Comparable scale and stage mix to Goodwater's growth practice, but operates across sectors including enterprise and healthcare.
Regional players
- Naspers / Prosus: Global consumer-internet holding company making venture and growth investments across emerging markets (India, SEA, LatAm, Africa). Comparable to Goodwater's global consumer-tech mandate but is a publicly-listed strategic investor with permanent capital.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Goodwater Capital social profiles
Digital presenceGoodwater Capital compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance4 records
Goodwater Capital financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Goodwater Capital leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles9 records
Goodwater Capital funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Goodwater Capital M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments896 records
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Goodwater Capital
What does Goodwater Capital do?
Goodwater Capital is a consumer-technology-focused venture capital firm that invests $5M–$50M in companies from Seed through IPO across 9 funds totaling over $3.3B in committed capital ($5B+ AUM). It supports portfolio founders with a proprietary software platform (Goodwater Sonar founder dashboard, internal benchmarking tools, and Masterclass curriculum) and an operating partner network drawn from consumer tech icons such as Facebook, Spotify, Twitter, Coupang, Kakao, Toss, and musical.ly/TikTok.
Is Goodwater Capital a public or private company?
Goodwater Capital is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Goodwater Capital founded?
Goodwater Capital was founded in 2014. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Goodwater Capital based?
Goodwater Capital is headquartered in Burlingame, United States, in the North America region.
How does Goodwater Capital make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Venture capital fund management fees are the primary driver. The others are carried interest (performance fees).
Who are Goodwater Capital's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Forerunner Ventures, Lerer Hippeau and Felix Capital. Female Founders Fund is listed as an emerging player. Broad incumbents are Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Sequoia Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners and General Catalyst. Naspers / Prosus is listed as a regional player.
Does Goodwater Capital have an API?
No public API is recorded for Goodwater Capital.