ACME Capital
ACME Capital is a privately-held, early-stage venture capital firm investing across deep-tech verticals including Physical AI, Aerospace & Defense, Frontier Health, and Industrial Systems for technical founders in the U.S. and Europe, sourcing deals through partner networks and Silicon Foundry corporate access.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2013
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What ACME Capital does
ACME Capital is a privately-held, early-stage deep-tech venture capital firm headquartered in Silicon Valley (San Francisco Bay Area) and operating as ACME, LLC under California law. The firm invests across six thematic verticals — Physical AI, Enterprise Intelligence, Frontier Health, Next-Gen Compute, Aerospace & Defense, and Industrial Systems — backing technical founders who pair deep technical ambition with decisive execution. ACME sources deals through partner-led networks across the U.S. and Europe, demo days and curated industry events (e.g., Midwest Deep Tech Demo Day), founder referrals, and a public [email protected] inbound channel, while distributing thought-leadership content via its website, LinkedIn, and X (@ACME).
ACME's business model follows standard venture capital economics: it earns recurring management fees on committed LP capital across its venture funds and is entitled to carried interest on realized portfolio returns, measured by distributions to paid-in (DPI) rather than paper marks. The firm operates a single named operational product — an Investment Portal hosted on AltaReturn (acme.altareturn.com) — used for LP reporting and portfolio company management; minimum LP commitments, fee rates, and carry terms are not publicly disclosed and are gated behind the portal. ACME also acts as an affiliated relying adviser to Sherpa Capital and manages predecessor Sherpa fund investments (Airbnb, Slack, Uber, Robinhood, DraftKings, Rent the Runway, SpaceX, etc.), which provide it with both a multi-cycle track record and an entrenched position in U.S. deep-tech and consumer-tech ecosystems.
ACME's recent flagship lead investments include Arya Health ($18.2M Series A, Oct 2025), Canopy ($22M Series B co-lead, Jan 2026), depthfirst ($80M Series B co-lead, March 2026), and Treon (€6.8M Series A extension, April 2026), plus participations in Stendr's pre-seed, True Anomaly's $650M Series D, and Plot's seed. The firm differentiates itself through hands-on operational support (documented rescues of regulatory situations, customer and partner introductions, team-building), a Silicon Foundry partnership that provides rare corporate access for portfolio founders, and decades of partner-level experience across multiple venture cycles.
ACME Capital firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- ACME Capital
- Legal name
- ACME, LLC
- Website
- https://www.acme.vc/
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2013
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- ACME Capital is a privately-held, early-stage venture capital firm investing across deep-tech verticals including Physical AI, Aerospace & Defense, Frontier Health, and Industrial Systems for technical founders in the U.S. and Europe, sourcing deals through partner networks and Silicon Foundry corporate access.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
ACME Capital industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Venture Capital
- NAICS
- Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940)
- SIC
- Investment Advice (6282)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Corporate Strategic Real Assets & Infrastructure Venture Investing (FSANAHAN)
Keywords
Where ACME Capital is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
ACME Capital business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others
Revenue model
- Management Fees: ACME Capital earns recurring management fees on committed capital from limited partners (LPs) across its venture funds, consistent with standard VC economics.
- Carried Interest (Performance-Based): ACME earns carried interest (carried interest / profit participation) on realized returns from successful portfolio exits. Performance is measured by DPI (distributions to paid-in) rather than paper marks.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Multi-year contract | Not publicly disclosed — VC fund structure with management fees and carried interest |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels7 records
ACME Capital product offering
Product offeringCore offering
ACME Capital is a privately-held early-stage deep-tech venture capital firm that invests capital in technical founders across six thematic sectors: Physical AI, Enterprise Intelligence, Frontier Health, Next-Gen Compute, Aerospace & Defense, and Industrial Systems. The firm delivers venture funding plus hands-on operational support, regulatory navigation, customer introductions, and coordinated follow-on capital. ACME also manages the investments of predecessor Sherpa Capital funds and exposes an LP-facing Investment Portal (acme.altareturn.com) hosted on AltaReturn.
Product overview
ACME Capital operates a single unified investment service rather than a multi-product platform: it is an early-stage deep tech venture capital firm that partners with technical founders across sectors including Physical AI, Enterprise Intelligence, Frontier Health, Next-Gen Compute, Aerospace & Defense, and Industrial Systems. The firm provides venture capital funding alongside deep U.S. and European networks and corporate access via Silicon Foundry. The only ACME-branded operational product extracted from the source data is the Investment Portal, which supports portfolio management and LP interactions. ACME's named portfolio companies (e.g., Plot, Canopy, Treon, True Anomaly, Arya, Conceivable, Harmattan AI, IonQ, Braintrust, Replika, etc.) are investments, not ACME products, and therefore are not listed as ACME offerings.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Investment Portal
Quantifiable outcome
- Funds analyzed: 2,600 early-stage venture funds representing $640B deployed since 1978
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use ACME Capital
Customer profileSegments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
ACME Capital technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
ACME Capital partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered flagship.
- Silicon FoundryflagshipSilicon Foundry is referenced on ACME's About Us page as providing 'rare corporate access' that gives ACME and its portfolio companies an edge. This strategic relationship enables introductions to large enterprises, strategic acquirers, and corporate venture arms that typical early-stage VCs cannot reach.
- Sherpa CapitalflagshipACME is an affiliated relying adviser managing investments previously made by Sherpa Capital funds. The Full Portfolio page lists a 'Predecessor Sherpa Funds' section that includes notable exited/liquid investments such as Airbnb, Slack (acquired by Salesforce), Uber, Robinhood (HOOD), DraftKings (DKNG), Rent the Runway (RENT), Didi (DIDIY), PillPack (acquired by Amazon), SpaceX, and Zendrive.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
ACME Capital competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Founders Fund: Thiel-led deep-tech focused VC backing frontier technologies in aerospace, defense, biotech, and crypto — directly comparable to ACME in philosophy and aerospace/defense exposure.
- DCVC (Data Collective): Deep-tech and computational science focused early-stage investor with similar thematic concentration in AI, life sciences, climate, and defense — directly comparable to ACME's sector mandate.
- Lux Capital: Early-stage venture firm focused on deep tech across AI, aerospace, robotics, energy, and life sciences — the closest thematic peer to ACME with similar sector specialization and check sizes.
- Khosla Ventures: Frontier technology focused VC investing across AI, robotics, energy, and biotech — a directly comparable deep-tech early-stage firm with similar 'non-consensus winners' investment philosophy.
- Obvious Ventures: Mission-driven deep-tech VC backing founders in health, energy, and sustainable systems — overlapping with ACME's Frontier Health and Industrial Systems themes.
- Playground Global: Deep-tech focused early-stage VC specializing in hardware-intensive technologies including robotics, semiconductors, and advanced manufacturing — directly comparable thematic mandate to ACME.
Broad incumbents
- General Catalyst: Large diversified VC with active deep-tech and defense investing (e.g., Anduril, Applied Intuition) — broader mandate than ACME but competes for the same founders.
- Andreessen Horowitz (a16z): Large multi-stage VC with a dedicated a16z Infra and American Dynamism practice overlapping ACME's deep-tech sectors, though at much larger fund sizes and broader sector exposure.
Others
- In-Q-Tel: Strategic not-for-profit investor for the U.S. intelligence community, with extensive overlap in ACME's defense and aerospace portfolio (True Anomaly, Harmattan AI ecosystem) but operating as a strategic rather than financial investor.
Regional players
- Atomico: European-headquartered deep-tech and growth-stage VC — comparable to ACME's European sourcing footprint but serving European founders as its primary market rather than as a secondary geography.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
ACME Capital social profiles
Digital presenceACME Capital financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
ACME Capital leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles10 records
ACME Capital subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
ACME Capital funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
ACME Capital M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments238 records
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about ACME Capital
What does ACME Capital do?
ACME Capital is a privately-held early-stage deep-tech venture capital firm that invests capital in technical founders across six thematic sectors: Physical AI, Enterprise Intelligence, Frontier Health, Next-Gen Compute, Aerospace & Defense, and Industrial Systems. The firm delivers venture funding plus hands-on operational support, regulatory navigation, customer introductions, and coordinated follow-on capital. ACME also manages the investments of predecessor Sherpa Capital funds and exposes an LP-facing Investment Portal (acme.altareturn.com) hosted on AltaReturn.
Is ACME Capital a public or private company?
ACME Capital is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was ACME Capital founded?
ACME Capital was founded in 2013. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is ACME Capital based?
ACME Capital is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does ACME Capital make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Management Fees are the primary driver. The others are carried Interest (Performance-Based).
Who are ACME Capital's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Founders Fund, DCVC (Data Collective), Lux Capital, Khosla Ventures, Obvious Ventures and Playground Global. Broad incumbents are General Catalyst and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). In-Q-Tel is listed as an others. Atomico is listed as a regional player.
Does ACME Capital have an API?
No public API is recorded for ACME Capital.
What industry is ACME Capital in?
ACME Capital's product category is Venture Capital. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSANAHAN, Corporate Strategic Real Assets & Infrastructure Venture Investing. Its NAICS code is 523940 and its SIC code is 6282.