UpHonest Capital
UpHonest Capital is a Palo Alto-based, early-stage venture capital firm investing in US-Asia cross-border startups across AI, SaaS, Consumer Tech, and deep tech. The firm runs a 200+ company portfolio sourced through proprietary Scout community, Beta University incubator, and sv_race media platform.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2015
- HeadquartersPalo Alto, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What UpHonest Capital does
UpHonest Capital is a privately held, early-stage venture capital firm headquartered at 555 Hamilton Avenue in Palo Alto, California, founded in 2015 with a cross-border US-Asia investment mandate. The firm invests in pre-seed, seed, and early-stage startups across AI-enabled, SaaS, Consumer Tech, biotech, and aerospace sectors, with a portfolio of more than 200 companies dating back to 2013 (including early bets on Instacart, Lime, Hims & Hers, Grubmarket, Mashgin, and Dialpad). UpHonest's distribution and deal-sourcing model is differentiated by a three-part proprietary ecosystem: UpHonest Scouts, a community of nearly 200 young professionals working at Google, Meta, and Apple across Silicon Valley, New York, and Seattle; Beta University, which incubates 200 pre-funding companies annually; and sv_race, an in-house Chinese-language media platform founded in 2017 that has reported on 1,500+ projects and reached 40M+ cross-platform page views.
The firm is structured through three related entities (UpHonest Capital Inc., UpHonest Capital LP, and UpHonest Capital GP, LLC) and earns revenue through standard VC fund economics: management fees on assets under management from limited partners and carried interest on profitable exits. Co-investor relationships with tier-1 U.S. VCs (Google Ventures, Khosla Ventures, A16z, Accel Partners) extend the firm's effective check size and syndication reach, while recently scaling follow-on capital into portfolio winners such as Genspark (which progressed from seed to a $2.6B post-money valuation across 2025-2026 rounds).
The core team of approximately 13 includes Founding Partner Wei GUO (Forbes Midas Seed List 2024, ranked #18 Global), Managing Partner Jane DU (ex-Temasek and BioTrack Capital), and Partner & COO Violet TAN (ex-Alibaba and IBM). Wei Guo's personal angel track record and the team's cross-border operating and investing experience form the human-capital backbone of the firm's competitive position in serving Asian-born immigrant founders building U.S.-based startups.
UpHonest Capital firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- UpHonest Capital
- Legal name
- UpHonest Capital Inc.
- Website
- https://uphonestcapital.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2015
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- UpHonest Capital is a Palo Alto-based, early-stage venture capital firm investing in US-Asia cross-border startups across AI, SaaS, Consumer Tech, and deep tech. The firm runs a 200+ company portfolio sourced through proprietary Scout community, Beta University incubator, and sv_race media platform.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
UpHonest Capital industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Early-Stage Venture Capital
- NAICS
- Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (52394)
- SIC
- Investment Advice (6282)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Early-Stage Venture Capital (Pre-Seed/Seed) (FSANAAAA)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Early-Stage Venture Capital (Series A/B) (FSANAAAB)
Keywords
Where UpHonest Capital is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Palo Alto
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
UpHonest Capital business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others
Revenue model
- Fund Management (Management Fees & Carried Interest): UpHonest Capital LP is structured as a venture capital fund (per Terms of Use referencing UpHonest Capital LP and UpHonest Capital Inc.). Standard VC economics apply — the firm earns management fees on assets under management from limited partners (LPs) and carried interest (typically 20%) on fund profits from successful portfolio exits. Contact emails separate BP (business/portfolio) from LP (investor) relationships, confirming two-sided fund operations.
- Portfolio Returns (Capital Gains): The firm invests equity from its fund(s) into portfolio companies spanning AI-enabled, SaaS, Consumer Tech, biotech, and other sectors. Returns are generated through equity appreciation and exit events (IPOs such as Instacart; acquisitions such as Chariot acquired by Ford and Final acquired by Goldman Sachs in 2018). The portfolio includes notable outcomes such as Hims & Hers, Instacart (NASDAQ listing), Boom Supersonic, and others.
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels7 records
UpHonest Capital product offering
Product offeringCore offering
UpHonest Capital operates an early-stage venture capital fund that invests pre-seed, seed, and early-stage equity in U.S.-based and cross-border US-Asia startups across Consumer Tech, SaaS, AI-enabled, biotech, and other sectors, with a portfolio of 200+ companies. The fund is supported by a proprietary community ecosystem: UpHonest Scouts (~200 scouts at Google/Meta/Apple sourcing deals), Beta University (200 pre-funding companies incubated annually), and sv_race (a Chinese-language media platform with 40M+ cross-platform page views that drives cross-border deal flow and brand credibility).
Product overview
UpHonest Capital operates a single, unified venture capital platform centered on its early-stage investment fund, augmented by a small ecosystem of named programs and media assets rather than a multi-product SaaS suite. The core offering is the UpHonest Capital fund itself (early-stage U.S./China cross-border investing), supported by three satellite offerings: UpHonest Scouts, a community of young professionals at top tech companies who source and support deals; Beta University, an incubation and certificate program that on-ramps pre-funding companies into the firm's pipeline; and Silicon Valley Race (sv_race), a Chinese-language media platform that drives deal flow and brand presence in the cross-border ecosystem. A 'Field Guide' newsletter sits alongside these as the firm's direct content channel to subscribers.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- UpHonest Scouts: Community program building an ecosystem for young professionals in high tech companies to explore entrepreneurship and investment.
- Beta University
- Silicon Valley Race (sv_race)
Products and services
- UpHonest Capital Fund
- UpHonest Scouts
- Beta University
- Silicon Valley Race (sv_race)
Quantifiable outcome
- Wei GUO ranked #18 in Global Top 25 Seed Investors of 2024 (Forbes Midas Seed List)
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use UpHonest Capital
Customer profileNamed customers6 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
UpHonest Capital technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
UpHonest Capital partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Three partnerships are on record, tiered flagship.
- UpHonest ScoutsflagshipIn-house community partnership program (https://www.uphonestscouts.com/). Builds a vibrant ecosystem for young professionals in high-tech companies to explore entrepreneurship and investment; launched July 2020 with nearly 200 scouts across 6 programs in Silicon Valley, New York and Seattle, employed by Google, Meta, Apple, and other top tech firms. Functions as proprietary deal-flow sourcing layer.
- Beta UniversityflagshipIn-house incubation partnership program (https://www.betauniversity.org/). Democratizes Silicon Valley innovation for global talent via a rigorous incubation program and certificate course; incubates 200 pre-funding companies every year and helps them get funded via top accelerators and angel investors. Functions as upstream pipeline for UpHonest's investments.
- Silicon Valley Race (sv_race)flagshipIn-house cross-border media platform founded in 2017 in Silicon Valley; writes about innovation, entrepreneurship, and technology in America for Chinese audiences; has partnerships with all major media platforms in China; has reported on 1,500+ innovative projects with 800+ original articles and up to 40 million cross-platform page views. Functions as marketing/credibility channel and deal-flow source for cross-border US-China investments.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
UpHonest Capital competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- F50 Ventures: A Silicon Valley early-stage fund and startup platform with a focus on cross-border US-Asia and enterprise software, sharing UpHonest's community-driven founder funnel.
- Hustle Fund: A community-driven seed-stage VC investing across the US with a high-volume, scrappy approach to early-stage check writing — analogous to UpHonest's scout-based sourcing approach.
- ZhenFund: A US-China cross-border seed-stage venture capital firm founded by veterans of the Chinese tech ecosystem, with comparable early-stage focus, Chinese-language founder outreach, and similar geographic positioning to UpHonest.
- FoundersX Ventures: An early-stage VC investing in AI, enterprise, and consumer tech with a cross-border US-Asia focus, sharing UpHonest's niche of cross-Pacific founder communities and seed-stage check size.
- Amino Capital: A Silicon Valley-based early-stage fund investing in cross-border US-Asia startups, with a similar focus on AI-enabled and consumer tech and a comparable community of operators and scouts as UpHonest.
- Pear VC: A Palo Alto-based, operator-led pre-seed and seed fund, comparable in stage, geographic base, and founder-support orientation to UpHonest's early-stage model.
Broad incumbents
- 500 Global (formerly 500 Startups): A large global seed-stage accelerator and fund manager operating in 80+ countries, comparable in stage focus and high-volume seed deployment to UpHonest, though broader in geographic mandate.
- Plug and Play: A global startup platform and early-stage investor running vertical-specific accelerator programs — overlapping with UpHonest's incubation-driven model (Beta University) at a much larger scale.
- SOSV: A global venture capital firm operating multiple vertical accelerators (HAX, IndieBio, H/Demo) — a broader incumbent with an accelerator-driven, high-velocity seed model analogous to UpHonest's community-sourcing approach.
- 8VC: A generalist early-stage venture capital firm based in Austin, comparable in stage and sector breadth to UpHonest, though operating at a larger fund size and without the cross-border US-Asia focus.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights5 records
Customer concentration
UpHonest Capital social profiles
Digital presenceUpHonest Capital financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
UpHonest Capital leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
UpHonest Capital subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries3 records
UpHonest Capital funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
UpHonest Capital M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments428 records
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about UpHonest Capital
What does UpHonest Capital do?
UpHonest Capital operates an early-stage venture capital fund that invests pre-seed, seed, and early-stage equity in U.S.-based and cross-border US-Asia startups across Consumer Tech, SaaS, AI-enabled, biotech, and other sectors, with a portfolio of 200+ companies. The fund is supported by a proprietary community ecosystem: UpHonest Scouts (~200 scouts at Google/Meta/Apple sourcing deals), Beta University (200 pre-funding companies incubated annually), and sv_race (a Chinese-language media platform with 40M+ cross-platform page views that drives cross-border deal flow and brand credibility).
Is UpHonest Capital a public or private company?
UpHonest Capital is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was UpHonest Capital founded?
UpHonest Capital was founded in 2015. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is UpHonest Capital based?
UpHonest Capital is headquartered in Palo Alto, United States, in the North America region.
How does UpHonest Capital make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Fund Management (Management Fees & Carried Interest) is the primary driver. The others are portfolio Returns (Capital Gains).
Who are UpHonest Capital's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are F50 Ventures, Hustle Fund, ZhenFund, FoundersX Ventures, Amino Capital and Pear VC. Broad incumbents are 500 Global (formerly 500 Startups), Plug and Play, SOSV and 8VC.
Does UpHonest Capital have an API?
No public API is recorded for UpHonest Capital.
What industry is UpHonest Capital in?
UpHonest Capital's product category is Early-Stage Venture Capital. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSANAAAA, Early-Stage Venture Capital (Pre-Seed/Seed), with a secondary code of FSANAAAB, Early-Stage Venture Capital (Series A/B). Its NAICS code is 523940 and its SIC code is 6282.