First Star Ventures
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2014
- HeadquartersCambridge, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
First Star Ventures firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- First Star Ventures
- Legal name
- First Star Ventures
- Website
- https://firststar.vc
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2014
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
First Star Ventures industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Venture Capital
- NAICS
- All Other Financial Investment Activities (52399)
- SIC
- Investment Advice (6282)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Early-Stage Venture Capital (Pre-Seed/Seed) (FSANAAAA)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Micro-VC & Angel Funds (FSANAAAI)
Keywords
Where First Star Ventures is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Cambridge
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
First Star Ventures business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Investment Returns / Carry: VC fund generates returns through equity investments in portfolio companies. Returns realized through exits (acquisitions, IPOs) generating carry (performance fees) for the fund partners.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels3 records
First Star Ventures product offering
Product offeringCore offering
First Star Ventures is a pre-seed venture capital fund that deploys early-stage equity capital into visionary, research-driven technical founders inventing the future with new computing technology. The firm invests across AI/ML, Bio+Compute, Energy, Autonomy, DevTools, and Health sectors, and positions itself as the best partner from zero to Series A and beyond through capital, network access, and complementary expertise.
Product overview
First Star Ventures is a pre-seed venture capital fund that invests in visionary, research-driven founders building transformational technologies. As an investment firm, First Star does not offer traditional products or services. The firm backs startups across sectors including AI/ML, bio+compute, energy, autonomy, dev tools, and health. The fund's offering consists of capital investment and partnership support to help founders grow from zero to series A and beyond. The firm has invested in 53 startups across 3 funds with over $3B in exit value generated.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Quantifiable outcome
- $3B+ in exit value generated by partners
Companies that use First Star Ventures
Customer profileSegments1 record
Ideal customer profiles1 record
First Star Ventures technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
First Star Ventures partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators4 records
Recent moves3 records
Expansion highlights3 records
First Star Ventures competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Lux Capital: Deep tech and science-driven venture firm investing across AI, robotics, energy, and biotech. Comparable to First Star in its focus on research-driven founders and frontier computing categories, though operating at materially larger fund sizes.
- DCVC (Data Collective): Seed and early-stage deep tech investor focused on data science, AI, and computational biology. Closely aligned with First Star's Bio+Compute and AI/ML thesis and similar stage orientation.
- Playground Global: Early-stage deep tech investor focused on frontier computing, robotics, and engineered biology. Closely comparable thesis and stage to First Star, with similar focus on technical founders.
- Obvious Ventures: Early-stage investor backing world-positive deep tech founders across energy, health, and AI. Overlapping thesis on research-driven founders building transformational technology.
- Zetta Venture Partners: Early-stage venture firm investing in AI-first companies built on data infrastructure. Direct competitor for AI-focused pre-seed and seed deals at the intersection of computing and industry.
- Amplify Partners: Seed-stage investor focused on technical founders building infrastructure and developer tools. Comparable stage and technical-founder focus, particularly in First Star's DevTools thesis area.
Broad incumbents
- Khosla Ventures: Large, established deep tech investor with broad sector exposure (AI, energy, biotech, robotics). Compares to First Star on deep tech conviction but operates at much larger fund sizes and later stages.
- Andreessen Horowitz (a16z): Mega-platform VC with significant deep tech and AI investing through dedicated funds. Comparable in deep tech themes but materially broader and larger than First Star's focused pre-seed approach.
- Founders Fund: Established deep tech investor backing technically ambitious founders across AI, biotech, energy, and aerospace. Comparable on deep tech conviction but at later stages and larger check sizes.
Emerging players
- Pioneer Fund: Pre-seed and seed fund backing technical founders, often students and researchers at top universities. Overlaps with First Star's research-driven pre-seed thesis at a similar early stage.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
First Star Ventures social profiles
Digital presenceFirst Star Ventures financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
First Star Ventures leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
First Star Ventures funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
First Star Ventures M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments58 records
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about First Star Ventures
What does First Star Ventures do?
First Star Ventures is a pre-seed venture capital fund that deploys early-stage equity capital into visionary, research-driven technical founders inventing the future with new computing technology. The firm invests across AI/ML, Bio+Compute, Energy, Autonomy, DevTools, and Health sectors, and positions itself as the best partner from zero to Series A and beyond through capital, network access, and complementary expertise.
Is First Star Ventures a public or private company?
First Star Ventures is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was First Star Ventures founded?
First Star Ventures was founded in 2014. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is First Star Ventures based?
First Star Ventures is headquartered in Cambridge, United States, in the North America region.
How does First Star Ventures make money?
One revenue line is on record: investment Returns / Carry.
Who are First Star Ventures's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Lux Capital, DCVC (Data Collective), Playground Global, Obvious Ventures, Zetta Venture Partners and Amplify Partners. Broad incumbents are Khosla Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Founders Fund. Pioneer Fund is listed as an emerging player.
Does First Star Ventures have an API?
No public API is recorded for First Star Ventures.
What industry is First Star Ventures in?
First Star Ventures's product category is Venture Capital. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSANAAAA, Early-Stage Venture Capital (Pre-Seed/Seed), with a secondary code of FSANAAAI, Micro-VC & Angel Funds. Its NAICS code is 52399 and its SIC code is 6282.