Name

2048 Ventures

Legal name

2048 Ventures

Website

https://2048.vc

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Venture Fund Management (Management Fees + Carry): Venture capital fund management economics: 2048 Ventures raised an oversubscribed $82M Fund III (closed January/April 2026), having previously deployed Fund I and Fund II. Revenue derives from typical VC fund management fees on committed AUM and carried interest on profitable exits (e.g., Aerodome acquired by Flock Safety as a Fund II outcome). Backing comes from fund-of-funds, family offices, and executives from major technology companies.
2. Carried Interest from Portfolio Exits: Realized exits generate carry revenue; notable Fund II exit includes Aerodome's acquisition by Flock Safety, described as one of the largest acquisitions in public safety to date. Earlier exits include SPIDR Tech (Aerodome founder's prior company).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

2048 Ventures is a thesis-driven early-stage venture capital firm that leads Pre-Seed and Seed investment rounds with $500K-$3M checks in startups focused on Vertical AI, Deep Tech, Health, and Bio, primarily based in NYC and Boston. The firm's signature Pre-Seed Fast Track program commits a $250K-$750K lead check within 10 business days of the first meeting via a structured five-step process (intro, deep dive, references and in-person, term sheet, wire). Capital is deployed across three successive funds, with the most recent being an oversubscribed $82M Fund III closed in January 2026.

Product overview

2048 Ventures is a thesis-driven, early-stage venture capital firm rather than a software product company. Its core 'product' is the lead-check investment it writes into Pre-Seed and Seed startups, executed through two main vehicles: the $82M oversubscribed Fund III (used for $500K-$3M checks) and the Pre-Seed Fast Track program (used for $250K-$750K checks closed within 10 business days). Around these investment products the firm bundles content/community offerings, including the 2048 Ventures Newsletter, the Startup Hacks blog, and the VC Fellows '26 cohort program. The firm's portfolio — including companies such as Rely Intelligence, Pocket, Broome AI, Nionyx Bio, Kascaid, Nimbus Health, Aslan Protects, Rondah AI, Tetsuwan Scientific, Psyrin, TwoStep Therapeutics, Century Health, Ripple, Neobe, Enurgen, Aclid, Pageport, Wareclouds, Centro Commerce, Persist AI, H2Ok Innovations (now Laminar), FemTherapeutics, Adaptis, Stabl, and Frate — represents the realized output of these investment products across Vertical AI, Deep Tech, Health, and Bio focus areas.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• 2048 Ventures Fund III Oversubscribed $82 million fund vehicle used to lead first-check Pre-Seed and Seed investments with $500K-$3M checks in Vertical AI, Deep Tech, Healthcare, and Biotech startups primarily in NYC and Boston.
• Pre-Seed Fast Track Structured five-step program (intro, deep dive, references + in-person, term sheet, wire) that delivers a $250K-$750K lead check within 10 business days of the first meeting, targeted at NYC and Boston Pre-Seed founders raising under $2M in their first round, using SAFE preferred instruments.
• Startup Hacks Blog Newsletter and blog operated by 2048 Ventures Founder and Partner Alex Iskold covering startup building topics and serving as one of the firm's flagship content offerings and founder-marketing channels.
• 2048 Ventures Newsletter Email newsletter distributed via Constant Contact that delivers 2048 Ventures' investments, theses, and announcements to subscribers.
• VC Fellows Program Cohort-based fellowship for undergraduate and graduate students that embeds fellows directly into 2048 Ventures' investing team to identify, diligence, and source startups across Vertical AI, Deep Tech, Health, and Bio.

Named customers21 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

17 partnerships are on record, tiered minor, flagship and core.

• Pageport (Slant / AI CRM)minorGTM or Marketing Partner2048 led Pageport's $3.3M seed round alongside Slant, an AI-powered CRM for financial advisors; co-marketing signal to financial-advisor segment.
• TechstarsflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing co-investor and sourcing partner across many portfolio companies (Aerodome, Airspace Link, Stabl, Wareclouds, Ripple, Enurgen, H2Ok); Alex Iskold was Techstars NYC Managing Director for 5 years prior to founding 2048.
• Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) Supply ChaincoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcceleration and sourcing partner — 2048 met Wareclouds founders during the CDL Supply Chain program in Montreal.
• Entrepreneur FirstcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIntroduced Tetsuwan founders Cristian Ponce and Theo Schafer; portfolio accelerator partner.
• Harvard Business School (HBS)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerAlex Iskold serves as VC-in-Residence at HBS; firm sources VC Fellows and founders from HBS programs.
• NYU EntrepreneurshipflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerAlex Iskold serves on the Board at NYU Entrepreneurship; sourcing relationship from NYU's NYC founder pipeline.
• MIT Sloan School of ManagementflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerZann Ali (Partner) serves on MIT's Entrepreneurial Finance & Venture Capital teaching team; former Dorm Room Fund investor; sources VC Fellows and founders from MIT.
• SOSV IndieBiocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJulie Wolf (Partner) was previously Chief Science Officer on IndieBio NY's founding investment team; sourcing and biotech network partnership.
• Rough Draft VenturesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDaniella Cohen was previously a managing partner at Rough Draft Ventures before joining 2048 as Principal; sourcing partnership for student founders.
• Putnam InvestmentsminorOthersPrior employer of Zann Ali — informs 2048's institutional/LP relationships and operating expertise.
• Fidelity InvestmentsminorOthersPrior employer of Zann Ali (4 years), including Fidelity Health startup launch — informs 2048's healthcare investing lens.
• Flock SafetyflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcquired 2048 portfolio company Aerodome; described as one of the largest acquisitions in public safety to date. Key exit partner for 2048 Fund II.
• MD Anderson Cancer CenterminorOthersNeobe co-founder Pedro Correa de Sampaio conducted postdoctoral work at MD Anderson; informs 2048's biotech network and sourcing.
• Stanford University (Bertozzi, Cochran, Levy Labs)coreOthersTwoStep Therapeutics co-founders include Carolyn Bertozzi, Jennifer Cochran, and Ron Levy from Stanford; academic research partner for TwoStep technology.
• University of Ottawa SUNLABcoreOthersEnurgen spun out of University of Ottawa's SUNLAB, one of the most prestigious solar labs in the world; sourcing relationship.
• Columbia University (Harris Wang lab)coreOthersAclid scientific co-founder Harris Wang is a Professor at Columbia University; synbio research network.
• NIH / US National Science FoundationminorOthersCaravel Bio (2048 portfolio) received $7.8M NSF award for protein discovery platform — supports non-dilutive funding pathway for portfolio.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• BoxGroup: NYC-based pre-seed and seed VC that writes similarly sized checks into early-stage startups. Highly comparable as a NYC-focused early-stage lead investor; 2048 and BoxGroup have even co-invested (Aslan Protects).
• Lerer Hippeau: NYC seed VC leading pre-seed and seed rounds at comparable check sizes with a thesis-driven, sector-flexible approach. One of the closest direct competitors for NYC early-stage founders.
• Founder Collective: Seed-stage VC with an East Coast footprint that leads early rounds in technology startups. 2048 has co-led deals with Founder Collective (Vitally), making it a directly comparable peer.
• Flybridge: NYC and Boston-based early-stage VC investing in pre-seed and seed rounds. Repeated co-investor with 2048 (H2Ok Innovations / Laminar), making it a directly comparable peer in NYC/Boston seed investing.
• Female Founders Fund: NYC-based pre-seed and seed fund focused on early-stage startups with thesis-driven investing. Comparable as a NYC thesis-led micro/seed fund.
• Harlem Capital: NYC-based early-stage VC writing pre-seed and seed checks into diverse founding teams. Comparable as a NYC-led pre-seed/seed investor with a community-oriented sourcing approach.

Broad incumbents

• First Round Capital: Established NYC-based seed VC with a larger fund and broader platform programs (Review, Seed Stage). Overlaps with 2048 in NYC seed-stage lead investing but at materially larger scale.
• Greycroft: NYC-based venture firm investing across stages with strong NYC presence and consumer/enterprise breadth. Has led Series A rounds for 2048 portfolio companies (Laminar).
• Techstars: Global accelerator network; Alex Iskold was Techstars NYC MD for 5 years and 2048 has co-invested with Techstars in multiple portfolio companies (Aerodome, Airspace Link, Stabl, Ripple, Enurgen, H2Ok). Comparable as an early-stage capital and sourcing partner.

Emerging players

• Dorm Room Fund: Student-led pre-seed fund; multiple 2048 team members (Zann Ali, Daniella Cohen, Edward Jin) were former Dorm Room Fund investors. Comparable as a campus-embedded pre-seed sourcing channel.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/2048vc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/in/iskold

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments178 records

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

Frequently asked questions about 2048 Ventures