Susa Ventures
Susa Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2013 and based in San Francisco that invests in seed and pre-seed technology startups across AI infrastructure, healthcare AI, climate technology, and cybersecurity.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2013
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Susa Ventures does
Susa Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2013 and headquartered in San Francisco, California. The firm invests in seed, pre-seed, and select later-stage rounds in technology startups, with disclosed activity spanning artificial intelligence infrastructure (Qodo for AI code review, Namespace for compute, Memories.ai for visual memory), healthcare AI (Chapter for Medicare navigation, Optura for AI measurement, Health Universe for oncology and clinical research), AI-native financial services (Hanover Park for fund administration), climate technology (Critical Energy for modular geothermal turbines), and AI-enabled industrial and supply chain applications (Scope for industrial inspection, Cavela for manufacturing sourcing). The firm's leadership comprises co-founders and general partners Chad Byers, Leo Polovets, and Seth Berman, alongside Pratyush Buddiga, principal Misha Gordon-Rowe, and head of finance Kenny Joo.
Susa Ventures generates revenue through conventional VC mechanics — management fees on committed capital and carried interest on fund returns — though fund size, AUM, and economic terms are not publicly disclosed. The firm executes direct equity investments, frequently leading or co-leading early-stage rounds and syndicating with tier-one co-investors including NEA, Index Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, Emergence Capital, Kleiner Perkins, Qumra Capital, Generation Investment Management, and XYZ Venture Capital. Distribution is partner-led, supported by a Substack blog for thought leadership and active X and LinkedIn profiles of individual team members. The firm has no public subsidiaries, parent entities, regulatory actions, M&A, or product launches beyond its investment activity.
The firm's geographic footprint, while nominally global through co-investment networks, is concentrated in US-based startups with selective exposure to the UK and Israel. Customer concentration is low given the breadth of the portfolio. Operating status is active, with no disclosed restructuring, leadership turnover beyond standard team composition, or liquidity events.
Susa Ventures firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Susa Ventures
- Legal name
- Susa Ventures
- Website
- https://susaventures.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2013
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Susa Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2013 and based in San Francisco that invests in seed and pre-seed technology startups across AI infrastructure, healthcare AI, climate technology, and cybersecurity.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Susa Ventures is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Susa Ventures business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels3 records
Susa Ventures product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Susa Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2013 that invests in technology startups across sectors including climate technology, healthcare AI, developer tools, cybersecurity, and industrial AI. The firm provides capital through seed, pre-seed, and Series A funding rounds, along with strategic guidance and network access to portfolio companies.
Product overview
Susa Ventures is a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage technology startups. Based on the available source data, Susa Ventures does not offer distinct branded products or services beyond its investment activities. The company is led by partners Chad Byers, Pratyush Buddiga, Misha Gordon-Rowe, and Shaheer Sandhu.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Early-Stage Venture Capital Investment
Companies that use Susa Ventures
Customer profileSegments1 record
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Susa Ventures technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Susa Ventures partnerships and signals
Strategic signalRecent moves6 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Susa Ventures competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Eniac Ventures: Seed-stage VC writing $0.5–3M initial checks into enterprise and AI startups. Similar fund size and pre-seed-to-seed cadence as Susa, with comparable team scale and SF/NYC footprint.
- Uncork Capital: Seed-stage SF firm writing $0.5–3M checks into B2B software, AI, and dev infrastructure. Comparable fund size and stage focus to Susa Ventures.
- Precursor Ventures: SF-based pre-seed/seed firm writing initial checks across consumer and enterprise. Similar small-team operating model and broad seed-stage mandate as Susa.
- MaC Venture Capital: Seed-stage investor that co-led Susa's Critical Energy round. Both firms lead seed checks of $5–25M into thematic deeptech and AI infrastructure plays, making them direct comparables on stage and check size.
- Costanoa Ventures: Early-stage B2B software investor with similar seed-to-Series A mandate and SF base. Overlapping portfolio themes in enterprise AI, dev tools, and infrastructure.
- Notation Capital: Pre-seed and seed investor focused on technical founders in AI and infrastructure. Closely matches Susa's stage and thematic AI infrastructure orientation.
- Lerer Hippeau: Early-stage seed fund writing initial checks into consumer and enterprise software startups. Comparable fund vintage cadence, similar sector breadth, and similar size tier as Susa Ventures.
- XYZ Venture Capital: Early-stage VC that co-led Susa's Cavela seed and co-invested in Chapter's Series E. Comparable size, stage focus, and SF-based operation, with overlapping AI and healthcare AI theses.
Broad incumbents
- Upfront Ventures: Established LA-based early-stage VC that co-led Susa's Critical Energy seed. Larger fund and broader portfolio but overlapping stage and deeptech focus.
- 8VC: Austin-based growth-stage VC that co-invested with Susa in Chapter's Series E. Larger and more growth-oriented than Susa, but overlapping thematic interest in AI infrastructure and healthcare.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Susa Ventures social profiles
Digital presenceSusa Ventures financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Susa Ventures leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
Susa Ventures funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Susa Ventures M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments317 records
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Susa Ventures
What does Susa Ventures do?
Susa Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2013 that invests in technology startups across sectors including climate technology, healthcare AI, developer tools, cybersecurity, and industrial AI. The firm provides capital through seed, pre-seed, and Series A funding rounds, along with strategic guidance and network access to portfolio companies.
Is Susa Ventures a public or private company?
Susa Ventures is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Susa Ventures founded?
Susa Ventures was founded in 2013. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Susa Ventures based?
Susa Ventures is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
Who are Susa Ventures's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Eniac Ventures, Uncork Capital, Precursor Ventures, MaC Venture Capital, Costanoa Ventures, Notation Capital, Lerer Hippeau and XYZ Venture Capital. Broad incumbents are Upfront Ventures and 8VC.
Does Susa Ventures have an API?
No public API is recorded for Susa Ventures.