Sarah Smith Fund

What Sarah Smith Fund does

Sarah Smith Fund is a pre-seed and seed venture capital firm founded by Sarah Smith in late 2022 and based at 885 Oak Grove Ave in Menlo Park, California. The fund invests $250,000 or more into what it characterizes as "irrationally intense" founder CEOs, with roughly half of its portfolio historically including a Stanford-affiliated founder. The firm operates Fund 1 after incubating its portfolio through a rolling fund vehicle that made 13 initial investments; the current portfolio comprises 40+ companies spanning AI infrastructure, generative media, fintech, robotics, biotech, climate, and developer tools, with career-total deployment approaching $50 million across 70+ companies.

The fund's core product is capital, but its differentiation comes from two tiered portfolio service modules: People Ops Office Hours (available to investments over $100K) and the proprietary CEO 360 Review (available to investments over $250K). CEO 360 interviews direct reports, a board member, and a newer hire to produce a 2-3 page anonymized report covering "spike areas" and "blind spots." The fund also operates a portfolio-wide job board at jobs.sarahsmith.fund, powered by Getro, currently listing 57 open roles across 36+ portfolio companies.

The business model is conventional venture economics: management fees on committed capital plus carried interest from portfolio exits. The fund generates deal flow through Sarah Smith's personal brand on LinkedIn and Twitter/X, her teaching of ENGR 245: Lean Launchpad at Stanford, and her hosting of GSB venture fellows each summer. Board seats at Lime and Archive Resale supplement the Stanford ecosystem as sources of insight and referrals. The firm has 1-10 employees with Sarah Smith as the sole named partner, reflecting a deliberately small, operator-style investment platform.

Name

Sarah Smith Fund

Legal name

Sarah Smith Fund LLC

Website

https://sarahsmith.fund

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Sarah Smith Fund is a pre-seed and seed venture capital firm founded in 2022 that invests $250K+ into founder CEOs across AI, fintech, robotics, and biotech, supplementing capital with People Ops Office Hours, CEO 360 Reviews, and a portfolio job board.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Venture Capital Fund-of-Funds / Multi-Manager Platforms (FSANAAAJ)

Keywords

• Pre-seed venture capital
• Seed stage investing
• Founder CEO support
• Early-stage startups
• Venture capital fund

Headquarters

HQ city

Menlo Park

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Investment Returns / Carried Interest: Sarah Smith Fund generates returns through equity investments in early-stage startups. Returns are realized through portfolio company exits (acquisitions, IPOs). The fund operates as Fund 1 after launching from a rolling fund structure in late 2022 that made 13 investments.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Sarah Smith Fund is a pre-seed and seed venture capital fund that invests $250K+ into 'irrationally intense' founder CEOs building transformative companies. The fund supplements capital investments with hands-on people operations support, including People Ops Office Hours for investments over $100K and a proprietary CEO 360 Review for investments over $250K. It also operates a portfolio job board aggregating open roles across its 40+ portfolio companies.

Product overview

Sarah Smith Fund is a differentiated pre-seed and seed venture fund, not a software product company. Its core offering is a venture fund providing $250K+ capital investments to 'irrationally intense' founder CEOs. The fund supplements its financial investment with two primary service modules: People Ops Office Hours (for investments over $100K) and CEO 360 Review (for investments over $250K). Additionally, the fund operates a portfolio job board — powered by Getro Inc. — that aggregates career opportunities across its 36+ portfolio companies spanning AI, robotics, biotech, fintech, and climate tech sectors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Sarah Smith Fund Core Investment Fund A pre-seed and seed venture fund that invests $250K+ into early-stage founder CEOs, targeting 'irrationally intense' founders with approximately half the portfolio having a Stanford-degree founder. The fund provides capital and people operations expertise to portfolio companies across AI, robotics, fintech, and biotech sectors.
• CEO 360 Review

Quantifiable outcome

• Nearly $50M invested into 70+ companies across career
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Tribe Capital: Early-stage and growth-stage VC known for small-team deployment and concentrated thematic bets; overlaps with Sarah Smith Fund on AI and fintech investing.
• Hustle Fund: Pre-seed and seed VC deploying small checks into a high volume of early-stage startups; comparable on check size, stage focus, and solo/small-team structure.
• Pioneer Fund: Rolling-fund-style pre-seed and seed investor with a similar solo-GP operator profile; matches Sarah Smith Fund on fund structure, check size, and thesis on exceptional founder-CEOs.
• Pear VC: Pre-seed and seed VC firm founded by Pejman Nozad and Mar Hershenson with deep Stanford roots; invests in Stanford-affiliated founders at similar check sizes and stages, making it a near-direct comparable.
• Initialized Capital: Early-stage-focused venture firm that began as a seed-only manager and overlaps on AI, developer tools, and fintech theses; comparable on stage and founder-CEO targeting.
• Female Founders Fund: Operator-led pre-seed and seed fund with a similarly small team structure and concentrated, differentiated thesis; comparable on fund scale and stage focus.
• Designer Fund: Operator-style early-stage fund supporting technical and design-driven founders with hands-on value-add; matches Sarah Smith Fund on solo-GP structure and productized support model.

Broad incumbents

• Bain Capital Ventures: Multi-stage venture firm where Sarah Smith previously worked; comparable as a broader incumbent with overlap in fintech, AI, and infrastructure investing.
• Khosla Ventures: Large, established VC with heavy AI and deep-tech exposure; many Sarah Smith Fund portfolio companies (e.g., Pravah) are co-invested with Khosla, making it a relevant broader-incumbent comparator.

Emerging players

• South Park Commons: Founder community and pre-seed investor with strong Bay Area and Stanford-adjacent networks; comparable as an early-stage community-plus-capital model rather than a pure financial investor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/sasmith4
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sarah-smith-fund

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments16 records

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

Frequently asked questions about Sarah Smith Fund