Ground Up Ventures

What Ground Up Ventures does

Ground Up Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2015 and headquartered in Philadelphia, investing $500,000 to $1,500,000 in pre-seed and seed stage startups based in the United States and Israel. The firm was established by founding partners David Stark and Cory Moelis and operates with a 1-10 person team led by a Partner (Jordan Odinsky), Head of Value Creation (Allie Feuerstein), and Venture Partner (Navot Volk). Its stated model is hands-on operational support, providing portfolio companies with introductions to customers, design partners, follow-on investors, and mentors (claiming 1,500+ such introductions), as well as services including an outsourced SDR function (Ground Up Leads), PR and marketing assistance, and a monthly Partner Picks newsletter.

The firm's core product surface consists of its standard seed check program and the Liftoff moonshot fellowship, a rolling program for Israeli founders powered in partnership with Microsoft. Liftoff invests $800,000 for 10% equity and bundles exclusive OpenAI and Azure credits, Microsoft office space, mentorship from Microsoft executives, a clear path to first institutional round, and $500,000+ in additional software perks. Ground Up also maintains a sector-agnostic portfolio spanning Consumer, DevTools, Defense, Ecomm Infrastructure, Energy, FinTech, GovTech, Hardware, Health, Insurance, Legal, Marketplace, Mobility, PropTech, and SaaS, with named investments including EliseAI, Ritual, Portless, Tolstoy, Tulu, Daily, Younity, Panjaya.ai (AI dubbing), Baba (Medicare patient advocacy), and Dialogica (voice-first legal AI), plus a collection of undisclosed stealth companies across AI home-building, 3PL robotics, neural interfaces, and wastewater-to-fuel technology.

Ground Up Ventures generates revenue through conventional venture fund economics (management fees and carried interest on deployed capital), though specific fund size, AUM, and revenue figures are not publicly disclosed. The firm's go-to-market is direct relationship-driven deal sourcing from founder networks and warm introductions, with no traditional sales motion. Customer-facing marketing occurs primarily through the firm website (groundup.vc), the Partner Picks newsletter, LinkedIn and Twitter/X presence, a Medium publication (Ground Up Originals), and curated founder resources. Strategic positioning centers on cross-border US-Israel deal flow and an operational, founder-as-partner culture reinforced through visible founder testimonials on the firm website.

Name

Ground Up Ventures

Legal name

Ground Up Ventures

Website

https://groundup.vc

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Ground Up Ventures is a Philadelphia-based early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2015 that invests $500,000-$1,500,000 in pre-seed and seed startups across the United States and Israel, offering hands-on operational support and the Microsoft-powered Liftoff fellowship for Israeli founders.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Early-Stage Venture Capital

NAICS

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

Accelerators & Incubators (Investor-Operated) (FSANAAAM)

Keywords

• Pre-seed venture capital
• Seed stage investing
• Startup founder support
• Fellowship program accelerator
• Portfolio operational support

Headquarters

HQ city

Philadelphia

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Ground Up Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests $500k–$1.5M in Pre-Seed and Seed startups based in the United States and Israel. Beyond capital, the firm provides hands-on operational support including outsourced sales execution (Ground Up Leads), PR and media planning, messaging and content support, and access to a network of 1,500+ introductions to customers, design partners, and follow-on investors. The firm also operates the Liftoff moonshot fellowship program in partnership with Microsoft for Israeli founders, offering $800k for 10% equity plus OpenAI/Azure credits and mentorship.

Product overview

Ground Up Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm that provides $500k-$1.5M investments in Pre-Seed and Seed startups based in the US and Israel. The firm's offering includes the Liftoff moonshot fellowship program (offering $800k for 10% with Microsoft-powered benefits including OpenAI/Azure credits), Ground Up Leads outsourced SDR services, PR and marketing support, and access to a network of 1,500+ company introductions. The firm operates a rolling fellowship program without cohort restrictions, supporting founders from Day Zero of their company building journey.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Liftoff: A moonshot fellowship program for Israeli founders, powered by Ground Up Ventures and Microsoft, providing $800k for 10% equity, office space, OpenAI and Azure credits, and mentorship.

Products and services

• Liftoff Fellowship Program A moonshot fellowship program for Israeli founders providing $800k for 10% equity, office space, exclusive OpenAI and Azure credits, and mentorship from Microsoft executives, with a clear path to first institutional investment round.
• Ground Up Leads An outsourced Sales Development Representative (SDR) service for portfolio companies that defines, refines, and executes winning sales strategies including market research, outreach campaigns, and connecting founders with decision-makers.
• Pre-Seed and Seed Venture Capital Investments The firm's foundational product: equity investments of $500,000–$1,500,000 per deal in Pre-Seed and Seed stage startups based in the United States and Israel, across a sector-agnostic range of verticals.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• MicrosoftcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMicrosoft is a key partner in the Liftoff moonshot fellowship program powered by Ground Up Ventures and Microsoft. The partnership provides Liftoff companies with $800k for 10% equity, exclusive OpenAI and Azure credits, unparalleled guidance and mentorship from Microsoft execs across the globe, clear path to first institutional investment round, and $500k+ in software perks. Microsoft provides office space for portfolio teams and access to their global network of customers and design partners.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Everywhere Ventures: US pre-seed fund investing across geographies with a large co-investor community model. Comparable stage focus and similar orientation toward emerging-manager, community-led deal sourcing.
• J-Ventures: US/Israel early-stage VC firm investing in pre-seed and seed startups with an emphasis on founders with Israeli ties. Highly comparable geographic mandate, stage focus, and emerging-manager profile.
• SV Angel: Long-running US seed-stage fund known for founder-friendly, operationally supportive approach and small team. Comparable in stage focus and hands-on, network-driven value-add philosophy.
• Remagine Ventures: Israel/UK early-stage VC backing consumer, media, and entertainment startups. Highly comparable to Ground Up as a small, founder-led fund operating across both Israeli and international founder ecosystems with similar check sizes.
• Firstime VC: Israeli early-stage venture firm investing in pre-seed and seed founders, including cross-border US/Israel deployments. Closely comparable to Ground Up's geographic thesis, stage focus, and check size profile.
• Pioneer Fund: Pre-seed and seed fund led by Day One Ventures founder Masha Bucher, investing in US and European founders. Comparable as a founder-led emerging manager writing similar-sized checks at the pre-seed/seed stage.
• Antler: Global pre-seed VC and founder generator operating across multiple geographies including the US and Israel. Comparable stage and geographic overlap, though with significantly larger scale and a structured residency program analogous to Ground Up's Liftoff.

Broad incumbents

• TLV Partners: Israel-focused early-stage VC. Comparable Israeli early-stage thesis and similar stage focus, but with materially larger fund size, longer track record, and deeper portfolio concentration in Israeli B2B and enterprise software.
• Viola Ventures: One of Israel's largest early-to-growth VC firms. Co-investor in Panjaya.ai alongside Ground Up and a clear Israeli venture incumbent; comparable only in stage/geography but materially larger scale and broader portfolio.
• General Catalyst: Major multi-stage global VC firm. Co-investor in Baba's seed round with Ground Up and a broad incumbent across stages and geographies; only relevant for comparability at the seed-end of its activity.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/groundupvc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ground-up-ventures/about

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments57 records

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

Frequently asked questions about Ground Up Ventures