Penny Jar Capital

What Penny Jar Capital does

Penny Jar Capital is a San Francisco-based early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2021 that invests in seed-stage startups applying artificial intelligence across a range of verticals including cybersecurity, HR technology, construction technology, fintech, pay equity, creator economy, and food/retail. The firm is led by Founding Partners Bryant Barr and Rich Scudellari, with Nia Pryce as Chief of Staff and NBA star Stephen Curry serving as anchor investor and Special Advisor. Its portfolio includes approximately 20 companies, with Upwind (cloud security) achieving unicorn status at a $1.5B valuation following its $250M Series B in January 2026; other notable holdings include Syndio (pay equity), Compa (compensation intelligence), Ezra AI (voice recruiting), Primepoint (construction AI), HiveWatch (physical security AI), Local Kitchens (virtual food halls), Burnt (food supply chain AI), and Ducky (AI customer support).

The firm's core product is not a technology platform but rather a curated investment and operating model: it deploys seed-stage capital alongside hands-on operational support drawn from "The Penny Jar Collective," a network of 25+ senior operators from companies including OpenAI, Asana, Nike, Slack, LinkedIn, Salesforce, Best Buy, PagerDuty, Instacart, Zapier, Roblox, and VF Corp. Portfolio founders report concrete operational interventions — financial model rebuilding, CEO candidate interviewing, engineering hiring, customer introductions, and GTM strategy — that go beyond standard seed-investor board participation. Stephen Curry's involvement provides brand visibility, athlete-network access, and event-hosting capabilities (e.g., Warriors games, fireside chats) that distinguish Penny Jar from comparable emerging-manager seed funds.

As a venture capital firm, Penny Jar's revenue model is management fees on committed fund capital (industry-standard ~2% annually) plus carried interest (industry-standard ~20%) on fund profits above a preferred return. The firm does not publicly disclose fund size, AUM, or revenue. Distribution to founders occurs through direct outreach, Collective referrals, and inbound interest; go-to-market emphasizes community-led deal sourcing amplified by Curry's brand. Geographically, the firm is based in San Francisco but its portfolio operates across the US, Israel, the UK, Australia, India, Singapore, and Japan.

Name

Penny Jar Capital

Legal name

Penny Jar Capital, LLC

Website

https://pennyjar.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Penny Jar Capital is a San Francisco-based seed-stage venture capital firm founded in 2021 that invests in AI startups across multiple verticals. Backed by NBA star Stephen Curry, the firm pairs capital with operational support from a curated network of 25+ senior operators.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital / Early-Stage Investing

NAICS

Other Investment Pools and Funds (5259)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Micro-PE / Lower Middle Market ETA Funds (FSANALAG)

Keywords

• Seed-stage venture capital
• Early-stage AI investing
• Startup funding
• Venture capital firm
• Seed-stage investments

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

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: Penny Jar Capital generates returns through equity investments in early-stage AI startups. The firm takes equity stakes in portfolio companies and realizes returns through exits (acquisitions, IPOs) or follow-on funding rounds. Additional value creation comes from the collective network providing operational support to portfolio companies.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Penny Jar Capital is a seed-stage venture capital firm that invests in founders using AI to reimagine how the real world works. The firm provides equity capital, operational support, hiring assistance, go-to-market strategy, customer introductions, and PR support to portfolio companies, leveraging its curated operator network called the Penny Jar Collective and the brand reach of NBA star Stephen Curry.

Product overview

Penny Jar Capital is a venture capital firm that invests in seed-stage AI startups across various sectors including HR technology, cloud security, construction technology, fintech, and creator economy. The firm does not offer a unified product platform or SaaS offering; instead, it provides investment capital, operational support, and network access to portfolio companies. The portfolio includes companies such as Compa (compensation intelligence), Ezra AI (voice AI recruiting), Primepoint (construction document AI), Upwind (cloud security), HiveWatch (physical security), and others across sectors including HR Tech, Cybersecurity, PropTech, FinTech, Climate Tech, and Creator Economy.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The Collective: A curated group of world-class operators and builders lending their experience to help Penny Jar build enduring companies.

Products and services

• Seed-Stage Venture Capital Investment
• The Penny Jar Collective

Quantifiable outcome

• Early enterprise clients of portfolio company Ezra report saving 75% of screening time and interviewing 6x as many qualified candidates
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• WorkdaycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCompa (portfolio company) partnered with Workday to transform HR capabilities. Strategic partnership in the compensation intelligence space.
• GreenhouseminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPortfolio company Ezra's voice AI interviewing platform integrates with ATS systems including Greenhouse for automated candidate screening.
• AnthropiccoreTechnology or IntegrationHiveWatch (portfolio company) uses Anthropic's Claude AI model to power their AI Operator product for physical security operations.
• VerkadacoreTechnology or IntegrationHiveWatch (portfolio company) launched integration with Verkada for scalability and efficiency in physical security management.
• ZendeskcoreTechnology or IntegrationDucky (portfolio company) integrates with Zendesk ticketing platform to deliver AI-powered customer support responses.
• GorgiascoreTechnology or IntegrationDucky (portfolio company) integrates with Gorgias helpdesk platform alongside Zendesk for AI-powered customer support.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Khosla Ventures: AI-forward venture firm with deep seed-to-growth reach and willingness to take concentrated thematic bets. Comparable as a competing AI-focused fund targeting similar seed-stage founders across vertical applications.
• Andreessen Horowitz (a16z): Tier-1 venture firm with a major dedicated AI franchise (including a16z Speedrun for seed) and broad sector coverage. Directly comparable as a co-investor in Penny Jar seed rounds (Ezra) and as a large incumbent competing for the same AI-seed deal flow.
• Greylock Partners: Established Silicon Valley VC with deep AI and enterprise focus. Comparable as an Upwind co-investor and as a broader incumbent competing for AI seed and Series A opportunities across the same founder pool.
• Bessemer Venture Partners: Long-standing global VC with cloud and cybersecurity strength. Co-led Upwind's Series B alongside Penny Jar's participation, making it a directly relevant co-investor peer in the AI/cloud-security overlap.
• General Catalyst: Multi-stage global VC that led Local Kitchens' Series A. Comparable as a co-investor in Penny Jar's portfolio and as a broad incumbent operating across seed to growth stages in similar verticals.
• Sequoia Capital: Premier global venture firm with multi-stage AI exposure and a founder-led, network-driven culture. Comparable as the archetype of brand-led, relationship-driven venture investing that Penny Jar's Collective-and-Curry model emulates at seed stage.

Direct peers

• Cyberstarts: Cybersecurity-focused seed VC founded by Gili Raanan. Directly comparable as a specialist, founder-led seed fund co-investing in Penny Jar's cybersecurity bets (Upwind) and competing for the same AI-security founders.
• Pear VC: Pre-seed and seed-stage VC investing in AI and other frontier tech. Directly comparable as a co-investor in Local Kitchens and as a same-stage AI-focused seed fund competing for similar founders.
• NextView Ventures: Seed-stage consumer and prosumer technology VC. Comparable as a co-lead of Primepoint's seed round and as a same-stage fund pursuing AI-enabled vertical applications.
• Forum Ventures: Pre-seed and seed VC running structured founder programs. Comparable to Penny Jar's community-led model; notably, Chief of Staff Nia Pryce previously spent three years at Forum Ventures, making it a relevant peer along both model and talent dimensions.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

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

Investments26 records

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

Frequently asked questions about Penny Jar Capital