Visible Hands
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2020
- HeadquartersBoston, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
Visible Hands firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Visible Hands
- Legal name
- Visible Hands, PBC
- Website
- https://visiblehands.vc
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2020
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Visible Hands industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Venture Capital / Pre-Seed Investment
- NAICS
- Management Consulting Services (54161), Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (54)
- SIC
- Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Emerging Managers / Seeding Platforms (FSAHAKAI)
Keywords
Where Visible Hands is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Boston
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Visible Hands business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- Fund Management Fees: Visible Hands generates revenue through management fees on their venture fund(s), typically a percentage of assets under management (AUM). As a pre-seed fund manager, they charge standard 2% management fee on committed capital.
- Carried Interest / Fund Returns: The primary economic value creation comes from carried interest (typically 20%) on successful portfolio company exits. The firm's success is directly tied to portfolio companies raising subsequent funding rounds and achieving exits.
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels8 records
Visible Hands product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Visible Hands is a pre-seed venture capital firm that invests $100k+ checks in underrepresented founders (women, people of color, and other overlooked populations) building high-growth tech and tech-enabled businesses. The firm delivers capital alongside structured fellowship programs (VHNYC, VHBOS, Blueprint: Tulsa), mentorship, corporate grant access (Meta, AWS, Google), and an ongoing alumni community (Visionaries Network) to support founders from pre-idea through seed stage.
Product overview
Visible Hands is a pre-seed venture capital firm that invests in visionary overlooked founders (women, people of color, and other underrepresented populations) through a structured fellowship program model. The company's core offering consists of three fellowship programs (VHNYC Founder Fellowship, VHBOS Founder Fellowship, and Blueprint: Tulsa) that provide $100k+ pre-seed investment, mentorship, workshops, and access to a network of 10,000+ builders. These programs feed into the Visionaries Network alumni community. Supporting infrastructure includes a job board powered by Getro and a perks marketplace offering credits and discounts from technology partners like AWS, Google Cloud, and Twilio.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- VHNYC Founder Fellowship: A 10-week Founder Fellowship for early-stage, underrepresented founders building high-growth, tech and tech-enabled businesses based in New York City.
- VHBOS Founder Fellowship
- Blueprint: Tulsa
- Visionaries Network
- Visionaries Accelerator
- VHLX
Products and services
- VHNYC Founder Fellowship A 10-week hybrid Founder Fellowship program for early-stage, underrepresented founders building high-growth, tech and tech-enabled businesses in New York City, accepting cohorts of 15 overlooked founders selected through a competitive application process.
- VHBOS Founder Fellowship A Boston-based fellowship program for early-stage entrepreneurs who are representative of Greater Boston's rich racial and gender diversity, providing capital and support similar to VHNYC.
- Blueprint: Tulsa A fellowship program supporting Tulsa, Oklahoma-based founders, part of Visible Hands' initiative to expand support to founders outside traditional tech hubs.
- Visionaries Network An alumni network for Visible Hands program graduates, providing ongoing community engagement, peer-to-peer connections, mentorship opportunities, and resources for founders post-program.
- Visible Hands Job Board A job board platform powered by Getro that connects portfolio companies with talent, featuring 226+ job listings across AI, software, and tech companies in the Visible Hands network.
Quantifiable outcome
- Portfolio companies have raised $50M+ in external funding after initial investment
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Visible Hands
Customer profileNamed customers13 records
Segments1 record
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Visible Hands technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Visible Hands partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core, supporting and flagship.
- AWS (Amazon Web Services)coreVisible Hands advised AWS on their Impact Accelerator programs focused on Black founders and female founders. Services included reviewing curriculum design through an equity lens, supporting cohort selection, and facilitating core leadership workshops. Visible Hands is also a sponsor with $5,000 AWS credits offered to portfolio founders.
- Google for StartupscorePartnership on Latinx founders fellowship and entrepreneur training programs. Google provides $100,000 in GCP credits to Visible Hands portfolio companies. Co-hosted Google summit with 2,000 applications for 20 spots.
- WeWorkcoreExclusive workplace partner for the 2022 Visionaries Accelerator. WeWork provides free workspace and access to their global community for NYC-based program participants, fostering innovation through collaboration with meeting rooms and building events.
- BolstersupportingBolster matches CEOs with mentors and executives. Partnered with Visible Hands to provide personalized 1:1 mentorship for each founder in the 2022 Visionaries Accelerator program.
- Hill Holliday (Power Room)supportingHill Holliday's Women's Equity Initiative, The Power Room, partners with one woman business owner each year who has graduated from the Visible Hands Accelerator, providing pro bono marketing services tailored to their needs.
- RepublicsupportingHosted a workshop for 100+ angel investors in collaboration with Republic to train them on uncovering blind spots and mitigating bias when investing in underrepresented founders.
- Brooklyn Nets / Clara Wu TsaiflagshipPartnership with Brooklyn Nets owner Clara Wu Tsai to launch a startup accelerator for BIPOC founders. Tsai-backed Brooklyn tech accelerator accepting applications for minority-led startups. Joint visibility and deal flow from this high-profile partnership.
- NYCEDCcoreTeams up with Visible Hands & Main Street Assembly on an Alumni Founder Network to strengthen long-term support for NYC founders. Announced March 2026.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Visible Hands competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Backstage Capital: Pre-seed and seed VC firm founded by Arlan Hamilton specifically focused on investing in underrepresented founders (women, people of color, LGBTQ+). Most direct peer to Visible Hands given shared thesis on overlooked-founder pre-seed investing and similar check sizes.
- Female Founders Fund: Early-stage venture fund investing in women-founded companies across consumer, enterprise, and health tech. Comparable to Visible Hands in mission-driven diversity focus and pre-seed/seed stage investing, though with a narrower gender focus.
- BBG Ventures: Pre-seed and seed VC backed by Susan Lyne and Maria Carmen Ganyard focused on consumer and tech startups with at least one female founder. Closely mirrors Visible Hands' pre-seed thesis and underrepresented-founder positioning.
- Pipeline Angels: Network and angel investing group focused on women and non-binary investors funding early-stage ventures. Shares Visible Hands' fellowship-style cohort model and underrepresented-founder thesis, with similar deal sizes at pre-seed.
- Valor Ventures: Atlanta-based pre-seed and seed VC firm investing in Black, Latinx, and other underrepresented founders. Comparable to Visible Hands on diversity-focused pre-seed thesis, with regional differentiation in the Southeast US.
- Reign Ventures: Minority-focused pre-seed venture capital firm investing in founders of color, particularly Black and Latino entrepreneurs. Highly comparable to Visible Hands on stage, check size, and underrepresented-founder thesis.
- Vamos Ventures: Pre-seed VC firm dedicated to backing Latino and Latina founders. Comparable to Visible Hands on pre-seed stage and underrepresented-founder focus, with narrower geographic/ethnic mandate.
- Cross Culture Ventures: Early-stage VC firm investing in startups led by founders from diverse cultural, ethnic, and gender backgrounds. Shares Visible Hands' thesis and stage focus, with broader cultural-diversity framing.
Emerging players
- MassChallenge: Global non-profit accelerator supporting early-stage startups with cohort-based programs and corporate partnerships. Comparable to Visible Hands' fellowship-based accelerator model, though broader in founder demographics and based in Boston.
Broad incumbents
- Kapor Capital: Oakland-based early-stage VC focused on closing gaps of access for underrepresented founders and tech startups with social impact. Larger and more established than Visible Hands, but shares the underrepresented-founder thesis at pre-seed/seed.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Visible Hands social profiles
Digital presenceVisible Hands financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Visible Hands leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles9 records
Visible Hands funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Visible Hands M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments25 records
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Visible Hands
What does Visible Hands do?
Visible Hands is a pre-seed venture capital firm that invests $100k+ checks in underrepresented founders (women, people of color, and other overlooked populations) building high-growth tech and tech-enabled businesses. The firm delivers capital alongside structured fellowship programs (VHNYC, VHBOS, Blueprint: Tulsa), mentorship, corporate grant access (Meta, AWS, Google), and an ongoing alumni community (Visionaries Network) to support founders from pre-idea through seed stage.
Is Visible Hands a public or private company?
Visible Hands is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Visible Hands founded?
Visible Hands was founded in 2020. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Visible Hands based?
Visible Hands is headquartered in Boston, United States, in the North America region.
How does Visible Hands make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Fund Management Fees are the primary driver. The others are carried Interest / Fund Returns.
Who are Visible Hands's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Backstage Capital, Female Founders Fund, BBG Ventures, Pipeline Angels, Valor Ventures, Reign Ventures, Vamos Ventures and Cross Culture Ventures. MassChallenge is listed as an emerging player. Kapor Capital is listed as a broad incumbent.
Does Visible Hands have an API?
No public API is recorded for Visible Hands.
What industry is Visible Hands in?
Visible Hands's product category is Venture Capital / Pre-Seed Investment. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAHAKAI, Emerging Managers / Seeding Platforms. Its NAICS code is 54161 and its SIC code is 8742.