What Necessary Ventures does

Necessary Ventures is a thesis-driven venture capital firm founded by Neil Devani, headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, that leads $1-2 million pre-seed rounds and invests non-lead from pre-seed through pre-IPO stages. The firm's investment focus is deep tech, hard tech, and AI companies operating at the intersection of transformative technology and large societal challenges, spanning healthcare, reindustrialization, climate, financial services, and education. The portfolio includes approximately 39 companies, with notable holdings such as Arc Boats, Recursion Pharmaceuticals, Vicarious Surgical, Wayve, Rubi Laboratories, Zocalo Health, Copper, Forage, Nevoya, Brellium, Mending, Plural Finance, Particle Health, and Moov Technologies. Neil Devani was the first investor and board director in multiple companies that reached public markets, including Recursion Pharmaceuticals (IPO April 2021) and Vicarious Surgical.

The firm differentiates through a three-pillar value-add framework beyond capital: Talent (helping founders leverage missions to recruit and retain), Capital (guiding founders toward non-dilutive and strategic capital), and Attention (earned and owned media networks). Supporting this thesis, the firm operates the Money Moves podcast (a weekly show distributed on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts) and the Necessary Nuggets newsletter (weekly original research on AI, biotech, climate tech, and fintech). The Consider-powered jobs.necessary.vc platform aggregates 264 open roles across the portfolio, formalizing the talent flywheel as an ecosystem service.

The firm is led by Founder & Managing Partner Neil Devani, Partner Akash Malhotra (Forbes 30 Under 30, formerly of The House Fund and Eventable), and Venture Partner Deepa Sheth (formerly SVP at Oak Street Health and senior executive at SCAN), supported by a sixteen-person advisory bench covering healthcare, AI/deep tech, fintech, ed-tech, and communications. Revenue is generated through conventional venture fund economics of carried interest and management fees.

Name

Necessary Ventures

Legal name

Necessary Ventures

Website

https://necessary.vc

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Necessary Ventures is a thesis-driven venture capital firm that leads $1-2M pre-seed rounds and invests from pre-seed to pre-IPO in deep tech, hard tech, and AI companies across healthcare, climate, financial services, and education, serving founders with capital plus talent, capital advisory, and media support.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), All Other Financial Investment Activities (52399)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Early-Stage Venture Capital (Series A/B) (FSANAAAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Sector-Focused Venture Capital (Vertical Specialists) (FSANAAAD)

Keywords

• Venture capital investing
• Pre-seed funding
• Deep tech investing
• AI startup funding
• Thesis-driven venture

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, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Venture Capital Returns (Carried Interest & Management Fees): Necessary Ventures generates returns through carried interest and management fees from its venture funds. The firm invests across pre-seed to pre-IPO stages, with a focus on deep tech, hard tech, and AI companies in sectors including healthcare, climate, reindustrialization, financial services, and education.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Necessary Ventures is a thesis-driven venture capital firm that leads $1-2M pre-seed rounds and invests non-lead from pre-seed to pre-IPO stages in deep tech, hard tech, and AI companies across healthcare, reindustrialization, climate, financial services, and education. Beyond capital, the firm supports portfolio founders through talent acquisition assistance, strategic capital advisory for non-dilutive funding, and access to earned and owned media networks designed to accelerate company growth.

Product overview

Necessary Ventures is a thesis-driven venture capital firm that leads $1-2M pre-seeds and invests from pre-seed to pre-IPO across deep tech, hard tech, and AI companies. The firm's portfolio spans healthcare, reindustrialization, climate, financial services, and education sectors. Beyond capital, Necessary Ventures supports founders through talent acquisition, strategic capital guidance, and earned/owned media networks. The firm operates supporting content platforms including the Money Moves podcast and Necessary Nuggets newsletter, and maintains a jobs platform connecting talent with its portfolio companies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Venture Capital Investment Venture capital investment services leading $1-2M pre-seed rounds and participating non-lead from pre-seed to pre-IPO across deep tech, hard tech, and AI companies in healthcare, reindustrialization, climate, financial services, and education sectors. Targets technical founders building transformative companies.
• Money Moves Podcast Weekly podcast featuring founders and investors sharing insights on raising capital, making investments, and building and selling businesses. Distributed on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.
• Necessary Nuggets Newsletter Weekly newsletter delivering original research and industry insights from pre-seed to big tech. Covers AI, biotech, climate tech, fintech, and venture capital topics.
• Portfolio Jobs Platform (jobs.necessary.vc) Job board connecting talent with portfolio companies across 39 companies and 264 open positions. Powered by Consider platform. Candidates can filter by skills, location, company stage, industry, and salary.

Quantifiable outcome

• Multiple portfolio companies have reached public markets including Recursion Pharmaceuticals (IPO April 2021) and Vicarious Surgical.

Named customers6 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Consider (Talent Network Platform)coreTechnology or IntegrationNecessary Ventures uses Consider's talent platform (Consider.com) to power its portfolio company job board (jobs.necessary.vc) and Talent Network, connecting founders with technology-driven talent across 39 portfolio companies and 264 open positions.
• YouTube (Money Moves Podcast Distribution)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMoney Moves podcast is distributed on YouTube alongside Spotify and Apple Podcasts, expanding reach for Necessary Ventures' content and thought leadership to a broader audience of founders and investors.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• The House Fund: Berkeley-affiliated pre-seed and seed VC where Partner Akash Malhotra worked before Necessary Ventures. Comparable stage, check size, and Bay Area ecosystem positioning.
• Compound: New York-based deep tech/AI/robotics investor led by Michael Dempsey, who sits as a Necessary Ventures advisor. Both firms pursue overlapping thesis areas (AI, autonomy, hard tech) at early stages with small teams.
• Lux Capital: Established deep tech and hard tech VC investing across healthcare, climate, and frontier science with a thesis-driven approach. Highly comparable given overlapping deep tech/hard tech/AI focus and sector breadth.
• Eclipse Ventures: Co-investor with Necessary Ventures (led Arc Boats' Series C alongside other investors). Focused on hard tech and industrial transformation, directly overlapping on electrification and reindustrialization theses.
• Prime Movers Lab: Thesis-driven seed-stage investor focused exclusively on hard tech breakthroughs in energy, transportation, infrastructure, and human health. Directly comparable as a sector-focused deep/hard tech pre-seed and seed investor.
• Better Tomorrow Ventures: Fintech-focused pre-seed and seed VC co-founded by Sheel Mohnot, a Necessary Ventures fintech advisor. Same founder-stage thesis and check size for fintech specifically.
• Material Impact: Early-stage hard tech investor focused on materials, manufacturing, and industrial innovation. Directly comparable hard tech, deep tech pre-seed/seed orientation.
• DCVC (DCVC Bio, DCVC Play): Deep tech VC applying computational and engineering approaches to biology, materials, and energy. Overlaps with Necessary Ventures' AI/biotech/recursion thesis and deep tech sector breadth.
• Playground Global: Thesis-driven deep tech investor backing engineers in frontier technology. Comparable hard tech / AI / robotics focus and small-team thesis-led investing style.

Broad incumbents

• Kleiner Perkins: Multi-stage venture firm with a Green Growth Fund (where advisor Nancy Fechnay worked). Overlaps on deep tech, healthcare, and climate at scale, though Kleiner is much larger and broader.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/necessaryvc
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@MoneyMovesShow
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/necessaryventures

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles17 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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

M&A

Investments56 records

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

Frequently asked questions about Necessary Ventures