Humba Ventures

What Humba Ventures does

Humba Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm based in San Francisco that invests in deep-technology and "American Dynamism" sectors where mainstream capital is reluctant to deploy. Founded approximately two years ago (circa 2024) and operating with a core team of two — co-founder Leo Polovets (previously co-founded Susa Ventures, $750M+ AUM, seed investor in Robinhood, Flexport, Mux, and Mashgin) and Anna-Sofia Lesiv (previously at 8VC, Founders Fund, and Bridgewater) — the firm targets seed and early-stage companies building nuclear microreactors, organoid platforms, next-generation sawmills, drone swarms, surgical robotics, industrial-scale batteries, atmospheric water generation, geothermal turbines, and other hard-tech categories.

The firm operates three offerings: (1) Investment Services providing equity capital plus fundraising, storytelling, hiring, and customer-introduction support to portfolio founders; (2) the Deep Tech Fellowship, a six-week paid program that embeds scientists and engineers in pitch meetings as a talent and deal-sourcing pipeline; and (3) a job board operated in partnership with sister fund Susa Ventures to route talent into portfolio companies. Humba reports a 60% seed-to-Series-A graduation rate for its portfolio versus a 20% industry average and claims to co-invest $2-3 alongside every $1 it commits by pulling in other investors.

Humba shares office space with sister fund Susa Ventures in San Francisco's Mission district, and its fundraising, product, and partnership footprint is geographically concentrated in the US with one disclosed cross-border deal (Airbound, India). The firm's revenue model is conventional venture capital: it earns through equity appreciation and exits rather than charging portfolio companies, and it does not publicly disclose fund size, AUM, management fees, limited partners, or portfolio construction metrics.

Name

Humba Ventures

Legal name

Humba Ventures

Website

https://humbaventures.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2024

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Humba Ventures is a San Francisco-based seed-stage venture capital firm investing in deep-tech and American Dynamism sectors, providing capital, fundraising support, and operational resources to early-stage founders building hard technologies such as nuclear, biotech, defense, and climate.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital / Deep Tech Investing

NAICS

Other Financial Vehicles (525990)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

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

Keywords

• Venture capital investing
• Deep tech funding
• Seed stage investment
• Hard tech startups
• Early stage startups

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, Others

Revenue model

1. Venture Capital Returns: Humba Ventures generates returns through equity investments in early-stage deep tech startups. They invest in seed and early-stage companies and aim to help them graduate to Series A and beyond. Returns are realized through exits (acquisitions, IPOs).

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Humba Ventures is a venture capital firm that makes seed and early-stage equity investments in deep tech startups working on hard tech in sectors such as nuclear reactors, organoids and IVF, next-gen sawmills, drone swarms, surgical robots, and industrial-scale batteries. Portfolio companies receive capital, fundraising support (60% seed-to-Series-A graduation rate vs. 20% industry average), strategic and tactical playbooks, customer and expert introductions, storytelling support, and hiring assistance via the firm's job board and Deep Tech Fellowship pipeline.

Product overview

Humba Ventures is a venture capital firm that invests in hard tech and hard sectors, providing capital and operational support to early-stage deep tech companies. The firm offers three main offerings: (1) Investment Services for deep tech startups across manufacturing, robotics and automation, bio and food, climate and energy, defense and aerospace, and hardware products; (2) a Deep Tech Fellowship program for scientists, engineers, and domain experts to learn about early-stage deep tech investing; and (3) a Job Board connecting talent with portfolio companies. The investment approach focuses on difficult, underexplored areas with founders willing to build what others won't.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Deep Tech Fellowship: A six-week paid fellowship program for scientists, technologists, founders, and domain experts who want to understand how ambitious technical ideas get funded.

Products and services

• Investment Services Venture capital investing in deep tech and hard tech sectors including nuclear reactors, organoids, next-gen sawmills, drone swarms, surgical robots, and industrial-scale batteries. Provides fundraising support, strategic guidance, hiring support, and network introductions to portfolio founders.
• Deep Tech Fellowship A six-week, paid fellowship for technical and operational experts who want a front-row seat to early-stage deep tech investing. Fellows join live pitch meetings, work with frontier founders, and learn how investors evaluate markets, teams, and technologies.
• Humba Ventures Job Board A job board connecting talent with portfolio companies in deep tech and American Dynamism sectors, featuring opportunities across manufacturing, robotics, biotech, climate/energy, defense/aerospace, and hardware products.

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Susa VenturescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSusa Ventures is Humba's sister fund, sharing office space and co-running events. Susa Ventures has $750m+ AUM and was co-founded by Leo Polovets. The funds work together on portfolio support and events. Humba's job board is operated by Susa Ventures.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Breakout Ventures: Seed-stage deep tech investor that led the AquaPoro round in which Humba participated; covers biotech, energy, and materials with comparable check sizes.
• Susa Ventures: Humba's sister fund, co-founded by Leo Polovets, with $750M+ AUM and a portfolio that overlaps heavily with Humba's deep tech focus (including co-investments such as Critical Energy).
• Lux Capital: Long-standing specialist in deep tech, including robotics, biotech, and aerospace—directly comparable to Humba's category mix and check size.
• Founders Fund: Pioneering deep tech and frontier-technology investor; another prior employer of Anna-Sofia Lesiv, with overlapping investments in space, defense, and biotech.
• Contrary Research: Sector research and investing platform where Anna-Sofia previously ran Foundations & Frontiers; deep tech orientation and content-driven deal sourcing mirror Humba's playbook.
• DCVC: Deep tech and computational-science focused seed/Series A investor with a similar mandate in robotics, energy, and biotech.
• Upfront Ventures: LA-based early-stage firm that co-led the Critical Energy round with Susa; invests across frontier tech and shares Humba's pre-seed/seed profile.
• 8VC: Sector-focused early-stage investor in deep tech, logistics, and American Dynamism companies; a former employer of Anna-Sofia Lesiv and a frequent co-investor in defense and industrial bets.

Emerging players

• 1517 Fund: Early-stage fund backing young founders building in hard tech, manufacturing, and the trades—a closely adjacent niche targeting similar underexplored categories.

Broad incumbents

• Andreessen Horowitz (a16z American Dynamism): Multi-stage firm with a dedicated American Dynamism practice spanning defense, manufacturing, energy, and aerospace—overlapping categories with Humba at a much larger fund scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/lpolovets
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/humba-ventures

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments27 records

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

Frequently asked questions about Humba Ventures