FirsthandVC

What FirsthandVC does

FirsthandVC is a New York–based, early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2024 by Managing Partner Simon Chan, with a dedicated thesis of investing in B2B Autonomous Agentic AI startups at the inception, seed, and Series A stages. The firm explicitly targets experienced founders building autonomous AI systems "from day zero," and publicly discloses a portfolio of 12+ companies spanning legal AI (Eudia, Agree), multi-agent orchestration (CrewAI, ai.work, Noetica), enterprise AI services (Distyl AI), healthcare revenue cycle automation (Adonis, Hummingbird Healthcare), biotech regulatory tooling (Weave), procurement (Didero), enterprise simulation (Avarra), construction workforce management (Lumber/LumberFi), federal AI cloud (Knox Systems), and SMB inbox revenue (EVE).

The firm's GTM motion is sales-led in a venture sense: deal flow is sourced and supported through a curated Salesforce alumni network and recurring community infrastructure — the annual Firsthand Summit, the Firsthand Homecoming Gala, and the AI Agent Conference in New York City — augmented by a Substack newsletter and a public portfolio showcase. FirsthandVC's economic model is conventional venture capital returns (equity investments with eventual exit-driven liquidity plus management fees on committed capital), and its value proposition to portfolio founders centers on capital, strategic guidance, customer introductions, and access to accomplished B2B operators rather than on proprietary technology. The firm has no AI products, APIs, SDKs, or research artifacts of its own; its "technology" is its network and brand.

Co-investment partners on disclosed rounds include Foundation Capital (Lumber Series A), B Capital (Knox Systems Series A), M12, Okta Ventures, MongoDB Ventures, Felicis, Tishman Speyer, Carbide Ventures, 8VC, and a16z Scout Fund, signaling syndicate access despite FirsthandVC's small (1–10 employee) internal team.

Name

FirsthandVC

Legal name

FirsthandVC

Website

https://firsthand.vc

Company type

Private

Founded year

2024

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

FirsthandVC is a New York–based, inception-stage venture capital firm founded in 2024 that invests in B2B autonomous agentic AI startups at seed and Series A, supporting founders through capital, a Salesforce alumni network, and annual Summit and AI Agent Conference events.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Venture Capital Returns: FirsthandVC generates returns through equity investments in early-stage B2B autonomous AI companies. The firm invests in seed and Series A rounds, earning returns when portfolio companies achieve successful exits through IPOs or acquisitions.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

FirsthandVC is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in B2B Autonomous Agentic AI companies at the seed and Series A stages. The firm deploys capital alongside strategic guidance, customer introductions, and access to a curated network of Salesforce alumni and B2B software leaders to support portfolio founders building autonomous AI systems from day zero.

Product overview

FirsthandVC is a venture capital firm that invests in B2B Autonomous Agentic AI companies. Rather than a traditional product company with software offerings, FirsthandVC provides investment capital, partnership support, and access to its curated network of accomplished B2B leaders (including Salesforce alumni) to AI founders. The firm's portfolio includes companies such as CrewAI (multi-agent platform), Eudia (legal AI), Adonis (healthcare revenue automation), ai.work (autonomous agents), Didero (procurement automation), and LumberFi (construction workforce management), among others. FirsthandVC also organizes ecosystem events including the Firsthand Homecoming Gala and AI Agent Conference.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Firsthand Network: Uniquely curated networks that power the ecosystem and unlock distinctive opportunities for founders, including Accomplished B2B Leaders (Salesforce alumni network) and AI Agent Conference.
• AI Agent Conference

Products and services

• FirsthandVC Seed and Series A Investment
• Firsthand Network (Portfolio Support Ecosystem)
• AI Agent Conference
• Firsthand Summit and Homecoming Gala

Segments1 record

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.

• Salesforce Alumni NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFirsthandVC was founded with support of accomplished Salesforce alumni and maintains strong ties to leaders shaping the software industry. The network powers the ecosystem and unlocks distinctive opportunities for founders.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Others

• South Park Commons: Founder community and pre-seed investor with a network-driven model that produces early deal flow in a manner analogous to FirsthandVC's alumni ecosystem, though structured differently.

Emerging players

• Conviction: Sarah Guo's emerging AI-focused VC with a similarly concentrated thesis in AI infrastructure and applications; competes for the same founder pool as FirsthandVC.

Direct peers

• Afore Capital: Pre-seed/seed-only focused emerging manager with a similar small-team, high-conviction model; comparable in fund size and stage orientation to FirsthandVC.
• Costanoa Ventures: Early-stage B2B-focused VC with similar founder-network-driven origination and stage orientation as FirsthandVC.
• Zetta Venture Partners: Early-stage firm specifically focused on AI/enterprise data companies, with a concentrated thesis approach analogous to FirsthandVC's agentic AI focus.
• Pear VC: Early-stage venture firm with a focused B2B thesis, founder-friendly brand, and small-team emerging-manager structure highly comparable to FirsthandVC's operating model.
• 8VC: B2B/enterprise-focused VC that co-invested with FirsthandVC in Lumber's Series A; shares a similar early-stage orientation and operational-support playbook.
• Foundation Capital: Led Lumber's $15.5M Series A alongside FirsthandVC; comparable as an early-stage B2B investor with thematic conviction in AI-adjacent categories.
• Felicis: Co-invested in Knox Systems Series A with FirsthandVC; early-stage conviction-driven firm operating in the same B2B/AI deal universe.
• B Capital: Led Knox Systems' $25M Series A with FirsthandVC participation; comparable as a B2B/enterprise growth-stage investor overlapping in the agentic AI thesis.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/firsthandvc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments68 records

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

Frequently asked questions about FirsthandVC