Detroit Venture Partners

What Detroit Venture Partners does

Detroit Venture Partners (DVP) is an early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2010 by Dan Gilbert — also the Founder and Chairman of Rocket Companies — with a stated mission to back and found early-stage technology companies and grow Detroit's entrepreneurial community. The firm operates with a lean team of approximately 10 people led by Founding Partner Dan Gilbert alongside Partners Jake Cohen and Jared Stasik, Director of Finance Haemi Kim, two investors (Cory Tincher, Lindsey Kilbride), an Operating Partner (Gabe Karp), two Venture Partners (Delane Parnell, Kate Hernandez), and an Executive Assistant. DVP's primary differentiator is its affiliation with the Rock Family of Companies, Dan Gilbert's conglomerate of more than 90 affiliated businesses including Rocket Companies, Bedrock, and the Cleveland Cavaliers, which the firm leverages as operational infrastructure for portfolio companies.

DVP's go-to-market is community-led and low-friction: founders reach the firm via a public Notion-based "pitch us" submission form, the DVP Fellowship program that cultivates Detroit-based emerging founders, and warm introductions from across the Rock Family operating network. The firm maintains a dedicated startup jobs board at jobs.detroit.vc to channel talent into portfolio companies. Marketing is anchored by the detroit.vc website (brand showcase, portfolio, team, fellowship, and pitch-us pages) and earned media from press coverage of portfolio funding rounds. Revenue is generated through standard VC fund economics — management fees on committed/invested capital and carried interest from successful exits — though fund size, AUM, fee schedules, and carry rates are not publicly disclosed.

DVP's portfolio spans 25+ companies across fintech (StockX, Splash Financial, Signal Advisors, Trust & Will, Carda Health, Ownwell), gaming/community (100 Thieves, Scorbit), AI (Relcu, ONE.ai, SuperFocus), space tech (Observable Space), workforce management (RIVET), real estate/insurance (Covertree, InvestNext, Airspace Link), and other consumer and enterprise categories. The firm writes checks across stages from $2M pre-seed rounds (Maka) to $90M Series A rounds (Observable Space), and frequently co-invests alongside Michigan-based funds (Michigan Rise, Invest Detroit, Augment Ventures) as well as nationally recognized investors (Lux Capital, Y Combinator, Menlo Ventures, LiveOak Ventures).

Name

Detroit Venture Partners

Legal name

Detroit Venture Partners

Website

http://Detroit.vc

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Detroit Venture Partners is a 2010-founded early-stage venture capital firm led by Dan Gilbert that backs technology founders using the Rock Family of Companies network of more than 90 affiliated businesses as operational leverage for portfolio companies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital

NAICS

Other Investment Pools and Funds (5259)

akta.pro primary industry

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

akta.pro secondary industry

Corporate Strategic Partnership & Ecosystem Investment Arms (FSANAHAF)

Keywords

• Venture capital
• Early-stage investing
• Seed funding
• Startup investment
• Tech venture capital

Headquarters

HQ city

Detroit

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, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Venture fund management fees and carried interest: As a venture capital firm founded in 2010 and anchored within the Rock Family of Companies, Detroit Venture Partners generates revenue through standard VC fund economics: periodic management fees on committed/invested capital and a share of profits (carried interest) from successful portfolio exits. Specific fund size, AUM, fee schedules, and carried-interest rates are not publicly disclosed in the source material.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Detroit Venture Partners is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in technology companies from pre-seed through Series A, with a focus on backing founders building companies in or relocating to Detroit. Founded in 2010 by Dan Gilbert, the firm provides capital alongside operational leverage through its affiliation with the 90+ companies in the Rock Family of Companies, including Rocket Companies, Bedrock, and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Product overview

Detroit Venture Partners (DVP) is a venture capital firm rather than a software vendor, so its "products" are its investment services and ecosystem programs rather than a unified software platform with modules. The core offering is the DVP investment platform (detroit.vc), founded in 2010 by Dan Gilbert to back and found early-stage tech companies in Detroit, supported by add-on programs including the DVP Fellowship (fellowship program for founders/talent) and the DVP Startup Jobs Board (jobs.detroit.vc), which connect candidates to roles across DVP's portfolio companies such as StockX, Rivet, Sygaldry, ONE, Ownwell, Jackpot, and others listed on the homepage.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Detroit Venture Partners (DVP) Investment Platform Early-stage venture capital investment platform that backs and founds technology companies from pre-seed through Series A, leveraging the Rock Family of Companies network of 90+ businesses to support portfolio founders.
• DVP Fellowship A fellowship program operated by Detroit Venture Partners, accessible via the firm's main navigation, designed to support founders and talent within its Detroit ecosystem.
• DVP Startup Jobs Board A startup jobs board run by Detroit Venture Partners to connect candidates with roles across the DVP portfolio and Detroit's entrepreneurial community.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Foundry Group: Foundry Group is a Boulder, Colorado-based early-stage venture firm investing across consumer, enterprise, and emerging tech. Comparable as a multi-stage seed/early-stage VC with a regional ecosystem focus and similar fund-size profile to DVP.
• Initialized Capital: Initialized Capital is a seed-stage venture firm that backs early-stage technology founders across geographies. Comparable as a brand-led early-stage investor with similar pre-seed through Series A check flexibility and a founder-first thesis.
• Invest Detroit: Invest Detroit is a Detroit-based community development venture investor that co-invests with DVP on local rounds including Maka's pre-seed. Comparable as a Detroit-anchored early-stage investor targeting the same local founder pool and leveraging regional economic-development goals.
• Lerer Hippeau: Lerer Hippeau is a New York-based early-stage venture firm investing in seed and Series A tech companies. Comparable as a similarly-sized early-stage fund focused on backing founders with operational support, though anchored in NYC rather than Detroit.
• SV Angel: SV Angel is a San Francisco-based seed-stage venture firm that backs technology founders across many sectors. Comparable as a small, brand-driven seed/early-stage check-writer, though SV Angel operates at much higher deal volume than DVP.
• Michigan Rise: Michigan Rise is a Michigan-focused pre-seed and seed investor that co-invests with Detroit Venture Partners on rounds such as the $2M Maka pre-seed and the $6M RIVET round. Operates in the same geography and stage band as DVP, with overlapping founder relationships and LP ecosystem.
• Augment Ventures: Augment Ventures is a Michigan-focused early-stage VC that co-invests with DVP on rounds including RIVET. Operates in the same geography and stage band, with similar thesis around Midwest-rooted tech investing.

Broad incumbents

• Lightspeed Venture Partners: Lightspeed is a multi-stage global venture firm that participates in rounds alongside DVP (e.g., co-investor profile across seed and Series A). Comparable as a broader incumbent that overlaps at the Series A stage and competes for the same founders as they scale.
• Battery Ventures: Battery Ventures is a global multi-stage venture firm investing across seed, early, and growth stages in technology. Comparable as a broad incumbent that DVP's portfolio companies may graduate into at Series B and beyond, representing both competition and a potential exit path.

Regional players

• Drive Capital: Drive Capital is a Midwest-anchored venture firm (Columbus, OH) investing across stages in technology companies outside of the Bay Area. Comparable as a regional VC pursuing a similar thesis of building tech ecosystems outside coastal hubs, though at significantly larger fund size.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/detroit-venture-partners
• Xx.com/DVPfund
• Facebookfacebook.com/detroitventurepartners

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments121 records

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

Frequently asked questions about Detroit Venture Partners