Stellation Capital

What Stellation Capital does

Stellation Capital is a Brooklyn-based venture capital firm founded in 2021 by Peter Boyce II, a former General Catalyst partner. The firm invests at the formation stage of companies, leading and co-leading rounds with check sizes of $500K to $2.5M. Its stated investment thesis — "Present Before Proof" — targets founders on the verge across four thematic verticals: Minds (human potential), Systems (software infrastructure), Markets (economic coordination), and Worlds (the physical future). The portfolio of approximately 14 companies includes Enigma, Koodos, Strobe, Revin, Prompt Layer, GoClai, Software Applications Inc (SAI, acquired by OpenAI), Swsh, Tapestry, Grata, and Shared Context Lab; one earlier investment, Zeen, raised $9M before shutting down in 2023. Beyond capital, the firm provides recruiting support, fundraising counsel, strategic advice, and access to a peer-founder community to help portfolio companies reach escape velocity.

The firm operates with a lean team of 1–10 people, including Founder & Managing Partner Peter Boyce II, Principal Rhian Horton (Duke; former COO at JUV Consulting), and Chief of Staff Vanessa Rosario (formerly Chief of Staff at sbe Lifestyle Hospitality). There is no proprietary technology platform; the firm's "product" is capital allocation, founder selection, and post-investment support. Its business model is the standard venture model: management fees on committed capital plus carried interest from exits — with returns concentrated in episodic outcomes such as the SAI acquisition by OpenAI. Distribution is direct, founder-to-investor, with deal sourcing driven by Peter Boyce II's prior General Catalyst network and the firm's evolving portfolio community.

Name

Stellation Capital

Legal name

Stellation Capital

Website

https://www.stellation.vc

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Stellation Capital is a Brooklyn-based venture capital firm founded in 2021 that invests at the formation stage with $500K–$2.5M checks across four themes — Minds, Systems, Markets, and Worlds — backing early founders and supporting them through recruiting, fundraising, and community.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Other Investment Pools and Funds (5259)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Micro-VC & Angel Funds (FSANAAAI)

Keywords

• Venture capital investing
• Formation-stage seed funding
• Early-stage equity investment
• Founder capital support
• Startup lead investor

Headquarters

HQ city

Brooklyn

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Venture Capital Returns: Stellation Capital generates returns through equity ownership in portfolio companies. The firm invests at formation stage and provides capital, counsel, and network access to help founders build transcendent companies. Returns are realized through exits such as acquisitions (e.g., SAI acquired by OpenAI) or IPOs.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Stellation Capital is a venture capital firm that invests at the formation stage of companies, leading and co-leading rounds with checks of $500,000 to $2,500,000 in exchange for equity. Beyond capital, the firm provides portfolio founders with recruiting, fundraising, strategic counsel, and community support across four thematic areas: Minds (human potential), Systems (software infrastructure), Markets (economic coordination), and Worlds (the physical future).

Product overview

Stellation Capital is a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage technology startups. The firm backs founders at formation with $500K–$2.5M checks, focusing on four investment themes: Minds (human potential), Systems (software infrastructure), Markets (economic coordination), and Worlds (the physical future). Their portfolio companies include Enigma, koodos, Strobe, Revin, Prompt Layer, goclai, Software Applications Inc, Swsh, Tapestry, Grata, and Shared Context Lab. Stellation Capital does not offer a traditional product or service offering but rather provides capital, strategic counsel, recruiting support, and community to portfolio founders.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Formation-Stage Venture Capital Investment Lead and co-lead equity investment at the formation stage of companies, deploying checks of $500,000 to $2,500,000 in exchange for equity. The service is targeted at exceptional founders and targets four investment themes (Minds, Systems, Markets, Worlds). Returns are realized through portfolio company exits.
• Founder Operating Support (Recruiting, Fundraising, Strategic Counsel, Community) Hands-on post-investment support provided to portfolio founders to help them reach escape velocity, including recruiting assistance, fundraising counsel, strategic advice, and access to a community of peer founders. Delivered to Stellation Capital portfolio companies.

Quantifiable outcome

• SAI (Software Applications Inc) acquired by OpenAI - demonstrating successful exit capability

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• SignalFire: Early-stage venture firm that has co-invested with Stellation (e.g., Swsh $4M seed), operating in a comparable seed-to-Series A bandwidth with a data-driven sourcing approach.
• Cowboy Ventures: Seed-stage venture firm founded by Aileen Lee that has co-invested with Stellation (e.g., Zeen), sharing check size discipline and a focus on backing exceptional early-stage founders.
• BoxGroup: NYC-based micro-VC that invests at the formation/seed stage with small checks, sharing Stellation's early entry positioning, geographic footprint, and founder-first orientation.
• MaC Venture Capital: Seed-to-Series A venture firm that has co-invested with Stellation (e.g., Swsh $4M seed), operating in a comparable formation-stage bandwidth with multi-stage ambitions.
• First Round Capital: Premier seed-stage venture firm that invests in founders at company formation, sharing Stellation's emphasis on early conviction, founder community, and seed-stage check sizing.
• South Park Commons: Community-driven formation-stage fund supporting technical founders before they formally start companies, directly analogous to Stellation's community-building, formation-stage model.
• Lerer Hippeau: NYC-based seed and pre-seed venture firm investing in early-stage consumer and enterprise software startups, directly comparable to Stellation in geography, stage, and check size.
• Game Changers Ventures: Seed-stage venture firm that led the Swsh $4M round with Stellation participating; a directly comparable formation-stage investor with overlapping deal flow and similar check sizes.
• Betaworks: NYC-based formation-stage investor and startup studio that backs founders before product-market fit, sharing Stellation's "present before proof" philosophy and geographic base.

Broad incumbents

• General Catalyst: Large multi-stage venture platform where founder Peter Boyce II was previously a partner; represents the institutional benchmark against which Stellation's formation-stage specialist strategy is measured.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks1 record

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments29 records

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

Frequently asked questions about Stellation Capital