First Light Ventures
First Light Ventures is a privately held, Atlanta-based seed and early-stage venture investor founded in 2009 by CEO Bob Pattillo, operating with 1-10 employees to fund and incubate high-growth-potential startups.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2009
- HeadquartersAtlanta, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What First Light Ventures does
First Light Ventures is a privately held, Atlanta-based seed and early-stage investment firm founded in 2009 by Bob Pattillo, who serves as CEO. Per its stated mandate, the firm identifies, funds, and incubates early-stage enterprises it identifies as having high-growth potential, operating in the manner of a boutique venture capital platform rather than a traditional operating company. The firm runs with a small team of 1-10 employees, consistent with a founder-led, relationship-driven investment approach typical of small seed funds where deal flow and portfolio support concentrate around the principal.
The firm does not appear to operate a product, software platform, or technology offering of its own — its "product" is capital, incubation support, and presumably advisory engagement with portfolio companies. No portfolio holdings, fund size, AUM, LP composition, deal history, or exits are disclosed in the available data. No proprietary technology, AI tooling, or differentiated platform architecture is described; the firm's value proposition to investees and LPs cannot be substantiated from the input beyond the high-level description.
A significant data caveat applies: the primary web source aggregated for this company is a HugeDomains domain-for-sale listing for FirstLightVentures.com, not the firm's own corporate site. This means the firm's actual operating status, current fund activity, and public footprint cannot be verified from the input. The domain being listed for sale at $7,495 may indicate the firm has reduced its active online presence, but it does not by itself confirm that the firm is no longer investing.
First Light Ventures firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- First Light Ventures
- Website
- https://firstlightventures.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2009
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- First Light Ventures is a privately held, Atlanta-based seed and early-stage venture investor founded in 2009 by CEO Bob Pattillo, operating with 1-10 employees to fund and incubate high-growth-potential startups.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
First Light Ventures industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Venture Capital
- NAICS
- All Other Financial Investment Activities (52399)
- SIC
- Investors, Nec (6799)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Early-Stage Venture Capital (Pre-Seed/Seed) (FSANAAAA)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Early-Stage Venture Capital (Series A/B) (FSANAAAB)
Keywords
Where First Light Ventures is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Atlanta
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
First Light Ventures business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Domain purchase - one-time payment |
First Light Ventures product offering
Product offeringCore offering
First Light Ventures is a private venture capital firm that identifies, funds, and incubates seed and early-stage enterprises with high-growth potential. The firm provides equity capital and incubation support to early-stage companies and is headquartered in Atlanta, GA.
Product overview
The source data is from a domain sale listing (HugeDomains) for the domain FirstLightVentures.com, not from the actual First Light Ventures company website. No products, services, or company offerings are described in this source material.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Seed and Early-Stage Equity Investment
- Startup Incubation
Companies that use First Light Ventures
Customer profileIdeal customer profiles1 record
First Light Ventures technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
First Light Ventures partnerships and signals
Strategic signalRecent moves2 records
Expansion highlights1 record
First Light Ventures competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Techstars: Global seed-stage accelerator that combines capital with structured incubation for early-stage founders, the same combined funding-plus-incubation model First Light Ventures describes.
- Y Combinator: Premier seed accelerator providing capital, incubation, and network support to early-stage startups; the benchmark for the seed-funding-plus-incubation model First Light Ventures uses.
- 500 Global (formerly 500 Startups): Early-stage venture investor and accelerator running global seed programs, directly comparable to a small seed-and-incubate fund.
- Antler: Global early-stage VC that both funds and incubates founders from day zero, matching First Light Ventures' early-stage funding-plus-incubation approach.
- Idealab: Long-running technology incubator that both creates and funds early-stage companies; closely analogous business model of incubating and funding seed-stage enterprises.
Regional players
- BIP Ventures: Atlanta-headquartered venture capital firm investing in early and growth-stage companies in the Southeast; directly comparable by both geography and stage focus.
- Valor Ventures: Atlanta-based seed-stage venture firm backing software-driven startups; comparable because of shared Atlanta base and early-stage orientation.
- Engage Ventures: Atlanta-based innovation and venture firm partnering with enterprises and startups in the Southeast; regional peer operating in the same Atlanta early-stage ecosystem.
- Atlanta Technology Angels: Atlanta-area angel investor network funding early-stage technology companies; local alternative capital source competing for the same regional seed deals.
Emerging players
- SeedInvest: Seed-stage investment platform enabling investors to fund early-stage startups; comparable in its seed-stage funding focus and orientation toward high-growth early enterprises.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights5 records
Customer concentration
First Light Ventures social profiles
Digital presenceFirst Light Ventures financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
First Light Ventures leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
First Light Ventures funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
First Light Ventures M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments10 records
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about First Light Ventures
What does First Light Ventures do?
First Light Ventures is a private venture capital firm that identifies, funds, and incubates seed and early-stage enterprises with high-growth potential. The firm provides equity capital and incubation support to early-stage companies and is headquartered in Atlanta, GA.
Is First Light Ventures a public or private company?
First Light Ventures is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was First Light Ventures founded?
First Light Ventures was founded in 2009. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is First Light Ventures based?
First Light Ventures is headquartered in Atlanta, United States, in the North America region.
Who are First Light Ventures's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Techstars, Y Combinator, 500 Global (formerly 500 Startups), Antler and Idealab. Regional players are BIP Ventures, Valor Ventures, Engage Ventures and Atlanta Technology Angels. SeedInvest is listed as an emerging player.
Does First Light Ventures have an API?
No public API is recorded for First Light Ventures.
What industry is First Light Ventures in?
First Light Ventures's product category is Venture Capital. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSANAAAA, Early-Stage Venture Capital (Pre-Seed/Seed), with a secondary code of FSANAAAB, Early-Stage Venture Capital (Series A/B). Its NAICS code is 52399 and its SIC code is 6799.