Human Essentials
Sente Ventures (Sente Foundry, LLC) is a Chicago-based early-stage venture capital firm that invests equity and structured capital into DeepTech startups and scaleups worldwide across advanced manufacturing, materials, and energy-transition technologies.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2016
- HeadquartersChicago, United States
- Headcount—
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Human Essentials does
Sente Ventures, the operating brand of Sente Foundry, LLC (also referenced as "Human Essentials" in source labeling), is a privately held, early-stage venture capital firm headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, with a registered European entity (Sente Foundry UK Ltd., London) and country operations in Turkey. Founded in 2016 by Serhat Cicekoglu, the firm invests equity into breakthrough DeepTech startups and growth companies across advanced manufacturing, materials and energy-transition technologies, citing engagements with more than 600 startups across 20 countries and direct investments in 40+ companies spanning 19 jurisdictions including the United States, Turkey, Israel, Taiwan, Germany and the United Kingdom.
The firm's platform is organized into two coordinated offerings: Sente Ventures, which provides early-stage equity capital and operational mentorship to DeepTech startups, and Sente Capital, which deploys proprietary capital structures — including debt and quasi-equity instruments — to finance "first-of-a-kind" (FOAK) factories and industrial facilities for DeepTech scaleups. Distribution is direct: the partners engage founders, private investors and financial institutions through their personal networks, alumni ties (University of Chicago Booth, Istanbul Technical University) and judged programs (e.g., World Bank), without intermediated channels.
Sente generates revenue from two streams: equity appreciation and exits on its venture portfolio, and transaction-based economics on Sente Capital's structured capital deployments. The team is intentionally small (six named members including the founder, COO Gerod Carfantan, Country Manager Ozan Tuncer, Venture Partner Ilkay Demirdag, external expert Kathrin Ohle, and team member Berkant Kaya), with backgrounds spanning VC, investment banking (Deutsche Bank, TD Securities, BNP Paribas, Societe Generale, Fortis) and enterprise technology (Cisco, VMware, Siemens, EMC). No financials, AUM, fund vintages, or exits are publicly disclosed.
Human Essentials firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Human Essentials
- Legal name
- Sente Foundry, LLC
- Website
- https://sente.vc
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2016
- Operating status
- Operating
- Short description
- Sente Ventures (Sente Foundry, LLC) is a Chicago-based early-stage venture capital firm that invests equity and structured capital into DeepTech startups and scaleups worldwide across advanced manufacturing, materials, and energy-transition technologies.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Human Essentials industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Venture Capital — Food Industry
- NAICS
- Other Financial Investment Activities (5239)
- SIC
- Security Brokers, Dealers & Flotation Companies (6211)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Midstream & Downstream Energy Infrastructure Funds (Pipelines, Terminals, LNG) (FSANAEAC)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Commodity Risk Management, Hedging & Brokerage (Food) (AFAIAKAK)
Keywords
Where Human Essentials is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Chicago
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Human Essentials business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Early-stage equity investments: Equity investments in breakthrough DeepTech startups around the world in advanced manufacturing, materials and energy transition technologies. Generates returns through equity appreciation and exits.
- Sente Capital: Proprietary capital structures for funding first-of-a-kind industrial facilities. Returns generated through debt instruments and equity participation in scaleup companies.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels5 records
Human Essentials product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Human Essentials invests in the value chain of food industries. As a portfolio entity within the Sente Ventures ecosystem (Sente Foundry, LLC), it focuses on deploying capital across upstream, midstream, and downstream segments of the food sector, including production, processing, and distribution. The entity leverages the broader Sente platform's network and proprietary capital structures to support food industry investments.
Product overview
Sente Ventures operates as an investment platform consisting of two core offerings: Sente Ventures (early-stage equity investments in DeepTech startups) and Sente Capital (proprietary capital structures for FOAK factory and industrial facility funding). The platform addresses gaps in capital markets for startups and scaleups in advanced manufacturing, materials, and energy transition technologies.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Companies that use Human Essentials
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Human Essentials technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature1 record
Human Essentials partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor.
- University of Chicago Booth School of BusinessminorGerod Carfantan received his MBA from University of Chicago's Booth School of Business, and Serhat Cicekoglu studied Entrepreneurship and Finance at Booth School - indicating alumni network and potential academic partnership.
- Istanbul Technical UniversityminorSerhat Cicekoglu graduated from Istanbul Technical University (studied Industrial Engineering), and Ilkay Demirdag is an Istanbul Technical University graduate - indicating academic network and potential partnership.
- World Bank ProgramsminorSerhat Cicekoglu has served as a frequent judge at World Bank programs, indicating involvement in international development initiatives and potential partnership.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Human Essentials competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Lux Capital: Early-stage VC focused on DeepTech 'frontier' science and engineering across energy, materials, manufacturing, and infrastructure. Similar category-level overlap with Sente Ventures' portfolio.
- Congruent Ventures: Early-stage venture firm investing in industrials, energy, and sustainability-focused DeepTech startups. Directly aligned with Sente's industrial / energy transition portfolio.
- Clean Energy Ventures: Seed-stage VC exclusively focused on early-stage climate-tech and energy-transition startups, including advanced manufacturing. Highly comparable thesis to Sente Ventures' energy transition mandate.
- DCVC (Data Collective): DeepTech-focused early-stage VC investing in advanced materials, manufacturing, energy, and computational platforms. Closely aligned with Sente's advanced manufacturing and materials thesis.
- Prelude Ventures: Early-stage DeepTech and climate-tech investor focused on advanced materials, energy and industrial decarbonization. Directly comparable to Sente's industrial DeepTech focus.
- Breakthrough Energy Ventures: Bill Gates-backed early-stage VC investing in DeepTech and energy-transition startups, including advanced manufacturing and materials. Most direct comparison to Sente Ventures' DeepTech/energy transition mandate at a much larger AUM scale.
Broad incumbents
- Energy Impact Partners (EIP): Large-scale investment platform partnering with utilities and corporates to fund energy transition and decarbonization startups. Compares to Sente Capital's energy-infrastructure syndication model.
- Obvious Ventures: Mission-driven VC investing in transformative companies across energy, food, and transportation. Overlaps with Sente's broader industrial-DeepTech and food value-chain themes.
- Khosla Ventures: Large, established venture firm with significant DeepTech and clean-energy exposure. Broader portfolio and far larger AUM than Sente, but overlapping sectors across advanced manufacturing and energy transition.
Emerging players
- S2G Ventures: VC investing across the food and agriculture value chain, with a focus on technology-enabled transformation. Comparable to the food-industry value-chain investment thesis indicated in Human Essentials' description.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights5 records
Customer concentration
Human Essentials social profiles
Digital presenceHuman Essentials financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Human Essentials leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Human Essentials funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Human Essentials M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Human Essentials
What does Human Essentials do?
Human Essentials invests in the value chain of food industries. As a portfolio entity within the Sente Ventures ecosystem (Sente Foundry, LLC), it focuses on deploying capital across upstream, midstream, and downstream segments of the food sector, including production, processing, and distribution. The entity leverages the broader Sente platform's network and proprietary capital structures to support food industry investments.
Is Human Essentials a public or private company?
Human Essentials is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Human Essentials founded?
Human Essentials was founded in 2016.
Where is Human Essentials based?
Human Essentials is headquartered in Chicago, United States, in the North America region.
How does Human Essentials make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Early-stage equity investments are the primary driver. The others are sente Capital.
Who are Human Essentials's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Lux Capital, Congruent Ventures, Clean Energy Ventures, DCVC (Data Collective), Prelude Ventures and Breakthrough Energy Ventures. Broad incumbents are Energy Impact Partners (EIP), Obvious Ventures and Khosla Ventures. S2G Ventures is listed as an emerging player.
Does Human Essentials have an API?
No public API is recorded for Human Essentials.
What industry is Human Essentials in?
Human Essentials's product category is Venture Capital — Food Industry. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSANAEAC, Midstream & Downstream Energy Infrastructure Funds (Pipelines, Terminals, LNG), with a secondary code of AFAIAKAK, Commodity Risk Management, Hedging & Brokerage (Food). Its NAICS code is 5239 and its SIC code is 6211.