What Alif does

Alif is a venture capital firm that invests at the earliest stage in Muslim-founded startups. Headquartered in an 8,000 sq. ft. space in San Francisco, the firm deploys up to $500,000 in funding and up to $750,000 in partner credits per company, paired with operational support covering first-hire recruiting, initial revenue traction, and graduation from seed to Series A.

The firm's core offerings are two structured programs: an Investment Program sourced through a rolling application on alif.build, and a Co-Invest Program for accredited angels, syndicates, funds, and family offices. Deal flow is generated through a community flywheel that includes the Alif Summit (Feb 2025), the Tournament no-code hackathon co-hosted with Replit (Jan 2026), Founder Dinners, Demo Days co-hosted with Mamoon Hamid, and recurring Office Hours at HQ. A named portfolio of 10+ companies spans AI/voice (Pam, HeyClicky), cybersecurity (Strix), search/entertainment (Lore), healthcare AI (Flexbone, Klarify, Waive), real estate tech (Zown, Automax), and local-creator marketing (TryNearby), with recent cross-fund activity including a $1.5M Swish Solar seed alongside Friday Ventures, Velocity Fund, Front Row Ventures, and Suno Growth.

Alif's economics follow a standard venture model: equity-stake investing with returns realized upon exits, IPOs, or secondary sales. The team is intentionally lean—five named members led by General Partner Omar Waseem—and there is no disclosure of AUM, fund size, or management economics in the source materials.

Name

Alif

Legal name

Alif

Website

https://alif.build

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Alif is a San Francisco-based pre-seed and seed venture capital firm that invests up to $500K plus $750K in partner credits in Muslim founders at the earliest stage, supporting portfolio companies with recruiting, revenue, and Series A graduation via its community ecosystem.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Early-Stage Venture Capital

NAICS

All Other Financial Investment Activities (52399), Other Financial Investment Activities (5239)

SIC

Finance Services (6199)

akta.pro primary industry

Accelerators & Incubators (Investor-Operated) (FSANAAAM)

akta.pro secondary industry

Micro-VC & Angel Funds (FSANAAAI)

Keywords

• Venture capital funding
• Pre-seed investment
• Startup incubation
• Co-investment program
• Founder community

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

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, Others

Revenue model

1. Equity Investment Returns: Alif invests up to $500K in funding and $750K in credits in exchange for equity stakes in early-stage startups. The firm generates returns through successful portfolio company exits, IPOs, or secondary sales. As a VC firm, revenue is realized upon exit events or distributions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Alif is a venture capital firm that invests up to $500K in funding plus up to $750K in partner credits into exceptional Muslim founders at the pre-seed and seed stages, while also operating a co-invest program for accredited investors. The firm supplements capital with operational support (first-hire recruiting, revenue traction, seed-to-Series A graduation) and runs a community ecosystem including summits, hackathons, founder dinners, demo days, and office hours at its 8,000 sq. ft. San Francisco HQ.

Product overview

Alif is a venture capital firm that partners with exceptional Muslim founders at the earliest stage. The firm operates two core offerings: an Investment Program providing up to $500k in funding plus $750k in partner credits to help founders recruit first hires and find real revenue, and a Co-Invest Program enabling accredited investors to participate in funding rounds alongside Alif. The firm maintains a portfolio of companies including Pam (voice AI for car dealerships), Strix (open-source pentesting agents), HeyClicky (voice-first AI for desktop), Lore (fandom search engine), Flexbone (secure AI for healthcare), Zown (homeownership pathway), Klarify (AI for therapists), Automax (property appraisals), TryNearby (local business creator connections), and Waive (healthcare efficiency AI).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Alif Investment Program Pre-seed and seed-stage venture capital investment program for exceptional Muslim founders, providing up to $500K in capital and up to $750K in partner credits, plus operational support covering first-hire recruiting, revenue traction, and graduation from seed to Series A. Accepted founders receive office hours, IRL pop-ups, weekly check-ins, and guest lectures at Alif's San Francisco HQ.
• Alif Co-Invest Program Program for accredited investors (angels, syndicates/SPV leads, funds/VCs, family offices) to co-invest in Alif's early-stage portfolio companies. Collects investor profile, investment history, and check size preferences to identify alignment opportunities.

Named customers10 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• ReplitcoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2026Replit officially hosted the Alif Tournament hackathon in January 2026. Replit CEO Amjad Masad co-hosted the event alongside Ramy Youssef and Noor Siddiqui. The Tournament is described as 'the world's greatest no-code hackathon.'

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• SoGal Ventures: Early-stage VC investing in diverse founders across the US and globally, with a focus on underrepresented groups. Closely comparable in targeting a specific founder demographic, providing capital plus community, and operating at the pre-seed/seed stage.
• Precursor Ventures: Pre-seed/seed micro-VC firm investing across a wide range of founders, recognized for high-volume initial checks and community-led sourcing. Comparable to Alif in check size (sub-$1M), stage focus, and community-led deal flow approach.
• Harlem Capital Partners: Early-stage VC investing in minority-founded companies and companies founded by diverse teams. Comparable in its identity-aligned investment thesis and pre-seed/seed focus to Alif, with a built-out community platform for portfolio companies.
• Visible Hands: Community-driven VC fund focused on backing underrepresented talent across the US, combining pre-seed/seed capital with hands-on programming and a founder community. Operates on a similar playbook to Alif, just serving a different identity-based segment.
• Backstage Capital: Pre-seed/seed venture fund backing underrepresented founders (by gender, race, sexual orientation, etc.). Operates a similar community-driven model with accelerator programs for the founders it serves, making it the closest analog to Alif's identity-focused, early-stage thesis.
• Cake Ventures: Early-stage fund investing in founders shaping the future of food, health, and responsible business, with explicit focus on diverse founding teams. Comparable pre-seed/seed fund targeting underrepresented or values-aligned founders.
• MaC Venture Capital: Early-stage VC investing in seed and Series A startups, with a thesis that centers culture, creativity, and community in product-market fit. Close analog to Alif's blend of capital plus strong community programming and identity-aware thesis.
• Collab Fund: Early-stage venture fund investing primarily in Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and other underrepresented founders, providing community, capital, and resources. Direct functional comparable to Alif's identity-driven, community-led investing approach.

Broad incumbents

• Antler: Global early-stage VC with a fellowship/incubator model that backs exceptional founders globally across geographies, often before product-market fit. Comparable to Alif in its 'first believer' pre-seed model and community-driven sourcing, though at much larger scale and broader segment focus.

Emerging players

• Z Fellows: Fellowship and pre-seed investment program for technical founders building consumer products. Partial overlap with Alif in providing early-stage capital to young founders and community programming, though serving a broader demographic.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/alifdotbuild
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/alifdotbuild

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments1 record

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

Frequently asked questions about Alif