Seven Hill Ventures

What Seven Hill Ventures does

Seven Hill Ventures is a privately-held venture capital firm based in San Francisco that invests exclusively in pre-seed and seed-stage cybersecurity companies. Founded by Michael Coates — a veteran cybersecurity operator who served as the first CISO at Twitter, head of security at Mozilla, CISO at CoinList, and Chairman of the OWASP Foundation, and who previously co-founded and exited cloud security startup Altitude Networks in 2022 — the firm is structured as a thesis-driven specialist vehicle rather than a generalist fund. Its stated focus spans cybersecurity disciplines including AI security, identity, secure software lifecycle, data protection, encryption, network security, cloud protection, and emerging threats, with a geographic footprint across the United States and Israel.

The firm operates a small team (1-10 employees) and competes for deal flow through a combination of direct founder outreach, an operator/CISO referral network, a CISO Advisory Board (including security leaders from NFL, Axon, and Surf AI), and a strategic sourcing partnership with Village Global through the Velocity Program. Its go-to-market model leverages the founding partner's industry profile via conference keynotes, congressional testimony, and earned media to build inbound founder awareness. The portfolio — including Sola Security, Cider Security (acquired by Palo Alto Networks for $300M), Defakto Security, Noma Security, Fletch (acquired by F5), Resourcely (acquired by AnySphere), Lucidum (acquired by Cyderes), Kenzo Security (acquired by Rapid7), Project Discovery, Strongest Layer, DevArmor, NightVision, Adversa AI, and ChatSee.ai — evidences a multi-vintage exit track record that materially exceeds typical early-stage expectations.

Revenue generation follows standard venture fund economics: management fees on committed capital plus carried interest on portfolio exits. No revenue, AUM, fund size, or LP composition is publicly disclosed; income is therefore concentrated, lumpy, and back-end weighted on realizations. The firm does not produce a software product, and its operating leverage comes from founder relationships, advisory inputs, and partner credibility rather than recurring contract revenue.

Name

Seven Hill Ventures

Legal name

Seven Hill Ventures

Website

https://sevenhillventures.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2026

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Seven Hill Ventures is a San Francisco-based venture capital firm founded by former Twitter CISO Michael Coates, investing exclusively in pre-seed and seed-stage cybersecurity companies across the United States and Israel.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

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

Keywords

• Venture capital investing
• Cybersecurity investments
• Pre-seed funding
• Seed stage capital
• Startup investment

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

Revenue model

1. Venture Capital Returns: Seven Hill Ventures generates returns through equity investments in early-stage cybersecurity startups. Their revenue model is based on traditional VC fund economics including management fees and carried interest from successful portfolio company exits. They have demonstrated exits including Cider Security (acquired by Palo Alto Networks for $300M), Fletch (acquired by F5), and other portfolio companies.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Seven Hill Ventures is a venture capital firm that invests at the pre-seed and seed stages in early-stage cybersecurity companies. The firm provides capital along with operator expertise, hands-on partnership, product-market-fit guidance, fundraising strategy support, and access to a CISO advisory board. Its investment focus spans AI security, identity, secure software lifecycle, data protection, encryption, network security, and cloud protection, with a geographic focus on the United States and Israel.

Product overview

Seven Hill Ventures is a venture capital firm that backs pre-seed and seed-stage cybersecurity companies. Rather than offering a unified product platform, the firm provides operator expertise, strategic partnership, and investment capital to cybersecurity founders. The firm focuses on early-stage companies developing solutions across AI security, identity, secure software lifecycle, data protection, encryption, network security, cloud protection, and emerging cyber threats. The investment portfolio includes companies such as Sola Security, Cider Security (acquired by Palo Alto Networks), Defakto Security, Noma Security, Fletch (acquired by F5), Resourcely (acquired by AnySphere), Lucidum (acquired by Cyderes), Kenzo Security (acquired by Rapid7), Project Discovery, Strongest Layer, DevArmor, NightVision, and Adversa AI.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Pre-Seed Cybersecurity Investment
• Seed-Stage Cybersecurity Investment
• Village Global Velocity Program

Segments3 records

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.

• Village GlobalcoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 May 2025Village Global partnership through the Velocity Program provides capital, peer cohort access, and network opportunities specifically for pre-seed cybersecurity founders. Seven Hill Ventures serves as the cybersecurity expertise partner in this program, combining Village Global's network and capital with Seven Hill's operational cybersecurity expertise.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• NightDragon: Cybersecurity, safety, security, and privacy-focused investment firm, comparable in pure-play cybersecurity mandate across growth stages with deep industry advisor network.
• Team8: Israel-based cybersecurity-focused venture firm that builds and backs cyber companies with deep operator involvement, comparable in vertical specialization, operator-led model, and Israel/US geographic focus.
• ForgePoint Capital: Premier cybersecurity-focused venture capital firm investing across early and growth stages, with a comparable sector mandate and significant cybersecurity portfolio, though typically writing larger checks than pre-seed.
• DataTribe: Cybersecurity-focused seed-stage venture firm originating companies from the US intelligence community, comparable in pre-seed/seed mandate and cyber-specific operator network.
• Cyberstarts: Israel/US cybersecurity-focused seed venture fund led by Gili Raanan, providing early-stage capital and founder support; directly comparable in stage, sector focus, and operator-led approach.
• YL Ventures: Silicon Valley- and Israel-focused venture capital firm specializing exclusively in early-stage cybersecurity startups, with a similar pre-seed/seed focus and a track record of exits. Highly comparable in mandate, geography, and stage.
• AllegisCyber: Early-stage cybersecurity-focused venture capital firm investing across the security stack, comparable in vertical specialization and stage focus with an established portfolio of cyber exits.
• Merlin Ventures: Cybersecurity-focused venture firm providing go-to-market support and capital to early-stage cyber companies, comparable in vertical specialization and operator-led support model.

Broad incumbents

• Bessemer Venture Partners: Large multi-stage venture firm with a dedicated cybersecurity practice; competes for similar early-stage cyber deals but as part of a much broader sector mandate across stages and verticals.
• Accel: Global venture firm with an established cybersecurity portfolio and cyber-focused partners; competes for cyber deals but operates a generalist, multi-stage mandate rather than pure-play focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/seven-hill-ventures

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Seven Hill Ventures