Seven Hill Ventures
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.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2026
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
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.
Seven Hill Ventures firmographics
Firmographics- 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
Seven Hill Ventures industry classification
Industry- 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
Where Seven Hill Ventures is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Seven Hill Ventures business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- 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
Seven Hill Ventures product offering
Product offeringCore 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
Companies that use Seven Hill Ventures
Customer profileSegments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Seven Hill Ventures technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Seven Hill Ventures partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Village GlobalcoreVillage 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
Seven Hill Ventures competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect 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
Seven Hill Ventures social profiles
Digital presenceSeven Hill Ventures financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Seven Hill Ventures leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Seven Hill Ventures funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Seven Hill Ventures M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments1 record
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Seven Hill Ventures
What does Seven Hill Ventures do?
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.
Is Seven Hill Ventures a public or private company?
Seven Hill Ventures is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Seven Hill Ventures founded?
Seven Hill Ventures was founded in 2026. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Seven Hill Ventures based?
Seven Hill Ventures is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does Seven Hill Ventures make money?
One revenue line is on record: venture Capital Returns.
Who are Seven Hill Ventures's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are NightDragon, Team8, ForgePoint Capital, DataTribe, Cyberstarts, YL Ventures, AllegisCyber and Merlin Ventures. Broad incumbents are Bessemer Venture Partners and Accel.
Does Seven Hill Ventures have an API?
No public API is recorded for Seven Hill Ventures.
What industry is Seven Hill Ventures in?
Seven Hill Ventures's product category is Venture Capital. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSANAAAD, Sector-Focused Venture Capital (Vertical Specialists). Its NAICS code is 523940 and its SIC code is 6282.