Seed-stage VC, US
Acrew Capital
Venture capital firm · San Francisco · Founded 2019
Quick read
Acrew Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2019, headquartered in San Francisco, CA. It manages over $1.7 billion across multiple funds, backing seed-to-growth-stage companies in fintech, cybersecurity, and applied AI. The firm runs a 600+ person 'Crew of Leaders' operator network and a dedicated Diversify Capital Fund that brings women and underrepresented LPs into leading later-stage tech companies.
Key facts
- Founded
- 2019
- Founders
- Theresia Gouw, Lauren Kolodny, Vishal Lugani, Asad Khaliq, Mark Kraynak
- Employees
- 53
- Sectors
- fintech, security, ai, saas
- Website
- www.acrewcapital.com
Investment thesis
Acrew backs early-stage companies in fintech, cybersecurity, and applied AI, writing $1–15M checks from Seed through Series A, and deploys $10–20M growth checks through its Inflection Fund. The firm deliberately prioritises diverse perspectives — at the GP, LP, and portfolio level — arguing this produces better investment decisions and broader wealth creation.
Recent activity
- Jan 2026leadershipAliisa Rosenthal, former Head of Sales at OpenAI, joined Acrew Capital as General Partner. She was OpenAI's first commercial hire and scaled its enterprise revenue from roughly $10M to $10B, overseeing commercial launches of the OpenAI API, DALL·E, and ChatGPT Enterprise. At Acrew she'll focus on early-stage AI investments and founder go-to-market support. vcwire.tech
- Jan 2026pressMark Kraynak spoke with CTech about Acrew's approach to Israeli cybersecurity investments in Q1 2026, noting M&A remains the more realistic exit path over IPOs for Israeli security companies this year. cbinsights.com
- 2025pressCo-founder Theresia Gouw was named by Forbes in 2025 as the first self-made female billionaire in venture capital in America, and has appeared on the Forbes Midas List nine times. pitchwise.se
- Oct 2024fundraiseAcrew raised $700M in new capital across its investment vehicles, bringing total AUM to over $1.7B. startupintros.com
- Jan 2026leadershipAcrew Capital added Aliisa Rosenthal as General Partner. Rosenthal was OpenAI's first commercial hire and led its sales organization, scaling enterprise revenue from roughly $10 million to roughly $10 billion. She oversaw the commercial launches of the OpenAI API, DALL·E, and ChatGPT Enterprise. At Acrew she will focus on early-stage AI investments and work with founders on go-to-market strategy, pricing, sales architecture, and enterprise readiness. vcwire.tech
- Nov 2024pressAcrew Capital partnered with Money20/20 to publish the 'ALL IN ON AI: Financial Services Adoption Index 2024', finding that 167 of 221 top financial services companies globally had launched AI initiatives since January 2023. asia.money2020.com
- Oct 2024fundraiseAcrew Capital raised $700 million in new capital, bringing total AUM to over $1.7 billion. The raise spans the firm's early-stage strategy (checks of $1M–$15M into seed and Series A) and its growth-stage discovery strategy (checks of $10M–$20M for Series B and C). aventure.vc
- Jun 2022investmentAcrew Capital led a $53 million Series B round in HYCU, a multi-cloud backup and recovery company. Atlassian Ventures and Cisco Investments also participated. HYCU had raised a total of $140.5 million since inception following the close. fintech.global
- undatedinvestmentAcrew Capital led a $30 million Series B round in Moderne, a developer platform for AI-supported code refactoring and tech debt remediation. Co-investors included Morgan Stanley, Amex Ventures, TIAA Ventures, Allstate, Intel Capital, and True Ventures. lowenstein.com
- undatedinvestmentAcrew Capital led a $20 million Series A extension round in Nomad Homes, a software-enabled residential real estate marketplace operating in Europe and the Middle East. Other participants included 01 Advisors, Abstract Ventures, and Partech. lowenstein.com
- undatedinvestmentAcrew Capital participated in a $35 million Series C round for Coin Metrics, a crypto financial intelligence provider serving institutional clients with on-chain data, market data, indexes, and network risk solutions. lowenstein.com
- Apr 2026investmentAcrew Capital participated in the seed round of Formulary Financial, an AI-native fund administrator that emerged from stealth with $4.6 million led by Khosla Ventures. zoominfo.com
Notable investments
- Wispr FlowSeries B ($280M)2026linkedin.com
- CatenaSeries A ($30M)2026linkedin.com
- MonkSeries A ($25M)2025linkedin.com
- GlideSeries A ($15M)2025linkedin.com
- Savi SecuritySeed ($7M)2025linkedin.com
- HYCUSeries BJun 2022fintech.global
- ModerneSeries Bundatedlowenstein.com
- Nomad HomesSeries A Extensionundatedlowenstein.com
- Coin MetricsSeries Cundatedlowenstein.com
- Aqua SecurityundisclosedMar 2021unicornalert.io
- At-BayundisclosedDec 2020unicornalert.io
- HMBradleyundisclosedNov 2020unicornalert.io
Key people
Named individuals at the firm. We don't expose direct email or phone — use their LinkedIn for outreach.
- Theresia Gouw · Founding Managing Partner
- Lauren Kolodny · Founding Managing Partner
- Vishal Lugani · General Partner, Co-Founder
- Asad Khaliq · Founding Partner
- Mark Kraynak · Founding Partner
- Aliisa Rosenthal · General Partner
Sources
- Acrew Capital: Funding, Team & Investors | Startup Intros
- Acrew Capital Adds Former OpenAI Head of Sales Aliisa Rosenthal as General Partner
- Aliisa Rosenthal Joins Acrew Capital as General Partner
- Acrew Capital - VC Fund Breakdown
- Acrew Capital – Info, Investments & Portfolio
- Ditto Closes $45 Million Series A Funding Round
- Acrew Capital - 2026 Investor Profile | Tracxn
- Lauren Kolodny - Wikipedia
- https://asia.money2020.com/media/press-office/62-money-2020-asia-acrew-capital-and-money2020-index-finds-almost-80-percent-of-asian-companies-have-a-launched-an-ai-initiative
- https://aventure.vc/news/2024-10-18-acrew-capital-hits-five-years-raises-700m
- https://fintech.global/2022/06/14/acrew-capital-backs-hycu-in-53m-series-b/
- https://www.lowenstein.com/news-insights/firm-news/lowenstein-represents-acrew-capital-as-lead-investor-in-series-b-financing-round-for-moderne
- https://www.lowenstein.com/news-insights/firm-news/lowenstein-represents-acrew-capital-in-series-a-extension-round-in-proptech-startup-nomad-homes
- https://www.lowenstein.com/news-insights/firm-news/lowenstein-represents-acrew-capital-in-series-c-funding-for-coin-metrics-leading-provider-of-crypto-financial-intelligence
- https://www.cbinsights.com/investor/acrew-capital
- https://www.pitchwise.se/investors/acrew-capital
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Frequently asked
What is Acrew Capital?+
Acrew Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2019, headquartered in San Francisco, CA. It manages over $1.
Where is Acrew Capital headquartered?+
Acrew Capital is headquartered in San Francisco, United States.
When was Acrew Capital founded?+
Acrew Capital was founded in 2019 by Theresia Gouw, Lauren Kolodny, Vishal Lugani, Asad Khaliq, Mark Kraynak.
What sectors does Acrew Capital invest in?+
Acrew Capital focuses on fintech, security, ai, saas. They primarily invest in these sectors.
How do I prepare for a meeting with Acrew Capital?+
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