Pre-seed & seed VC, US

Boldstart Ventures

Venture capital firm · Miami · Founded 2010

Quick read

Boldstart Ventures is a pre-seed and seed VC firm founded in 2010, headquartered in Miami, with roots in New York. The firm writes first checks at the 'inception' stage — often before a product exists — targeting technical founders building AI infrastructure, cybersecurity, and developer tooling. In July 2025, it closed a $250M Fund VII, bringing AUM to $1.1B, and backs 10–12 new founding teams per year across three partners.

Key facts

Founded
2010
Founders
Ed Sim
Employees
21
Sectors
enterprise, devtools, ai, security, saas
Website
boldstart.vc

Investment thesis

Boldstart partners with technical founders at the inception stage — often pre-product and pre-revenue — leading first checks in AI infrastructure, cybersecurity, and developer tooling. The firm targets 10–12 new founding teams per year, writes $500K–$15M initial checks, and acts as a co-founder-like partner, running programs to accelerate enterprise go-to-market from day one.

Recent activity

  • Jul 2025fundraise
    Boldstart closed Fund VII at $250M, branded 'Inception Reloaded', targeting AI infrastructure and application layer startups, cyber, and crypto. The fund brings total AUM to approximately $1.1B. Initial checks range from $500K to $15M, with follow-on capacity through the separate $175M Opportunities Fund III. The firm plans to back 10–12 founding teams per year across three partners. boldstart.vc
  • 2025product
    Boldstart led the inaugural Inception Bootcamp in Boston, run by Partner Ellen Chisa in partnership with SVB. Fourteen founding teams worked in person over two weeks. The firm announced plans to expand the Bootcamp in 2026. boldstart.vc
  • 2025investment
    Portfolio company Reco raised $25M after growing ARR 5x, positioning itself in dynamic SaaS security. Boldstart was an early backer. boldstart.vc
  • 2025investment
    Kustomer raised a $30M Series B led by Norwest Venture Partners. Boldstart had backed the company at inception. boldstart.vc
  • 2025investment
    Grepr emerged from stealth with a $9M inception round co-led by boldstart and Andreessen Horowitz. boldstart.vc
  • 2025investment
    Baz launched an AI code-review agent and announced an inception round co-led by Battery Ventures and boldstart. boldstart.vc
  • 2025investment
    Waldo announced a $10M Series A led by Footwork, with an inception round previously led by boldstart. Waldo targets AI-powered marketing agencies and brand teams. boldstart.vc
  • 2025investment
    ToposBio, co-founded by Ryan Zarcone and Amir Khosrowshahi, received a boldstart inception investment. The company's Topos-1 model generates all-atom protein conformations roughly 1,000x faster than conventional molecular dynamics simulations, targeting previously undruggable protein targets. boldstart.vc
  • Jun 2026investment
    Boldstart led the seed round for Baz, an AI-powered code review agent, co-led with Battery Ventures. The firm also co-invested in Generalist AI's Series B. caplight.com
  • Mar 2026investment
    Surf AI closed a Series A and launched an agentic security platform with $57M in funding. Boldstart participated as a co-investor alongside Accel and Cyberstarts. tracxn.com
  • Feb 2026investment
    Boldstart co-invested in Reco's Series B. Reco had previously grown ARR 5x and raised $25M to advance its dynamic SaaS security offering. caplight.com
  • Jan 2026investment
    Boldstart led a seed round in Topos Bio. Separately, portfolio company Tres Finance was acquired by Fireblocks for $130M. caplight.com

Notable investments

Key people

Named individuals at the firm. We don't expose direct email or phone — use their LinkedIn for outreach.

  • Ed Sim · Founder & General Partner
  • Eliot Durbin · General Partner
  • Ellen Chisa · Partner
  • Jennifer Moy · Chief Operating Officer
  • Rahul Vohra · Works At (role unspecified)

Sources

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Frequently asked

What is Boldstart Ventures?+

Boldstart Ventures is a pre-seed and seed VC firm founded in 2010, headquartered in Miami, with roots in New York. The firm writes first checks at the 'inception' stage — often before a product exists — targeting technical founders building AI infrastructure, cybersecurity, and developer tooling.

Where is Boldstart Ventures headquartered?+

Boldstart Ventures is headquartered in Miami, United States.

When was Boldstart Ventures founded?+

Boldstart Ventures was founded in 2010 by Ed Sim.

What sectors does Boldstart Ventures invest in?+

Boldstart Ventures focuses on enterprise, devtools, ai, security, saas. They primarily invest in these sectors.

How do I prepare for a meeting with Boldstart Ventures?+

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Generated by briefthecall.com from public web sources. Last updated August 20, 2026. Each claim is linked to its source above.

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