Conviction

Quick read

Conviction (also known as Conviction Partners) is a seed-stage AI-focused VC firm founded in 2022 and headquartered in San Francisco. Sarah Guo launched it with a $101M debut fund after leaving Greylock, then closed Fund II at $230M. The firm backs AI-native and 'Software 3.0' companies at pre-seed and seed, with selective Series A follow-ons.

Key facts

Founded

2022

Founders

Sarah Guo

Employees

3

Sectors

ai, saas, devtools, security, enterprise

Website

conviction.com

Investment thesis

Conviction backs AI-native and 'Software 3.0' companies at pre-seed and seed, with a focus on founders building in AI infrastructure, AI applications, and software infrastructure. The firm intentionally stays small to act as a close partner to founders rather than a capital-at-scale deployer.

Recent activity

• Jun 2026investment
  Conviction participated in Collate's $95M round to automate life sciences paperwork, alongside Redpoint Ventures and First Round Capital. tracxn.com
• Jun 2026investment
  Conviction participated in Tomo's $5M Seed round, alongside Bain Capital Ventures and Basis Set Ventures. tracxn.com
• Apr 2026press
  Fortune published a profile of Sarah Guo covering her path to becoming a top AI investor. en.wikipedia.org
• Jan 2026fundraise
  Conviction Partners Fund II, closed at $230M, began active deployment. Mike Vernal joined as General Partner alongside Sarah Guo, Pranav Reddy, and Bella Garcia-Camargo. f4.fund
• undatedinvestment
  Town AI launched out of beta with a $55M Series A led by a16z, with participation from Forerunner VC, First Round, Alt Cap, and Conviction. twitter.com
• Jun 2026investment
  Conviction invested in Collate, a healthcare technology company, marking the firm's most recent recorded investment. pitchbook.com
• May 2026investment
  Fractile secured $220M for AI chips; Conviction was listed among participating investors. tracxn.com
• Feb 2026investment
  Rowspace raised $50M across Seed and Series A rounds with Conviction among the backers. tracxn.com
• Feb 2026investment
  A Stanford-founded AI scientist startup backed by a16z and Menlo Ventures also counted Conviction among its investors. tracxn.com
• 2025investment
  Town AI launched out of beta with a $55M Series A led by a16z, with Conviction as a continuing backer alongside First Round Capital and Alt Capital. x.com
• Jan 2025leadership
  Mike Vernal, former Sequoia partner, joined Conviction as General Partner, moving the firm from a solo-GP to a two-partner structure. f4.fund
• 2024fundraise
  Conviction closed Fund II at $230M in capital commitments, more than doubling its debut $101M fund. f4.fund

Notable investments

• CollateundisclosedJun 2026tracxn.com
• TomoSeedJun 2026tracxn.com
• Town AISeries Aundatedtwitter.com
• FractileundisclosedMay 2026tracxn.com
• RowspaceSeed / Series AFeb 2026tracxn.com
• Nova IntelligenceSeedMay 2026pitchbook.com
• CorridorSeed2024linkedin.com
• HarveySeed2023crunchbase.com
• FractileUnknownMay 2026tracxn.com

Key people

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

• Sarah Guo · Founder & General Partner
  LinkedIn

Sources

• Sarah Guo - Wikipedia
• Conviction — Investment Thesis & Preferences
• Conviction Partners investment portfolio | PitchBook
• Conviction Partners Portfolio Investments | CB Insights
• Conviction - 2026 Investor Profile, Portfolio & Investment Trends - Tracxn
• Conviction - Crunchbase Company Profile & Funding
• https://x.com/conviction
• https://twitter.com/conviction

Other VCs in United States

• Sequoia Capital · Generalist VC, Menlo Park·
• Andreessen Horowitz · Generalist VC, Menlo Park·
• Benchmark Capital · Early-stage VC, San Francisco·
• Founders Fund · Contrarian VC, San Francisco·
• Khosla Ventures · Multi-stage VC, Menlo Park·
• Greylock Partners · Early-stage VC, Menlo Park

Explore VCs by sector

• AI in United States

Globally

• AI worldwide

Frequently asked