Long Journey Ventures

Quick read

Long Journey Ventures is a seed and pre-seed VC firm founded in 2019 (formerly Edelweiss), headquartered in San Francisco, CA. The firm describes itself as the 'second believers' in unconventional founders, writing $500K–$2M checks into companies at the napkin stage. In March 2025 it closed Fund IV at $181.8M, doubling its AUM.

Key facts

Founded

2019

Founders

Cyan Banister

Employees

11-50

Sectors

generalist

Website

www.longjourney.vc

Investment thesis

Long Journey backs 'magically weird' founders at seed and pre-seed, writing $500K–$2M checks into companies — often before others see the idea as credible. The firm targets outliers across generalist sectors including AI, deep tech, robotics, and biotech, with a stated 6–7 year outlook to exit.

Recent activity

• Mar 2025fundraise
  Long Journey closed its fourth fund, Long Journey IV, at $181.8 million. The fund backs what the firm calls "magically weird" founders across AI, bioscience, and other sectors at pre-seed to Series A. bloomberg.com
• Mar 2025press
  Bloomberg TV featured Cyan Banister and Lee Jacobs discussing Long Journey's "second believer" investment philosophy alongside the Long Journey IV announcement. x.com
• 2025investment
  Rainmaker raised a $25M Series A led by Lowercarbon Capital, with Long Journey participating alongside Naval Ravikant, Acequia Capital, Drover Ventures, and Sovereigns Cap. Rainmaker runs precipitation enhancement operations across the US. x.com
• 2024investment
  Long Journey participated in a $7M raise for The Normal Brand alongside Ridge Ventures, FirstMark, Flex Capital, Seguin Ventures, and Adverb Ventures. linkedin.com
• 2024investment
  Rainmaker raised a $6.3M seed round from Long Journey, 1517 Fund, Starship VC, and Tamarack Global before its Series A. x.com
• Mar 2026product
  Long Journey launched the Long Journey Residency at Edge Esmeralda in Healdsburg, CA — 13 fully sponsored spots for founders building at the pre-commercial stage, running alongside a 500+ person builder community. Applications closed March 31. linkedin.com
• Mar 2026leadership
  Long Journey is recruiting an Associate to support its investment team, posting the role publicly via LinkedIn. linkedin.com
• Mar 2026investment
  As of March 2026, Long Journey has invested in 92 companies with 19 new investments in the prior 12 months. Most recent disclosed deal was participation in Atlys's Series C round. tracxn.com
• Mar 2025fundraise
  Long Journey closed Fund IV at $181,818,181.80, doubling the firm's AUM. The fund continues the firm's 'second believers' strategy at seed and pre-seed. cbinsights.com
• Mar 2025press
  Bloomberg reported the Fund IV close, describing the firm as co-led by Cyan Banister, Arielle Zuckerberg, and Lee Jacobs, after five years operating without a public profile. cbinsights.com
• Jan 2026investment
  Long Journey backed Unusual in a Seed VC - II round, its most recent recorded investment per Crunchbase as of January 5, 2026. cbinsights.com
• Mar 2026product
  Long Journey announced a residency program at Edge Esmeralda in Healdsburg, CA — 13 fully sponsored spots for early-stage founders, with applications closing March 31, 2026. linkedin.com

Notable investments

• AtlysSeries C2026tracxn.com
• RainmakerSeries A2025x.com
• The Normal BrandUndisclosed2024linkedin.com
• RainmakerSeed2024x.com
• UnusualSeedJan 2026cbinsights.com
• Myriad AISeed2025app.dealroom.co
• HeaveSeed2025app.dealroom.co
• VibeCodeSeed2025app.dealroom.co
• Rainmaker CorpSeed2025x.com
• SourcetableSeed2025crunchbase.com
• AnchrSeedMar 2026tracxn.com
• Artemis (fka Monalee)SeedMar 2026tracxn.com

Key people

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

• Cyan Banister · General Partner & Founder
• Lee Jacobs · Partner
  LinkedIn
• Arielle Zuckerberg · Partner
• Brian Balfour · Partner
• Jonathan Bruck · Partner
• Pascal Levy-Garboua · Partner
• Elaine Wherry · Partner
• Scott Banister · Venture Partner

Sources

• Long Journey Ventures — Homepage
• Long Journey: Coming of Age — Fund IV Announcement
• Team — Long Journey Ventures
• News — Long Journey Ventures
• Long Journey Ventures — CB Insights
• Long Journey Ventures — Tracxn
• Long Journey Ventures — Crunchbase
• Long Journey Ventures — X (Twitter)
• Long Journey Ventures — Dealroom
• https://www.linkedin.com/company/longjourney
• https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2025-03-19/cyan-banister-arielle-zuckerberg-raise-181-million-to-back-magical-weirdos
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/lee-jacobs

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