Susa Ventures

Quick read

Susa Ventures is a seed-stage venture capital firm founded in 2013 and headquartered in San Francisco, CA. It backs 'spiky founders' at pre-seed and seed with checks of $1M–$3M, focusing on companies with compounding moats—proprietary data, network effects, or scale economies. Of its 100+ portfolio companies, 10% have become unicorns, including Robinhood and Flexport.

Key facts

Founded

2013

Founders

Chad Byers, Leo Polovets, Seth Berman

Employees

6-10

Sectors

ai, fintech, marketplace, enterprise, healthcare

Website

www.susaventures.com

Investment thesis

Susa backs pre-seed and seed-stage founders—primarily in AI, fintech, marketplaces, and enterprise software—who are building businesses with compounding defensive moats such as proprietary data, network effects, or economies of scale. The firm caps its fund size at $125–150M, limits partners to 6–8 active companies, and never takes board seats, keeping full control with founders.

Recent activity

• Jun 2026investment
  Tracxn reports Susa Ventures has completed 15 new investments in the past 12 months, bringing its total portfolio to 196 companies. tracxn.com
• Jun 2026investment
  Susa Ventures led Asymmetric Security's £3M pre-seed round. The UK company combines AI tools with human investigators to speed up cyber incident response and forensic analysis. soapbox.vc
• Jun 2026investment
  Susa Ventures co-led Haladir's (YC W26) seed round alongside BoxGroup, bringing the company's total funding to $4.3M. Haladir is building what it describes as operational superintelligence. linkedin.com
• Dec 2026investment
  Chad Byers published a Substack post announcing Susa's investment in Marble, dated December 12, 2025. susaventures.substack.com
• Dec 2025product
  Susa Ventures announced its 2025–2026 Susa Venture Fellows cohort of 10 fellows. The program lets fellows source and diligence their own deals alongside Susa partners. x.com
• 2025investment
  Susa Ventures participated in Flock's $20M Series B alongside Renegade Partners, a16z, Primary Venture Partners, 1Sharpe Ventures, and others. Flock offers retirement solutions for landlords. zoominfo.com
• 2025investment
  Susa Ventures joined Plenful's $17M Series A round, led by TQ Ventures, alongside Bessemer Venture Partners and Mitchell Rales. zoominfo.com
• Jun 2026investment
  Scope AR exited the Susa Ventures portfolio on June 16, 2026, marking the firm's most recent portfolio exit. cbinsights.com
• May 2026investment
  Susa Ventures recorded last activity on May 19, 2026, with 14 new investments made in the prior 12 months across 195 total portfolio companies. tracxn.com
• Nov 2025investment
  Cavela closed a $6.6M round with Susa Ventures participating alongside XYZ Venture Capital and Crossover. Cavela helps brands manage pre-tariff manufacturing costs. tracxn.com
• Sep 2025product
  The 2025 Susa Venture Fellows cohort launched with applications reviewed on a rolling basis starting September 12, 2025. The program is capped at roughly 25 fellows per cohort and carries a ~6% acceptance rate. Fellows earn a monthly stipend and 20% of Susa's carry on any deals they source. susaventurefellows.com
• 2025investment
  Foresight Health raised $8.5M in seed funding from Quiet Capital, Susa Ventures, and Neo to build an AI-native healthcare provider. linkedin.com

Notable investments

• Asymmetric SecurityPre-SeedJun 2026soapbox.vc
• HaladirSeedJun 2026linkedin.com
• MarbleSeedDec 2025susaventures.substack.com
• FlockSeries B2025zoominfo.com
• PlenfulSeries A2025zoominfo.com
• CriticalenergySeed2025tracxn.com
• Scope ARExitJun 2026cbinsights.com
• CavelaSeedNov 2025tracxn.com
• Foresight HealthSeed2025linkedin.com
• ValderaSeries A2025linkedin.com
• ClaimPre-Seed2024linkedin.com
• ChapterSeries E ($100M)Apr 2026startupintros.com

Key people

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

• Chad Byers · General Partner
  LinkedIn
• Seth Berman · General Partner & Co-founder
  LinkedIn
• Courtney Buie · Partner

Sources

• Susa Ventures official website
• Susa Ventures – Startup Intros profile
• Susa Ventures Fund IV pitch deck breakdown
• Chad Byers – VC Sheet
• Seth Berman – VC Sheet
• Courtney Buie – NFX Signal
• Susa Ventures – Tracxn 2026 profile
• Susa Ventures Fellowship – Superscout
• Danti / Humba Ventures investment announcement
• LimaCharlie seed round – Susa Ventures lead
• https://www.cbinsights.com/investor/susa-ventures
• https://www.susaventurefellows.com/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/paloma-parsons/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/courtney-buie-lipkin-5690406b/
• https://www.linkedin.com/company/susa-ventures
• https://www.soapbox.vc/investors/susa-ventures
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/chadabyers/
• https://susaventures.substack.com/archive
• https://x.com/SusaVentures/status/2001739562150957104
• https://www.zoominfo.com/c/susa-ventures/357690979

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