Dallas Venture Capital — Investment Thesis & Preferences

01Investment Thesis

DVC invests in visionary founders building next-generation B2B SaaS and infrastructure companies at the intersection of AI, cloud, and enterprise software. Operating as a cross-border US-India fund, DVC backs companies in AI/MLOps, CloudOps, cybersecurity, fintech, and data infrastructure — providing not just capital but also go-to-market strategy, business development, executive recruiting, and follow-on syndication through the DVC Advantage program.

Exclusion Criteria

No consumer apps, hardware-only plays, or non-enterprise B2C models. Avoids pre-revenue companies without a clear enterprise customer pipeline.

02Investment Team

DP

Dayakar Puskoor

Founder and Managing Director

GD

Gokul Dixit

Partner

KK

Kiran Kalluri

Partner

RA

Ravish Ailinani

Partner

SP

Shyam Penumaka

Partner

RK

Romen Kuloor

Partner

RS

Ram Sridharan

Partner

AR

Ashok Rampalli

Chief of Staff

MG

Manish Gorre

Analyst

AS

Anishkumar SS

Associate

RM

Rishi Maheshwari

Associate

03F4 Research Brief

Dallas Venture Capital (DVC) Research

Investment Thesis

Dallas Venture Capital (DVC) is a cross-border venture capital firm founded in 2010 by Dayakar Puskoor, headquartered in Irving, Texas with additional operations in Hyderabad, India. The firm operates on a "TTT Focus" framework — investing in founders who demonstrate strong Team building, robust market Traction (product-market fit), and operations in a large Total Addressable Market.

DVC describes itself as "entrepreneurs investing in other entrepreneurs," reflecting the founder-first, operationally engaged approach that distinguishes it in the Dallas-Fort Worth VC ecosystem. The firm has invested in 40+ companies across three fund vehicles since its founding, with cumulative capital deployed exceeding $83 million and an estimated portfolio enterprise value of $4+ billion as of 2025.

Sector Focus

DVC focuses on B2B SaaS and enterprise infrastructure companies, with particular concentration in:

AI/MLOps and Machine Learning: Foundational AI platforms, model observability, synthetic data, and GenAI inference (Fiddler AI, Simplismart, Rockfish, Holistic AI)
Cloud Operations and Infrastructure: Multi-cloud governance, network infrastructure, cloud-native security (Alkira, CoreStack, Nirmata)
Cybersecurity / DevSecOps: Application security posture management, cyber resilience, AI-driven threat detection (Arnica, BluSapphire, Secufusion)
FinTech: Spend management, AML/CFT solutions, finance automation, KYB/KYC (Dice, IntelleWings, Bluecopa, Ballerine)
Enterprise SaaS and Productivity: Skill acceleration, conversational AI, video engagement, accounting automation (Disprz, Kore.ai, Hippo Video, Docyt)
Data Infrastructure: AI-based data quality, low-code data engineering, time-series analytics (DQLabs, Prophecy.io, Viviota)
Logistics and Supply Chain: AI-driven route optimization and logistics planning (Mojro)

DVC explicitly targets companies in the infrastructure and application layers of enterprise software, with AI/ML as a pervasive theme across all sectors.

Stage Focus

DVC invests primarily at Seed and Series A, with meaningful Series B participation for portfolio follow-ons:

Seed: $3-5M initial checks for early-stage companies
Series A: Primary stage with co-investment or syndication
Series B: Follow-on investments for high-performing portfolio companies
Series C: Selective participation for breakout portfolio companies (e.g., Alkira, Fiddler Labs)

Historical averages by stage:

Seed: ~$3.78M average check
Series A: ~$5.29M average check
Series B: ~$16.7M average check
Series C: ~$56M average

Check Size

Typical DVC check size ranges from $2M to $17M, with the median investment at the Series A level around $5M. The firm co-leads or leads rounds at Seed and Series A, and participates as an existing investor in later follow-on rounds.

Lead Tendency

DVC actively leads and co-leads investment rounds, especially at Seed and Series A. Evidence:

Led Dice's $5M Series A (March 2024)
Co-led iTuring.ai's $5M Series A with Mela Ventures (July 2025)
Co-led Mojro's $5.5M Series A with IAN Alpha Fund (April 2026)

At Series B and above, DVC typically participates as an existing investor in follow-on rounds.

Geographic Focus

DVC operates as a cross-border US-India fund:

United States: Primary market, particularly Texas and the broader tech hub ecosystem (Dallas, San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle)
India: Significant secondary market, particularly Hyderabad and Bangalore, with 11+ investments in Indian companies

The firm leverages its dual presence to facilitate US market expansion for promising Indian SaaS companies — a core part of the "DVC Advantage" value proposition.

AUM and Fund Status

Fund I (2012-2016): $20M AUM, 17 investments
SPVs (2018-2020): $63M AUM, 5 investments
Fund II+ (2021-present): $121M AUM, 24 investments
Total AUM: ~$200M+ across all vehicles
New Fund: In March 2025, DVC announced plans to raise a new cross-border fund focused on US and India investments

DVC is actively deploying capital as of 2026, with recent investments in Mojro (April 2026) and Fiddler Labs (January 2026).

Portfolio Highlights and Exits

DVC has generated multiple notable exits:

Alkira (Network infrastructure-as-a-service): Acquired by Lumen Technologies for $475 million, announced May 2026 — DVC's marquee exit
Dice (B2B spend management, India): Acquired by Zaggle for $14.3 million, June 2025
StepFunction (AI customer success): Acquired (details not disclosed)

Notable active portfolio companies include:

Kore.ai (conversational AI, Series B+)
Fiddler AI ($100M total funding raised, AI observability and control plane for AI agents)
Disprz (skill acceleration platform, Series B)
Prophecy.io (low-code data engineering, Series B, backed by Insight Partners and JPMC)
AmplifAI (contact center AI analytics, $33.7M Series B)
Ballerine (KYB SaaS for merchant risk management)

Team

Dayakar Puskoor — Founder and Managing Director Serial entrepreneur turned investor. Former CEO of JP Mobile (wireless email pioneer, acquired by Good Technology/Motorola, $55M raised). Led a $350M hosting business at Microsoft. Holds Executive Chairman roles at Motivity Labs, GlobalOutlook, and KeepTrax. Board member at CoreStack, FelixHealthCare, Kore.ai, Altia Systems, and Viviota. Master's in Computer Science from Nova Southeastern University. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dayakarp/

Gokul Dixit — Partner Based in Irving, TX.

Kiran Kalluri — Partner Led DVC's investment in Mojro (April 2026). Active deal lead on logistics and AI investments.

Ravish Ailinani — Partner Dallas-based partner.

Shyam Penumaka — Partner

Romen Kuloor — Partner

Ram Sridharan — Partner

The firm also maintains 20+ Venture Partners and Strategic Advisors, and an additional roster of 20+ industry executives who provide hands-on support to portfolio companies through the DVC Advantage program.

DVC Advantage Program

Beyond capital, DVC's signature value-add program provides four pillars of operational support:

Go-to-Market Strategy: Advisor introductions, product-market fit validation, market access facilitation
Business Development: Enterprise customer introductions through DVC's extensive partner network
Executive Recruitment: Access to DVC's technical and business leader network for key hires
Follow-on Capital: Syndication support for growth rounds through strategic relationships

This program is particularly valuable for Indian SaaS companies entering the US market, where DVC's Texas-based network provides warm enterprise introductions.

Decision Process

DVC operates as a partnership with multiple partners engaged in deal sourcing and diligence. The firm takes board seats in portfolio companies (Dayakar Puskoor holds board seats at CoreStack, Kore.ai, Viviota, and others). Decision-making is collaborative across the partnership.

Founder Preferences

DVC emphasizes backing technical founders and serial entrepreneurs, particularly those with cross-border US-India go-to-market experience or companies targeting US market expansion from India. The firm champions the concept of "entrepreneurs investing in other entrepreneurs."