Depth Ventures Research
Firm Overview
Depth Ventures (depthvc.com), also previously known as Depth Capital Ventures, is an early-stage venture capital firm based in San Francisco, California. The firm was formally established as a registered investment adviser around 2024, though its founders have been backing early-stage AI and B2B software companies since 2016. Depth Ventures positions itself as a first-check investor, partnering with founders at the earliest stages of company formation.
Investment Thesis
Depth Ventures' core thesis centers on backing "exceptional AI founders" who combine deep technical expertise with sharp insight into a real market shift. The firm's tagline — "Operational depth, from day one" — reflects how the partners leverage their own founder experience to provide hands-on support beyond capital. Both co-founders have directly founded and scaled AI unicorns, giving the firm a distinctive operator-investor perspective that resonates with highly technical AI founders.
The firm is explicitly "AI-native" in its approach, meaning it invests across the AI stack: from companies building core AI infrastructure and developer tooling to those building enterprise AI applications in verticals like legal, security, construction, and physical AI. Depth Ventures prioritizes founders who are technical first and who have identified a specific market dislocation — rather than chasing broad AI waves.
Stage Focus
Depth Ventures focuses exclusively on Pre-Seed and Seed stages, positioning itself as a "first-check" investor. This means the firm is comfortable writing some of the earliest institutional checks and is designed to work with founders before product-market fit is established. The firm does not appear to consistently lead at all stages; at pre-seed they likely lead, while at seed they participate in rounds led by larger firms such as Pear VC, General Catalyst, and others.
Check Size
While Depth Ventures has not publicly disclosed its check size ranges, based on the firm's pre-seed and seed focus, typical check sizes are estimated in the $250,000 to $2,000,000 range. The firm's portfolio includes companies that have gone on to raise multi-hundred-million dollar rounds, suggesting early checks that compound well.
Portfolio Highlights
Depth Ventures' portfolio includes some of the most prominent names in enterprise software and AI:
- Scale AI (2016, GP investment): The leading AI data platform, valued at over $13 billion.
- Rippling (2017, GP investment): HR/payroll/IT platform valued at $13+ billion.
- Verkada (2017, GP investment): Enterprise physical security platform valued at $3.5+ billion.
- Sendwave (2016, GP investment): Consumer fintech/remittances app acquired by WorldRemit.
- Kepler Computing (2018, GP investment): Next-generation energy-efficient AI chip company, raised over $663M.
- Koala (2022): Enterprise AI sales intelligence, backed by Charles River Ventures and HubSpot Ventures among others.
- PermitFlow (2024): Construction permit automation platform, raised $31M Series A from Kleiner Perkins.
- EquipmentShare (2024): Construction technology platform, grown to $8B+ private market value.
- DealOps (2025): AI-powered deal pricing and quoting platform, raised $7M from Pear VC and General Catalyst.
- Cerebrium (2025): Serverless AI infrastructure platform, raised $8.5M seed.
- Argus Systems (2025): Physical AI startup.
- Claybird (2025): Enterprise AI company.
- Lumena (2025): Enterprise AI application.
- Augmeta (2026): Enterprise AI company.
- General Legal (2026): AI-native legal technology platform.
The note on Depth Ventures' portfolio page that these represent "investments made by Depth Ventures and its general partners" indicates that early high-profile investments (2016-2018) were made by Paul Jun and Jeff Arnold as angel investors before the formal fund was established. More recent investments (2022-2026) reflect the formal Depth Ventures fund.
Team
Paul Jun — Co-Founder & Managing Partner Paul brings a rare combination of operational depth and investor judgment. He served as CFO of Pilot, the AI-native accounting firm that became an AI unicorn, and previously was VP of Finance at Dropbox from the Series B through the IPO. Paul graduated from Harvard and started coding at age 13. His expertise spans B2B SaaS, finance operations, and AI-native business models.
Jeff Arnold — Co-Founder & General Partner Jeff is one of the most credentialed AI operators in venture today. He was the sixth full-time employee at OpenAI — before it became the defining AI company of the decade — and later served as Director of Operations at the OpenAI Foundation. Prior to OpenAI, Jeff founded three startups: Zulip (team messaging, acquired by Dropbox), Ksplice (live Linux kernel patching, acquired by Oracle), and Pilot (co-founded with Paul Jun). Jeff holds two degrees from MIT. His deep AI technical expertise, combined with serial founder experience, gives Depth Ventures a unique edge when evaluating AI infrastructure and application plays.
Geographic Focus
Depth Ventures is headquartered in San Francisco and primarily invests in US-based companies, with a concentration in the SF Bay Area. However, the firm has invested in companies with international roots (e.g., Cerebrium was founded in Cape Town, South Africa), suggesting an openness to technical founders globally who are building for the US market.
Investment Process
As a small, two-partner fund, Depth Ventures likely operates as a partnership with both founders involved in all investment decisions. The firm describes itself as offering a "low-ego, high-conviction partnership," suggesting a collaborative approach to working with founders rather than a demanding board presence. Given the operational backgrounds of both partners, Depth Ventures is well-positioned to provide tactical support on go-to-market, product strategy, and team building.
Recent Activity and Fund Status
Depth Ventures has been actively deploying capital through 2024, 2025, and into 2026, with investments in DealOps (August 2025), and portfolio entries in Augmeta and General Legal (2026). The firm's portfolio spans 19 companies across the AI and enterprise software landscape, reflecting consistent deployment activity.
Summary Assessment
Depth Ventures is a high-signal pre-seed and seed investor for exceptional AI founders. The combination of Paul Jun's financial/operational background and Jeff Arnold's deep AI technical credentials makes this one of the most operationally credible early-stage AI funds in the SF Bay Area. For F4 Fund, Depth Ventures represents a strong potential co-investor for AI-native B2B software companies at pre-seed and seed stages.