f7 Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
f7 Ventures is a seed and pre-seed fund founded by Kelly Graziadei and Joanna Lee Shevelenko, two seasoned operators who met in the early days at Facebook/Meta where they helped launch breakthrough products and scale the company to a trillion-dollar valuation. f7's core thesis centers on identifying and catalyzing exceptional operators—individuals with deep experience building at scale—as they transition into founders.
The fund believes that periods of rapid societal behavior change spur dramatic innovation. They lived this firsthand during mobile's rise at Facebook. Today, they see another such period with significant shifts in society and the rapid acceleration of technology and AI. Rather than funding first-time founders, f7 specifically targets founders who bring lived operational experience, tenacity, and proven leadership capabilities from their time at major tech companies and fast-growing startups.
Focus Areas
f7 Ventures explicitly focuses on the future of work and consumer utility. This manifests across their portfolio in several ways:
Future of Work
- Healthcare operations automation (Arya Health - caregiver scheduling)
- Workplace intelligence and AI observability (Lanai - enterprise AI interaction observability)
- Sales enablement platforms (Flockjay - unified sales team platform, Aircover - real-time sales coaching)
- Legal workflows (Billables AI - AI-powered legal time tracking)
- Healthcare coordination (Andy AI - OASIS documentation automation for clinicians)
Consumer Utility & Lifestyle
- Entertainment and community (Castro Labs, Hangout.fm, Hamul.gg for gaming)
- Personal finance and investing (Alinea Invest - fractional investing for GenZ, Atlas - payroll-powered credit)
- Health & wellness (Midi Health - women's healthcare, Death Clock AI - longevity)
- Social and connection (Rosebud - AI journal, The Third Place - local business community platform)
- Travel (Moonfish - AI travel agent)
- Home and lifestyle (Poppy - indoor air quality, Codi - office management)
Stage and Check Size
f7 primarily invests at the pre-seed and seed stages with check sizes ranging from $10,000 to $5,000,000, with most typical investments clustering in the $1-3M seed range. The fund provides more than capital—they bring operational expertise, customer introductions, and talent connections. As noted by Jarah Euston (CEO of WorkWhile): "f7 was one of our first investors and has been the most hands-on partner... As former operators and execs, they bring deep expertise in scaling companies and have been my go-to call for operational questions."
Fund Information
f7 Ventures has grown significantly with its first fund reportedly $50M (closed 2018-2019). Recently expanded with Perplexity F7 Fund, a $50M seed and pre-seed vehicle announced in February 2025, managed by Graziadei and Shevelenko with backing from Perplexity AI (which raised $500M at $9B valuation in December 2024). This partnership signals f7's positioning at the forefront of AI and emerging technology investment while maintaining their core thesis of operator-to-founder transitions.
Lead Tendency
f7 Ventures tends to lead or co-lead most of their investments. Evidence from portfolio companies includes WorkWhile (described as "one of our first investors" and hands-on partner), Midi Health (participated in early rounds), and Fireflies.ai (early investor, maintained follow-on commitment). Recent portfolio announcements show f7 leading seed rounds consistently.
Team Composition
Founded by Kelly Graziadei and Joanna Lee Shevelenko, both ex-Facebook/Meta executives with deep experience launching and scaling breakthrough products. The firm has grown to 29 employees (as of Feb 2026) including Cecilia Mao, Kirthiga Reddy (also founder of Verix.io/Virtualness, portfolio company), Erin Corn, and multiple executives in residence and chief of staff roles.
Recent Activity & Fund Status
f7 is actively deploying across multiple funds. February 2025 saw announcement of Perplexity F7 Fund ($50M partnership with Perplexity AI for seed/pre-seed). January 2025 highlights include Alinea Invest reaching #6 on finance app charts, Fireflies.ai named fastest-growing AI notetaker of 2025 (ranked #14 on Brex's fastest-growing software vendors), Midi Health achieving unicorn status ($1B valuation) in Series D, and Checkmate Performance Network launching AI marketing platform.
Notable portfolio exits include Hamul.gg (acquired by Roblox), Kraftful (acquired by Amplitude), Lantern (acquired by StayTuned), Moonfish (acquired by Perplexity), Read.cv (acquired by Treatment AI), Rocket Doctor (acquired by Microsoft), and Smash.gg (acquired by Microsoft).
Portfolio Diversity
The portfolio includes 48+ companies across healthcare & wellness (Midi Health - unicorn, Arya Health, Andy AI), enterprise software & tools (Lanai, CloudEagle, Clueso, Billables AI), consumer & creator (Alinea Invest, Atlas, Bestever), marketing & sales (Aircover, Checkmate, 1stCollab), data & infrastructure (Dagster, Lido, Memori Labs), gaming & entertainment (Hamul.gg, Smash.gg, Fireflies.ai - unicorn, Tome), fintech & financial services (Alinea Invest, Atlas, Equi, Forage), and future of work applications.
Geographic and Sector Focus
Based in San Francisco, California, f7 primarily invests in US-based founders with strong representation in tech hubs: Bay Area, NYC, and Austin. Selective international investments prioritize founders with operator backgrounds. Primary sectors include healthcare & operations (digital health, workflow automation), enterprise software (SaaS, observability, data infrastructure), AI/ML applications (chat interfaces, voice agents, automation), creator & marketplace economy, consumer finance, social & community, and data & infrastructure.
Decision Process and Philosophy
Decisions are partnership-driven with Kelly and Joanna making decisions collaboratively, typically within days to weeks based on founder quality. The fund maintains pro-rata rights and provides operator value-add beyond capital including operational playbooks from Facebook/Meta experience, customer and investor introductions, talent recruitment support, board advisory, and strategic guidance.
The fund embodies an "operator first" philosophy with the motto "We are operators" as core positioning and differentiator. Additional philosophy includes "Hype is easy. Craft is not"—emphasis on sustainable building over marketing noise—founder-led growth belief in founder storytelling and customer-led validation, and support for founders who build efficiently and focus on product/customers over PR.
Founder Preferences
f7 explicitly backs experienced operators transitioning to founding (ex-Facebook, Google, Stripe, etc.), technical founders with deep domain expertise, women leaders (firm has explicit commitment to supporting female founders), teams with proven execution at scale, and mission-driven founders solving real problems in work and consumer utility. The fund avoids early-stage founders without operational track record, purely consumer-hardware plays, and non-technical founding teams for infrastructure companies.
Investment Characteristics and Support
Based on portfolio company statements and team size, f7 provides hands-on advisory with operational guidance and strategic decision-making input, typical board representation for lead investments, network access including customer intros and talent recruitment support, and follow-on investment maintaining pro-rata rights to support winners through later rounds.
Warm introductions are strongly preferred but not strictly required. The founders emphasize direct relationships with LPs and portfolio founders—introductions through mutual connections increase likelihood of engagement. Contact: [email protected], LinkedIn (5,000+ followers), or website f7ventures.com.
Notable Co-Investors
f7 regularly co-invests and maintains relationships with Reach Capital (Cashmere seed round), Goodwater Capital (Midi Health Series D), Perplexity Fund (Cashmere, joint fund announcement), Foresite Capital (Midi Health), First Round Capital, Sequoia Capital, and GV (Google Ventures).
Diversity Mission
f7 Ventures was founded with explicit commitment to supporting diverse founders, particularly women. Graziadei and Shevelenko are sources of inspiration for building a fund that elevates underrepresented founders. The portfolio includes significant representation of female founders and actively works to broaden access to founder capital.
Summary
f7 Ventures represents a unique intersection of operator expertise and early-stage investing. Founded by two highly successful Facebook/Meta executives who understand both operational challenges of scaling companies and early-stage founder needs, the fund has built a portfolio of 48+ companies focused on the future of work and consumer utility. With their recent $50M partnership with Perplexity AI, f7 is positioned to continue deploying capital into the next generation of operator-founded companies, particularly in AI/ML applications, enterprise software, and consumer lifestyle platforms. Their hands-on approach, combined with network and operational playbooks, makes them valuable partners for founders with proven operational experience.