Field Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
Field Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2025 by Richard Kerby and Jillian Williams, headquartered in New York, NY. The firm's stated mission is to provide "capital and support for domain experts building industry transforming businesses." Field backs founders from the earliest stages — pre-seed and seed — with a concentrated portfolio strategy that ensures dedicated partner bandwidth and long-term, values-driven partnership.
A recurring theme across their published perspectives is the "Service-as-a-Software" thesis: the shift from software as a productivity tool to software that autonomously executes work on behalf of humans. Field sees AI agents that manage end-to-end workflows in vertical industries as the next major wave of enterprise value creation, targeting the labor budget rather than just IT spend.
Stage Focus
Field Ventures focuses exclusively on early-stage companies:
- Pre-Seed: Initial checks for teams at inception or prototype
- Seed: Primary deployment stage; partnering with companies at early traction
The firm explicitly positions itself as a long-term partner, emphasizing concentration over breadth — they maintain a small portfolio to ensure founders receive meaningful support.
Check Size
Based on their co-lead of Superpanel's $5.3M seed round (September 2025) alongside Outlander VC, Field's typical check size at seed is likely in the $500K–$3M range. The firm has not publicly disclosed fund size or target ownership thresholds.
Sector Focus
Field Ventures invests across several interconnected verticals, with a strong AI lens. Their published thesis essays reveal focused conviction in:
Vertical Software & Fintech:
- Vertical SaaS with embedded financial services ("More Vertical Fintech Please")
- Vertical payroll software ("Vertical Payroll is Big Business")
- Service-as-a-Software platforms replacing manual workflows
Healthcare Technology:
- Healthcare Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) — a $280B market
- AI-native RCM service firms as "digital workers" for healthcare billing
- EHR-integrated automation with human-in-the-loop design
AI & Automation:
- Agentic AI systems for business process outsourcing
- Voice AI transforming the $130B+ BPO industry
- Autonomous workflow completion (Systems of Work)
Legal Technology:
- AI-powered legal intake (Superpanel: $5.3M seed, September 2025)
Portfolio Highlights
Field Ventures lists the following companies on their portfolio page (some preceded the firm's founding via Richard Kerby's prior work at Equal Ventures):
- Superpanel (superpanel.io) — AI platform automating legal client intake for plaintiff law firms; Field co-led the $5.3M seed round in September 2025
- Wrapbook (wrapbook.com) — Vertical SaaS + EOR for entertainment production payroll; referenced as a model "Service-as-a-Software" company
- Bikky (bikky.com) — Restaurant guest data and analytics platform
- Suppli (gosuppli.com) — B2B marketplace for construction materials
- Campus (campus.edu) — Affordable online college platform
- Upwards (upwards.com) — Child and elder care marketplace
- Block Renovation (blockrenovation.com) — Home renovation platform
- 6sense (6sense.com) — B2B revenue AI platform (notable exit/public company)
- Datadog (datadoghq.com) — Cloud monitoring and observability (public company, prior stage investment)
Team
Richard Kerby — Co-Founder & Managing Partner Richard brings two decades of venture experience across all stages. Before founding Field Ventures in 2025, he was Co-Founder and Co-Managing Partner at Equal Ventures, where he led seed investments in companies including Bikky, Suppli, Upwards, and Wrapbook. Prior to Equal, he was an investor at Venrock and Institutional Venture Partners (IVP). Richard earned his degree from Georgetown University and is the founder of Stealth Mode, a community of 1,500+ African American founders, operators, and investors.
Jillian Williams — Partner Jillian joins Field Ventures from Cowboy Ventures, where she led investments in companies including Basata, Capstack, and Continuum. Prior to Cowboy, she was an investment professional at Anthemis, a specialized fintech venture fund. She holds a BA in Economics from Yale University and co-heads the NYC Chapter of BLCK VC, a nonprofit advancing Black investors. She is a lifelong New Yorker and avid runner.
Decision Process
Field Ventures operates as a two-partner firm. Investment decisions are made collaboratively between Richard Kerby and Jillian Williams. The concentrated portfolio model implies selective deal flow and thorough diligence before commitment.
Founder Preferences
Field explicitly targets domain experts — founders with deep operational or industry knowledge in the sectors they're disrupting. The firm values humility, honesty, and long-term alignment over short-term growth metrics. They explicitly position against pushing unnecessary dilution or unnatural growth.
Geographic Focus
New York-based, with a national and likely US-first investment focus. No explicit geographic restrictions noted.
Recent Activity
Field Ventures was newly founded in 2025 and is actively deploying from its inaugural fund. Their most notable recent investment is the co-led $5.3M seed round in Superpanel (September 2025). The team has been prolific in publishing thesis essays on Substack covering Service-as-a-Software, healthcare RCM, voice AI in BPO, and vertical fintech — signaling active conviction development in these areas.