FirsthandVC (Firsthand Alliance) Research
Investment Thesis
FirsthandVC is an inception-stage venture capital firm investing exclusively in experienced founders building B2B autonomous agentic AI from day zero. Founded in 2022 by Simon Chan, the firm operates at the frontier of the agentic AI revolution, backing companies that deploy AI agents to automate complex business workflows across industries including legal, healthcare, procurement, sales, and enterprise software.
The firm positions itself as a leader in the 'agentic AI movement' and maintains a strong network of Salesforce alumni — executives and builders who have shaped enterprise software at scale. This network provides portfolio companies with privileged access to enterprise buyers, distribution channels, and operational expertise from people who deeply understand how large companies buy and deploy software.
Stage Focus
FirsthandVC invests at the very earliest stages:
- Pre-seed: The firm's sweet spot for initial investment, writing checks from day zero
- Seed: Participates in seed rounds alongside other institutional investors
- Follow-on investments in subsequent rounds for portfolio companies (as evidenced by participation in Series A and B rounds of portfolio companies)
The 'inception-stage' label reflects Simon Chan's philosophy of backing companies before conventional VCs would typically invest — often when the team is still finding initial product-market fit.
Check Size
Based on available signals data and investment patterns:
- Typical check range: $100K–$2M
- Sweet spot at pre-seed: ~$250K–$500K
- Participates in larger seed rounds at smaller allocations
- Reserves capital to follow on in subsequent rounds
Lead Tendency
Firsthand predominantly follows rather than leads funding rounds. Their portfolio companies' lead investors include General Catalyst (Eudia), Insight Partners (CrewAI), Foundation Capital (Lumber), Chemistry/Headline (Didero), Nexus Venture Partners (Olto), and Point72 Ventures (Adonis). Firsthand participates alongside these lead investors, typically providing early conviction capital before the round is institutionally anchored.
Geographic Focus
Headquartered in New York City, FirsthandVC invests primarily in US-based companies. The firm hosts the AI Agent Conference and Firsthand Homecoming Gala in NYC, reinforcing its East Coast anchor. The portfolio spans multiple US geographies.
Sector Focus
The firm focuses exclusively on B2B applications of autonomous agentic AI, spanning multiple high-value enterprise verticals:
Legal Tech: Eudia (in-house legal AI, raised $105M Series A), Noetica AI (deal-term analytics for law firms, raised $22M Series A in October 2024)
Healthcare: Adonis (AI-driven revenue cycle management, raised $31M Series B in June 2024), Hummingbird Healthcare (patient access enablement, raised $10M Series A)
Procurement & Supply Chain: Didero (AI procurement agents for manufacturing, raised $30M Series A in February 2026), Lumber/LumberFi (construction workforce management with AI, raised $15.5M Series A in March 2025)
Sales Intelligence: Avarra (B2B sales AI, raised $8M Seed in October 2024), Olto (AI demo engineer for B2B sales, raised $5.1M Pre-seed in July 2025)
AI Infrastructure & Platforms: CrewAI (multi-agent orchestration framework, raised $18M Series A in October 2024), Distyl AI (AI consulting platform for enterprises, raised $175M Series B at $1.8B valuation in September 2025), ai.work (AI worker platform, raised $10M Seed in June 2025)
The common thread across all portfolio companies is the deployment of autonomous AI agents to automate complex, communication-heavy enterprise workflows.
Recent Activity
FirsthandVC has been actively deploying capital throughout 2024–2025:
- July 2025: Olto pre-seed round ($5.1M, AI demo engineer for B2B sales)
- June 2025: ai.work seed round ($10M, AI workers platform)
- March 2025: Lumber Series A ($15.5M, construction workforce AI)
- February 2025: Eudia Series A ($105M, legal AI — follow-on)
- September 2025: Distyl AI Series B ($175M, enterprise AI consulting — follow-on)
- October 2024: Avarra Seed ($8M, B2B sales AI)
- October 2024: Noetica AI Series A ($22M, deal-term analytics)
The firm has made 22+ investments as of late 2025, with approximately 6–7 new investments per year. Fund I is actively deploying.
Notable Portfolio Highlights
- Distyl AI: Now valued at $1.8B after $175M Series B (September 2025); founded by former Palantir engineers; reported 5x revenue growth in 2024
- Eudia: Raised $105M Series A led by General Catalyst (February 2025); launched the first AI-augmented law firm in Arizona
- CrewAI: Leading open-source multi-agent orchestration framework with enterprise platform; $18M from Insight Partners (October 2024)
- Noetica AI: $22M Series A for deal-term data analytics platform used by law firms and financial institutions
- Didero: $30M Series A for AI procurement agents automating manufacturing procurement workflows (February 2026)
Team
Simon Chan — Founder, Managing Partner & General Partner
Simon is a four-time founder turned investor with deep roots in enterprise AI. His most recent company, PredictionIO (an open-source machine learning platform), was acquired by Salesforce and became the foundation for the Salesforce Einstein AI Platform. Post-acquisition, Simon served as a product executive at Salesforce, launching core AI platform initiatives across the company.
Simon holds a B.S.E. in Computer Science from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. in Machine Learning from University College London. Prior to PredictionIO, he founded Zoth.com, Crossia, and Tutor123.com, and earlier worked as a Software Engineer at E*TRADE.
His technical background (PhD in ML), operator experience (building and successfully exiting AI companies), and platform-building expertise at Salesforce uniquely positions him to evaluate and support founders building enterprise AI products.
Decision Process
As a solo GP fund, investment decisions are made by Simon Chan. Given the emphasis on 'experienced founders' and deep technical diligence, the process is focused and conviction-driven. The Salesforce alumni network provides deal flow through warm introductions from portfolio operators and enterprise software veterans.
Founder Preferences
FirsthandVC explicitly focuses on experienced founders — repeat entrepreneurs or executives who have already built and shipped B2B software at scale. The Salesforce alumni network suggests particular affinity for founders with enterprise GTM experience. Companies deploying autonomous AI agents to automate specific high-value enterprise workflows (legal, healthcare, finance, supply chain) are preferred over horizontal AI tool builders.