Interplay Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
Interplay Ventures is a New York City-based venture capital firm founded in 2012 by Mark Peter Davis. The firm operates as a multifaceted startup ecosystem across five business lines: Ventures (VC fund), Accelerator, Studio (internal venture creation), Platform, and Ascend (family office and fund-of-funds). Their core belief is that "entrepreneurs are the primary driver of social change" and their goal is to accelerate that journey.
The fund focuses on application-layer AI and B2B marketplace businesses, with particular conviction in the shift toward industry specialization—where emerging companies compete with legacy horizontal platforms by offering highly tailored vertical solutions. Managing Partner Mark Peter Davis describes the thesis as identifying industries that are digitizing or have not yet reached the economics to justify marketplace dynamics, then backing the companies leading that transformation.
Stage Focus
Interplay's sweet spot is Series A, though they invest across Seed to Series B rounds. Notably, the partners acknowledge that many rounds labeled "Seed" or "Series B" are functionally Series A deals, and they evaluate companies through that operational lens rather than strictly by round label.
Check Size
Interplay writes checks of $500K to $2M per investment, with capital reserved for follow-on investments into top performers. For Fund III ($45M, closed November 2023), Managing Partner Mark Peter Davis indicated the plan was to invest in approximately 20 companies at $1M-$2M per check.
Lead Tendency
Interplay explicitly positions itself as a conviction co-investor — they conduct independent underwriting but do not lead deals. Their website states plainly: "We never lead. We only coinvest." This means market pricing and lead investor terms govern their entry; they come in as a value-add co-investor alongside a lead. Founders approaching Interplay should come with a lead investor in place or close to in place.
Fund History & AUM
As of November 2023, Interplay manages approximately $150M in assets under management across three VC funds. Fund III closed at $45M focused on B2B marketplaces and vertical software at Series A. The firm's LPs include funds-of-funds, family offices, and portfolio founders. The same three GPs — Davis, Tung, and Rogers — have worked together for over 8 years across 50+ deals.
Geographic Focus
Interplay is headquartered in New York City. Most investments are in US companies, with selective exposure to Canada, Latin America, and companies relocating operations to the US. The team has representatives in the US, Mexico, and additional international locations.
Sector Focus
While Interplay has historically been sector-agnostic at the application layer, their Fund III thesis is specifically focused on:
- B2B marketplaces — industries being newly digitized where the unit economics now make marketplace models viable
- Vertical SaaS — specialized software competing with legacy horizontal platforms
- Application-layer AI — AI-native companies building user-facing products, not infrastructure; interest articulated in their blog on AI voice agents and legal tech AI
- Fintech / financial automation — evidenced by investments in Rho, Knot, Kalshi
- Healthcare & wellness — Ophelia, Pointer Health, Hummingbird Healthcare
- Consumer marketplaces — Provi (beverage alcohol), Emerge, Boom & Bucket, LeafLink
Recent Activity
Interplay has been active in deploying from Fund III:
- February 2026: Participated in Kalshi (prediction markets)
- February 2026: Participated in Pepper's $50M Series C (led by Lead Edge Capital and Iconiq)
- September 2025: Announced investment in TeachMe.To ($3M seed+ round)
- January 2025: Invested in OnSiteIQ (construction site intelligence)
- July 2025: Onboarded Andy Bilinsky as Partner, Studio
Notable portfolio outcomes:
- CoreWeave — IPO on NASDAQ in March 2025 at $14.2B market cap (Ascend portfolio)
- Newfront — Acquired by WTW (Willis Towers Watson) for $900M in December 2025 (Ascend portfolio)
- Ollie — Acquired by Agrolimen in February 2026 (Ventures portfolio)
- Jackpocket — Acquired (Accelerator portfolio)
- Broadlume — Acquired (Ventures portfolio)
- Coinbase — IPO (Ventures legacy portfolio)
- Warby Parker — IPO (Ventures legacy portfolio)
Portfolio Highlights
Interplay's Ventures portfolio includes 50+ companies. Key active holdings:
- Rho (rho.co) — Financial automation platform for businesses
- Black Crow AI (blackcrow.ai) — AI-powered predictive analytics for ecommerce
- Grin (grin.co) — Influencer marketing platform
- Provi (provi.com) — Wholesale alcohol beverage marketplace
- LeafLink (leaflink.com) — B2B cannabis marketplace
- Lawmatics (lawmatics.com) — CRM and marketing automation for law firms
- Ophelia (ophelia.com) — Telehealth for opioid use disorder treatment
- Knot (knotapi.com) — Subscription and recurring payment management API
- OnsiteIQ (onsiteiq.io) — AI-powered construction site documentation
- Emerge (emergemarket.com) — Trucking load auction marketplace
- Hungry (tryhungry.com) — B2B corporate catering marketplace
- Modern Meadow (modernmeadow.com) — Biofabricated materials
- Landed (gotlanded.com) — Down payment assistance for educators
- Little Spoon (littlespoon.com) — Children's food delivery
- Boom & Bucket (boomandbucket.com) — Heavy equipment marketplace
- Numerade (numerade.com) — STEM learning platform
- Boxhub (boxhub.com) — Shipping container marketplace
- Lalo (meetlalo.com) — Premium baby gear brand
- Bennie (bennie.com) — Employee benefits platform
- Relief (relief.app) — Student loan refinancing and management
Team
- Mark Peter Davis, Managing Partner: Founder of Interplay. Author and thought leader in venture capital, contributes to Inc. Magazine and hosts the Interplay Podcast.
- Kevin Tung, Senior Partner: Has invested alongside Davis for 8+ years across 50+ deals.
- Mike Rogers, Partner, Venture Capital: Third GP completing the core investment team.
- Christian Mark, Partner: Investment team.
- Phuong Ireland, Partner, Accelerator: Leads the Interplay Accelerator program.
- Andy Bilinsky, Partner, Studio: Joined July 2025 to lead Interplay Studio operations.
- Chris Zhang, Partner & CIO, Family Office: Leads the Ascend family office and fund-of-funds platform.
Decision Process
The core investment decisions are made by the three-GP partnership (Davis, Tung, Rogers). As co-investors, their process focuses on independent underwriting to validate the deal thesis. They explicitly do not set pricing or terms — those are determined by the lead investor. This makes their process faster than typical lead-investor diligence timelines.
Platform Support
Portfolio companies access Interplay's Platform services including operating support, talent recruitment, capital introductions, PR support, executive network access, and vendor discounts. This is a core differentiator they offer as a co-investor.