Jump Capital

Jump Capital Research

Firm Overview

Jump Capital is a Chicago-based venture capital firm founded in 2012 by Mike McMahon and Sach Chitnis, backed by the founders of Jump Trading, a prominent high-frequency trading firm. With its $350M Fund VII closed in September 2021, Jump Capital has grown into one of the most active early-stage VCs in the Midwest and nationally, with offices in Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles.

The firm has made over 175 investments since inception, with a portfolio spanning 7 unicorns, 4 IPOs, and more than 40 acquisitions. Jump Capital describes itself as a "founder-focused, low-ego" early-stage venture firm that takes a thesis-driven, sector-focused approach to investing, partnering with management teams who value "a trusted ally with real-world operating experience."

Investment Thesis

Jump Capital focuses on scalable software opportunities in three primary verticals:

1. FinTech & Financial Services — The firm has deep domain expertise in payments, wealth management, lending, trading infrastructure, and cryptocurrency/digital assets. Jump has been an early backer of companies like M1 Finance, TradingView, Bitpanda, and Bitso, each of which became significant players in their segments.

2. IT & Data Infrastructure — Jump invests in foundational data primitives, security infrastructure, developer tools, and the underlying software layers that power enterprise operations. This includes SOC data pipelines (Realm.Security), compliance software (LogicGate), and AI-driven software development (Blitzy).

3. Vertical B2B SaaS — Jump backs application software companies solving high-stakes problems in specific industries—compensation intelligence (Compa), retail planning (Toolio), fitness personalization (True Fit), ecommerce optimization (Teikametrics), and risk management (Eventus).

The firm has an increasing focus on AI-native applications, particularly where AI applies to real-world enterprise decisions rather than as a generalized capability. As partner Tarun Gupta noted about Compa's Series B: Jump is excited about companies combining "high-quality, real-world data" with AI in contexts where Fortune 50 companies already rely on that data.

Jump's 2024 thesis highlighted four macro investment themes: AI applied to high-stakes enterprise decisions, data infrastructure for AI enablement, compliance and risk governance in AI adoption, and the next generation of fintech infrastructure.

Stage Focus

Jump Capital primarily invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed, and Series A stages, with selective Series B follow-ons for portfolio companies. They prefer to enter as early as possible in a company's lifecycle and have been the first institutional investor in many of their most successful companies. They have also participated in later-stage rounds as portfolio follow-ons.

Check Size

Typical initial investment: $1M–$10M

• Pre-seed: $250K–$1M for exceptional teams
• Seed: $1M–$5M leading or co-leading
• Series A: $3M–$15M, often as lead

The firm typically targets 15-20% initial ownership and reserves capital for follow-on rounds.

Lead Tendency

Jump Capital frequently leads rounds, having led or co-led investments in Realm.Security ($15M Series A), Made Card ($8M Seed), and Compa ($35M Series B). They also participate in larger syndicate rounds, such as Blitzy's $200M round (May 2026) alongside Northzone and others.

Recent Activity

Jump Capital is actively deploying Fund VII ($350M), with at least 7 investments in 2025 and continued activity in early 2026:

• Blitzy ($200M, May 2026) — AI-native autonomous software development platform; participated alongside Northzone, PSG, Battery Ventures
• Above Security ($50M Series A, March 2026) — AI-native insider risk platform founded by Unit 8200 veterans
• Compa ($35M Series B, January 2026) — Led. AI compensation intelligence replacing static surveys with real-time market data
• Made Card ($8M Seed, November 2025) — Co-led. First credit card designed for homeowners; partnered with Fairway Home Mortgage
• Realm.Security ($15M Series A, October 2025) — Led. Security data pipeline platform reducing SIEM costs with AI

Portfolio Highlights

Major Exits:

• Tubi — Streaming platform acquired by Fox Corporation for $440M (2020)
• Personal Capital — Wealth management acquired by Empower Retirement
• Narrative Science — NLP/AI platform acquired by Salesforce
• TVision Insights — TV audience measurement acquired by Viant Technology (May 2026)
• BlockFi — Crypto lending platform (bankruptcy, 2022)

Unicorns:

• M1 Finance — Commission-free investing and banking platform, $1B+ valuation
• TradingView — Social charting and trading platform, global leader
• Bitpanda — European crypto exchange, achieved unicorn status in 2021
• Bitso — Mexican crypto exchange, first Latin American crypto unicorn

Active Portfolio:

• IRONSCALES — AI email security protecting 12,000+ organizations
• LogicGate — GRC (governance, risk, compliance) software for enterprises
• AcreTrader — Farmland investment platform democratizing agricultural real estate
• Teikametrics — AI-powered advertising optimization for Amazon sellers
• Flashpoint — Cyber threat intelligence platform
• Compa — AI compensation intelligence (Series B, 2026)
• Realm.Security — Security data pipeline (Series A, 2025)

Team

Mike McMahon, Co-Founder & Managing Partner — Mike built Jump Capital on the belief that great founders deserve a venture partner with real operating experience. He brings 20 years of general management experience including senior roles at SIRVA and GE Capital before founding Jump.

Sach Chitnis, Co-Founder & Partner — Focuses on fintech and application software investments. Sach co-founded Jump Capital in 2012 and has been a central voice on the evolving investment landscape, speaking at events like the University of Chicago's VC Outlook.

Tarun Gupta, Partner — Leads B2B technology and fintech investments from New York. Tarun has a decade of VC and corporate experience with a focus on compliance platforms, payments innovation, and AI-enabled financial services. Promoted to partner from VP.

Saaya Nath Pal, Partner — Focuses on application software and fintech. Promoted to partner alongside Tarun Gupta, signaling Jump's investment in younger talent.

Yelena Shkolnik, Partner — Based in Los Angeles. Joined Jump in 2015 and focuses on media and enterprise software investments. Prior career as an investment banker at UBS raising $1B+ for technology and media clients.

Jason Felger, Partner — Unconventional career path spanning startups to large corporations. Focuses on early-stage investing at the intersection of fintech and application software.

Saurabh Sharma, Partner — Leads crypto and digital assets investing. Jump's increased concentration on crypto in Fund VII reflects his thesis on blockchain infrastructure, DeFi, and Web3.

Robb Hutchins, Partner, Portfolio Growth — Supports portfolio companies with scaling, hiring, and business development post-investment.

Pete Carroll, Operating Partner — Provides operational expertise to portfolio companies.

Decision Process

Jump Capital operates as a partnership with multiple domain specialists. Deals are championed by the partner with the closest sector expertise and go through a partnership review process. The firm's "low-ego" culture means decisions are collaborative. Based on their pace and deal volume, they can typically move within 4-8 weeks of initial meeting.

Founder Preferences

Jump seeks founders with:

• Deep domain expertise in their sector (ideally former operators)
• Data-driven approaches to market validation
• North American market focus, particularly US
• Clear articulation of defensible data advantages
• Companies where AI/software creates measurable ROI, not "AI for AI's sake"

Geographic Focus

Primarily North America (US-focused), with particular emphasis on the Midwest (Chicago), East Coast (New York), and West Coast (Los Angeles). The firm has invested in some international companies via its crypto focus (Bitso in Mexico, Bitpanda in Europe).