Prudence Research
Investment Thesis
Prudence is a New York-based early-stage venture firm that invests in AI and software companies serving the built world: construction, real estate and infrastructure. Its site describes the firm as "building a technology-first world" and says it backs founders who are moving vertical software away from human-capital intensity and toward fully autonomous business processes, not just productivity gains. The firm states three areas of focus: artificial intelligence (generative AI, predictive modeling, computer vision and robotics), agentic solutions built on proprietary vertical data, and an infrastructure layer of data and API platforms that unlock new business formation inside its verticals.
Stage Focus
Per its March 2024 Fund III announcement, Prudence invests from Seed to Series B and leads or co-leads rounds, aiming for 10-15 companies per fund. The portfolio page confirms this range: seed leads (Salus, Uniti, Propexo, Hemlane), Series A leads (AI Clearing, Casafari, Evernest, Morty, VendorPM) and later rounds (Clearstory Series B, Trunk Tools Series B, CREXi Series B and C, Sundae Series B and C, Compass Series C).
Check Size
The site does not publish check sizes. Fund III is $80M with 10-15 target companies, which implies initial checks in the low-to-mid single-digit millions with reserves for follow-ons. This is an inference, so no check size fields are submitted.
Lead Tendency
The portfolio page marks many rounds as "Prudence led" (AI Clearing, Clearstory, Evernest, Properly, Salus, Uniti, Casafari, Morty, Propexo, VendorPM, Hemlane), and the fund announcement says it leads or co-leads. Lead tendency is therefore "leads".
Recent Activity
- July 2026: Uniti, a vertical AI agent platform for commercial real estate operators, raised a $12M Series A (Axios). Prudence led Uniti's seed.
- September 2026: Portfolio company PLACE acquired Maxwell, a mortgage technology company and Prudence portfolio exit (Inman).
- October 2026: Planera, a construction scheduling platform, reported deployment across 10 of the top 20 ENR data center general contractors (Construction Dive).
- March 2024: Closed the $80M Fund III. The firm appears to be actively deploying, with new portfolio additions Fifth Dimension, City Detect, Rebar and Trunk Tools shown on the portfolio page.
Portfolio Highlights
- Compass: seed, Series A and Series C investor; IPO on NYSE (COMP).
- Properly: acquired by Compass.
- Maxwell: acquired by PLACE.
- CREXi: commercial real estate marketplace, Series B and C.
- Trunk Tools: agentic AI for construction, Series B.
- AI Clearing, Clearstory, Salus, Planera, Rebar: construction tech.
- Casafari, Evernest, Fifth Dimension: European and UK proptech.
- Hemlane, VendorPM, Propexo, Uniti: property management and real estate software.
- Outside the core theme: Blockchain.com and HealthyBaby, listed as "selected other companies".
Team
- Gavin Myers, Managing Partner: at Prudence since 2009; Yale, Columbia Business School; ex-Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse and middle-market private equity. Sits on the boards of Casafari, City Detect, Evernest, Morty, Uniti AI and VendorPM, and observes at CREXi and Planera.
- Jordan Viniar, General Partner: joined 2020; ex-Goldman Sachs Investment Partners (Zola, Built Technologies), Partner Fund Management and Shift Technologies. Boards: AI Clearing, Clearstory, Hemlane, Propexo, Rebar, Salus; observer at Fifth Dimension.
- Melissa Landry Koller, General Partner & COO: joined 2021 to lead investor relations and operations; promoted to COO in 2024; ex-Goldman Sachs and Russell Reynolds, Harvard Business School.
- Tony Rosenberg, Vice President: joined 2024 from Blackstone Growth Equity.
- David Fischer, Partner Emeritus: co-built Prudence with Gavin Myers from 2009.
Decision Process
A small partnership of managing and general partners who each take board seats. No decision timeline is published.
Founder Preferences
Founder testimonials describe a hands-on, founder-first investor with deep real estate and construction networks, strategic-investor and customer connectivity, and cross-border proptech expertise (US to Europe). The firm looks for founders replacing human labor with autonomous workflows in vertical software.
Geographic Focus
US-centered, with a clear European presence (Casafari in Lisbon, Evernest in Hamburg, AI Clearing in Warsaw, Fifth Dimension in London) and Canada (Properly, VendorPM, Salus).
Gaps
Check size, AUM and decision timeline are not published. Portfolio company domains were not given on the portfolio page except HealthyBaby, so they are left null.