Telegraph Hill Capital (THCAP) Research
Investment Thesis
Telegraph Hill Capital (THCAP) is an early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2007 by Luis Gutiérrez Roy, headquartered in Barcelona with additional offices in San Francisco, London, and Miami. The firm backs founders obsessed with solving big problems using capital-efficient technology, with an entrepreneurial DNA and hands-on approach to helping portfolio companies achieve product-market fit and market leadership.
The core thesis is to partner with founders who have the potential to "redefine entire industries or create new ones." THCAP emphasizes active support throughout the investment lifecycle — beyond capital, they provide business mentorship, network introductions, and operational guidance toward market expansion. Diversity in founding teams and sustainable, ESG-aligned business models are a stated priority.
Sector Focus
Telegraph Hill Capital is broadly sector-agnostic but has developed deep portfolio concentration in:
B2B SaaS / Enterprise Software: Workflow automation, productivity tools, vertical SaaS, compliance platforms (Approveit, Buildbetter, Captio, Quotemachine, Taclia, Provect.ai, Nuel, Inscora).
FinTech & Payments: Payroll technology, digital payments, financial inclusion — especially serving Spain and Latin America (Payflow, Future Money, Undostres, Cobalt).
PropTech / Real Estate: Digital property platforms, on-demand storage, modular housing (Brickbro, Clutter, Manufactured).
HR Tech / Future of Work: Employee engagement, workforce scheduling, job marketplaces (Talent.com, Evolia, Bucketlist, Rabot).
Logistics & Supply Chain: Last-mile delivery, fleet management, freight optimization, supply chain AI (Fleet, JetScale, Kubbo, Nuel, Marti).
Marketing & AdTech: Customer loyalty, video outreach, e-commerce marketing (Glowtify, Sendspark, Stamped, Loyal Guru, AppFront).
Legal RegTech: Digital notary, legal document automation, airline compensation claims (Bigle Legal, Notairo, Walaw, Claim Compass, Leya).
Cybersecurity: Browser security, fleet protection, offensive security / pentesting (Apozy, Fleet Defender, Cobalt).
Increasingly, the portfolio reflects AI-native applications across verticals: voice AI for recruiting (Ezra AI Labs), supply chain intelligence (Nuel, Provect.ai), and insurance automation (Inscora).
Stage Focus
THCAP primarily invests at Pre-Seed and Seed stages. They prefer companies that have been in market for several quarters, demonstrating early user adoption and competitive advantages. The firm often leads or co-leads early rounds. They also participate in Growth Stage follow-on rounds for existing portfolio companies with strong momentum.
Check Size
Initial investment: $250K–$500K. Total investment capacity per company: up to $1.5M including follow-on reserves. The firm manages 5 funds. Portfolio companies have collectively raised over $500M. Specific fund sizes have not been publicly disclosed, though a €35M fund for European and US markets has been referenced.
Lead Tendency
THCAP frequently leads seed and pre-seed rounds. They have participated in follow-on rounds of established portfolio companies as well, typically co-investing with other early-stage funds.
Recent Activity
The firm is actively deploying from its latest fund. Recent investment activity:
- March 2026: Participated in Ezra AI Labs' $3.2M seed round co-led by Penny Jar Capital and LMNT Ventures. Ezra is a voice AI interviewing platform; notably, Greenhouse (a leading ATS platform serving 7,500+ companies) announced it would acquire Ezra AI Labs in May 2026.
- October 2025: Pre-Seed investment in Nuel (AI-powered supply chain forecasting, West Lafayette, IN), part of their Pre-Seed III round.
- May 2024: Participated in Artemis' $1.5M pre-seed round led by Raven Indigenous Capital Partners. Artemis automates data cleaning for analytics and AI teams.
Portfolio Highlights
With 64+ investments across North America, Spain, France, Israel, Canada, Peru, and Mexico, THCAP has backed notable companies including:
- Clutter ($543M raised, on-demand storage and moving)
- Talent.com ($120M raised, global job aggregator)
- The Bouqs ($89M raised, online flower delivery)
- Stamped.io (loyalty and reviews platform, acquired by Klaviyo)
- Sendspark (video messaging for sales teams)
- Cobalt (offensive security / pentesting as a service)
- Leya (AI-native legal research platform)
- Payflow (earned wage access, Spain)
- Evolia (workforce scheduling platform)
Confirmed exits:
- Chronogolf: acquired by Lightspeed POS Inc. for $13.6M (May 2019)
- Planned: acquired (event planning software)
- Talent.com: grew to $120M+ raised (late-stage)
- Ezra AI Labs: agreed to be acquired by Greenhouse (May 2026)
Team
- Luis Gutiérrez Roy, Managing Partner: Founder of THCAP; former M&A Director at EY in Europe; held roles at PwC, Houlihan Valuation Advisors, and BOS RFID & Mobile Solutions. MBA from University of San Francisco; BA from University of Barcelona. 15+ years of VC experience. Sits on multiple portfolio boards across Montreal, the US, and Europe.
- Varun Dalal, General Partner: Barcelona-based GP; handles deal flow and portfolio support.
- Taryn Andersen, Investor Relations: Based in Barcelona and Madrid.
- Joan Taule, Venture Partner: Barcelona.
- Ignasi Puig, Venture Partner: Miami-based, handles Latin America exposure.
- Venture Advisors: Carl Agers (Silicon Valley), Víctor del Pozo (Barcelona/Paris), Santi Minguito (Barcelona), Javier Dolcet (Barcelona), Trevor Ulbrick (Kansas/Madrid), Tess R. Suchoff (Boston), Tod Hynes (Boston — cleantech focus), Prasad Ram (Silicon Valley).
Decision Process
Investment decisions are made at the partnership level by Luis Gutiérrez Roy and Varun Dalal, with input from the venture partner and advisor network. The typical response time is a few weeks. The firm accepts cold outreach with a pitch deck at [email protected].
Geographic Focus
THCAP is transatlantic: North America (SF Bay Area, Boston, NYC, Canada) and Western Europe (Barcelona, London, Paris) are core markets. The firm also maintains selective exposure to Latin America (Mexico City, Peru) via its advisor network. Portfolio companies are headquartered across the US, Spain, Canada, France, Israel, Bulgaria, Mexico, and Peru.
Founder Preferences
THCAP backs founders with domain expertise who are obsessively focused on customer problems. They prefer capital-efficient teams with early user adoption and competitive differentiation. Diversity in founding teams and ESG-aligned business models are stated priorities. Technical or hybrid founders in B2B technology are preferred, though the firm is sector-agnostic in approach.