Vermilion Ventures Research
Source Limits
The firm's own site, vermilion.vc, could not be read. Jina returned HTTP 422, a direct request returned 436, and the captioned portfolio read returned fetch_failed. Everything below comes from third-party sources: LinkedIn, WeDeal, Altss, the AAPI community list on Substack, founder press releases, and Bob Wu's public LinkedIn activity. Treat it as a thin profile and refresh it once the site is readable. Do not confuse this firm with Vermilion Cliffs Ventures (vermilion.fund, Ashley Smith, Salt Lake City), Vermilion Ventures Corp Pty Ltd in Sydney, or Vermilion Group.
Investment Thesis
Vermilion Ventures describes itself on LinkedIn and Crunchbase as a firm that invests in AAPI founders. A 2023 community directory lists it as investing in early stage AAPI-founded tech startups. WeDeal summarizes it as a firm that invests in early stage tech companies. No published sector thesis was found. The portfolio spans legal AI (Patlytics), waste management (Trash Warrior) and consumer legal tech (Chariot Claims), so the firm looks sector-agnostic, with founder identity and network as the organizing idea.
Stage Focus
Pre-seed and seed, according to WeDeal and Altss. The three known investments are consistent with that: Patlytics seed (April 2024), Trash Warrior pre-Series A (October 2022), and a participation in Chariot Claims. Chariot Claims raised a $10M Series A in October 2026, and Bob Wu appears in the founder's thank-you note as a continuing backer from earlier rounds.
Check Size
Not disclosed. A 2021 Venture Capital Journal item reported a regulatory filing showing $8.65M raised toward a $100M target for a debut fund. That item does not name Vermilion's check size, and it is not clear it describes the same entity, so no check size or AUM is recorded here.
Lead Tendency
Unknown. In both rounds with a public investor list (Patlytics and Trash Warrior), Vermilion appears among the participants, not as the lead. Patlytics was led by Gradient Ventures and Trash Warrior by AltaIR Capital. That points to a follower or participant role, but two data points are too few to call it.
Recent Activity
- April 2024: participated in Patlytics' $4.5M seed round led by Gradient Ventures, alongside 8VC, Liquid 2 Ventures, Tribe Capital, Gaingels and Alumni Ventures.
- October 2022: participated in Trash Warrior's $8M pre-Series A led by AltaIR Capital, with Amino Capital, Operator Partners and Hyphen Capital. The company has since rebranded as Dimension.
- October 2026: Bob Wu is named by the founder as a backer of Chariot Claims, which raised a $10M Series A led by Silverton Partners.
Fund status is unknown. There is no public announcement of a new fund.
Portfolio Highlights
Patlytics (patent analytics AI, now 70+ people and working with 55% of the Am Law 100 per its founder), Trash Warrior (tech-enabled waste management) and Chariot Claims (mass-arbitration platform for consumers). Third-party databases list only one or two investments, so the real portfolio is probably larger than what is public.
Team
- Bob Wu, Managing Partner: founder and managing partner. Earlier, 6+ years investing at Ziff Brothers Investments, venture partner at Primary Venture Partners and Social Starts, co-founder and CEO of Teleport, and founder of Taiwanese American Professionals in New York. Based in New York, with ties to Kauai, Hawaii, where he sits on a charter school board.
- LinkedIn shows a second employee with no public identity, and Altss lists the firm in Lihue, Hawaii. Neither is confirmed.
Decision Process
Likely a single decision-maker, since Bob Wu is the only named partner and the LinkedIn company page shows 2 people. The Bloomberg entry for the firm shows a GP LLC with Bob Wu as director. This is an inference.
Founder Preferences
AAPI founders, early in the company's life, who can come through the AAPI tech community. Bob Wu has been active in AAPI community and media events for years and has written lists of Asian American founders. The firm appears to source through that network.
Geographic Focus
United States. WeDeal lists the investment region as the US and the firm's base as New York. Portfolio companies are in the SF Bay Area, New York and elsewhere in the US.
Gaps
No readable firm site, no stated check size, no fund size, no confirmed second team member, and no published thesis. Stage and sector are inferred from third-party listings and the three known investments.