Top Consumer Apps & Social + Aerospace & Defense Investors 2026

Seed and early-stage technology companies with strong focus on Bitcoin ecosystem and gaming. We invest as a group of serial entrepreneurs who actively partner with world-class teams to build global category winners. Bitcoin is TCP/IP for realtime value transport on the Internet.

Thematic-driven investor backing ambitious founders building for big outcomes across critical domains. Core conviction: defensible businesses create competitive advantages by transforming data challenges and market opportunities into sustainable value. We Go Deep, Not Wide. Focus on AI (defensible AI turns data challenges into advantages), Consumer (vision and strategy to break through attention economy), and Defense Tech (modern solutions for global stability). Active operational partnership beyond capital provision.

Point72 Ventures backs ambitious founders building for big outcomes across critical domains. Going deep, not wide—the firm focuses on specialized investment theses in AI, Consumer, and Defense Tech, bringing deep sector insights, partnership, and hands-on support from seed to pre-IPO.

Passion and vision matter more than pedigree. We seek founders with grit, audacity, and a spark of rebellion—regardless of background. We invest early, before success is inevitable, and support founders from 0-to-1 through Series A.

Identifying culturally resonant, consumer-focused companies with differentiated products and founder teams that will capture global attention. We invest across technology, consumer behavior, entertainment, and culture—seeking to spot emerging trends before they reach mainstream awareness. We operate as a partnership combining rigorous deal selection with exceptional founder support, creative marketing, and deep understanding of consumer psychology.

Top-tier venture capital returns alongside meaningful social, environmental, and economic impact — the Double Bottom Line — with no tradeoff. DBL invests in mission-driven founders across clean energy, agriculture, nature-based solutions, health, economic opportunity, mobility, and the space/Earth nexus.

137 Ventures provides structured liquidity — equity loans against shareholder stakes, direct secondary purchases, and anchoring company-organized tender offers — to the founders, executives, and early employees of category-defining private technology companies. The firm supports generational companies through decade-long private lifecycles with flexible, founder-friendly capital structures.

Category-agnostic, radically founder-first investor using the 38-point Outlander Founder Framework (vision, intelligence, character, execution) to back 'oddball, unknown, under-networked, underrepresented' founders at Day Zero before product or revenue exists. Current thesis excitement: Defense Tech, Physical AI/Robotics, and Future of Commerce + Work.

Back daring founders in their first chapters with first-check capital and access to a community of 200+ world-class founders and operators who can provide mentorship, introductions, and strategic guidance.

Canadians have built over $1 trillion in enterprise value globally, yet were initially backed by US VC not Canadian investors. We back founders with Canadian roots—regardless of where they build—because exceptional talent from Canada represents a sustainable, quantifiable selection edge.

Early investors and long-term partners. We back exceptional founders solving real problems across sectors. When you hit a bump in the road, we're there solving problems alongside you with operational expertise and network leverage.

Young student founders with ambitious vision and strong execution ability can build transformational companies. Providing accessible capital plus institutional support at the earliest stage unlocks value that might otherwise remain invisible to traditional VC. University students represent a unique cohort—bright, ambitious, and unconstrained by traditional career paths.

Mantis invests opportunistically in Seed and Series A technology-enabled startups, leveraging deep social capital across tech, media, entertainment, and finance to provide unmatched GTM support. The firm is founder-obsessed and differentiates through celebrity network access, customer introductions, talent acquisition help, and brand amplification.

Patient, long-term capital partners to the most ambitious founders. Help founders navigate from v1 (seed) to s-1 (Series A+). We believe the best companies are built by ambitious founders who need patient capital, operational expertise, and partnership from experienced operators.

Immigrants are strongly underrepresented in venture capital despite founding or co-founding 55% of America's billion-dollar startups. Immigration and entrepreneurship are parallel one-way journeys. We back exceptional immigrant founders because their success is not priced into the market.

Back 'crazy dreamers' — founders with exceptional tenacity, ambition, and vision who are building transformative companies. BASS serves as the 'bassist' providing foundational support: capital, operational resources, global cloud credits, and talent. Focus on AI software, physical AI, and fashion & beauty in 2025.

Mark VC takes a deeply founder-centric approach, building '360-degree behavioral maps' of founders through extensive personal reference calls. They invest across industries but focus on security & defense, healthcare, consumer, and enterprise software. They strive to be the most valuable investor on the cap table through hands-on coaching and operational support.

Identify and invest in the world's top talent before they start a company. Build lifelong relationships through a proprietary university scout network at Stanford, MIT, Harvard, and other elite universities. Back exceptional founders within 1-3 years of graduation before they are widely recognized.

Exceptional founders create disproportionate outcomes. We identify entrepreneurs pulling the future forward through fundamental innovation and exceptional execution. Rather than chasing sector trends, we partner with high-signal founders solving enduring problems across any category.

Global environmental challenges cannot be solved by established mega-corporations alone, but rather require breakthrough innovation from a diverse set of new companies. We combine venture capital with integrated storytelling and media to create culture-defining content around climate solutions and sustainable technology adoption.

Brands and technologies reshaping culture. Align invests in early-stage consumer brands with strong brand equity and unit economics, and in frontier technologies (AI/robotics, clean energy, defense) transforming how people live and work. First-check conviction investor with meaningful follow-on capital and co-investment access.

Kindred backs visionary and relentless founders building the future using technology and science at the earliest stages, often helping form companies before they exist. With Kindred Ventures IV and Kindred Selector II, the firm is emphasizing the novel intelligence frontier: AGI-capable models and harnesses that extend human capabilities, new AI-native consumer and enterprise experiences, physical AI, compute, infrastructure, energy, science, outer space, and inner space.

K5 Global backs category-defining companies from inception to IPO. The firm leverages exceptional networks across media, entertainment, politics, finance, and technology to provide strategic value beyond capital. We believe the best companies are built by founders who can access world-class talent, capital, and strategic relationships.

Back exceptional entrepreneurs building enduring companies that defy expectations. Value authenticity and tenacity to turn daring ideas into lasting impact. One life-altering investment can lead to industry-wide transformation.

Visionary founders are the true catalysts of transformation and progress. We partner with exceptional founders at the seed stage to help them build extraordinary companies through intensive operational support, structured tools, and candid guidance.

Back wild hearts with the wildest ideas from the very beginning. Invest in companies, not rounds — following exceptional founders from pre-seed through all subsequent stages. Focused on ANZ founders building globally ambitious companies across any sector.

We invest in the most promising entrepreneurs building the fastest-growing early-stage startups. We provide cross-border access by connecting founders to resources and networks across the world's most valuable and influential VC markets.

We back the companies of tomorrow before it's obvious. We combine early-stage European investing with a permanent San Francisco presence to help founders build category-defining global companies. We invest in ambitious technical founders who deeply understand industry transformation.

Back exceptional Kiwi founders building globally transformative companies, from day one to IPO. New Zealand founders represent a significantly undervalued asset class, and Icehouse provides capital plus an ecosystem of 3,000+ investors and deep operational support.

Battery Ventures operates as a stage-agnostic firm backing technology-driven category leaders across all growth stages from seed to buyout. The firm believes the best tech investments span the entire founder journey, and they practice collaborative, research-focused investing with embedded operational support through their Portfolio Services platform. They seek technical founders with deep domain expertise and experienced operators building in four core sectors: Application Software, Infrastructure Software, Consumer, and Industrial Tech + Life Science Tools.

Extraordinary founders execute faster when isolated from distractions and provided intensive on-site support. We seek junkyard dogs with high agency, non-obvious vision, delusional optimism, and execution discipline. Category matters far less than founder quality.

Female founders build exceptional companies that outperform their male peers. We invest in category-defining female leaders with strong points of view who are reshaping their markets, backed by community and supported by a visible ecosystem.

Champions exceptional founders to build lasting companies through experience, community, and capital. Generalist technology investor whose edge is network depth — Joe Montana's unmatched rolodex and 800+ portfolio company network enables introductions that most seed funds cannot provide.

We invest at the Bridge-to-Series A stage—the critical inflection point for companies with real market adoption and product-market fit that are not yet ready for traditional Series A rounds. We partner with exceptional entrepreneurs to build game-changing companies while maximizing investor flexibility and returns.

Unlock value from overlooked corporate assets through operational excellence and strategic management. Partner with outstanding management teams to transform divisions into standalone, high-growth companies.

The best ideas don't come from a screen—they're born offline in the real world. We invest in founders who build differently, prioritizing how they build as much as what they build. We believe original thinking, human-centric innovation, and founder wellness are prerequisites for building great companies.

Uncovering potential through collective conviction. Quorum engineers a system for selecting early-stage startups that leverages the discernment of domain experts via Specialist Limited Partners (SLPs) who earn carry on deals they source or evaluate. This creates specialist-level conviction across generalist domains.

We invest in mission-driven companies that dare to tackle impossible challenges, striving to transform industries and create lasting societal impact. We seek founders with audacity to dream big, resilience to persevere, and potential to build forever companies that shape human history.

Lightbank invests in disruptive technology companies led by great founders in dynamic markets with world-class products. The firm believes exceptional founders and opportunities exist everywhere, especially in overlooked geographies like the Midwest. We partner with early-stage founders and provide operator-heavy support beyond capital.

Entrepreneurs, not VCs, build great companies. We invest early in great & passionate entrepreneurs and serve as long-term partners. Available 24/7 to help founders with mentorship, product-market fit, fundraising, business development, customer acquisition, talent sourcing, and strategic partnerships.

Sand Hill Angels backs seed-stage, high-tech companies with large and growing markets, well-defined problems, disruptive solutions, defensible technology, and strong teams with demonstrated ability to execute. The group leverages 145+ experienced angels to provide capital, mentorship, and network access across the Silicon Valley ecosystem.

Back ambitious teams with strong learning and execution capacities across all sectors, stages, and geographies. Technology-enabled businesses preferred. Volume-based, founder-centric investment philosophy.

We invest at the earliest stages and partner with exceptional entrepreneurs from idea to IPO. We stay small by design to remain aligned with founders. We're sector-agnostic, conviction-driven, capital-efficient, and believe in founder/market fit and intrinsic value over hype.

Back resilient founders building category-defining companies. Leverage Korea's cultural wave for global expansion. When others say 'no', we find the 'yes'.

The smartest place you can invest your capital is in women. We bet on early-stage female-founded and female-led companies creating groundbreaking consumer and B2B software technologies that solve meaningful problems in families, healthcare, childcare, education, climate, and sustainability.

Leading global companies that leverage technological innovation across public and private markets. Proven founders (especially ex-Googlers, AWS, Stripe) with large TAMs (billions+), product-led growth, and global ambitions. Conviction-based investing post-2022 correction emphasizing quality over quantity.

We are a stage-agnostic venture capital firm investing in exceptional founders building the companies that shape our world.

Equity of access and representation in venture capital delivers positive returns. Diverse and underrepresented (including LGBTQ+) leaders of high-growth companies deserve capital access. When these founders succeed, they influence ecosystems and open doors for historically excluded groups.

MaC backs visionary founders building category-defining companies with deep understanding of cultural shifts, technological advancements, and emerging market trends. Founders must demonstrate authentic insight into why their problem needs solving now, combined with ability to see how the world is changing. Particular focus on founders paying attention to shifts others might miss.

Culture-Tech companies that disrupt and define how we live, work, play, and interact with the world every day. We invest in passionate founders building transformative products that change cultural behaviors.

Democratize access to venture capital by building large syndicates of non-traditional LPs. Invest across all stages, sectors, and geographies based on founder quality and market conviction, not category restrictions. Enable 2,000+ diverse co-investors to participate alongside marquee firms like Sequoia and Andreessen Horowitz while maintaining founder-friendly economics.

Invest in early-stage tech companies addressing world's largest market opportunities and solving humanity's biggest challenges. Leverage global distributed team to source, evaluate, and support transformational founders.

Operator-led fund investing in ambitious founders building transformative AI applications. We partner with technical founders who understand AI/ML deeply and are solving real customer problems with capital efficiency. Great product is always the best marketing.