Best Seed Developer Tools & Infrastructure + EdTech Investors 2026

Investing at the intersection of Invention & Culture. We back founders building category-defining consumer companies where technology breakthroughs meet emerging human behavior. We see inflection points before they're consensus by tracking both emerging technology capabilities and emerging consumer demands.

Breakthrough startups are designed futures, not lottery tickets. We back extraordinary founders with breakthrough insights before the world believes. We are co-conspirators, not just investors.

Education is the most powerful driver of human potential. We invest in mission-driven teams building transformative education companies that deliver measurable outcomes and expand access globally.

Disruptive innovation in work and education fuels human achievement. We partner with exceptional entrepreneurs who are business builders, deep domain experts, and capital efficient thinkers. We believe in long-term relationships over transactional investing, often partnering with founders across multiple ventures.

Market avalanches—invisible but compounding structural shifts driven by demographic and technological change. Invest in technologies transforming how people learn, earn, and own.

Extraordinary things are possible when great teams come together around technology. K9 invests at the pre-seed stage with founders, betting on vision and execution. Money is a commodity; reputation and time are the currencies that matter. We provide not just capital but active operational support, hands-on mentorship, and board governance.

GSV Ventures invests across the full spectrum of learning (Pre-K to Gray) at the intersection of education and technology. The firm believes the learning and workforce development sector is a $7+ trillion opportunity, and that artificial intelligence will fundamentally reshape education. GSV focuses on companies that address real market needs at scale, operate sustainable business models, and attract visionary founders.

We invest in founders leading their first institutional venture round. Our mission is to catalyze transformation in Latin America by partnering with the region's top entrepreneurs. Together, we create cycles of innovation, empowerment and change. We believe in long-term partnerships and hands-on support.

Founders with genuine conviction solving important problems, backed by unfair advantages and exceptional drive. We provide capital, operational expertise, and access to 100+ world-class startup operators. Our value is in the people on your cap table and the hands-on support—not just the checks.

Founders building the possibly impossible deserve capital plus marketing support. Great technology combined with exceptional storytelling and narrative development creates world-changing moonshots. We provide both the capital and the story-telling expertise to help founders achieve escape velocity.

The AI-first transformation of business will be as big as digital, mobile, and cloud combined. We invest in companies building the AI-first technology stack: data foundations, AI tools, autonomous applications, and product-led growth companies that accelerate adoption. Founders building at any layer of this stack can reach goals and uncover opportunities previously unattainable.

Big things start small. We invest at seed stage and see potential where others don't. We believe in your vision for your company's future, not as it exists today. We think in decades, not days, committing to walk the entire journey with founders to build iconic companies. We share Antipodean ingenuity with the world.

AI-native quant VC backing seed-stage founders with speed and precision. The world's first AI-only fund uses proprietary machine learning models and a University of Oxford research partnership to identify exceptional founders building category-defining AI products. Vela's AI Suite analyzes 300+ early-stage companies weekly; their models demonstrate 10-20x improvement over baseline success prediction rates.

Social impact companies are undervalued at the earliest stages when metrics are unclear. We invest very early in mission-driven founders tackling the world's hardest problems, supporting them until they're attractive to top-tier VCs. 12-15 exceptional entrepreneurs can solve the largest global challenges.

Support first and second generation immigrant founders building unicorn-grade companies. Value-add investor providing capital plus deep network connections to customers, partners, strategic advisors, and founder networks.

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.

Back force-of-nature founders at pre-seed and seed stages building B2B software companies. Primary value-add is hands-on recruiting (150+ candidate sourcing per role) and GTM development—not board seats or traditional governance.

Help founders succeed by combining capital ($120K-$250K), intensive mentorship (3-month program), and access to a powerful global network of 1,500+ mentors. We invest in founders at the earliest stage with conviction and vision, regardless of sector or geography. Our #GiveFirst philosophy drives us to help without expecting immediate return.

Identify and partner with visionary entrepreneurs building category-creating companies that unlock entirely new addressable markets. Focus on 'silent suffering' where customers tolerate suboptimal solutions. Use AI, data, and behavioral science to identify non-obvious market opportunities and founder-market fit.

Permanent balance-sheet investor backing highly defensible, category-defining, mission-driven companies solving the world's biggest problems. Focus on founders transforming legacy industries with emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

High-touch early-stage investing in technology founders building durable software and tech-enabled category leaders, with particular strength in SaaS and the Utah/Silicon Slopes ecosystem.

We invest at the edge of large markets being transformed by technological and societal pressures. We seek companies that enable new behaviors and business models that incumbents cannot pursue, with strong network effects and broad access implications.

Diversity is profitable. Seed-stage investing generates best venture returns. We find and fund diverse founder teams that other VCs overlook, using decision analysis and rigorous frameworks instead of pattern-matching to make capital allocation decisions.

Back electric founders with an uncontrollable passion for creating disruptive companies. Invest globally, particularly strong in US and Latin America. Combine capital with operational support through venture studio model, helping build groundbreaking companies from inception through scale.

Great entrepreneurship exists everywhere—not just in traditional tech hubs. We invest in high-potential early-stage founders with a focus on underrepresented geographies (Midwest, Latin America) and demographics (women, minorities, immigrants). Beyond capital, we provide strategic guidance, ecosystem connections, and relocation support through our Tulsa-based infrastructure.

Support visionary founders building transformative technologies across blockchain, AI, and biotechnology. Provide capital, technical resources, and access to Binance's 300M+ user base and infrastructure. Partner for long-term value creation with founder-centric approach.

We back European platforms of tomorrow that democratize market access and enhance efficiency through the power of network effects. Platforms create value by connecting multiple stakeholders in sustainable, long-term businesses.

Investing in customer-obsessed founders redefining everyday experiences. We back founders at the earliest stage (pre-product/pre-revenue) with conviction, capital, and deep operational support including marketing, customer acquisition, and technology infrastructure.

Empowering visionary entrepreneurs to build unique solutions that reshape how Indians live, work, consume, and transact. Kalaari backs potential over pedigree — first-time founders welcome — focusing on tech-driven Indian market opportunities from Pre-Seed through Series A.

Partner with passionate entrepreneurs building companies that change the way we live, work, play, or learn. We're operator-first investors who provide capital, strategic guidance, and operational mentorship alongside network and investor connections.

Invest in deep science and disruptive technology companies that solve fundamental human problems—inequality, health, climate adaptation. We back founders with vision, instinct, and drive to scale impact.

We back founders building commercially successful businesses that expand economic mobility in America. We invest where capitalism's incentives align with social benefit, embedding mobility impact in core product, not as an afterthought.

Back technology that enhances human potential, not just fancy tech. Invest in passionate founders solving real market problems with human-centered impact. Focus on sustainable businesses contributing to economic transformation in Latin America and globally.

Back mission-driven founders addressing significant global challenges through leading-edge technology. Provide flexible and patient capital, leveraging our time, resources, and networks to support portfolio company success. Focus on founders with authentic social and environmental missions alongside commercial viability.

Gender-diverse teams building spatial computing and AI companies represent the best founders and the next computing paradigm. Female-founded teams outperform all-male teams by 63% and are systematically underfunded.

Invest in the future of software built on AI. We partner with technical founders to provide capital, unfair shortcuts, and operational support to accelerate their learning and help them reach their potential. We position ourselves as the first institutional investor for v0.9 stage founders.

Venture capital is the most powerful economic engine the world has ever seen. We back audacious founders solving humanity's hardest challenges through category-creating innovations. We embrace big risks and reject short-termism, committing to 15+ year partnerships with founders who have long-term vision and relentless determination.

Turning access into opportunity for founders, investors, and disruptive ideas by backing culturally resonant tech companies and founders who don't fit traditional Silicon Valley mold. Emphasis on showing up right way for founders, making bold bets, and committing fully from first check.

Help founders build companies of which they can be proud. We invest in mission-driven founders solving large, urgent problems using technology to create substantive change. Capital is necessary but not sufficient—sweat, reputation, and accountability are our core commitments.

World-class technology companies can be built anywhere. Greatness is in our backyard. We invest in market-defining companies across the Driveway region (Hudson River to Rocky Mountains), partnering with founders from idea to IPO. Build where your talent is. Build where your customers are. Build where you're strongest.

Empower audacious founders who challenge norms and leverage technology to transform industries. We believe in first-time founders with scrappy outsider mentality and narrow niche focus. Silicon Valley expertise combined with deep emerging market knowledge across three continents.

Invest in the smartest people, regardless of what they're building, especially if the idea sounds bad in the beginning. Focus on exceptional founders in overlooked markets and non-consensus businesses. Optimize for founder quality over sector fit.

Non-dilutive growth capital for B2B software companies. Alternative to venture capital focused on sustainable, capital-efficient growth that preserves founder equity and optionality. Fills gap between traditional bank lending and venture financing.

WndrCo positions itself as 'the founders behind the founders,' combining strategic capital with deep operational involvement. Unlike traditional VCs, partners take formal operating roles (interim CEO, CFO, CPO) within portfolio companies. This approach leverages the co-founders' proven track record: Sujay Jaswa scaled Dropbox from $18M to $10B as Business Founder/CFO, and Jeffrey Katzenberg transformed Disney Studios and built DreamWorks. The firm invests across all stages through three strategies: Build (acquiring underappreciated tech companies), Venture (leading post-PMF rounds), and Seed (very early checks). Focus areas are Future of Work, Cybersecurity, Developer Infrastructure, and Consumer Technology, with increasing emphasis on AI applications.

We invest in companies that make business work better, backed by a commitment to understanding profound changes in how business operates. We seek founders with the potential to build extraordinary, outlier companies through transparency, founder-first principles, and patient capital from our investor Bloomberg L.P.

u.ventures backs local entrepreneurs who dare to build exciting global ventures. The firm focuses on early-stage technology startups with world-class founding teams from Ukraine and Eastern Europe with global market ambitions, scalable products, and competitive advantages.

Greatest opportunities come from serving unmet needs of the middle class in emerging markets. We bridge US and Latin American markets, providing institutional capital, intellectual capital flow, and geo arbitrage exit opportunities.

Day 0 venture capital applied by a deep operator. Better Capital invests at the earliest stage where ambiguity is highest and operator judgment adds the most value. Solo GP model keeps conviction high and enables deep engagement with 20-25 companies at critical inflection points.

Bold, visionary African founders solving Africa's biggest challenges represent global business opportunities. We combine capital, operational support, and community to build sustainable, continent-scale businesses.

Builds AI companies from inception alongside recruited CEOs, acting as an AI R&D studio that sources ideas with large corporates to deliver agentic-AI ventures with built-in customers and traction. Fund II focused on application and software infrastructure layers with emphasis on enterprise adoption and agent protocols.

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.

Support ambitious founders with the 'X Factor' – the insight and drive to build billion-dollar companies. Particularly focused on female founders and mixed-gender teams who have been historically underrepresented in VC.

Back purposeful entrepreneurs building scalable technology solutions for significant Latin American problems, with emphasis on inclusion, climate innovation, and business productivity while generating positive impact and strong returns.

New and powerful AI systems will give rise to transformative startups. We back exceptional engineers, designers, researchers, and product builders using AI to solve critical problems in healthcare, law, education, energy, sciences, and enterprise. We provide capital, operational support, talent expertise, and conviction follow-on investing.

Pan-African fund solving the significant funding gap in Seed and pre-Series A investment. Backing ambitious African founders tackling critical continental challenges with operational support and investor network.

Coach and invest in entrepreneurial leaders building world-class, purpose-driven organizations. Combines financial investment with active leadership coaching and organizational development using LinkedIn's proven playbook. Believes great companies are built by great leaders who manage compassionately and combine doing well with doing good.

Every visionary startup deserves the right support to flourish. Array Ventures provides comprehensive end-to-end support through three phases: Plan (inception), Build (implementation), and Scale Up (growth). They combine equity investments with extensive consulting services to identify innovative startups with breakthrough ideas and help them achieve their full potential.

Identify founders with the determination and resourcefulness to build world-changing companies. We believe exceptional founders can come from any background and at any stage of development. Our mission is to help founders be dramatically better shaped in 3 months than when they arrived.

Anabel Paksoy actively looks to invest in early-stage startups at Day 0, providing hands-on support tailored to the founder's unique needs. She focuses on founders who are passionate about solving specific problems, and investments are made quickly to take advantage of timely opportunities.

Soma invests in technical founders building innovative companies across all sectors. We believe in building deep friendships day 1 with brilliant superhumans pushing humanity forward. Our founder-first approach emphasizes non-dilutive capital, founder autonomy, and access to Fortune 500 networks for customer development.

Invest in pre-seed and seed-stage startups where the ecosystem or community around the product is the core competitive moat. Best companies build worlds through bottom-up communities and compelling narratives. We provide capital, strategic advice, narrative development, and leverage our network to help founders succeed.

Invest in hyper-growth consumer and technology businesses with enduring customer relationships. Back founders challenging the status quo through digital transformation. Focus on companies with strong unit economics, loyal customer bases, and defensible competitive advantages in complex, regulation-heavy markets.

Invest in technical storytellers—founders with deep technical depth, exceptional communication skills, and strong execution velocity. Fund innovation in traditionally overlooked industries (Clipboard Companies) by applying modern technology while respecting domain expertise.

Gender diversity drives innovation and better financial returns. We invest in women-led startups building sustainable, profitable technology companies that solve strategic problems within Hearst's 360+ businesses while creating measurable impact on diversity in venture capital.

Technological innovation is unevenly distributed. The hottest, most visible sectors attract talent and capital, while overlooked industries hide massive value creation opportunities. We back unconventional founders disrupting unglamorous, technology-inefficient, long-standing industries.

NYC has tremendous entrepreneurial talent but lacked a structured environment for early-stage founders. ERA provides capital, intense mentorship, and network access to help founders build market-leading companies. Every sector deserves innovation.

Invest in scalable, capital-efficient tech and tech-enabled startups at the Seed stage led by exceptional founders. We identify companies showing early traction that can achieve significant scale with disciplined capital deployment.

Emerson Collective invests in entrepreneurs and innovators driven by purpose, seeking consequential companies that deliver both generational impact and venture-scale returns. The firm targets sectors where biggest market opportunities meet meaningful impact levers: energy & environment, digital health, fintech, education, work, and media.

We seek extraordinary founders building transformational products. Product-obsessed founders with deep market understanding, exceptional execution ability, and the drive to build lasting companies create the most value.

We invest in world-class founders solving significant problems. We prioritize founder quality, founder-problem fit, and values-aligned partnerships. We help exceptional founders become category leaders early, before they become obvious trends.

We invest in the technologies that are transforming our lives, now and into the future. Founded by a successful entrepreneur and former tech journalist, Supernode backs exceptional founders building innovative technology companies across all sectors, from pre-seed through Series A and beyond.

We partner with relentless founders who defy convention to change the future. Our four founder paradigms—purity of motivation, earned secret, obsessed problem solving, and non-consensus thinking—guide our investment decisions. We believe the best founders are intrinsically motivated to solve real problems, have deep domain expertise, relentlessly iterate to find better solutions, and have the courage to diverge from established paths.

Back founders from day one with founder-focused support across fundraising, growth, product, and international expansion. We believe diverse founding teams and global thinking drive exceptional returns.

Exceptional teams can originate from any location. We provide more than capital and introductions. By leveraging our network we aim to empower entrepreneurs with the resources they need to have their best chance at success—even if we don't invest.

Latino founders represent an underserved but exceptionally talented segment of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. We invest in visionary founders who combine bold ideas with execution excellence to build scalable, high-impact businesses that create both economic and social value. We believe institutional capital paired with strategic partnership from Fortune 100 executives and operating experts can unlock the full potential of Latino-led innovation.

Underestimated founders are systematically mispriced assets that create alpha rather than requiring concessionary returns. We invest in the very best founders who identify as women, people of color, or LGBTQ, treating capital allocation as activism.

We build category-defining companies through a combination of design, product, operations, and capital. We identify market gaps, pair brilliant founders with Expa's studio resources, and help them build companies that reshape entire industries.

Global venture capital that invests where talent is abundant but capital and opportunity are not. 500 Global backs technology founders with global ambitions across underinvested, fast-growing markets using Silicon Valley expertise combined with deep local knowledge. Core belief: The best founders and innovation emerge globally, not just Silicon Valley.

The best people to invest in startups are people who have built startups. We identify exceptional founders in geographies outside traditional venture hubs, building locally-run pre-seed funds with community-powered decision making.

We partner with gritty and determined entrepreneurs leveraging emerging technologies to create or disrupt huge markets. We invest in people first, second, and third—founders with passion, obsession, and vision. Only partners with founders when we believe their company alone can return our entire fund or more.

We invest in people, not business scripts. We believe exceptional founders can come from anywhere. Our open video-pitch funnel replaces traditional warm intros with meritocratic founder access. We want to see and hear you—your passion, vision, and commitment matter more than a polished deck.

Backing the best founders, not just the best-connected. We assess founders on their qualities, not CV or past experience. We focus on founders building solutions for climate equity, economic empowerment, and healthy ageing.

We back founders everywhere-else outside traditional tech hubs. We believe exceptional talent, innovation, and business opportunities exist across all geographies. Through the GAN network of 100+ accelerators and studios worldwide, we provide capital, mentorship, and global connections for founders building scalable solutions.

Investing in the picks and shovels of volatility caused by convergent forces (AI, Web3, Deep Science) intersecting with demographic shifts and climate change. We seek to create venture-scale returns by backing bold founders building more equitable, beneficial, transparent, and accessible structures.

High-growth early-stage companies with disruptive innovation across diversified sectors. Particular focus on underserved communities and Rocky Mountain region. Platform approach with multiple themed funds for specialized strategies.

Venture capital should be accessible to exceptional entrepreneurs anywhere. Great companies can be built outside Silicon Valley with the right capital, operational expertise, and network support.

Elevate Ventures partners with innovation-driven founders to provide strategic capital, mentorship, and ecosystem access. Founded by a former founder (Governor Mitch Daniels), the firm believes the best founders exhibit grit, creativity, and coachability. They invest across all sectors and geographies but maintain primary focus on Indiana and Great Lakes Region entrepreneurs building cross-sector innovations.

Product-obsessed investing in consumer tech, prosumer software, and SMB applications. We back founders based on product quality and user value, not credentials or background.

Great startups can be built anywhere. We believe in founder-centric investing with operational support from a team of successful founders. We serve undernetworked geographic regions.

Back the world's most ambitious and transformative entrepreneurs capable of building world-defining companies over 20+ years. Invest in founders with independent thought and first-principles vision to solve humanity's biggest problems across all sectors and geographies.

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.

Investing in the Post-AGI World. Back founders building essential infrastructure, automation, robotics, energy, education, AI security, and biology applications in a world shaped by AI. The fund leverages deep OpenAI insider knowledge to identify where the market is wrong about AI's trajectory.