Technical founders, breakthrough companies

Technical founders, breakthrough companies

Foothill Ventures is a technology-focused venture fund based in Los Altos, California. Our team of passionate investors brings deep experience as founders and operators. We focus on frontier tech, making early-stage investments in infrastructure and AI applications.

Foothill Ventures backs entrepreneurs pursuing world-changing breakthroughs.

D-MatrixHyperlightQuintessentSupio
D-Matrix

Ultra-low latency AI inference

10x
inference speed and power efficiency improvement
Pre-A
first check
Hyperlight

Ultra high speed, power-efficient thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) modulator for optical interconnect

448
Gbps per lane and beyond for ultra high bandwidth with ultra low power consumption
Series A
first check
Quintessent

Quantum dot DWDM laser source for extra dense and high bandwidth optical interconnect.

10x
Data bandwidth improvement pathway for XPOs and CPOs
Seed extension
first check
Supio

Superior legal AI for personal injury law firms

75%
reduction in case prep time
Seed
first check
see who we back

Ultra-low latency AI inference

10x
inference speed and power efficiency improvement
Pre-A
FIRST CHECK
See portfolio

Ultra high speed, power-efficient thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) modulator for optical interconnect

448
Gbps per lane and beyond for ultra high bandwidth with ultra low power consumption
Series A
first check
See portfolio

Quantum dot DWDM laser source for extra dense and high bandwidth optical interconnect

10x
Data bandwidth improvement pathway for XPOs and CPOs
Seed extension
first check
See portfolio

Superior legal AI for personal injury law firms

75%
reduction in case prep time
Seed
first check
See portfolio

Our latest fund focuses on frontier tech.

We partner with early-stage companies that demonstrate technical differentiation. This means that one of their major reasons for future success will be technical or product-level superiority.

DEEP Tech
Software Infrastructure
AI Applications

What do we look for?

Strong technical founders

Our first criteria is the quality of the founding team. In addition to favoring strong technologists, we look for a consistent past record of leadership success.

Diverse founders

We have had great success betting on immigrant founders, female founders and PhD founders. When a founding team contains diversity among the founders, we tend to lean in.

Cross-disciplinary approach

We believe that very large opportunities are created when two disciplines collide. Many of our top investments are in cross-disciplinary areas.

How Foothill Adds Value

"I have been working with the Foothill Ventures team very closely for a long time: we’ve worked together on our company's strategy, financing, and hiring. Over the years we have also built a close personal relationship that goes beyond any one area.”
Changming Liu, CEO, Stellar Cyber
“Foothill Ventures has always gone above and beyond other VCs for us. As a small example, they literally gave us their office to hold our “offsite”. More importantly, they are always there for strategic advice and support. They have built a community around their portfolio, which is largely comprised of technical founders (like us), so it is easy to find like-spirited people.”
Dr. Zoe Liu, CEO, Visionular
“When Metalenz started in 2017, Foothill Ventures was one of the few VCs who had the technical capability to immediately see the potential of our deep tech. Since then, there have been multiple challenges—ranging from technical, business development, leadership, IP protection… you name it. Foothill Ventures has always been willing to dive into the weeds and help clear the way or to let the company grow on its own, whatever we need. We couldn’t ask for a better partner.”
Dr. Rob Devlin, CEO, Metalenz