How We Invest

How We Invest?

What stage does Race Capital invest in?

We primarily lead seed rounds and a select number of Series A & pre-seed rounds. Most of our portfolio companies had raised little or no capital before partnering with us. If you're building something technical and bold—we’re interested early.

Which sectors are Race Capital most interested in?

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We back enterprise infrastructure founders—especially those building the next-generation stack for the AI era.

We invest in:
- AI infrastructure (inference, retrieval, orchestration)
- Developer tools and data platforms
- Open source systems with real community pull
- Enterprise security and compliance infrastructure
- AI-native vertical SaaS for B2B markets.

Our core focus is: infra-first, engineering-led, and built for enterprises.

What is Race Capital's typical investment check size?

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Our typical check size for a seed round is $2M–$6M, with a strong preference to lead. For exceptions we’ve gone as low as $1M and as much as $10M. We follow on up to Series A and often lead multiple rounds.

Will Race Capital only invest if it can lead the round?

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We typically lead or co-lead the majority of rounds we do. However if we are excited about you and what you are building, we’ll find a way to work together.

Does Race Capital do follow on investments?

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We take a high conviction approach to investing and happily continue following on for all of the founders we back. Part of our own investment rationale is we need to believe in the founding team so much that we will back you as your first investor, in the pre-seed round, in the seed round, in the Series-A, and potentially even beyond.

Doing a startup is a long term commitment and we take our commitment as early investors seriously.

Is it ever too early to approach Race Capital about investing?

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It’s never too early. We’ve invested before the company was incorporated. If you're still exploring ideas or validating your first users, we’re happy to be a sounding board.

What if I’ve already raised capital from angels — is it too late to talk to you?

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Not at all. We often partner with strong angel syndicates and love rounds with aligned, helpful backers.

What if I’m raising my Series B or later stage — should I contact you?

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Not usually. We focus on the company-building phase—from zero to repeatable revenue.

What is Race Capital’s investment decision making process?

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1. First call (30 mins): We want to meet the founder and see the product—live demo preferred.
2. Second call (60+ mins): Deep dive into team, tech, GTM, and traction.
3. Live testing: We often download and run your product. If we’re serious, we’ll intro real customers and observe your sales calls.
4. Fast yes or no: If it’s not a fit, we’ll let you know quickly. If it is, we move fast.

What does Race Capital look for in a company?

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Founder–market fit: Deep personal motivation and clear insight
‍Execution speed: Forward motion with limited resources
‍Traction or signal: Signs of customer pull, even if pre-revenue
‍Market: A real path to a $10B+ outcome in a market worth winning

What do you look for in a founding team?

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- High conviction and a long-term view
- Technical depth and adaptability
- Clear communication and follow-throughAppreciation for GTM, not just product
- Grit and optimism, being a founder is a hard job

We’re drawn to founders who want to build generational companies that matter.

Do you invest in companies located outside of Silicon Valley?

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We prioritize SF/Bay Area-based teams for proximity to talent and early customers, but we’ll invest anywhere in the U.S. if the founder and product are exceptional.

How should I get in touch with Race Capital?

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We prefer warm intros from people we already know and trust: Our portfolio founders and CEOs, our investor friends, our previous work networks (BEA Systems, Sun Microsystems, Greylock Partners, 500 Startups, Siebel, Oracle, Autodesk, AT&T Wireless, Dolphin Browser, Startup Digest, etc).

However, we are always open to direct outreach as well, especially from founders who are less networked or outside of Silicon Valley. You can email us at deals@race.capital

What happens after Race Capital invests?

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We’re not passive investors, we help founders build GTM muscle from day one.
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Our post-investment support includes:
- Sales coaching and pipeline reviews
- Real customer intros and POC design
- Help hiring the first AE and writing comp plans
- Pricing strategy and contract structure
- Forecasting, revenue roll-ups, and board planning

Our goal: Get our portfolio companies to $5M+ ARR with repeatable revenue and strong Series A readiness.

What makes Race Capital different?

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- We treat venture capital like company-building.
- We embed in your sales process, not on your cap table.
- We don’t wait for deals to form—we source founders directly from GitHub, customer referrals, and engineering circles.
- Our team has sold to the Fortune 500, taken companies public, and built $2B+ ARR startups from scratch.

What is Race Capital's promise to founders?

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We will:
1. Care deeply about you as a person, not just your metrics.
2. Be transparent, direct, and honest.
3. Help with early hiring, early GTM, and early scaling.
4. Stay committed from the first check to your breakout round
5. Give you space when needed—but be here when it matters.