AI is shifting from content to systems, from the trivial to the critical. We invest in the infrastructure that matters.
Swell backs pre-seed and seed founders who see, move, and build differently.
They possess unique insight from the inside of an industry, but think with an outsider perspective.
They act ahead of consensus, learn rapidly, and move faster than anyone else.
Technical depth. Commercial instincts. The rare combination that turns insight into revenue.
We invest in high-stakes systems that power the economy, defend the nation, and extend human quality of life. These aren’t incremental. They might not even look like “software” as we know it.
Software is evolving from tool to labor. Autonomous systems that execute core job functions for the Fortune 500.
Defense is becoming software-defined. Orbit is becoming a platform. We invest where national necessity meets commercial ambition.
Biology is becoming programmable and data-rich. Data moats, not just IP moats.
We back autonomy, automation, and embodied intelligence that makes moving atoms as reliable as software.
We invest in how goods move, price, and transact. Especially where hidden complexity has quietly taxed the economy for decades.
“The difference with Swell is they get you revenue, not just capital. Those early hires closed the first deals and helped build the machine. They have a worldview that resonates with me, startups are won by people not technology.”
Partners for 15+ years. From our first angel check into TapAd ($360M exit) to our current fund, we’ve been building together for our entire careers.
We don’t outsource conviction. We operate as a single unit. One shared judgment, one decision. We earn our access through the trust of the founders we serve. That stability, shared judgment, and operational DNA comes standard with every check we write.
When we find the right founder, the best part of this job is two words: “We’re believers.”
We were building AI companies before it was a category. Met in 2008 as early employees at an AI startup, long before the hype cycle made it fashionable.
We’ve been investing in critical infrastructure since 2018, when space, defense, and bio weren’t yet consensus trades. We know what early-stage chaos feels like. The weight of delivery when nobody else believes yet.
10,000+ hours assessing founders and operators: that’s where the pattern recognition comes from. We know what exceptional founders look like across contexts and domains.
The founder is the expert. Our job is to recognize it early, then help them build the team.
We don’t just write checks. We build the teams that build the companies. Early-stage outcomes follow power laws, and so does early-stage hiring. The right person changes everything.
75+ VP-level placements across the portfolio. From Sales and BD to Marketing and Product, we identify the gaps before they become bottlenecks.
We help founders build the team, pressure-test the go-to-market, and get to revenue faster. Not as a “platform service.” As partners who show up in the messy middle.