51 Funds Still Writing Early Checks in 2026. Twenty of Them Don't Need Traction.
The most common thing we hear from first-time founders this year is some version of: every investor wants traction, and I can't get traction without money.
It is a real trap, and 2026 made it worse. As we wrote in Two Companies Took 43% of Every Venture Dollar on Earth, seed dollars rose while the number of seed deals fell sharply. More money is going into fewer companies, and most of it goes to teams that can already show revenue, usage, or a founder with a prior exit.
But "most" is not "all." A specific set of funds still invests at the idea and pre-product stage as a matter of strategy, not charity. Below are twenty of them, followed by thirty-one more early-stage funds worth knowing.
20 funds that invest before traction
Compiled by Shizune, which maintains a database of more than 50,000 investors. Sectors and stages are as listed there; geographies are the regions each fund is shown investing in.
| Fund | Focus | Stages | Geographies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kima Ventures | Software, AI, SaaS | Pre-Seed to Series A | France, US, UK |
| Pareto Holdings | Software, AI, FinTech | Pre-Seed to Series A | US, UK, France |
| Village Global | Software, AI, Finance | Pre-Seed to Series A | US, UK, India |
| FundersClub | Software, AI, SaaS | Pre-Seed to Series A | US, Canada, India |
| Pear VC | Software, AI, IT | Pre-Seed to Series A | US, Brazil, Colombia |
| Boost VC | Software, AI, VR | Pre-Seed to Series A | US, Canada, UK |
| Inflection Point Ventures | AI, E‑commerce, Health | Pre-Seed to Series A | India, US, Singapore |
| IAN Group | Software, Health, E‑commerce | Angel to Series A | India, US, UK |
| Innoangel Fund | AI, Manufacturing, Robotics | Angel to Series A | China, US, Hong Kong |
| Tuesday Capital | Software, Internet, Mobile | Pre-Seed to Series A | US, UK, Mexico |
| TA Ventures | Software, Health, E‑commerce | Pre-Seed to Series A | US, Germany, India |
| Afore Capital | Software, AI, IT | Pre-Seed to Series A | US, Canada, India |
| Atlantic | Software, Health, AI | Pre-Seed to Series A | Germany, Switzerland, US |
| Invest Nebraska | Software, IT, Health | Pre-Seed to Series A | US |
| Fuel Ventures | Software, SaaS, IT | Pre-Seed to Series A | UK, US, Ireland |
| Investible | Software, IT, AI | Pre-Seed to Series A | Australia, US, Singapore |
| Genesia Ventures | IT, Software, AI | Pre-Seed to Series A | Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia |
| Palm Drive Capital | Software, AI, Finance | Pre-Seed to Series A | US, Canada, Colombia |
| Haystack | Software, AI, IT | Pre-Seed to Series A | US, Canada, UK |
| GSR | Blockchain, Crypto, Finance | Pre-Seed to Series A | US, Singapore, UK |
31 more funds writing early checks
The second list comes from a roundup shared by 1752vc, itself one of the funds on it. It is broader: some of these funds back founders at pre-seed on the strength of the team, while others write their first check at seed or Series A and will expect real numbers. Read the stage column before you read the name.
| Fund | Stages | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| 1752vc | Pre-Seed to Series A | Generalist |
| OVNI Capital | Pre-Seed | Fintech, Cybersecurity |
| USC Marshall School of Business Venture Fund | Seed | Generalist |
| APEX Ventures | Seed to Series A | Deep Tech, AI |
| Spice Capital | Pre-Seed to Series A | Web3, AI |
| Arena Holdings | Series A | SaaS, Fintech |
| astoryaVC | Seed | Insurtech, Fintech |
| Standard Investments | Seed | SaaS, Hardware |
| Scrub Capital | Pre-Seed to Series A | Biotech |
| BAMCAP | Seed to Series A | Biotech, SaaS |
| VINNERS | Pre-Seed | SaaS, Consumer |
| CapitalT | Pre-Seed to Series A | SaaS, AI |
| Shapers | Seed to Series A | Fintech |
| GTM Capital | Seed to Series A | SaaS, AI |
| Visionaries | Pre-Seed | SaaS, Fintech |
| Formulate Ventures | Pre-Seed | SaaS, Web3 |
| National Association of REALTORS® | Seed | Proptech |
| Guild Capital | Seed to Series A | Generalist, Consumer |
| Energy Transition Ventures | Seed to Series A | Climate, Logistics |
| OS Fund | Seed to Series A | Biotech, AI |
| Rose Street Capital | Seed to Series A | Consumer, Fintech |
| Golden Gate Ventures | Pre-Seed to Series A | Consumer, Fintech |
| Spartech Ventures | Seed to Series A | Generalist |
| 885 Capital | Seed to Series A | Fintech, Media |
| TNB Ventures | Seed to Series A | Generalist, AI |
| Upshift Capital | Seed | SaaS, Consumer |
| Vast Ventures | Seed to Series A | Consumer, AI |
| Case Western Reserve University Case Technology Ventures | Pre-Seed | Generalist |
| Verissimo Ventures | Pre-Seed to Series A | SaaS, Fintech |
| Incubate Fund | Pre-Seed | Food & Ag, Biotech |
| Sweater | Seed to Series A | Generalist |
A few patterns are worth noticing. University funds like USC Marshall's and Case Western's Case Technology Ventures usually invest in their own alumni or research, so they are only worth approaching if you have that connection. Sector specialists such as Scrub Capital and BAMCAP in biotech, astoryaVC in insurtech, the National Association of REALTORS® in proptech, and Energy Transition Ventures in climate will move faster on a company in their lane than any generalist will. Arena Holdings starts at Series A, so it belongs on your list for the round after this one.
Lists like these go stale. Theses shift, partners leave, and funds close. Before you send anything, check each fund's site and its last six months of announced deals.
What "without traction" actually means
No serious fund invests without evidence. Pre-traction investors simply accept different evidence. In our experience, and in what these funds say publicly, it comes down to three things.
The founder-market fit is obvious. You have spent years inside the problem. You know the buyer by name, you know why the current tools fail, and you can explain it in a way that makes an investor feel slightly stupid for not seeing it. That is the strongest substitute for revenue there is.
The insight is specific. "AI for healthcare" is not an insight. Something shaped like "most prior-authorization denials at mid-size orthopedic practices are clerical, and nobody inside the practice owns fixing them" is. Specificity signals that you have done the work traction would otherwise prove.
You have moved faster than the money. In 2026, a working prototype costs a weekend and a few hundred dollars in tokens. Showing up without one now reads as a lack of urgency. Ten design-partner conversations, a waitlist, a letter of intent, or a scrappy pilot all count. None of them is revenue, and all of them are evidence.
How to work this list
- Rank by fit, not fame. Fifty-one names is a starting point, not a mailing list. Five funds whose sector, stage, and geography actually match you will beat twenty cold emails.
- Look for a warm path. Many of these funds' portfolio founders take calls. A founder intro is worth more than a perfect deck.
- Lead with the insight, not the market size. At pre-seed, nobody believes your TAM slide. They believe a sharp observation and a founder who clearly owns it.
- Ask for a small check and a short timeline. Pre-seed rounds that close fast are usually sized to a specific milestone. "This gets us to ten paying customers in six months" is fundable. "This gives us runway" is not.
- Run it like a pipeline. Track every conversation, every follow-up, and every no. You will get more nos than you expect, and the pattern in them is useful data.
The honest version
Funds that invest before traction are making a bet on people, and they say no far more often than yes. Getting on their calendar is not the hard part. Being the founder they cannot stop thinking about after the call is.
If you are not there yet, there is another path. A venture studio exists precisely to take an idea from nothing to evidence: building the first version, finding the first customers, and putting a team around a founder before institutional money arrives. That is the work we do. Either way, the goal is the same: by the time you ask for the check, make the decision easy.
