Investor Profile: Hustle Fund — Thesis, Cheque Size & How to Apply

Hustle Fund is a San Francisco-based pre-seed venture firm that calls itself the investor for "hilariously early" startups. Founded in 2017 by former 500 Startups partners Elizabeth Yin and Eric Bahn, together with Shiyan Koh, the firm exists to level the playing field for founders who lack elite pedigree or warm networks — judging them instead on execution velocity. It has since backed 600+ startups.

Thesis. At the pre-seed stage, Hustle Fund argues, founders rarely have sales or customer numbers to show, so funding decisions often default to pattern-matching and introductions. The firm's answer is to move diligence into the execution phase: write a small first cheque, coach the team for four to six weeks on customer development and growth, and scale up only for founders who show week-over-week progress. The firm's own words: learning to execute matters more than money at this stage. Roughly 1–2% of the ~500 companies reviewed monthly receive an initial cheque, and about one-quarter of those earn follow-on funding.

Sectors and stages. Hustle Fund is a software generalist investing at pre-seed, across the United States, Canada and Southeast Asia. Because it is a small fund, it avoids capital-intensive sectors; its portfolio leans toward SaaS, B2B software, fintech and consumer digital health. The firm's sweet spot is founders who already have a minimum viable product, and it is comfortable being the first cheque and setting terms.

Fund size and cheque size. The firm closed a $11.5 million inaugural fund in 2018 and hit a $30 million first close of its second fund in 2020 (targeting $50 million), with limited partners including Shanda, Line and Naver. Its current published first cheque is $150,000, and it has historically written initial cheques as small as $25,000, with follow-ons of $250,000–$500,000 for top performers. It paces up to 100 investments per year, decides within 1–2 meetings and wires within a week of a yes.

Notable portfolio. Backed companies include Webflow, Vietnamese electric-motorbike startup Datbike, Singapore logistics firm Moovaz, Malaysian telehealth company Ora Group, marketing SaaS Unstack, and Nest Collaborative. Its portfolio is notably diverse: 38% of Fund I companies had at least one female co-founder.

Partners and people. Co-founders Elizabeth Yin and Eric Bahn (both ex-500 Startups) lead the firm with Shiyan Koh, formerly VP of business operations and corporate development at NerdWallet.

Programs and perks. Two programmes define the firm's founder support. Redwood School teaches sales and customer acquisition to portfolio founders. Angel Squad is its 2,000-plus-member angel community — "the YC of angel investing" — where the firm teaches ordinary professionals to invest and invites them to co-invest with cheques as small as $1,000; to date it has channelled $23 million via SPVs into 65 deals in companies such as Rupa Health, Karat and Forage, admitting 250 members per quarterly cohort.

How to apply for funding. Pitching is open: the firm's FAQ says simply to pitch them and that it reads everything, with most founders hearing back within 24–48 hours of a call. The best way to get in touch is the pitch intake on hustlefund.vc (listed as a Typeform pitch form). No pedigree required — execution is the currency.