Investor Profile: Peterson Ventures — Thesis, Cheque Size & How to Apply

Peterson Ventures is a founder-first, seed-stage fund based in Salt Lake City, Utah, with an office in the Bay Area. It sits within the wider Peterson Partners platform and has quietly backed consumer brands and business software companies before they became well known. For founders weighing Peterson Ventures funding, the offer is hands-on partnership, not a spray-and-pray seed strategy.

Investment thesis

The firm invests only at the earliest stages and aims to be a true partner through good times and bad. Its stated split for newer investing is roughly 60% to 70% software-as-a-service and 30% to 40% consumer. In software it backs niche dominators. In consumer it looks for founders disrupting distribution, reaching customers directly.

Sectors and stages

Peterson Ventures invests at pre-seed and seed stage in consumer and enterprise software. Within software, favoured themes include healthcare, the future of work, and commerce infrastructure. Most historic investing has been in Utah and the Bay Area, but it also invests in Austin, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Seattle.

Fund size and cheque size

The firm raised a $25 million first fund, then a $33 million second fund, and then Peterson Ventures Fund III, a $65 million fund closed in 2020. At that close it reported $155 million in assets under management. Peterson Ventures Fund III was announced as writing cheques of $250,000 to $1 million at seed and pre-seed, with follow-on capital reserved for winners. Later profiles put the typical range up to $1.5 million including follow-on.

Notable portfolio

The portfolio spans more than 75 companies. Consumer names include Allbirds, Bonobos, later acquired by Walmart, and Cotopaxi. Enterprise software names include Lucid Software, known for visual collaboration tools, and HireVue, focused on hiring technology. Other investments include Ethos, Eargo, Tava Health, a telemedicine platform for employee mental health, and Via, which connects businesses to customers over messaging and voice.

Partners

Peterson Ventures was founded by Joel Peterson, who taught at the Stanford Graduate School of Business for decades; his students included the founders of Bonobos. Ben Capell, managing director and general partner, joined in 2010 and has led many software investments. Ilana Stern joined as general partner in 2019, becoming the firm's first partner in San Francisco, after founding Weddington Way, a portfolio company later sold to Gap.

Programs, credits and perks

Peterson Ventures does not run a public accelerator programme with published cohorts, credits, or perks, and founders should not expect a structured batch. The support on offer is partner-led coaching, its network of portfolio chief executives, and long-standing Stanford Graduate School of Business connections, which supply deal flow and talent. No published credits package is attached to an investment.

How to apply for funding

There is no public application portal, so learning how to get funding from Peterson Ventures means understanding its relationship-led route. It sources heavily through Utah and Bay Area networks and Stanford connections, so a warm introduction from a portfolio founder or co-investor carries far more weight than a cold email. Approach with a clear seed story: the niche you can win, early demand, and how a $250,000 to $1 million first cheque reaches the next milestone.