Character

Character

Character was founded in 2017 by Jake Knapp, John Zeratsky, and Eli Blee-Goldman. Knapp and Zeratsky previously served as operating partners at Google Ventures, where Knapp created the Design Sprint methodology used by hundreds of startups. The firm's name reflects an emphasis on integrity in founder relationships, according to the firm. The firm leads pre-seed and seed rounds, investing up to $2 million per Core Investment for 6–10% ownership. Through its Character Labs accelerator, it invests $150,000 for 5% equity in up to 15 teams per cohort, running back-to-back sprints for customer testing. Geographic focus is U.S.-incorporated companies, though team location can be global. Known portfolio companies include Phaidra, Inductive Bio, Reclaim, House Rx, Orbital Materials, Fathom, and Extend; earlier co-investments include Flatiron Health (acquired by Roche), Blue Bottle Coffee (acquired by Nestle), One Medical Group (IPO), Slack (IPO), and Gusto. Sector tags cover enterprise software, AI/ML, digital health, fintech, and climate tech. Character operates additional offices in Montreal, San Francisco, Menlo Park, Palo Alto, San Jose, and Barcelona. The team consists of four named professionals plus a head of programs. The firm also runs Character Foundations, a one-day masterclass for founders, and maintains a weekly newsletter. A September 2023 blog post detailed the firm's updated sprint methods for the AI era. Character's structural differentiator is its use of sprint methods — including the Design Sprint, Foundation Sprint, and Name Sprint — as a core service alongside capital. This operational approach, inherited from the partners' Google Ventures tenure, aims to accelerate product-market fit decisions for early-stage technical founders, replacing the typical passive advisory model.