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Great Circle Ventures
Josef Feldman established Great Circle Ventures in Palo Alto after the 2016 sale of Fleetmatics Group, the fleet management software company he co-founded...
Great Circle Ventures
Josef Feldman established Great Circle Ventures in Palo Alto after the 2016 sale of Fleetmatics Group, the fleet management software company he co-founded and helped take public, to Verizon. The office channels liquidity from that transaction into a concentrated early-stage venture portfolio, blending direct investing with Feldman's experience scaling a SaaS company from startup to a multi-thousand-employee public entity before exit. Great Circle Ventures targets seed-stage and Series A rounds across enterprise software, AI/ML, fintech, and climate technology. The fund typically leads or co-leads rounds, writing initial checks between $1 million and $3 million. The portfolio reveals a bias toward applied AI in physical industries — confirmed positions include Machina Labs (AI-driven robotic sheet metal forming) and Parallel Systems (autonomous battery-electric freight rail vehicles), alongside SaaS holdings such as Laxis (AI meeting intelligence for revenue teams). The office invests primarily across North America with select exposure to European technical teams. Feldman operates the firm in a lean configuration consistent with a single-family office rather than a multi-stage institutional fund. The GP structure pools capital from a tight network of exited SaaS founders who co-invest alongside Feldman and share the playbook of building for enterprise scale. Public records do not currently disclose aggregate deployment totals or a multi-fund sequence, consistent with a rolling, conviction-based capital vehicle rather than a traditional closed-end venture fund. Great Circle's structural advantage deviates from the standard Sand Hill Road venture firm in two respects. First, the capital is permanent and concentrated — no return-the-fund pressure shapes pacing, enabling Feldman to maintain board seats and operate as a true co-builder rather than a passive LP allocator. Second, the firm's core referral engine is the informal network of Fleetmatics alumni and peer founders who navigated the 2015–2018 SaaS IPO window, creating a private, low-leakage sourcing pipeline that does not depend on the traditional demo-day circuit.
General information
Firm type
Single Family Office
Year founded
—
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Palo Alto
Corporate office
Palo Alto, CA, United States
Principals
Josef Feldman
Managing Partner
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who makes investment decisions at Great Circle Ventures?
Josef Feldman serves as the Managing Partner and primary decision-maker. He co-founded Fleetmatics Group, scaled it to a public company with over 1,200 employees, and guided it through a $2.4 billion acquisition by Verizon in 2016 before forming the venture office. His operating experience as a founder-CEO shapes his underwriting approach, which emphasizes go-to-market scalability and enterprise sales motion.
Does Great Circle Ventures invest in fund commitments or only direct deals?
Great Circle Ventures invests exclusively through direct equity positions in operating companies, functioning more like a single-family office than a fund-of-funds or institutional allocator. The firm leads or co-leads early-stage rounds rather than participating as a passive LP in third-party venture funds.
How does Great Circle source proprietary deals?
The firm's pipeline relies heavily on referrals from the Fleetmatics alumni network and other SaaS founders who exited during the 2015–2018 IPO window. This network creates a low-profile, high-trust sourcing channel that operates outside the standard TechCrunch-and-demo-day cycle. Feldman's personal presence in the Bay Area enterprise software community further reinforces this non-institutional origination model.
What is Great Circle Ventures's typical check size and stage focus?
Great Circle targets seed-stage and Series A rounds, writing initial checks in the $1 million to $3 million range, with capacity to follow on in subsequent rounds. The firm concentrates on companies that have moved beyond concept-stage and are demonstrating initial enterprise traction.
What sectors does Great Circle explicitly avoid?
The firm avoids biotech, consumer social, pure-play hardware with no software differentiation, and crypto/web3. Feldman's investment thesis is grounded in B2B software and applied AI use cases where his Fleetmatics operating experience provides direct pattern recognition.
Where does the underlying capital for Great Circle Ventures come from?
The primary capital source is Josef Feldman's personal liquidity from the 2016 sale of Fleetmatics to Verizon. The firm structures additional co-investment participation through a select group of exited SaaS founders who operate alongside Feldman rather than as a broadly marketed institutional fund.
How is Great Circle Ventures structured relative to a traditional venture capital firm?
Great Circle operates as a private investment vehicle rather than a standard closed-end venture capital fund. It deploys what appears to be permanent, evergreen capital with founder-aligned pacing, allowing Feldman to serve as a long-duration board partner rather than a timer-of-funds. This architecture is closer to a single-family office with a dedicated GP mandate than to a fee-and-carry fund manager.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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