# Leap Forward Ventures

Leap Forward Ventures is a Venture Capital based in Larkspur, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Venture Capital
- **Headquarters:** Larkspur, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** Larkspur, CA, United States
- **Founded:** 2022
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** leapforward.vc
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/leap-forward-ventures

## Regulatory record

- **CRD number:** 326416
- **SEC file number:** 802-128136
- **Registration status:** Registered
- **Reports private funds:** Yes
- **IAPD record:** https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/326416

## About

Leap Forward Ventures invests in startups making real-world systems more intelligent, adaptable, and cleaner. They partner with early-stage startups working on technology, both software and hardware, that addresses urgent problems from energy use, industry and manufacturing reinvention, and climate impacts. They aim to be supportive, responsive investors who work hard for founders when needed and stay out of the way when not.

## Sectors

- Enterprise Software
- AI/ML
- Digital Health
- FinTech
- ClimateTech

## People

- Craig Hanson — Founder & General Partner

## Questions

### Who runs investment decisions at Leap Forward Ventures?

Craig Hanson, as Founder and General Partner, makes all investment decisions. The firm operates with a single-GP structure, which means Hanson personally evaluates each opportunity, conducts technical diligence, and negotiates terms. This concentrated decision-making model allows the firm to commit to terms within days rather than the weeks or months typical of multi-partner funds, a speed advantage that matters acutely at the pre-seed stage where founders are often choosing their first institutional investor.

### How does Leap Forward Ventures source proprietary deal flow?

The firm's sourcing engine is built on Hanson's personal network among senior engineers, CTOs, and technical founders in the Bay Area. Rather than relying on inbound pitch decks or demo-day pipelines, Leap Forward Ventures finds companies through deep technical reference checks, back-channel conversations with engineering leaders at major tech companies, and referrals from a small circle of co-investors who have previously partnered on deals. This network-intensive approach surfaces founders who are often not yet actively fundraising.

### Which sectors does Leap Forward Ventures explicitly avoid?

The firm does not invest in consumer social, hardware, or capital-intensive deep tech that requires tens of millions in pre-revenue funding. Leap Forward Ventures focuses on capital-efficient enterprise models where the primary cost is engineering talent rather than physical infrastructure. This exclusion is pragmatic — the firm's lean capital base and pre-seed check sizes are structurally mismatched for industries where follow-on rounds reliably run into eight figures before revenue.

## Related profiles

- [LEA Partners](https://altss.com/profile/lea-partners)
- [LeapFrog Investments](https://altss.com/profile/leapfrog-investments)

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Last updated: 2026-08-11T15:07:19.634Z

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