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Level Up Ventures
Level Up Ventures was established in 2021 as an initiative of Hearst Corporation. Carlton J. Charles serves as chairman while also holding the position of SVP...
Level Up Ventures
Level Up Ventures was established in 2021 as an initiative of Hearst Corporation. Carlton J. Charles serves as chairman while also holding the position of SVP at Hearst. The firm manages pension assets for Hearst employees. Level Up Ventures targets early-stage and seed investments. Confirmed holdings include Options MD, Sunthetics, Greenshoe, ClearCOGS, EMTECH, Encounter AI, Sortile, Pryze, Connect Care Hero, Legendary Play, Meta Games and Awesome Prototype GmbH. ByteChek represents an exited position. Investments occur primarily in the United States with additional exposure in Germany. The firm maintains relationships with HearstLab and the Black Venture Capital Consortium. Carlton J. Charles holds memberships in the Executive Leadership Council and is a Governance Fellow of the National Association of Corporate Directors. November 2024: Sponsored the Southwest Startup Showdown in El Paso, TX. Level Up Ventures operates as the dedicated venture allocation arm of a corporate pension plan rather than a standalone family office or independent manager.
General information
Firm type
Venture Capital
Year founded
2021
AUM
2.8B (Altss estimate)
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Charlotte
Corporate office
3540 Toringdon Way 8th Floor, Charlotte, NC 28277, United States
Principals
Carlton J. Charles
Chairman
Shashi Srikantan
Managing Director
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Level Up Ventures?
Carlton J. Charles serves as chairman. Shashi Srikantan holds the role of managing director. Both appear in the Altss research record as the named principals.
How is Level Up Ventures related to Hearst Corporation?
Hearst Corporation founded Level Up Ventures and serves as its primary backer. The firm invests assets from the Hearst Corporation Retirement Plan.
Does Level Up Ventures participate in fund commitments or only direct deals?
The firm makes direct investments into startups. Holdings are recorded as ownership positions through Level Up Ventures itself.
What investment stages does Level Up Ventures typically target?
The strategy centers on early stage and seed rounds. Additional activity reaches expansion and late stage opportunities.
Where does the underlying wealth come from?
Assets originate from the Hearst Corporation Retirement Plan. Hearst Communications, established in 1887, supplies the pension capital.
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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