# ONSET Ventures

ONSET Ventures is a Venture Capital based in Menlo Park, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Venture Capital
- **Headquarters:** Menlo Park, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** Menlo Park, CA, United States
- **Founded:** 1984
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** onset.com
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/onset-ventures

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

Onset Ventures is a venture capital firm that invests in information and medical technology-based start-ups. The firm has made 230 investments, including a Series G investment in Vertos Medical on September 30, 2019. Onset Ventures has 60 portfolio exits, with Nok Nok Labs exiting on June 05, 2025.

## Sectors

- Enterprise Software
- Digital Health
- AI/ML

## People

- Terry Opdendyk — General Partner

## Questions

### Who ran investment decisions at ONSET Ventures?

Terry Opdendyk served as the founding General Partner and led all investment decisions for over three decades. His background as an engineering manager at Hewlett-Packard informed the firm's highly technical due-diligence process. The partnership structure remained small, with Opdendyk as the central decision-maker throughout the firm's active life.

### How did ONSET Ventures source proprietary deal flow?

ONSET sourced deal flow through its network of in-house engineers and entrepreneurs-in-residence, who actively scouted for technical founders and emerging technologies. The firm's deep ties to Stanford and the broader Silicon Valley engineering community provided access to companies before formal fundraising processes began. This technical-sourcing model was a deliberate alternative to relying on banker-led introductions.

### Which sectors did ONSET Ventures explicitly avoid?

The firm avoided capital-intensive sectors such as semiconductors and clean-energy hardware, as well as consumer internet companies where technical differentiation was harder to sustain. ONSET's partnership believed its engineering-heavy model worked best in enterprise software and health-tech businesses with long R&D cycles. It also did not invest in life sciences therapeutics.

## Related profiles

- [OnPoint Advisors](https://altss.com/profile/onpoint-advisors)
- [Onsight Ventures](https://altss.com/profile/onsight-ventures)

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Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z

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