Propel Venture Partners

Jay Reinemann and David Mort, the two co-founders and general partners, make every investment decision. They sit in an open office with their investing team and do not delegate final calls to junior staff or sector heads. The firm states explicitly that when a founder takes money from Propel, they work directly with the people who made the decision.

Propel’s team identifies founders across fintech, AI, and infrastructure through direct network relationships and online communities. Investor Jenny Chen, for example, joined after five years advising payments firms including PayPal and Ripple at investment banks PWP and Broadhaven. Braeden Rahn spends time finding builders in niche online communities focused on AI safety and infrastructure, per the firm website.

Propel invests directly in operating companies and does not operate as a fund-of-funds. All capital goes into direct equity positions at the pre-seed, seed, and occasionally later stages. The firm has not disclosed any LP commitments to external venture funds.

Propel invests across the full lifecycle of its top-performing companies. It has deployed $10 million to over $50 million in total follow-on capital into individual portfolio positions and has exceeded 15% fund concentration multiple times, using cross-fund vehicles when appropriate (per the firm, May 2025).

While the majority of Propel's capital has been deployed in the U.S., the partnership has committed more than $100 million in South America — across Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, and Mexico — and has also invested in companies founded in Israel and India. Portfolio companies operate across nine countries globally.

Propel is deliberately small, calling itself 'small on purpose.' Two general partners, roughly ten total professionals, and one open office in San Francisco handle all sourcing, diligence, and portfolio support. Founders communicate with the full team through a shared WhatsApp channel, and the firm does not employ a specialist support layer.

Jay Reinemann and David Mort worked together at BBVA, where Reinemann led corporate development and strategy and Mort was on the M&A team. At the bank, they co-led investments in Coinbase, DocuSign, SumUp, Taulia, and Personal Capital, and executed the $117 million acquisition of Simple before leaving in 2016 to co-found Propel.