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True Ventures
True Ventures was founded in 2005 in Palo Alto by Jon Callaghan and Phil Black, two venture capitalists who previously worked together at early-stage...
True Ventures
True Ventures was founded in 2005 in Palo Alto by Jon Callaghan and Phil Black, two venture capitalists who previously worked together at early-stage investment firm Summit Partners. The firm launched with a thesis that founders need a single, consistent partner from the earliest pre-revenue days through liquidity — a deliberate break from the industry norm of handing portfolio companies off as they mature. True has since expanded its physical footprint with offices in San Francisco, Menlo Park, and Jackson, Wyoming. The firm concentrates on seed and Series A technology investments across enterprise software, consumer tech, hardware, and developer tools, with a growing AI/ML practice at trueventures.ai. True wrote the very first check into Fitbit — the wearable fitness pioneer that went public in 2015 — and stayed on the board through the IPO. Other exits that reveal the breadth of the portfolio include Duo Security's 2018 acquisition by Cisco for $2.35 billion, Blue River Technology's 2017 sale to John Deere, and Ring's 2018 acquisition by Amazon. The firm invests across North America, with a secondary emphasis on Europe, and has backed companies at the intersection of hardware and software including MakerBot, the open-source 3D printer acquired by Stratasys in 2013. The investment team operates with no attribution to individual partners — when the firm invests, the entire team commits, which the firm describes as a full-team underwriting model. True Ventures adds an advisory bench that includes notable operating figures like Kevin Rose, founder of Digg, and Om Malik, founder of Gigaom, to support portfolio founders. The team lists 14 investment professionals and over a dozen platform and operations staff across its four offices. True Ventures remains one of the few venture firms that has institutionalized the 'first-check' model at scale without building a multi-stage fund complex. The firm does not operate separate growth and early-stage vehicles with different decision-makers; instead, the same partnership committee evaluates opportunities from pre-seed to Series A, a structural choice that prevents the internal segmentation and hand-offs common at larger platforms. Three co-founders — Callaghan, Black, and Tony Conrad — remain active on the investment team, a governance continuity rare for a 20-year-old venture firm.
General information
Firm type
Venture Capital
Year founded
2005
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Palo Alto
Corporate office
Palo Alto, CA, United States
Additional offices
San Francisco, CA · Menlo Park, CA · Jackson, WY
Principals
Jon Callaghan
Investment Team
Phil Black
Investment Team
Tony Conrad
Investment Team
Puneet Agarwal
Investment Team
Adam D'Augelli
Investment Team
Toni Schneider
Investment Team
Rohit Sharma
Investment Team
Kevin Rose
Advisor
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at True Ventures?
True Ventures operates with a full-team underwriting model where all investment professionals evaluate and commit to deals together. The founding partners Jon Callaghan, Phil Black, and Tony Conrad remain actively involved, alongside Puneet Agarwal, Adam D'Augelli, Toni Schneider, and Rohit Sharma. The firm states there is no attribution of individual deals to specific partners — when True invests, the entire team invests.
Does True Ventures participate in fund commitments or only direct deals?
True Ventures invests directly into companies, writing the inaugural check at the pre-seed and seed stages. The firm does not publicly operate a fund-of-funds program or commit capital to external venture firms. True positions itself as a 'first-check' investor that maintains the board relationship through subsequent funding rounds and eventual liquidity.
What investment stages does True Ventures typically target?
True Ventures targets pre-seed, seed, and Series A rounds. The firm was explicitly founded to write the first institutional check into technology companies and then remain the primary venture partner through all subsequent stages — a deliberate departure from firms that pass portfolio assets to separate growth equity teams as they mature.
How is True Ventures structurally different from other early-stage firms?
The firm's partnership committee evaluates every investment from pre-seed to Series A without segmenting decision-making by stage. True does not operate separate early-stage and growth vehicles, nor does it have a 'crossover' fund. This structure means the same partners who approve a $1 million pre-seed round make subsequent decisions on later-stage follow-ons, avoiding the internal hand-offs that are standard at multi-fund venture platforms.
Which notable companies did True Ventures back from inception?
True Ventures wrote the first check into Fitbit, the wearable fitness tracker that went public in 2015. The firm also led seed rounds for Duo Security (acquired by Cisco in 2018 for $2.35 billion per regulatory filings), Ring (acquired by Amazon in 2018), Blue River Technology (acquired by John Deere in 2017), and MakerBot (acquired by Stratasys in 2013). True identifies each of these as companies they financed at the earliest stage.
What is True Ventures' approach to AI and machine learning investing?
In May 2025, True Ventures launched trueventures.ai, a dedicated AI/ML initiative led by partner Puneet Agarwal, to invest in early-stage artificial intelligence companies. The firm's existing portfolio already includes AI-native infrastructure and application-layer companies, and the new effort formalizes its commitment to identifying and funding founders building in the AI/ML domain from inception.
Who sits on True Ventures' advisory bench?
True Ventures maintains a roster of advisors that includes Kevin Rose, the founder of Digg and a general partner at GV; Om Malik, the founder of Gigaom and a technology journalist; Gus Coldebella, former general counsel at the Department of Homeland Security; and Jim Stewart, former CEO of True portfolio company 2U. The advisory group supports portfolio founders on product strategy, media, legal, and operational scaling.
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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