Vertical Venture Partners

David Schwab is the founder and managing partner and drives investment decisions. His prior experience at Sierra Ventures and Monitor Ventures shaped the firm's vertical-software thesis. The firm maintains a lean partnership structure typical of seed-stage micro-VCs, with Schwab as the central decision-maker on new commitments.

VVP sources through domain-specific networks tied to the verticals it targets—healthcare, robotics, and industrial automation among them. Because the firm cannot invest in horizontal SaaS or consumer tech, its origination relies on relationships with industry operators, domain-expert angels, and research institutions that produce specialized founders. This narrow aperture means fewer but more intentionally sourced deals.

The firm's mandate explicitly excludes horizontal enterprise software, consumer internet, marketplaces that lack a strong vertical workflow component, and capital-intensive hardware with no software layer. Its thesis is built on vertical-specific workflow digitization, automation, and analytics—sectors outside that frame are not considered.

VVP runs a concentrated portfolio typical of thesis-driven micro-VC funds, with fewer than two dozen active positions by design. This allows the high-touch engagement model the firm emphasizes—partner-level involvement in go-to-market strategy and early customer introductions within each startup's target vertical.