Union Square Ventures

www.usv.com

VCMatch tracks Union Square Ventures as an investor focused on AI/ML, Enterprise SaaS, and Developer Tools companies, Seed and Series A rounds, New York City, United States, and Global markets, and $125k to $275k check sizes. Upload your deck to compare your startup against the full private matching profile.

Check Size

$125k to $275k

Stages

Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C, Growth, Late Stage

Focus Areas

AI/ML, Enterprise SaaS, Developer Tools

Geography

New York City, United States, and Global

Investment Thesis

Union Square Ventures (USV) is a small, thesis-driven, generalist venture firm that seeks startups positioned “at the edge of large markets being transformed by technological and societal pressures.” They favor companies and protocols that invent new forms of opportunity by leveraging new technologies, enabling new behaviors and business models, and building networks that get more valuable as they grow. USV emphasizes rapid experimentation, avoiding gatekeepers (consumer-first, developer-first, open source), broadening access to resources (knowledge, capital, wellbeing, energy), and long-term, active partnership with founders.

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Investment Focus

Who should take a closer look

Union Square Ventures is most relevant for founders raising Seed, Series A, and Series B rounds in AI/ML, Enterprise SaaS, Developer Tools, and Data Infrastructure, especially across New York City, United States, and Global, with public check-size signals around $125k to $275k.

Focus statement

USV invests primarily in early-stage (typically Seed & A) opportunities across internet-enabled sectors via its Core and Climate funds, and in later-stage/special situations via its Opportunity Fund — all managed by the same small team. Their stated focus: investing “at the edge of large markets being transformed by technological and societal pressures.”

Value Add

Thesis-driven, consistent POV across sectors: explicitly centered on the 'edge' of large markets and transformative pressures rather than sector-only specialization.
Small fund sizes and low velocity: maintains relatively small funds (e.g., first early-stage fund $125mm, 2022 fund $275mm) to align entrepreneurs, GPs and LPs (“We believe small fund sizes create the most alignment among entrepreneurs, GPs and LPs.”).
Multi-strategy but unified team: invests from three strategies (Core, Climate, Opportunity) with the same partnership.
Preference for networked businesses: asks “is this a tool, or can it become a network?” and prioritizes network effects.
Operational posture: typically acts as lead or co-lead investor and takes an active, long-term role (“Lead Investors & Long-term Partners”).
Emphasis on rapid experimentation and avoiding gatekeepers via consumer-first, developer-first, and open source models.