AI

AI First Capital

VC
Palo Alto, CAWebsite

AI First Capital is a Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A venture capital firm based in Palo Alto, CA investing in AI / ML, SaaS, Other. The firm typically writes $500K–$3.0M checks and has 8 portfolio companies in our records.

How to approach: cold outreach ok
Stage

Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A

Check Size

$500K – $3.0M

AUM

$365M

Portfolio

8+ companies

Team

7 partners

Investor activity
Investments in last 12 months: 0

Investment Thesis

AI First Capital specializes in early-stage companies using artificial intelligence to solve industry-specific problems, focusing on verticalized AI applications.

How AI First Capital invests

AI First Capital is a vc firm based in Palo Alto, CA. The firm invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A stages, with a focus on AI / ML, SaaS, Other, Enterprise. It does not invest in Hardware.

AI First Capital typically writes checks of $500K–$3.0M per investment, backed by approximately $365M in assets under management.

AI First Capital has backed 8 companies in our records, including KitchenAI, InsightDining, Cognition Labs.

Meet the Team

NT

Neville Teagarden

Co-Founder and General Partner

enterprise applied AI software
machine learning
semantics
robotics
natural language
analytics
EC

Elizabeth Cook

Managing Partner, North America

synthetic biology
AI healthcare
deep tech
entrepreneurial ecosystems
SS

Scott Spangler

Managing Partner & COO

capital formation
investor relations
AI strategy
wealth preservation
GP

Gene Podsiadlo

Senior Strategic Advisor, Special Limited Partner

JS

Josh Sutton

Co-Founder and Advisory Partner

AM

Andrew Maus

Managing Director, North America

AK

Anil Kapoor

Founding Partner

AI
Vertical SaaS

Industry Focus

Invests In

AI / ML
SaaS
Other
Enterprise

Does Not Invest In

Hardware

Portfolio Companies (8)

Other

KI

KitchenAI

AI, RestaurantTech
IN

InsightDining

HospitalityTech
CO

Cognition Labs

AI/dev tools·early-stage·Soma Capital

AI software engineering

IR

Ironclad

legaltech/AI·early-stage·Soma Capital

contract management

ME

Mercor

HR/AI·early-stage·Soma Capital

AI talent platform

HA

Hamming AI

dev tools·pre-seed·Pioneer Fund

AI coding tools

CO

Cofactr

enterprise AI·pre-seed·Pioneer Fund

AI operations platform

EZ

EzDubs

media/AI·pre-seed·Pioneer Fund

AI video dubbing

How to pitch AI First Capital
  • Raising at Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A? You're squarely in their sweet spot.
  • Lead with your fit in AI / ML, SaaS, Other — the sectors they actively back.
  • Size your ask to their typical $500K – $3.0M check.
  • cold outreach ok
  • Address your outreach to a specific partner, such as Neville Teagarden, Co-Founder and General Partner.
  • A warm introduction beats a cold email. Get matched and request an intro.

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