Empirical Ventures — Pre-Seed & Seed VC Firm ($350K–$750K Checks)
Empirical Ventures is a Pre-Seed, Seed venture capital firm investing in Deep Tech, AI / ML, Developer Tools. The firm typically writes $350K–$750K checks and has 37 portfolio companies in our records.
- Check size
- $350K–$750K
- Portfolio
- 37 companies on record
- Partners
- 6 listed
- AUM
- $1.5B
- Stage
- Pre-Seed, Seed
- Sectors
- Deep Tech, AI / ML, Developer Tools, Climate / Energy
Last verified: 2026-10-26
Pre-Seed, Seed
$350K – $750K
$1.5B
37+ companies
6 partners
Investment Thesis
Invests in founders turning fundamental research into companies, especially those spun out of universities and research institutions. The fund is built for technically rigorous startups that need investors who can pressure-test science and help assemble syndicates.
How Empirical Ventures invests
Empirical Ventures is a vc firm. The firm invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed stages, with a focus on Deep Tech, AI / ML, Developer Tools, Climate / Energy.
Empirical Ventures typically writes checks of $350K–$750K per investment, backed by approximately $1.5B in assets under management. Our records include 3 funds raised by the firm.
Empirical Ventures has backed 37 companies in our records, including EnsiliTech, Argonaute RNA, QV Bioelectronics.
Partners & Team
Dr Ben Miles is a scientist and company-builder who works hands-on with the companies backed by Empirical Ventures. He reaches a global science audience of more than three million, providing distribution for their story and attracting technical talent.
Dr Johnathan Matlock
Founder and General Partner
Dr Johnathan Matlock is a scientist and company-builder who works hands-on with the companies backed by Empirical Ventures.
Industry Focus
Invests In
Funds
Empirical Fund III
Empirical Fund II
Empirical Fund I
Recent Activity
Raised Empirical Fund III ($200M)
2023 · fund records
Raised Empirical Fund II ($300M)
2020 · fund records
Raised Empirical Fund I ($100M)
2018 · fund records
Portfolio Companies (37)
Other
EnsiliTech
Ensilication that removes the cold chain from biopharma.
Argonaute RNA
Dual-silencing RNAi to cut heart-attack and stroke risk.
QV Bioelectronics
Implantable electric-field therapy for glioblastoma.
FermTech
Low-carbon ingredients from agricultural side-streams.
Anaphite
Dry-coated battery electrodes for low-cost EVs.
Caudal Energy
Predictable tidal-stream power for grid balancing.
BoobyBiome
Harnessing the breast-milk microbiome for infant health.
Healome
Longer-acting, protective eye-drop technology.
Halo Therapeutics
Small-molecule antivirals against RNA viruses.
Transdermal Diagnostics
Needle-free continuous glucose monitoring.
- •Raising at Pre-Seed, Seed? You're squarely in their sweet spot.
- •Lead with your fit in Deep Tech, AI / ML, Developer Tools — the sectors they actively back.
- •Size your ask to their typical $350K – $750K check.
- •warm intro preferred
- •Address your outreach to a specific partner, such as Johnathan Matlock, Co-Founder.
- •A warm introduction beats a cold email. Get matched and request an intro.
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