PU

Purpose Ventures

VC
San Francisco, USAWebsite

Purpose Ventures is a Pre-Seed venture capital firm based in San Francisco, USA investing in Deep Tech, AI / ML, Enterprise. The firm typically writes $250K–$1.0M checks and has 45 portfolio companies in our records.

Check size
$250K–$1.0M
Portfolio
45 companies on record
Partners
11 listed
Stage
Pre-Seed
Sectors
Deep Tech, AI / ML, Enterprise, SaaS, Consumer, Climate / Energy, Food / AgTech, Fintech, Other
HQ
San Francisco, USA
AUM
Not in our records

Last verified: 2026-05-16

How to approach: cold outreach ok
Stage

Pre-Seed

Check Size

$250K – $1.0M

Portfolio

45+ companies

Team

11 partners

Investor activity
Last known investment: 2025Investments in last 12 months: 1

Investment Thesis

Investing in early-stage purpose-driven AI and DeepTech companies solving global challenges.

How Purpose Ventures invests

Purpose Ventures is a vc firm based in San Francisco, USA. The firm invests at the Pre-Seed stage, with a focus on Deep Tech, AI / ML, Enterprise, SaaS, Consumer.

Purpose Ventures typically writes checks of $250K–$1.0M per investment.

Investing since at least 2020, Purpose Ventures has backed 45 companies in our records, including Ecosia, elobau, Waschbär. Its most recent recorded investment was in 2025, with 1 investment logged over the last 12 months.

Partners & Team

DG

Derek Gerrard

Managing Partner

industry-agnostic early-stage
70-80% WA-based startups
health investments carve-out (~15%)
KG

Kylie Gerrard

General Partner

early-stage, purpose-driven founders
Western Australia startups
board / ecosystem development
NL

Nicole Lockwood

Partner

infrastructure & economic development
community engagement
sustainability & resilience
BM

Brodie McCulloch

Partner

supporting WA startup ecosystem
co-working & innovation hubs
scaling support systems
DM

Dr Marcus Tan

Partner

healthcare / healthtech
founder experience in online consumer healthcare
governance in health & community sectors
DV

Daniel von Moltke

Investment Partner

LA

Laur a Höcherl

Investment Partner

AS

Armin Steuernagel

Co-Founder, Investment Partner

DU

Daria Urman

Investment Partner

JW

Jakob Willeke

Consultant & Investment Partner

AH

Achim Hensen

Co-Founder, Investment Partner

Industry Focus

Invests In

Deep Tech
AI / ML
Enterprise
SaaS
Consumer
Climate / Energy
Food / AgTech
Fintech
Other

Portfolio Companies (45)

2025

EC

Ecosia

Tech·Mature

2024

EL

elobau

Mature
WA

Waschbär

Consumer products·Mature
ST

Stapelstein

Trade·Mature
VY

vyld

Märkisches Landbrot

AU

AUGENHÖHE

PA

Patagonia

AB

about:source

FI

Firebrand

How to pitch Purpose Ventures
  • Raising at Pre-Seed? You're squarely in their sweet spot.
  • Lead with your fit in Deep Tech, AI / ML, Enterprise — the sectors they actively back.
  • Size your ask to their typical $250K – $1.0M check.
  • cold outreach ok
  • Address your outreach to a specific partner, such as Derek Gerrard, Managing Partner.
  • A warm introduction beats a cold email. Get matched and request an intro.

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