Swell VC — Pre-Seed & Seed VC Firm
Swell VC is a Pre-Seed, Seed venture capital firm investing in AI / ML, Developer Tools, Enterprise. The firm has 25 portfolio companies in our records.
- Portfolio
- 25 companies on record
- Partners
- 2 listed
- AUM
- $500M
- Stage
- Pre-Seed, Seed
- Sectors
- AI / ML, Developer Tools, Enterprise, SaaS
- Check size
- Not in our records
Last verified: 2026-10-26
Pre-Seed, Seed
$500M
25+ companies
2 partners
Investment Thesis
A pre-seed and seed fund investing in AI for critical infrastructure and software that runs, coordinates, or secures consequential operations. This is a strong fit for reliability and optimization software for AI-native systems.
How Swell VC invests
Swell VC is a vc firm. The firm invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed stages, with a focus on AI / ML, Developer Tools, Enterprise, SaaS.
Swell VC manages approximately $500M in assets. Our records include 3 funds raised by the firm.
Swell VC has backed 25 companies in our records, including Loft Orbital, Crisp, Deel.
Partners & Team
Rusty Ralston
Partner
Operators turned investors. Partners for 15+ years. From our first angel check into TapAd ($360M exit) to our current fund, we’ve been building together for our entire careers. We don’t outsource conviction. We operate as a single unit. One shared judgment, one decision.
Jay Patil
Partner
Operators turned investors. Partners for 15+ years. From our first angel check into TapAd ($360M exit) to our current fund, we’ve been building together for our entire careers. We don’t outsource conviction. We operate as a single unit. One shared judgment, one decision.
Industry Focus
Invests In
Funds
Swell Fund III
Swell Fund II
Swell Fund I
Recent Activity
Raised Swell Fund III ($250M)
2023 · fund records
Raised Swell Fund II ($150M)
2020 · fund records
Raised Swell Fund I ($100M)
2017 · fund records
Portfolio Companies (25)
Other
Loft Orbital
Satellite infrastructure and software for space missions.
Crisp
Data and AI platform to reduce food waste in the CPG supply chain.
Deel
Global payroll, hiring, and remote-work platform.
ScienceIO
Biomedical data platform; later acquired.
Legalpad
Employment-based immigration software; later acquired.
Credal
Security layer for enterprises using AI.
NanduX
Deep sensing for mineral discovery.
Onava
AI-native drug discovery platform.
Deepnight
AI-powered night vision technology.
Array Labs
3D Earth mapping.
- •Raising at Pre-Seed, Seed? You're squarely in their sweet spot.
- •Lead with your fit in AI / ML, Developer Tools, Enterprise — the sectors they actively back.
- •warm intro preferred
- •Address your outreach to a specific partner, such as Rusty Ralston, Partner.
- •A warm introduction beats a cold email. Get matched and request an intro.
Featured In
Browse More Investors
Fundraising resources
Frequently Asked Questions
See if Swell VC is a match for your startup
Upload your pitch deck to see how well you match with Swell VC and 10,000+ other investors.
Ask your AI assistant about this investor: connect InvestorMatch to Claude or ChatGPT
Is this your profile? Request a correction or removal