VE

Vermilion Cliffs Ventures — Pre-Seed & Seed VC Firm ($500K–$1.0M Checks)

VC

Vermilion Cliffs Ventures is a Pre-Seed, Seed venture capital firm investing in AI / ML, Security, Developer Tools. The firm typically writes $500K–$1.0M checks and has 3 portfolio companies in our records.

Check size
$500K–$1.0M
Portfolio
3 companies on record
Partners
2 listed
Stage
Pre-Seed, Seed
Sectors
AI / ML, Security, Developer Tools, Enterprise, SaaS
AUM
Not in our records

Last verified: 2026-09-02

How to approach: warm intro preferred
Stage

Pre-Seed, Seed

Check Size

$500K – $1.0M

Portfolio

3+ companies

Team

2 partners

Investor activity
Investments in last 12 months: 0

Investment Thesis

Solo GP firm led by Ashley Smith backing technical founders building AI infra, security & dev tools in early stage.

How Vermilion Cliffs Ventures invests

Vermilion Cliffs Ventures is a vc firm. The firm invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed stages, with a focus on AI / ML, Security, Developer Tools, Enterprise, SaaS. It does not invest in Consumer.

Vermilion Cliffs Ventures typically writes checks of $500K–$1.0M per investment.

Vermilion Cliffs Ventures has backed 3 companies in our records, including Keycard, Catio, Confident AI.

Partners & Team

AS

Ashley Smith

Solo GP / Founder

AI
Security
Dev Tools
MM

Meghan Murphy

None

None

Industry Focus

Invests In

AI / ML
Security
Developer Tools
Enterprise
SaaS

Does Not Invest In

Consumer

Portfolio Companies (3)

Other

KE

Keycard

Security / DevTools·Series A·Fund II

Security tooling for agents and technical infrastructure.

CA

Catio

DevTools / Enterprise software·Seed

Architecture management and planning platform.

CO

Confident AI

AI infrastructure / DevTools·Seed

AI evaluation and testing platform.

How to pitch Vermilion Cliffs Ventures
  • Raising at Pre-Seed, Seed? You're squarely in their sweet spot.
  • Lead with your fit in AI / ML, Security, Developer Tools — the sectors they actively back.
  • Size your ask to their typical $500K – $1.0M check.
  • warm intro preferred
  • Address your outreach to a specific partner, such as Ashley Smith, Solo GP / Founder.
  • A warm introduction beats a cold email. Get matched and request an intro.

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