Organization · Venture Capital
Floodgate
Floodgate is a venture capital firm based in Menlo Park, California, focusing on early-stage startups at the pre-seed and seed stages. The firm invests in transformational consumer and B2B startups, supporting founders before they achieve traction.
Overview
What Floodgate does
What Floodgate is
Floodgate is a venture capital firm based in Menlo Park, California, focusing on early-stage startups at the pre-seed and seed stages. The firm invests in transformational consumer and B2B startups, supporting founders before they achieve traction.
How it participates in the startup ecosystem
The current public profile supports funder capabilities. Each capability below is shown separately so organization identity and role-specific information do not get conflated.
Operational profile
Organization status and context
Organization status describes the entity itself. Funding and program availability appear within the relevant capability profile.
- Operational status
- Active
- Organization type
- Venture Capital
- Structured capabilities
- Funder
- Last reviewed
- February 26, 2026
Official channels
Find Floodgate elsewhere
Open the official website or a supported primary organization account.
Capability profile
Floodgate as a funder
Investment thesis
Backs "Prime Movers" at the seed stage using "Inflection Theory" framework. Intentionally small funds for outsized seed returns. Focus on founders riding technological or market inflections across AI, enterprise, healthcare, consumer, and fintech.
Focus narrative
Floodgate backs "Prime Movers" at the seed stage using Mike Maples' "Inflection Theory" framework. The firm identifies founders riding technological or market inflections who defy conventional wisdom. Focus areas include AI, enterprise software, healthcare, consumer technology, fintech, and crypto. Intentionally small fund sizes ($75-150M) optimize for seed-stage return math.
Value beyond capital
Floodgate provides deep founder-first partnership at the earliest stages. The firm's "Inflection Theory" and "Pattern Breakers" frameworks help founders identify and ride technological/market inflections. Both partners bring complementary skills: Mike's pattern recognition across 400+ investments and Ann's deep technical background in cybersecurity and complex systems. The 70/30 portfolio model ensures meaningful follow-on capital for breakout companies.
Terms and economics
- Typical check
- $150,000–$1,000,000
- Sweet spot
- $500,000
Focus and fit
- Stages
- Pre-seed · Seed
- Regions
- North America
Availability
- Currently deploying
- Yes
Portfolio and track record
- Investments in the last 12 months
- 15
- Last recorded investment
- August 1, 2025
- Recorded notable exits
- Twitter, Lyft, Okta, Chegg, and TaskRabbit
Portfolio context
422 total investments with 103 exits. Notable portfolio includes Twitter, Lyft, Okta, Chegg, TaskRabbit, Rappi, and Refinery29. Recent AI investments: Hebbia, Counsel Health, ReadyOn, SmarterDX ($1B+ exit 2025). Recent deals: Bluejay ($4M Seed), Plug ($6.7M Seed), Replenysh ($8M Series A).
Common questions
What to know about Floodgate
Upseed classifies Floodgate under the Venture Capital organization type. Its current public profile includes funder capabilities.
Source and update disclosure
Know what this page is based on
Source basis
Public organization and program material, official websites, and structured Upseed records.
Last reviewed
February 26, 2026
Known limits
Capability profiles appear only when a structured public profile also contains decision-useful role evidence. Terms and availability can change.
Upseed is an independent guide. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the organization described on this page.