The US seed funds actually writing cheques right now

Most "top seed VC" lists are recycled from 2019 and add "AI" to every thesis. This one is different: it's the working brief we use when mapping intro paths for founders raising in the US. Every fund here wrote seed cheques in the last six months. Every detail comes from either our deal flow or direct conversations with their teams.

We've grouped them by how they operate, not by alphabet or AUM. If you're two months from launch, start with the funds that move fast and take cold pitches. If you're already in conversations, the multi-stage funds become relevant.

The pure-play seed funds

These firms only do seed. They don't have growth funds pulling partners into later-stage diligence. Decision speed is faster because there's no internal Series B discussion happening in parallel.

First Round Capital

First Round writes $3-5M leads and has been doing it longer than most firms on this list have existed. Their portfolio includes Uber, Square, and Notion. They focus on B2B SaaS, consumer, and fintech, but the real filter is team quality. Warm intros are essential; we've never seen them engage a cold pitch. Decision timeline is 4-8 weeks once you're in the door. If you're raising $4M+ and have a credible intro path, they belong on your list.

Initialized Capital

Initialized came out of Y Combinator and kept the YC speed. They write $1-4M leads across AI infrastructure, consumer, and B2B. Garry Tan and Alexis Ohanian are the names, but the full partner team is active. Decision speed is 3-6 weeks. Unlike First Round, some partners will engage with cold pitches if they're specific and technical. Coinbase and Instacart were early bets; they're now leaning into AI tooling and dev infrastructure.

Founder Collective

Founder Collective has produced 24 unicorns from sub-$100M funds, which is an absurd hit rate. Cheque size is $1-3M. They're sector-agnostic but pattern-match on founder background more than most. Eric Paley and David Frankel run diligence; expect 4-8 weeks. They'll read cold pitches if the deck is tight, but your odds improve significantly with a warm intro from another founder in the portfolio.

Floodgate

Floodgate writes smaller cheques than the others in this section—$150K to $1M+—but they were early in Lyft, Twitch, and Okta. Ann Miura-Ko and Mike Maples Jr. invest in what they call "thunder lizards": companies that redefine categories. Decision speed is 4-6 weeks. They're one of the few top-tier seed funds that will seriously read a substantive cold pitch. If your pitch is "we're 10% better than X," don't bother. If it's "we think the entire category is wrong," they'll take the meeting.

Boldstart Ventures

Boldstart only does inception-stage enterprise. They write $1-3M leads before you have revenue, sometimes before you have a product. Their $250M Fund VII closed last year. Ed Sim and the team are deeply technical; if your pitch doesn't include architecture diagrams, you're probably not ready for them. Decision speed is 4-6 weeks. They're cold-pitch friendly if the technical substance is there. BigID, Snyk, and Kustomer came out of Boldstart.

Uncork Capital

Uncork writes $1.5-3M cheques into B2B SaaS, dev tools, and infrastructure. Jeff Clavier started the firm in 2004 as SoftTech VC; it's been Uncork since 2015. Portfolio includes Fitbit, Postmates, and SendGrid. They're West Coast-focused but will look at remote teams if the product is technical. Decision timeline is 4-8 weeks. Warm intros matter here; they don't publish a cold-pitch process.

Pear VC

Pear writes $1-6M across pre-seed and seed, with a focus on dev tools, AI, fintech, and climate. They run PearX, an accelerator-style program with an open application, which makes them more accessible than most funds on this list. Mar Hershenson and Pejman Nozad are the founding partners. Decision speed is 4-8 weeks for standard track, faster if you go through PearX. DoorDash and Guardant Health are portfolio companies. If you don't have a warm intro and your product is technical, apply to PearX.

The multi-stage funds doing selective seed

These firms have growth funds and late-stage practices. Seed is a small part of what they do, which means two things: when they write a seed cheque, they're betting on Series B potential, and the decision process is slower because more people have to say yes.

Sequoia Capital

Sequoia's seed practice is mostly run through scouts and the Arc accelerator. When they write a direct seed cheque, it's $500K-$2M. Sectors are consumer, enterprise, and AI. Decision timeline at seed is 6-12 weeks, longer than pure-play funds because the partnership is large and consensus-driven. Cold pitches almost never work. If you're on their radar, you'll know. If you're not, find the scout network or apply to Arc.

Andreessen Horowitz

a16z has separate funds for crypto, bio, AI, consumer, and fintech. Seed cheques range from $1-6M when they happen, but most of their capital goes to Series A and later. They have a pitch form on their website that actually gets read, which is rare for a firm of this scale. Decision timeline is 6-12 weeks. The brand is valuable, but so is the overhead; they'll want board seats and active engagement. If you're not ready for that, a pure-play seed fund is a better fit.

Bessemer Venture Partners

Bessemer is 100+ years old and runs $9B+ across multiple funds. Seed is selective; when they do it, cheques are $1-3M. Focus is B2B SaaS, fintech, and consumer. Decision speed is 6-10 weeks. They built their reputation on Shopify, Twilio, and LinkedIn. Warm intros are expected. If you're raising seed and already in conversations with Bessemer for Series A, the seed cheque can happen faster.

Felicis Ventures

Felicis writes $1-4M at seed, with focus on AI, B2B, and consumer. Aydin Senkut runs the firm; portfolio includes Shopify, Fitbit, and Notion. Decision speed is 4-8 weeks. They're more founder-friendly than most multi-stage funds and will engage earlier in the process. Warm intros help, but they're not absolute requirements if the metrics are strong.

Greylock

Greylock rarely writes seed cheques anymore. When they do, it's $1-3M into consumer, enterprise, or AI infrastructure. Reid Hoffman and the partnership are focused on Series A and later. Decision timeline at seed is 6-12 weeks. If you're raising seed and Greylock is interested, it's because they see a clear path to leading your Series A. Otherwise, focus on pure-play funds.

Lightspeed Venture Partners

Lightspeed's seed practice is selective. Cheques are $1-3M when they happen. Focus is enterprise, consumer, and fintech. The firm is large and multi-stage, so seed decisions take time. If you're in the Lightspeed portfolio at seed, the Series A is easier, but the bar to get in at seed is high. Warm intros are essential.

NEA

NEA is one of the largest venture firms in the US, with $25B+ under management. Seed cheques are $1-4M and rare. Focus is healthcare, B2B SaaS, and AI. Decision timeline is slow—expect 8-12 weeks. They're not a good fit for most seed rounds unless you're in a sector where their domain expertise (especially healthcare) is critical and you're already connected to a partner.

Accel

Accel writes $1-4M seed cheques selectively. Focus is consumer, enterprise, and fintech. They led Facebook's Series A and have been playing the multi-stage game since the 1980s. Decision speed at seed is 6-10 weeks. Like Bessemer and Lightspeed, the real value is the Series A option, but that only matters if you're confident you'll be ready for it in 12-18 months.

The deep-tech and frontier funds

These funds write seed cheques into categories most VCs won't touch: climate, defense, biotech, space. Decision timelines are longer because the diligence is technical. If your startup fits, these are the only firms that matter.

Khosla Ventures

Khosla writes $500K-$3M into deep tech, AI, climate, and biotech. Vinod Khosla is still active and opinionated. The firm moves faster than most deep-tech investors—decision speed is 6-10 weeks—but the technical bar is high. If you're working on fusion, carbon capture, or synthetic bio, Khosla is on the shortlist. If you're building SaaS, they're not.

Founders Fund

Founders Fund writes $1-5M seed cheques into frontier tech: defense, biotech, space, AI, and crypto. Peter Thiel's philosophy (monopoly, contrarian bets, long time horizons) runs through the firm. Decision timeline is 8-12 weeks. They backed SpaceX, Palantir, and Anduril at early stages. If your pitch is "we're going to be 10% better," they'll pass. If it's "we're going to own a category that doesn't exist yet," they'll listen.

Index Ventures

Index writes $1-3M seed cheques selectively, with focus on B2B SaaS, fintech, and consumer. They're European-headquartered but active in the US. Portfolio includes Figma, Notion, and Discord. Decision timeline is 6-10 weeks. Warm intros matter. If you're US-based and raising seed, Index is worth including if you have a clean path to European expansion.

Kleiner Perkins

Kleiner's seed practice is selective. Cheques are $1-4M, focused on enterprise, consumer, and climate. The firm's reputation is built on early bets in Amazon, Google, and Genentech, but the partnership has turned over significantly in the last decade. Decision speed is 6-10 weeks. If you're raising seed and climate or enterprise infrastructure is the category, Kleiner is worth pursuing. Otherwise, the brand value has diminished relative to newer funds.

How to actually use this

Pick 8-12 funds that match your stage, sector, and the check size you need. Then map the warm intro graph: who in your network is one degree from a partner at each fund? If the answer is "no one," either expand the network or focus on the funds that take cold pitches (Floodgate, Boldstart, Pear, a16z's form).

Timing matters. The pure-play funds move in 3-6 weeks. The multi-stage funds take 6-12. If you need to close in 60 days, don't start with Sequoia. If you have 90 days and want the Series A option embedded in the seed round, the multi-stage funds make sense.

We have the intro graph mapped across these funds. If that's useful, start here.