Oakland, California, United States 1-10 Micro VC, Venture Capital Early Stage Venture, Seed www.illuminate.com 10,172
Industries Artificial Intelligence (AI)Big DataCloud ComputingEnterprise SoftwareGenerative AIInformation TechnologySaaSSoftwareDiversity Spotlight (US Headquarters Only) Black / African American LedHispanic / Latine LedMiddle Eastern / North African FoundedWomen FoundedWomen LedHeadquarters Regions San Francisco Bay Area, West Coast, Western US Founded Date 2010 Founders Cindy Padnos Operating Status Active Also Known As Illuminate Legal Name Illuminate Ventures Related Hubs Illuminate Ventures Portfolio Companies Hub Tags Crunchbase Venture Program
Investor Type Micro VC, Venture Capital Investment Stage Early Stage Venture, Seed Number of Exits
Company Type For Profit
Contact Email contact@illuminate.com Phone Number (510) 531-6202
Illuminate’s focus is on finding, funding and accelerating great founders in the B2B/Enterprise cloud and mobile computing space. They focus on companies building SaaS applications as well as solutions that leverage data and mobility to improve business results. They seek innovative ideas led by talented teams – frequently bringing together
diverse perspectives that marry “creative destruction” with new technologies to solve old problems in new ways.
Illuminate is typically a startup’s first institutional investor, but can also be a fit for an established company seeking its first equity financing. Their sweet spot is Series Seed rounds – filling the gap between angel capital and larger funding rounds of traditional VCs. When the timing is right, they collaborate with the best large-scale firms for the next round of financing, but they love lean start-ups that preserve flexibility in their early years.
With three funds under management, Illuminate has been an early investor and board member in deep technology platforms like BrightEdge Technologies (SEO market leader), SaaS applications like Xactly Corporation (NYSE: XTLY) and early market innovators like Influitive (customer advocacy).