Founded in 2009, Freestyle Capital is a seed stage investor and mentor for Internet software startups. The firm is interested in decentralized distribution of media and information, Twitter, cloud computing and crowd sourcing. Josh Felser, a General Partner at Freestyle, worked at News Corp for four years. He also worked in new media as co-founder and president of Spinner, the first multi-channel Internet radio service and was co-founder and CEO of Grouper/Crackle, one of the first Internet video networks. Both companies were acquired in less than three years for $320M (AOL) and $65M (Sony Pictures) respectively. Felser and his partner from Spinner and Grouper, Dave Samuel, started Freestyle Capital to fill the void between retreating angels and VCs moving to later stage investments.
Founded 2009
Type Venture capital 4 Freestyle Fund VI 2022-03-31 2022-03-31 $130M USD 130 million, closed [TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2022/03/31/freestyle-fund-6-jenny-lefcourt-dave-samuel/), 2022-03-31, reports the sixth fund closed at this amount. Latest-known verified flagship fund here; not an assertion that no subsequent vehicle exists.
Fund VI 2022-03-31 2022-03-31 $130M Reported closed sixthfund; latest-knownverified here, not proof no latervehicle.
Freestyle Opportunity Fund — $50M USD 50 million, announced [Forbes Jenny Lefcourt profile](https://www.forbes.com/profile/jenny-lefcourt/), last updated 2022-10-06, identifies this separately from Fund VI. It does not supply a precise vehicle name, vintage or final-close date; keep status as announced rather than independently certified final close.
Opportunity fund (2022 announcement) — — USD50M announced in Forbesprofile updated2022-10-06; legalname/vintage/finalclosingdate unknown. Separate from2017USD13.2M databaselead.
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$2M $1M – $4M San Francisco, California $2M $1M – $4M San Francisco, California $1M $100K – $5M London — $100K – $10M San Francisco Bay Area — $1M – $4M San Francisco Bay Area · San Francisco, California — — – —
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$3M 2019-10-03 Mon Ami Freestyle Capital , Felicis $30M 2026-08-03 Dash Bio Maria Palma , Freestyle Capital $27M 2026-06-10 Maneva Matt Garratt , Maria Palma , Freestyle Capital $16M 2026 Keebler Freestyle Capital $11M 2025-07-23 Dash Bio Freestyle Capital , Maria Palma $17M 2025-05-27 Infinity Constellation BACKED VC , Freestyle Capital $6M 2025-05-13 Stackpack Freestyle Capital $6M 2024-10-24 Dash Bio Freestyle Capital $7M 2023 Xclaim General Catalyst , Freestyle Capital , First Round Capital , Tribe Capital , Luge Capital , First Round $26M 2022-05-19 Bravado Freestyle Capital , Jenny Lefcourt $16M 2022-04-12 Grain (video conference company) Bain Capital , The Slack Fund , Hanaco Ventures , Aleph , Freestyle Capital , Unusual Ventures $— 2022 Mercator.ai Freestyle Capital $— 2022 Mercator Freestyle Capital $2M 2021-07-12 UpsideHoM Freestyle Capital $— 2021-03-25 Ease (company) Compound , Propel Venture Partners , Freestyle Capital , Upside Partnership , Spectrum Equity , Centana Growth Partners $3M 2021-02-10 Quilt Freestyle Capital $4M 2020-07-23 Arrive Freestyle Capital $4M 2020-01-31 Daily Freestyle Capital , Root Ventures $16M 2019-11-25 CasaOne Accel , Freestyle Capital $25M 2019-11-08 Snapdocs Founders Fund , Freestyle Capital , Sequoia Capital , F-Prime Capital , Sequoia $3M 2019-09-05 Superside Y Combinator , High Alpha , Freestyle Capital , Alliance Ventures $103M 2019-06-12 Betterup Lightspeed , Silicon Valley Bank , Crosslink Capital , Freestyle Capital , Threshold Ventures , Tenaya Capital $30M 2018-08-28 Narvar Accel , Freestyle Capital $5M 2018-06-06 Aloft Andreessen Horowitz , Freestyle Capital , Jenny Lefcourt $11M 2018-05-21 CREXi Freestyle Capital , David Frankel , Jenny Lefcourt $26M 2018-03-28 Betterup Lightspeed , DFJ Growth , Crosslink Capital , Freestyle Capital , Jenny Lefcourt $2M 2018 Gradescope Freestyle Capital $60M 2017-09-14 Patreon CRV , Freestyle Capital $40M 2017-08-01 Juvo Wing Venture Capital , Freestyle Capital , Peter Wagner $6M 2017-06-20 EaseCentral Compound , Propel Venture Partners , Freestyle Capital , Transmedia Capital , Upside Partnership $22M 2016-06-23 Narvar Accel , Freestyle Capital , Jenny Lefcourt $30M 2016-01-19 Patreon CRV , Freestyle Capital $2M 2016 Gradescope Freestyle Capital $8M 2015-11-04 BuildingConnected Freestyle Capital $4M 2015 RangeMe Freestyle Capital , Kindred Ventures $5M 2015 AlphaDraft Freestyle Capital , Upfront Ventures $2M 2014-12-16 Digit Software Freestyle Capital $1M 2014 UXPin Andreessen Horowitz , Freestyle Capital $1M 2013-12-01 Aviate Freestyle Capital $1M 2013-08-22 Cluster First Round , Freestyle Capital $7M 2013 clypd Freestyle Capital $2M 2012 9GAG Y Combinator , Freestyle Capital , First Round Capital , True Ventures , Greycroft , First Round $1M 2011-03-10 BackType Founder Collective , Freestyle Capital $1M 2009 CoTweet Founders Fund , Baseline Ventures , Freestyle Capital , First Round Capital , SV Angel $1M 2009 CoTweet Founders Fund , Freestyle Capital , First Round Capital , SV Angel , Baseline Ventures , First Round $4M Unknown date Samepage Freestyle Capital $8M Unknown date Recruitbot Freestyle Capital $6M Unknown date PlusPlus Freestyle Capital $10M Unknown date Maneva Freestyle Capital $4M Unknown date Idiomatic Freestyle Capital $3M Unknown date Hangtime Freestyle Capital $1M Unknown date GoInstant Freestyle Capital $— Unknown date Change Freestyle Capital $75M 2021-07-26 Embark Veterinary Freestyle Capital , Jenny Lefcourt $6M 2014-08-13 Adstage Freestyle Capital $2M 2014-04-01 Piqora Freestyle Capital $1M 2014-01-29 Guardly Freestyle Capital $2M 2013-08-21 PicCollage Freestyle Capital $1M Unknown date Rixty Freestyle Capital
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team@apexlogos.ai · 12 hours ago
Investment-fund research reviewed 2026-10-06. Publicly identified funds, dates, amounts and fundraising status are below. Undisclosed commitments remain unknown; this is not a complete register of private SPVs or parallel entities.
Fund size and stages
| Item | Amount / status | Dated evidence and limitations |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Fund VI | USD 130 million, closed | [TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2022/03/31/freestyle-fund-6-jenny-lefcourt-dave-samuel/ ), 2022-03-31, reports the sixth fund closed at this amount. Latest-known verified flagship fund here; not an assertion that no subsequent vehicle exists. |
| Opportunity fund | USD 50 million, announced | [Forbes Jenny Lefcourt profile](https://www.forbes.com/profile/jenny-lefcourt/ ), last updated 2022-10-06, identifies this separately from Fund VI. It does not supply a precise vehicle name, vintage or final-close date; keep status as announced rather than independently certified final close. |
| Firm AUM | Over USD 565 million, firm self-description | [Freestyle's LinkedIn page](https://www.linkedin.com/company/freestyle-capital ), undated, directly read 2026-10-06. This is an aggregate self-reported AUM claim, not a single fund, current dry powder or audited 2026 valuation. |
| Check sizes | Firm-wide current figure unverified | Signal partner figures above remain provisional; no reliable current official check mandate was retrieved. |
Searches for Fund VII, a seventh fund, and fund raises in 2024–2026 did not produce a verified newer flagship announcement. AUM and opportunity funds should not be added to Fund VI or used to infer a seventh-fund amount. An indexed CB Insights row identifies a USD 13.2 million opportunity vehicle dated 2017-04-12; this is a different-vintage database lead, not a contradiction sufficient to replace Forbes's 2022 announcement.
Current broad **early-stage technology** orientation is supported by the [firm's LinkedIn description](https://www.linkedin.com/company/freestyle-capital ), undated/accessed 2026-10-06. Seed entry is supported by recent official Dash Bio and Maneva announcements below. Follow-on Series A exposure is verified in both companies in 2026, and Series B participation in Embark in 2021. These transactions demonstrate stage history; they do not establish that the firm generally originates new later-stage investments. No dedicated neurotech fund or specialist mandate was verified.
Funds recorded in Adex after this review:
| Fund | Disclosed amount | Announcement / filing date |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Freestyle Opportunity Fund | USD 50000000 | Unknown |
| Opportunity fund (2022 announcement) | Undisclosed / unverified | Unknown |
| Freestyle Fund VI | USD 130000000 | 2022-03-31 |
| Fund VI | USD 130000000 | 2022-03-31 | SHOW MORE
team@apexlogos.ai · 13 hours ago
Match research 2026-10-06 / FreestyleCapital / sha256:88112e87500ca05a7847944f43286b55d3512b032e820ba52e238c404c21c503 / part 2 of 2
Imported completed research. Baseline Adex/Signal statements describe prior state, not independent verification. Retain cited attribution, date, currency and classification caveats.
Ordinary software investments such as Airtable, Patreon, Narvar, Stackpack, BetterUp and sales/recruiting platforms are not counted as deep tech solely for using AI or belonging to the portfolio. This list is focused verified coverage, not an exhaustive portfolio audit.
## Neurotech and adjacent investments
**No verified neurotech investment found in the sources checked.** Public Signal evidence, snapshot investment names, firm portfolio archive and searches for Freestyle with neurotech, neural and brain-computer terminology did not establish investments in neural recording, stimulation, BCI or brain-specific hardware. This is a bounded search finding, not a claim of zero investments.
**Rise Science — adjacent sleep/circadian technology, verified firm investment.** The [official company about page](https://www.risescience.com/about-us ), undated/accessed 2026-10-06, names Freestyle as a backer and describes a sleep/energy app. A [High Alpha co-investor announcement](https://highalphacap.com/news/rise-science-app-launch ), 2021-06-09, identifies Freestyle participation in a **previous USD 5.5 million seed round**, alongside announcement of USD 10 million Series A and USD 15.5 million cumulative funding. It does not establish Freestyle participating in the new Series A or an exact seed date. [Crunchbase News](https://news.crunchbase.com/health-wellness-biotech/get-out-of-sleep-debt-rise-science-secures-15-5m-for-app-to-boost-energy-levels/ ), 2021-06-09, corroborates the distinction and describes behavioral phone-motion data. Sleep-science grounding does not establish direct neural measurement or modulation; classify as adjacent digital wellness, not verified neurotech.
**BetterUp — adjacent coaching/wellness.** Forbes's dated 2022 profile lists it among Lefcourt's early-stage investments, and the snapshot contains firm participation leads. These do not establish direct neurotechnology. Dash Bio's general drug-development lab platform and Embark's canine genetics likewise should not be relabeled neuroscience based on possible applications alone.
## Conflicts, gaps and concrete review notes
1. **Sector interpretation:** retain evidence for biotech through Dash Bio and Embark; review the broad Signal-derived BioTech category separately from any neurotech/BCI assessment. A positive neurotech investment should require company-specific primary evidence.
2. **Lead flags:** official Dash Bio seed identifies Freestyle as lead; Maneva seed identifies co-lead. Both snapshot entries currently have `isLead: false`; later authorized review should correct attribution based on the cited releases.
3. **Round coverage:** Dash Bio's August 2026 Series A and Maneva's June 2026 Series A are verified newer transactions absent from the supplied snapshot. Add only during separately authorized Adex work. Keep the Dash July 2025 funding stage unspecified.
4. **Round totals and firm checks:** never copy the USD 30 million Dash Series A or USD 27 million Maneva Series A into Freestyle's own check-size fields. Latest firm-wide check range, reserves, fund allocation and ownership are missing.
5. **People attribution:** Signal's Josh Felser role appears stale as a full-time investment role; [Axios reporting on Climactic](https://www.axios.com/2023/12/14/climate-fund-65-million-climactic ), 2023-12-14, identifies his separate firm. Do not attribute Climactic investments or its USD 65 million fund to Freestyle. Forbes explicitly separates Jenny Lefcourt's personal Discord, MainStreetHub and Minted investments; do not import these as firm investments. Maria Palma's Maneva role is directly supported by the investee, while her prior-firm investments remain outside this report.
6. **Baseline quality:** duplicate Mercator/Mercator.ai, Ease/EaseCentral and repeated CoTweet entries warrant identity/round review. Several baseline investment sources point to other firms' Goldilocks profiles rather than original financing evidence; these were treated as leads only. Not every historic ordinary-software transaction was reverified.
7. **Fund recency:** Fund VI is latest-known verified here, not certified current flagship; opportunity-fund final close and legal identity remain unclear. Official web access limitations prevent claiming exhaustive current portfolio/team coverage.
All links were checked or explicitly identified as search-index evidence on 2026-10-06. Company and co-investor announcements establish public attribution but are promotional claims; technical-performance and commercial-impact claims were not independently audited. This document is research only. SHOW MORE
team@apexlogos.ai · 13 hours ago
Match research 2026-10-06 / FreestyleCapital / sha256:88112e87500ca05a7847944f43286b55d3512b032e820ba52e238c404c21c503 / part 1 of 2
Imported completed research. Baseline Adex/Signal statements describe prior state, not independent verification. Retain cited attribution, date, currency and classification caveats.
# Freestyle Capital
- Exact Adex ID: `FreestyleCapital`
- Canonical Adex URL: https://adex.page/firms/FreestyleCapital
- Official website: https://freestyle.vc/
- Research date / source access date: 2026-10-06
- Status: complete research for later Adex review; no database updates made.
Freestyle is a San Francisco early-stage technology investor with verified exposure to automated bioanalysis, canine genomics and industrial computer vision. The latest individual flagship fund verified here is the USD 130 million Fund VI closed in 2022. No verified neurotech investment found in the sources checked. Sleep-science and coaching investments are adjacent evidence, not proof of a neural-interface mandate.
## Starting evidence: Adex and NFX Signal
The exact-ID read-only snapshot `data/research/_sources/FreestyleCapital.adex.json`, retrieved 2026-10-06 at 19:29:48 UTC, contains the firm founded in 2009, an older seed/internet-software description, a BioTech sector tag, six team roles, null firm check-size fields and many historical investment records. Its BioTech evidence cites the broad [Signal biotech seed ranking](https://signal.nfx.com/investor-lists/top-biotech-seed-investors ); the record itself cautions that BCI specialization is not established. Snapshot leads independently checked below include Dash Bio, Embark Veterinary and Maneva. Other entries such as BetterUp, Mon Ami, Keebler Health and Quilt are health/wellness or software leads, not automatically deep-tech or neurotech examples.
[NFX Signal firm profile](https://signal.nfx.com/firms/freestyle-capital ) was directly readable, undated, accessed 2026-10-06. It confirms a directory identity matching the snapshot and preserves the older internet-software description. Partner profiles have Seed categories, with David Samuel also listed in several Series A categories. Samuel and Jenny Lefcourt each display USD 1–4 million ranges and USD 2.5 million sweet spots; these are directory partner claims, not independently verified firm-wide terms. Josh Felser remains listed as Partner, and Joyce Kim as Advisor. Intro paths require sign-in; the public page was usable. No fund-size or neural-technology specialization was established by Signal.
The [official homepage](https://freestyle.vc/ ) and [team page](https://freestyle.vc/team/ ) returned no extractable body text through the browser; a separate homepage fetch returned HTTP 403. The [official portfolio news archive](https://freestyle.vc/category/portfolio-news/page/4/ ) remained search-index accessible. Primary investee releases and the firm's public LinkedIn description were therefore used alongside reporting. Do not interpret homepage access failure as evidence the firm is inactive.
## Fund size and stages
| Item | Amount / status | Dated evidence and limitations |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Fund VI | USD 130 million, closed | [TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2022/03/31/freestyle-fund-6-jenny-lefcourt-dave-samuel/ ), 2022-03-31, reports the sixth fund closed at this amount. Latest-known verified flagship fund here; not an assertion that no subsequent vehicle exists. |
| Opportunity fund | USD 50 million, announced | [Forbes Jenny Lefcourt profile](https://www.forbes.com/profile/jenny-lefcourt/ ), last updated 2022-10-06, identifies this separately from Fund VI. It does not supply a precise vehicle name, vintage or final-close date; keep status as announced rather than independently certified final close. |
| Firm AUM | Over USD 565 million, firm self-description | [Freestyle's LinkedIn page](https://www.linkedin.com/company/freestyle-capital ), undated, directly read 2026-10-06. This is an aggregate self-reported AUM claim, not a single fund, current dry powder or audited 2026 valuation. |
| Check sizes | Firm-wide current figure unverified | Signal partner figures above remain provisional; no reliable current official check mandate was retrieved. |
Searches for Fund VII, a seventh fund, and fund raises in 2024–2026 did not produce a verified newer flagship announcement. AUM and opportunity funds should not be added to Fund VI or used to infer a seventh-fund amount. An indexed CB Insights row identifies a USD 13.2 million opportunity vehicle dated 2017-04-12; this is a different-vintage database lead, not a contradiction sufficient to replace Forbes's 2022 announcement.
Current broad **early-stage technology** orientation is supported by the [firm's LinkedIn description](https://www.linkedin.com/company/freestyle-capital ), undated/accessed 2026-10-06. Seed entry is supported by recent official Dash Bio and Maneva announcements below. Follow-on Series A exposure is verified in both companies in 2026, and Series B participation in Embark in 2021. These transactions demonstrate stage history; they do not establish that the firm generally originates new later-stage investments. No dedicated neurotech fund or specialist mandate was verified.
## Named previous deep-tech investments
The classifications below are research judgments based on the technologies described in the cited primary sources. Round totals are company fundraising, not Freestyle's invested amounts; no individual checks or allocating fund entities were disclosed.
| Company | Technology rationale | Firm attribution, round and date | Supporting sources |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Dash Bio** | Automated experimental bioanalysis: laboratory robotics, integrated software and molecular assay workflows for drug-development samples. This is biological/robotic infrastructure rather than generic health SaaS. | Freestyle **led USD 6.5 million seed**, announced 2024-10-24; participated in **USD 11 million additional financing**, 2025-07-23, led by The Aligned Fund; returned in **USD 30 million Series A**, 2026-08-03, led by Oak HC/FT. The 2025 release does not name a stage; do not invent one. | [Official seed release](https://www.dash.bio/news-insights/dash-bio-raises-6-5m-in-seed-financing ), 2024-10-24; [company-issued PR Newswire release](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dash-bio-secures-11m-to-accelerate-a-new-era-in-bioanalysis--bringing-total-funding-to-17-5m-302511151.html ), 2025-07-23; [official Series A announcement](https://www.dash.bio/news-insights/dash-30-million-series-a ), 2026-08-03. |
| **Maneva** | Industrial deep learning, computer vision and reinforcement learning deployed at the factory edge for inspection and operational automation. Qualifies as applied physical/industrial AI; the technical depth inference does not prove a novel foundation model or proprietary robotics hardware. | **USD 10 million seed co-led by Bling Capital and Freestyle**, with Maria Palma named for Freestyle; official release is undated. Returned in **USD 27 million Series A**, June 2026, led by U.S. Venture Partners. A co-investor dates announcement to 2026-06-10. | [Official seed release](https://www.maneva.ai/resources/resource/maneva-secures-10m-seed-funding-to-transform-manufacturing-with-ai-powered-automation ), undated/accessed 2026-10-06; [official Series A release](https://www.maneva.ai/resources/resource/maneva-raises-27m-series-a-tackle-inefficiencies-manufacturing ), June 2026; [Behind Genius co-investor post](https://www.behindgeniusventures.com/post/maneva-raises-27m-series-a ), published 2026-09-09, identifies 2026-06-10 event. |
| **Embark Veterinary** | Canine DNA/genetics testing and biological health-risk analysis. Genomics is the relevant deep-tech basis; this is veterinary biotechnology, not autonomous-truck company Embark. | Freestyle named as an existing investor participating in **USD 75 million Series B** led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2. Firm's archived portfolio item is dated 2021-07-26. Earlier first-investment timing not independently established here. | [Official Embark newsroom](https://embarkvet.com/about/press/ ), undated/accessed 2026-10-06, summarizes investor list and financing; [Freestyle portfolio archive](https://freestyle.vc/category/portfolio-news/page/4/ ), entry dated 2021-07-26, search-index read. |
Maneva's seed announcement is circulated in March 2025 search-index coverage, including [Signalbase](https://www.trysignalbase.com/news/funding/maneva-ai-secures-10m-seed-round-to-revolutionize-manufacturing-with-a-superhuman-digital-workforce ), 2025-03-07. That date is secondary and should not be promoted to an exact official announcement date without further verification. The official co-lead wording is strong attribution even though the snapshot incorrectly sets the participation's `isLead` to false. SHOW MORE
team@apexlogos.ai · 23 days ago
MATCH 
Compound
Ease (company)$— · 2021-03-25
EaseCentral$6M · 2017-06-20
Aleph
Grain (video conference company)$16M · 2022-04-12
Superside$3M · 2019-09-05
BACKED VC
Infinity Constellation$17M · 2025-05-27
Bain Capital
David Frankel
CREXi$11M · 2018-05-21
DFJ Growth
Betterup$26M · 2018-03-28
Snapdocs$25M · 2019-11-08
Founder Collective
BackType$1M · 2011-03-10
General Catalyst
Xclaim$7M · 2023
Hanaco Ventures
Kindred Ventures
RangeMe$4M · 2015
Matt Garratt
Maneva$27M · 2026-06-10
Peter Wagner
Juvo$40M · 2017-08-01
Root Ventures
Daily$4M · 2020-01-31
True Ventures
9GAG$2M · 2012
Unusual Ventures
Upfront Ventures
AlphaDraft$5M · 2015
Wing Venture Capital
