Zero Prime Ventures is a pre-seed/seed venture capital fund that writes first checks into deeply technical engineer-founders building the infrastructure, platforms, and applications behind AI and data technologies. Founded by Pete Soderling, the firm is based in San Francisco and backs day-zero engineer-led startups.
Founded —
Type Venture capital 2 Fund II 2024-03-20 2024-03-20 $48M Reported USD48m second fund raise; not AUM or fundraising target. Historical 2024 initial check range USD500k–1.5m is dated policy, not verified current 2026 policy.
Data Community Fund I — — USD 15m stated by Pete Soderling when operating as Data Community Fund. Historical predecessor fund; do not equate with present AUM. Interview directly failed to load, so this is search-index-only evidence, lower confidence than Fund II. [Vator interview](https://vator.tv/2021-11-18-meet-pete-soderling-general-partner-at-data-community-fund/), 2021-11-18
SHOW MORE
$1M $200K – $2M Berlin, Germany — — – — — — – — — — – — — — – — — — – — — — – —
SHOW MORE
$30M 2024-06-18 CuspAI Lightspeed , Hoxton Ventures , Basis Set Ventures , Giant Ventures , Working Capital Fund , Tiferes Ventures , Northzone , Zero Prime Ventures , Lan Xuezhao , Michiel Kotting $2M 2026-02-05 Qontext HV Capital , Zero Prime Ventures $— 2025-12-11 Runware Speedinvest , Zero Prime Ventures $— 2025-11-21 Mabyduck Zero Prime Ventures , Magnetic Capital $13M 2025-09-09 Runware Zero Prime Ventures €2M 2025-08-14 Archestra RTP Global , Zero Prime Ventures $— 2025-07-30 Structured AI Zero Prime Ventures $35M 2025-05-21 DataHub Zero Prime Ventures , Bob Goodman , Bhaskar Ghosh $1M 2025-04-08 HoneyHive Zero Prime Ventures $5M 2025-04-08 HoneyHive 468 Capital , Zero Prime Ventures $15M 2023-09-26 Kolena Zero Prime Ventures $52M 2023-09-20 Motherduck Felicis , Amplify Partners , Zero Prime Ventures $— 2023 Kolena Zero Prime Ventures $— Unknown date Structured Zero Prime Ventures $— Unknown date LizzyAI Zero Prime Ventures
SHOW MORE
team@apexlogos.ai · 22 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 investment stages
| Item | Finding and qualification | Supporting source/date |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Fund II | **USD 48m**, new second fund announced March 20, 2024. The firm announcement describes raised capital, rather than a fundraising target. Treat this as reported fund size/raise, not audited AUM. | [Firm release via Business Wire, syndicated by FinancialContent](https://markets.financialcontent.com/stocks/article/bizwire-2024-3-20-zero-prime-ventures-raises-second-fund-to-back-even-more-engineer-founders-from-company-inception ), 2024-03-20; [Axios Pro Rata](https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-pro-rata-a9410942-652c-41a6-825c-7f654331239f ), 2024-03-22, independently reports $48m second fund |
| Earlier fund | **USD 15m** stated by Pete Soderling when operating as Data Community Fund. Historical predecessor fund; do not equate with present AUM. Interview directly failed to load, so this is **search-index-only evidence**, lower confidence than Fund II. | [Vator interview](https://vator.tv/2021-11-18-meet-pete-soderling-general-partner-at-data-community-fund/ ), 2021-11-18 |
| Typical initial check | **USD 500k–1.5m**, historical range explicitly stated in 2024 firm release. Current 2026 range not independently confirmed; not fund size. | Firm Fund II release, 2024-03-20, linked above |
| Mandate | Company inception/pre-incorporation, **pre-seed and seed**, backing AI/data-oriented technical founders. GenAI tooling, data infrastructure and machine learning emphasized. | Fund II release, 2024-03-20; [official network testimonials](https://www.zeroprime.vc/network ), undated, attest to MotherDuck seed and HoneyHive pre-seed |
| Later stages | Verified follow-ons include Kolena Series A and DataHub Series B. The portfolio page's company stage labels indicate portfolio maturity, not necessarily first-entry stage or current mandate. | Company announcements below; [official portfolio](https://www.zeroprime.vc/portfolio ), undated |
| AUM/newer funds | **Not verified.** Searches through 2026 did not establish a newer flagship close. Do not assume Fund II is the last-ever fund. | See caveat below |
A [FormDs listing](https://formds.com/issuers/ac-0415-fund-iii-a-series-of-zero-prime-ventures-lp ), **2025-05-29 filing**, identifies `AC-0415 Fund III, a series of Zero Prime Ventures, LP` with approximately USD 972,500 raised. This is a specifically named series vehicle and **does not verify a flagship Zero Prime Fund III**. Other series appear in aggregator searches. SEC originals were not reviewed; avoid adding their aggregate amounts to $48m or reporting them as AUM. The Business Wire original https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240319152582/en/ failed to load; the firm's dated syndicated release was fully readable.
[Official homepage](https://www.zeroprime.vc/ ), **undated**, says Zero Prime was founded in 2023. The Fund II release identifies the predecessor Data Community Fund; the 2021 interview predates the Zero Prime brand. A later updater should distinguish branding date from investment-platform inception.
Funds recorded in Adex after this review:
| Fund | Disclosed amount | Announcement / filing date |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Data Community Fund I | Undisclosed / unverified | Unknown |
| Fund II | USD 48000000 | 2024-03-20 | SHOW MORE
team@apexlogos.ai · 23 hours ago
Match research 2026-10-06 / ZeroPrimeVentures / sha256:b73891a7225be8c32a1698f5adc576798c2524bc1d82bac1e5e9079960a97c85 / 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.
| **HoneyHive** | **USD 1.9m pre-seed led by Zero Prime**, previously unannounced; Zero Prime also joined **USD 5.5m seed** led by Insight. Announcement date is not necessarily either closing date. | LLM/AI-agent observability and evaluation; technical infrastructure adjacency rather than proven scientific deep tech. | [HoneyHive-issued release](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/honeyhive-a-leadingai-agent-observability-and-evaluation-platform-announces-launch-and-7-4m-in-total-funding-led-by-insight-partners-302419249.html ), 2025-04-08; [official firm network](https://www.zeroprime.vc/network ), undated, founder confirms pre-seed lead |
| **DataHub / Acryl Data** | Zero Prime named among investors in **USD 35m Series B**, led by Bessemer. | Open-source metadata/data infrastructure enabling enterprise AI. Technically substantial infrastructure, but scientific deep-tech classification remains uncertain. | [Acryl Data-issued release](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/datahub-secures-35-million-series-b-to-enable-ai-to-safely-manage-and-use-data-302459121.html ), 2025-05-21 |
| **Qontext** | Official company blog names Zero Prime in **USD 2.7m pre-seed**, led by HV Capital. | Independent context infrastructure for AI agents; technical AI infrastructure adjacency, not evidence of neuroscience or hardware. | [Official company funding post](https://qontext.ai/blog/pre-seed ), 2026-02-05 |
| **Archestra** | Official firm portfolio establishes firm attribution; reporting names Zero Prime in **EUR 2.8m pre-seed**, led by Concept Ventures. | MCP/AI-agent security and orchestration infrastructure. Technical software adjacency, not a demonstrated scientific deep-tech investment. Current portfolio labels it seed; distinguish current maturity from historical round. | [Official firm portfolio](https://www.zeroprime.vc/portfolio ), undated; [EU-Startups reporting](https://www.eu-startups.com/2025/08/london-based-archestra-raises-e2-8-million-to-stop-ai-agents-going-rogue/ ), 2025-08-14 |
The portfolio also names **Modal, LanceDB, Lightning AI, Philo Labs, MotherDuck, Hex, Pydantic and Wasmer**, among others. These are leads for additional AI/data/developer-infrastructure review; no individual round or scientific deep-tech claim is verified here solely from their appearance. Ordinary SaaS/application investments such as recruiting software are not counted as clear deep tech.
## Neurotech review and adjacent investment
**No verified neurotech investment found in the sources checked.** Searches used the firm name with neurotech, brain-computer, brain and neuroscience, then reviewed the official portfolio and the Adex baseline. This result is limited to publicly visible evidence; it does not establish the absence of undisclosed investments.
**Theseus AI — verified firm portfolio name, possible neurosurgical-imaging adjacency.** The [official Zero Prime portfolio](https://www.zeroprime.vc/portfolio ), **undated**, lists Theseus AI in Los Angeles at seed and describes healthcare decision support. Separately, [UCLA's announcement](https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/ucla-theseus-ai-license-agreement-spine-mri ), **2019-09-04**, identifies a Los Angeles startup Theseus AI licensing machine-learning analysis of spine MRIs, developed by Luke Macyszyn and Bilwaj Gaonkar. It quantifies spinal stenosis and supports assessment for surgery. The name, location and healthcare description align, but **the firm page does not expose enough founder/legal-entity detail to conclusively tie the investment to the UCLA spinout**. Round date, investment amount and Zero Prime's entry date are missing.
If confirmed, classify this as **medical imaging/neurosurgical decision support adjacent to neurotech**, not a direct BCI, neural recording or neuromodulation investment. The currently indexed https://www.theseusai.com/ describes broader AI services and should not be assumed to be the same legal entity without checking. Do not conflate this company with Meta's open-source Theseus optimization library.
## Discrepancies and later Adex review notes
1. Review Fund II **USD 48m / announcement 2024-03-20** separately from AUM, fund targets and series/SPV vehicles. Fund I USD 15m is lower-confidence historical interview evidence until the original is re-read.
2. Add or review historical first-check range **USD 500k–1.5m**, explicitly preserving its 2024 date; current check policy is unknown.
3. Correct or review **Runware 2025-09-09**: issuer calls it seed, despite Adex's Series A tag. Its later 2025-12-11 USD 50m entry was not independently reverified in this focused review.
4. Review **HoneyHive**: Adex's USD 7.4m is cumulative funding; the newly announced seed is USD 5.5m and earlier pre-seed USD 1.9m. Do not use cumulative funding as round or investor participation amount.
5. **Kolena** has two baseline participations likely referring to the same 2023-09-26 Series A. The USD 21m figure is cumulative funding; the round was USD 15m. Review deduplication before later writes.
6. Adex's **Structured AI / Structured** may duplicate a company; do not merge without identity verification. The later ENR article was retrieved but could not be reliably inspected; its claimed seed round remains baseline-only here. LizzyAI was corroborated as a portfolio name but its USD 5m financing was not independently reverified.
7. Resolve **Signal Berlin versus firm San Francisco home office**, preserve both sources and dates rather than silently adopting Signal. Founding year needs brand-versus-predecessor interpretation.
8. Confirm **Theseus AI** identity, then decide whether to record a neurosurgical-imaging adjacency. Do not add a direct neurotech label based on these sources.
9. Exact company IDs in the baseline are not guaranteed canonical matches for prospective new investment entries; verify each webpage ID before a future authorized update.
This file intentionally contains findings and review recommendations only. No proposed change has been applied to Adex. SHOW MORE
team@apexlogos.ai · 23 hours ago
Match research 2026-10-06 / ZeroPrimeVentures / sha256:b73891a7225be8c32a1698f5adc576798c2524bc1d82bac1e5e9079960a97c85 / 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.
# Zero Prime Ventures
- **Exact Adex ID:** `ZeroPrimeVentures`
- **Adex URL:** https://adex.page/firms/ZeroPrimeVentures
- **Research date:** 2026-10-06; completed focused public-source review. All web sources accessed on this date.
- **Scope:** Research only. No Adex/database edits performed.
## Assessment
Zero Prime backs technical founders at company inception, especially AI and data infrastructure. Its latest **verified flagship fund announcement found** is **USD 48 million Fund II, announced 2024-03-20**. CuspAI provides a clear scientific deep-tech precedent; Runware provides a hardware/software infrastructure precedent. Several additional investments concern advanced AI infrastructure rather than scientific or hardware deep tech. **No verified direct neurotech investment found in the sources checked.** Theseus AI is a relevant spine-imaging/neurosurgical adjacency requiring identity diligence, not evidence of a brain-computer-interface mandate.
## Starting evidence: Adex MCP and NFX Signal
The exact record was obtained by the parent through read-only Adex MCP `Search` on `http://localhost:3000/mcp` , then read from `data/research/_sources/ZeroPrimeVentures.adex.json`; retrieval timestamp **2026-10-06T19:28:50.995Z**. Search arguments were Org, term `Zero Prime Ventures`, label `Match`. The record identifies investor ID 6094, label Match, San Francisco, and pre-seed/seed AI/data infrastructure investing. `checkMin`, `checkMax`, and `sweetSpot` are null. Founding year is null. Prior description cites the official website, Signal and Goldi, with evidence accessed 2026-09-14; it is baseline data, not fresh independent verification.
Existing team roles include Pete Soderling (founding partner), Yang Tran (partner), Diana Rhie (operations), and venture partners Angela Winegar, Charles Zedlewski, Issac Roth and Jordan Tigani. Team verification is outside the principal investment review; note possible `Issac` versus `Isaac` spelling before any later person update.
The snapshot lists 13 investment participations: **Qontext, Runware** (two rounds), **Archestra, Structured AI, DataHub, HoneyHive, CuspAI, Kolena** (two likely duplicate entries), **Motherduck, LizzyAI, Structured**. It contains original source URLs and amounts. Several `amount` fields reproduce whole financing rounds or cumulative company funding; they must not be treated as Zero Prime's individual checks.
[NFX Signal firm profile](https://signal.nfx.com/firms/zero-prime-ventures ), **undated**, was directly readable. It shows **Berlin, Germany** and an empty readable team section; no fund size, check range, stages or investments were exposed. Berlin conflicts with Adex. Searches for Pete Soderling's Signal profile did not yield a usable directly attributed profile. Signal therefore supplied no reliable monetary or stage verification. The [firm-issued Fund II announcement](https://markets.financialcontent.com/stocks/article/bizwire-2024-3-20-zero-prime-ventures-raises-second-fund-to-back-even-more-engineer-founders-from-company-inception ), **2024-03-20**, explicitly calls San Francisco the home office and describes Yang Tran relocating from Germany. That helps explain—but does not resolve—the Signal discrepancy.
## Fund size and investment stages
| Item | Finding and qualification | Supporting source/date |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Fund II | **USD 48m**, new second fund announced March 20, 2024. The firm announcement describes raised capital, rather than a fundraising target. Treat this as reported fund size/raise, not audited AUM. | [Firm release via Business Wire, syndicated by FinancialContent](https://markets.financialcontent.com/stocks/article/bizwire-2024-3-20-zero-prime-ventures-raises-second-fund-to-back-even-more-engineer-founders-from-company-inception ), 2024-03-20; [Axios Pro Rata](https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-pro-rata-a9410942-652c-41a6-825c-7f654331239f ), 2024-03-22, independently reports $48m second fund |
| Earlier fund | **USD 15m** stated by Pete Soderling when operating as Data Community Fund. Historical predecessor fund; do not equate with present AUM. Interview directly failed to load, so this is **search-index-only evidence**, lower confidence than Fund II. | [Vator interview](https://vator.tv/2021-11-18-meet-pete-soderling-general-partner-at-data-community-fund/ ), 2021-11-18 |
| Typical initial check | **USD 500k–1.5m**, historical range explicitly stated in 2024 firm release. Current 2026 range not independently confirmed; not fund size. | Firm Fund II release, 2024-03-20, linked above |
| Mandate | Company inception/pre-incorporation, **pre-seed and seed**, backing AI/data-oriented technical founders. GenAI tooling, data infrastructure and machine learning emphasized. | Fund II release, 2024-03-20; [official network testimonials](https://www.zeroprime.vc/network ), undated, attest to MotherDuck seed and HoneyHive pre-seed |
| Later stages | Verified follow-ons include Kolena Series A and DataHub Series B. The portfolio page's company stage labels indicate portfolio maturity, not necessarily first-entry stage or current mandate. | Company announcements below; [official portfolio](https://www.zeroprime.vc/portfolio ), undated |
| AUM/newer funds | **Not verified.** Searches through 2026 did not establish a newer flagship close. Do not assume Fund II is the last-ever fund. | See caveat below |
A [FormDs listing](https://formds.com/issuers/ac-0415-fund-iii-a-series-of-zero-prime-ventures-lp ), **2025-05-29 filing**, identifies `AC-0415 Fund III, a series of Zero Prime Ventures, LP` with approximately USD 972,500 raised. This is a specifically named series vehicle and **does not verify a flagship Zero Prime Fund III**. Other series appear in aggregator searches. SEC originals were not reviewed; avoid adding their aggregate amounts to $48m or reporting them as AUM. The Business Wire original https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240319152582/en/ failed to load; the firm's dated syndicated release was fully readable.
[Official homepage](https://www.zeroprime.vc/ ), **undated**, says Zero Prime was founded in 2023. The Fund II release identifies the predecessor Data Community Fund; the 2021 interview predates the Zero Prime brand. A later updater should distinguish branding date from investment-platform inception.
## Named deep-tech and advanced-technology investments
Company round totals below are **not Zero Prime's disclosed contribution**. “Deep tech” classification is an analyst assessment of scientific/engineering substance, not a category automatically attached to every AI company.
| Company | Firm attribution and historical financing | Technology relevance; confidence | Sources/date |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **CuspAI** | Firm's own portfolio confirms ownership relationship. Reporting confirms Zero Prime participated in the June 2024 seed. Individual check undisclosed. | **Clear scientific deep tech:** AI-guided materials design, simulation and experimental validation; potential materials/chemistry relevance to advanced industries. | [Official Zero Prime portfolio](https://www.zeroprime.vc/portfolio ), undated; [CuspAI official site](https://cusp.ai/ ), undated; [TechCrunch seed article](https://techcrunch.com/2024/06/18/cuspai-raises-30m-to-create-a-gen-ai-driven-search-engine-for-new-materials/ ), 2024-06-18 |
| **Runware** | Issuer confirms Zero Prime was a previous investor participating in **USD 13m seed**, September 9, 2025, led by Insight Partners. Adex incorrectly tags that announcement Series A. | **Engineering deep-tech candidate:** proprietary Sonic inference engine combines custom-designed hardware and bespoke software for AI media generation. Technical performance figures are issuer claims, not independently benchmarked here. | [Runware-issued PRNewswire release](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/runware-raises-13m-seed-to-help-customers-achieve-up-to-10x-cost-savings-on-ai-media-generation-302549889.html ), 2025-09-09; official firm portfolio, undated |
| **Kolena** | Returning Zero Prime investor participated in **USD 15m Series A**, bringing company cumulative funding to USD 21m. Lead: Lobby Capital. | Advanced AI testing/model validation infrastructure. Strong technical adjacency; **not automatically scientific/hardware deep tech**. Current firm portfolio describes document-workflow AI, indicating possible product evolution since the announcement. | [Kolena-issued release](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/kolena-secures-series-a-investment-led-by-lobby-capital-bringing-ai-testing-startups-total-funding-to-21m-301938156.html ), 2023-09-26; official portfolio, undated | SHOW MORE
team@apexlogos.ai · 23 days ago
MATCH 
468 Capital
HoneyHive$5M · 2025-04-08
Amplify Partners
Motherduck$52M · 2023-09-20
Basis Set Ventures
CuspAI$30M · 2024-06-18
Bhaskar Ghosh
DataHub$35M · 2025-05-21
Bob Goodman
Felicis
HV Capital
Qontext$2M · 2026-02-05
Lan Xuezhao
Lightspeed
Magnetic Capital
Mabyduck$— · 2025-11-21
Michiel Kotting
RTP Global
Archestra€2M · 2025-08-14
Speedinvest
Runware$— · 2025-12-11
Structured AI
Kolena
Structured
LizzyAI