Union Square Ventures (USV) is a New York-based venture capital firm founded in 2003. Known as an early backer of category-defining companies including Twitter, Etsy, MongoDB, Coinbase, and Duolingo, the firm has historically focused on early-stage, Series A-led investing and is now entering a new cycle shaped around artificial intelligence, physical and offline data, open-source models, and energy.
Union Square Ventures invests at the early stage, historically leading or co-leading Series A rounds, and is expanding further into seed investing through founder bets, internal incubations, and what the firm calls proprietary seeds.
The firm's current thesis rests on four pillars: AI that reshapes or replaces entire markets rather than simply automating existing workflows, including categories such as legal, medical, and accounting services; physical intelligence and previously unreachable offline data spanning software, robotics, manufacturing, and sensor networks; open-source and open-weight AI models and harnesses that reduce dependence on closed technology stacks; and energy, which now accounts for an estimated 20 to 30% of the portfolio after the firm's dedicated 2021 energy fund was folded into its core fund.
Union Square Ventures raised $900 million across two funds in October 2026, its largest fund cycle in 23 years. The early-stage Core Fund closed at $500 million, up 82% from the $275 million core fund raised in 2024.
The Opportunity Fund, used for later-stage and follow-on investments in existing portfolio companies, closed at $400 million, up from a prior $350 million fund.
USV discussed the larger raise with its limited partners well in advance through its regular quarterly LP calls, and existing LPs were joined by new ones.
The firm has said it kept the raise below what LPs would have supported, citing selectivity and alignment between fund size, return potential, and carry.
Leadership
Union Square Ventures is led by four active General Partners: Fred Wilson, Rebecca Kaden, Nick Grossman, and Michael Mignano, who joined the firm in 2026 after co-founding Anchor. Nikhil Raman is also part of the core investment team.
Jared Hecht, co-founder of GroupMe and Fundera, serves as Venture Partner, and Scott Belsky, co-founder of Behance and former Chief Product Officer at Adobe, serves as Product Advisory Partner.
Longtime partners Andy Weissman, Albert Wenger, John Buttrick, and Brad Burnham have moved into part-time roles while retaining their board seats and continuing to make investments. Kerri Rachlin leads finance and operations.
Investment Strategy
USV's Series A checks, historically around $3 million, now typically range from $10 million to $30 million as the firm leads or co-leads rounds, with some rounds reaching $100 million or more.
The firm expects to make 30 to 40 investments in this fund cycle, with a larger share going to seed-stage deals, including founder bets, internally incubated companies, and proprietary seed investments that Fred Wilson has estimated could account for a third to half of all seed deals.
The firm's first incubation, Supertake, a platform that turns investing theses into tradable portfolios, was announced in September 2026.
Notable Investments
Radiant, Generalist AI, Supertake.
Notable Exits
Twitter, Etsy, MongoDB, Coinbase, Duolingo.
Fred Wilson, General Partner
Rebecca Kaden, General Partner
Nick Grossman, General Partner
Michael Mignano, General Partner
Andy Weissman, Partner
Albert Wenger, Partner,
Brad Burnham, Partner
Nikhil Raman, Investment Partner
United States
