Uncork Capital

Uncork Capital (formerly known as SoftTech VC) is a venture capital firm based in San Francisco, California, founded by Jeff Clavier. Considered one of the most active established seed funds in Silicon Valley, it has invested in companies such as Postmates, Eventbrite, Fitbit, and SendGrid.

History
The firm was founded in 2004 by angel investor Jeff Clavier when he transitioned his portfolio into a formal venture firm. Partners include Andy McLoughlin (formerly of Huddle), Susan Liu (formerly of Scale Venture Partners), Tripp Jones (formerly of August Capital), and Amy Saper (formerly of Accel). As of 2024, the firm had invested in over 260 early stage start-ups.

In 2017, the firm changed its name from SoftTech VC to Uncork Capital.

Investments
The firm primarily invests in SaaS (software as a service), marketplaces, consumer services and "frontier technology" ventures. With a focus on seed-stage funding, the firm generally aims to secure between 8-12+% ownership of the companies it invests in.

The firm's first fund raised less than $1 million, while the second fund raised $15 million in 2007.

In 2012, Fund III oversubscribed at $55 million, and, in 2014, they closed their fourth fund at $85 million, bringing their capital under management to $155 million.

In 2016, the firm raised $100 million for SoftTechVC V and $50 million for a breakout fund. In 2019, the firm raised $100M for Uncork VI and $100M for their second breakout find, Plus II.

In 2023, the firm raised $200M for Uncork VII and $200M for their third breakout fund, Plus III.

Notable investments have included: Eventbrite, Fitbit, Postmates, SendGrid, Survata, Gnip, BrightRoll, Vidyard, LiveRamp, about.me, August Home, Bitly, Bleacher Report, Blekko, Chariot, Curse LLC, Gnip, Handshake, Kongregate, Mint.com, and Next Big Sound.