Perceptive Ventures

Perceptive Ventures Research Overview Perceptive Ventures is a San Francisco-based early-stage venture capital firm founded by Camilo Acosta, a former generative AI product lead at Meta and serial founder. The firm focuses exclusively on agentic AI, backing founders they describe as "shaping humanity's next great leap forward." Perceptive operates with a tight, founder-first model: the team is composed of operators and founders who have built and exited companies themselves, positioning the firm as more than just a capital source. Investment Thesis Perceptive's thesis is clear and differentiated: the AI wave is not simply another tech cycle but a fundamental reshaping of how humans work, live, and move through the world. The firm specifically targets agentic AI — autonomous agents that can perceive, reason, and act — rather than broader AI or "what's trending today." The tagline "Dare to lead the next human revolution" reflects a contrarian, conviction-driven posture. As Nabeel Hyatt of Spark Capital noted, "There are very few human investors on the planet who have brought native AI products to market" — validating Perceptive's differentiation as deeply operator-credentialed investors. The firm believes the best outcomes will come from founders who are not just deploying AI but reimagining entire categories with agentic architectures. This spans verticals including enterprise software, healthcare, legal tech, climate, edtech, fintech, and consumer applications — as long as the core product is agentic AI. Stage Focus Perceptive invests at pre-seed and seed stages. Portfolio entries show investment years starting in 2023, with accelerating velocity through 2026. The firm keeps the portfolio selective to maintain high engagement with each founder. Check Size Check size is not publicly disclosed. Based on typical pre-seed/seed investments in the San Francisco AI ecosystem and the selective portfolio strategy, estimated checks range from $250K–$1.5M. The portfolio shows both pre-seed and seed stage investments. Lead Tendency The firm positions itself as a close partner from day one: "For the midnight calls no one else will take. For the startup challenges other investors have never faced first-hand." This hands-on posture, combined with early-stage entry, suggests Perceptive typically leads or co-leads seed rounds. Warm Introduction Required Perceptive explicitly requires a mutual connection: "If you're a founder working on a transformational AI startup, please get in touch via a mutual connection." Geographic Focus Primarily US, with some portfolio companies in Latin America (Zapia / BrainLogic AI). Headquarters: San Francisco, CA. Recent Activity Perceptive has been highly active in 2025–2026, with numerous new investments in agentic AI companies across sectors. Recent additions include A1 Mobile, Agent Phone, Apollo Atomics, Bixby, Capacity Health, Neon, Plow, and Sunlight Legal — all from 2026. The fund is actively deploying capital. Camilo Acosta was a panelist at TEDAI San Francisco 2025. He also appeared on the "How I Invest" podcast (Episode 309) discussing agentic AI and the VC landscape, and was quoted in PitchBook analyzing AI talent retention. Portfolio Highlights Perceptive has 25+ portfolio companies spanning agentic AI applications across verticals: A1 Mobile (a1mobile.ai) — AI-native business phone replacing carriers; Seed, 2026 Agent Phone (agentphone.ai) — real phone numbers for AI agents; Pre-Seed, 2026 Apollo Atomics (apolloatomics.com) — ultra-compact nuclear plants at 3¢/kWh; Seed, 2026 ArchiBoost (archiboost.ai) — AI code compliance for AEC (architecture/engineering/construction); Pre-Seed, 2025 Bixby (getbixby.com) — AI for construction submittal reviews; Seed, 2026 BrainLogic AI / Zapia (zapia.com) — AI agents for LatAm consumers via messaging; Pre-Seed, 2023 (first investment) Capacity Health (capacityhealth.com) — AI clinical reasoning engine for EDs and hospitals; Seed, 2026 Dispatch (dispatch.io) — financial advisor data sync across tech stacks; Seed, 2024 Dolphin (dolphin.study) — adaptive SAT prep with personalized AI; Seed, 2025 Evalon AI (evalon.ai) — enterprise identity fraud protection in the GenAI era; Seed, 2024 Giant (giant.org) — personalized interactive children's stories; Seed, 2025 Hyperspell (hyperspell.com) — context graph and filesystem for AI agents; Seed, 2025 Instalily (domain: see portfolio) — Vertical AI Agent Platform; Seed, 2024 Korl (korl.co) — maps product capabilities to customer goals for retention; Seed, 2024 Kronos AI (kronosai.co) — multiphysics simulation for AI era; Pre-Seed, 2024 Neon (neonmoneytalks.com) — pays consumers to contribute call audio to AI training; Seed, 2026 Novig (novig.us) — peer-to-peer sports betting eliminating the house; Seed, 2024 Plow (plow.co) — tools to give humans leverage in the AI age; Pre-Seed, 2026 Recess (recessparenting.app) — AI-enhanced platform for parenting communities; Pre-Seed, 2024 Scowtt (scowtt.com) — AI/ML-powered lead qualification and prioritization; Pre-Seed, 2024 Sidecar (usesidecar.com) — virtual AI teammate automating outreach and admin tasks; Seed, 2025 State Affairs (stateaffairs.com) — AI-powered state legislative tracking for government affairs; Seed, 2023 Sunlight Legal — stealth AI legal startup; Seed, 2026 Village (myvillage.co) — trusted pediatric therapy coordination platform; Seed, 2024 Zealthy (getzealthy.com) — agent-enabled telemedicine; Seed, 2023 Team Camilo Acosta — Founder and Managing Partner Camilo is an exited AI founder and former generative AI product lead at Meta, where he built AI-powered advertising products for Reels and Stories. He co-founded Pay By Group before turning to investing. Based in San Francisco. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/camiloacosta. Chris Hubbell — General Partner A Princeton graduate who built and sold an AI company to Meta, where he led generative AI products for Reels and Stories used by millions of advertisers. Chris previously served as General Partner at ICONIQ Capital, bringing both operator credibility and institutional-scale investing experience to Perceptive. Yair Levi — Part-time Partner Part-time partner contributing domain expertise to portfolio support. Brendan Dowdle — Part-time Partner Part-time partner contributing domain expertise to portfolio support. Nick Novarro — Investor Investor on the team. Gary Bradski — Venture Partner Dr. Gary Bradski is a pioneer in computer vision and machine learning. He founded OpenCV (400M+ downloads in 2025), the world's most popular computer vision library, and serves as its President. He is a Visiting Scholar at Stanford's CS and Robotics Research Center, a Science Advisor at Bonsai Robotics, and co-founded Industrial Perception. He was part of the team behind Stanley, the robot that won the DARPA Grand Challenge. Decision Process Partnership model with multiple GPs (Camilo Acosta and Chris Hubbell) leading decisions, supported by part-time partners and venture partners. The firm maintains a selective portfolio to ensure high engagement. Founder Preferences Perceptive backs founders who are themselves technical builders or domain experts in AI — "founders building the future, not what's trending today." The team's own founder DNA means they empathize with the full arc from idea to exit. Warm introduction via mutual connection is required. The firm is drawn to founders working on agentic AI with transformational ambition.