Past product-market fit, before real scale — that’s the whole portfolio. First checks of $5–10M into companies doing $3–15M in ARR.
We invest in B2B software companies with proven product-market fit, strong retention signals, and an efficient growth plan. We also look for evidence of “AI-first” operations — companies using AI to make their products more useful, expand TAMs or address greenfield markets, and run their businesses more efficiently.
into software companies at $3–15M in ARR.
focused on their ICP, with healthy growth, strong retention, and a credible path to cash-flow breakeven.
ready to scale — who hustle, build culture, and tell the truth.
We operate knowing you have options; we carry our weight.
Capital is the same everywhere; the right partner isn’t. Taking on an investor is one of the most consequential decisions a founder makes. It’s who you want sitting next to you to celebrate successes and sort through setbacks.
We built Ankona for exactly the position you’re in now. By the time we invest, you’ve already created a business with paying customers, proven retention, and growing stature — a business that works and a chance at wealth creation. This next stage is about thoughtfully taking it to the next level. It’s not about wasteful spending — it’s about smart spending. Every dollar you don’t need to raise is ownership you keep and options you preserve. We’ve kept Ankona small, so we can deliver financing sized to your plan.
We want every founder we back to have a life-changing outcome; that only comes if you still own enough of the company when it arrives. And it’s why the exit belongs to you: we’ll go all the way to an IPO when that’s the right answer, and we’ll support an earlier sale when it’s the better choice.
There’s also this: we’ve walked in your shoes, and we haven’t forgotten how it feels. Leading a company can be lonely; it’s harder than it looks from a board seat, and we know that the path to success isn’t linear. So, we recognize what it took to get to where you are before we ask what’s next. We don’t panic when the plan bends, and bad news gets help from us, not judgment.
If this sounds like the kind of partnership you want, let’s meet.
Talk to any founder we’ve backed, including the ones where things got hard. References are where we shine.
Newth (Telogis) and Jared (Avetta) built, financed, scaled, and exited B2B software companies. Between the two of them: more than $150M raised, past $150M of combined revenue, and more than $1.5B of exit value. That experience matters at our stage — we’ve carried the bag, hired the team, navigated hard markets, raised from institutional investors, and made the calls you will face.
Brian and Josh bring more than 30 years of combined venture, private equity, and board experience across software cycles — dating back to before the dot com bust. We’ve seen it all. We know where capital helps, where it hurts, when founders need a partner to roll up their sleeves, and when to leave founders alone. We pair that experience with AI-enabled operating systems that help us get to the signal faster — so we can spend more time with founders and less time chasing process.
Josh has spent most of his career investing in and supporting growth-oriented companies. Before Ankona, he was with Solis Capital, following earlier roles at Morgan Stanley and Ford.
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Brian co-founded Ankona after a run as General Partner at Anthem Venture Partners — two decades of Southern California venture across more market cycles than he’d like to count.
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Newth co-founded Telogis and helped build it from nothing into a global fleet-telematics platform, sold to Verizon.
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Jared co-founded Avetta and scaled it into a global supply-chain risk platform before its sale to private equity.
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Gardner runs the numbers and manages deal execution. Wells Fargo Securities, UBS, and Horsley-Bridge before Ankona.
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We have partnered with some amazing founders building great companies. We’re very proud of this extended Ankona family. Every founder here took a check from us at the same turn — from finding what works to scaling it. Ask their founders how it went, including in the hard years. We’ll make the introduction.
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