Pear VC has closed a $333 million Fund V, bringing the early-stage venture firm’s total assets under management to more than $1.1 billion and giving it additional <a href="https://bitcomme.com/government-staff-in-saudi-capital-told-to-work-from-home-2/” title=”Government staff in Saudi capital told to work from home”>capital to invest primarily in pre-seed and seed-stage startups.
The firm said the majority of Fund V will be allocated to new early-stage investments over roughly two and a half years, with additional capital reserved for follow-on investments in portfolio companies that demonstrate strong growth.
Founded in 2013, Pear has built its strategy around identifying founders before their companies become widely known or, in some cases, before the startups themselves formally exist. The firm has previously backed companies including DoorDash, Gusto, Vanta, Guardant Health, Affinity, Listen Labs, and Forus.
Pear’s founder discovery efforts include PearX, its flagship program for pre-seed entrepreneurs. The program runs twice per year and accepts fewer than 1% of applicants. More than 6,000 startups applied to the Summer 2026 cohort. According to the firm, approximately 80% of PearX companies later raise institutional seed rounds, with some reaching valuations as much as 10 times Pear’s entry price.
The firm also operates Pear Studio, a 14,000-square-foot San Francisco hub where PearX founders work directly with investors. Pear’s platform supports portfolio companies across areas including customer discovery, hiring, fundraising, and go-to-market strategy. Its talent team has helped facilitate more than 300 hires across portfolio companies.
Recent Pear-backed companies have also reached significant milestones. Listen Labs entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Salesforce, while Forus raised a $150 million Series C at a $3 billion valuation. Gravis Robotics raised a $200 million Series A, Vals AI raised $40 million, Andera raised $37 million, and Phinity Labs reached eight figures in annualized run rate.
Alongside the fund closing, Pear promoted Arash Afrakhteh, Ajay Kamat, and Shravan Reddy to General Partner.
Afrakhteh focuses on enterprise and B2B investments across AI, machine learning, cloud, and data infrastructure. Kamat invests in consumer, fintech, and healthcare companies. Reddy focuses on AI infrastructure, robotics, and vertical AI.
“Our ambition is to be the best in the world at one thing: finding extraordinary founders first, before they become obvious to the rest of the market, and helping them build extraordinary companies from zero. Fund V gives us the right amount of capital to keep doing that with focus, discipline, and the same early-stage conviction that defines Pear.”
Pejman Nozad, Founding Managing Partner Of Pear VC
“Capital is becoming commoditized. Access is not. AI now lets anyone build what once took dozens of engineers. We believe the firms closest to founders at the earliest stages, not just to the financing rounds that follow, will have the advantage. Our job is to build relationships with top founder talent months, if not years, before the rest of the market realizes what they are capable of building.”
Mar Hershenson, Founding Managing Partner Of Pear VC
“Arash, Ajay, and Shravan each embody what makes Pear special: deep care for founders, exceptional leadership, and a selfless commitment to our community. For us, this is one of the most meaningful milestones in Pear’s history. Thirteen years after starting the firm, we now have a new generation of General Partners who have grown with Pear and will help build what comes next.”
Pejman Nozad And Mar Hershenson, Founding Managing Partners Of Pear VC
