Character
VC Fund
Milwaukee, United States
Character is a new VC firm founded by John Zeratsky, Jake Knapp, and Eli Blee-Goldman. Character builds on Zeratsky's and Knapp's work at Google Ventures (GV), where they developed the Design Sprint, worked with 150+ startups including Flatiron Health, Blue Bottle Coffee, and Slack, and wrote the bestselling Sprint book. Blee-Goldmanbrings a strong track record in software investing and broad experience in fund management after 10 years as a VC at Capital Midwest.Character invests up to $1M at seed stage into startups betting on big shifts in customer behavior. They are a remote-native firm investing in companies located anywhere in the USA. After investing, they work hand-in-hand with founders, using the sprint method they created at GV, to help startups find and expand product-market fit.
- Total investments:
- 38
- Last investment:
- Lead investor:
- 11%
- Fund size:
- $30M
- Last fund:
Last updated:
For AI agents: llms.txt
Industries Character invests in
Stages Character invests in
Countries Character invests in
Investment Focus
Industry
- Artificial Intelligence 11 (29%)
- Software 9 (24%)
- Health Care 5 (13%)
- Information Technology 5 (13%)
- Medical 3 (8%)
Stage
- Seed 16 (42%)
- Pre-Seed 10 (26%)
- Series A 8 (21%)
- Venture - Series Unknown 2 (5%)
- Funding Round 1 (3%)
Country
- United States 23 (61%)
- Canada 1 (3%)
- Australia 1 (3%)
- United Kingdom 1 (3%)
Investments
| Company | Description | Round | Links |
|---|---|---|---|
Conflation Labs
|
Conflation Labs is the AI co-pilot for site plan review and zoning compliance, serving municipalities and AEC firms across the US. Conflation Labs automates plan checks by reading submitted drawings against local codes, flagging issues with visual markers and corrective steps, and help cities meet statutory permit review deadlines. Our ZoningResearch Assistant cuts routine property and code inquiries by up to 80%, freeing planning staff for high-value work. Cities like Berkeley, CA; Asheville, NC and Riviera Beach, FL use Conflation Labs to accelerate permits, reduce resubmittals, and make development transparent and predictable.Key Features: Plan review interface: "Check site plan to flag all the zoning issues" Conversational interface: 'What businesses can I open at 300 Main Street?' Custom property maps showing buildable areas, setbacks, ADU eligibility Integrates with existing GIS data and city workflows 70-80% reduction in research timeUse Cases: Automated permit review, Zoning and property information, Business and residential permitting, ADU feasibility analysis, Policy navigation and implementation, Automated Site plan reviewFor Cities and Counties: Faster staff responses, improved citizen experience, 24/7 access to accurate information For AEC firms: QA/QC of design drawings For Citizens: Self-service access to professional-grade municipal insights | May 31, 2026 | |
Amari AI
|
Amari AI builds AI agents that run logistics and supply chain. It reduces manual labor by automating paperwork, managing communication in the logistics industry. The AI agents currently help move over $15B of goods around the world. | $4.5M / Seed / Feb 19, 2026 | |
Great Question
|
Great Question is a customer research platform designed to automate research tasks and gain consumer insights. Great Question allows its users to recruit participants, run their preferred methods, and synthesize and share their findings all in one collaborative platform. | $13M / Series A / Nov 12, 2025 | |
SmartReply
|
SmartReply sees your screen, understands the situation, and uses your knowledge base to write for you in an instant with a single touch. | Venture - Series Unknown / Nov 07, 2025 | |
Weave
|
Weave provides an artificial intelligence collaboration platform for biomedicine. The company is headquartered in the United States. | $20M / Series A / Oct 16, 2025 | |
Extend
|
Extend builds tool that reduces context switching, eliminates copy/pasting, and customizes any website team relies on. | $17M / Series A / Jun 17, 2025 | |
Inductive Bio
|
Inductive Bio provides the information, machine learning, tools, and know-how required to resolve ADMET issues. | $25M / Series A / May 07, 2025 | |
Coheso
|
Coheso, the AI-native legal front door and work management platform for in-house legal and compliance teams. | Venture - Series Unknown / Apr 30, 2025 | |
1Fort AI
|
The only cyber insurance and security solution designed to give businesses digital peace of mind – all in a few clicks, no tech expertise needed. | $9.9M / Seed / Apr 17, 2025 | |
Taxo
|
Taxo automates healthcare administration using proprietary AI models | $5M / Seed / Mar 27, 2025 | |
| See all 38 investments → | |||
Co-Investors
Access 48,091 investors
822 industries, 177 countries. Updated daily. Emails and phones included.
Browse database — It's Free!
Find investors for your startup
Search 48,091 investors by industry and country. Emails and phones included.
Similar Investors
Recommended lists
FAQ
What does Character invest in?
Character invests primarily in Artificial Intelligence, Software and Health Care startups, most often at Seed and Pre-Seed stage. Most of the 38 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.
When did Character last invest?
The most recent investment recorded for Character closed in May 2026. Shizune tracks 38 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.
Is Shizune's investor data accurate?
Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.
Contact your first 100 investors today
Find who invests in your industry, stage, and country. Download investor list with emails in 5 minutes.
Find investors — It's Free!
Continue with Google
Continue with LinkedIn
