# John Frankel

> John Frankel is a seed investor at ff Venture Capital (New York) backing Software and Mobile. See 108 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: Angel Investor
- Fund: [ff Venture Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/ff-venture-capital)
- Location: New York, United States
- Total investments: 108
- Last investment: Jun 2025
- Lead investor: 21%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/johnfrankel
- X (Twitter): http://twitter.com/john_frankel
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/john.frankel

John Frankel is a seed investor at ff Venture Capital in New York focused on Software and Mobile. John Frankel is the Founding Partner of ff Venture Capital. He founded the firm in 2008 and has been a seed- and early-stage investor since late 1999. John focuses on advising and growing technology and technology-enabled companies across emerging industries, including artificial intelligence, cyber security, drones, enterprise software,crowdfunding, and data analytics, among others. He has served on the boards of more than 35 companies and has led investments in more than 80 companies, including Cornerstone OnDemand (CSOD), Indiegogo, Ionic Security, Unikey, Skycatch, Plated, 500px, Distil Networks, Pebblepost, and Owlet. John also sits on The NYU Tandon School of Engineering's Board of Overseers.Prior to founding ffVC, John worked at Goldman Sachs for 21 years in a variety of roles that involved technology development, reengineering and capital markets. At Goldman Sachs, he worked closely with some of the world’s leading hedge fund managers and developed a keen understanding of emerging technologies and portfolio risk/return management.John started his business career in London with Arthur Andersen having earned a Master of Arts from New College, Oxford, where he studied Mathematics, Philosophy and Logic. He is a Fellow Chartered Accountant of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Software | 12 | 11% |
| Mobile | 6 | 6% |
| Information Technology | 6 | 6% |
| Analytics | 5 | 5% |
| Enterprise Software | 5 | 5% |

92 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Seed | 21 | 19% |
| Series A | 18 | 17% |
| Series B | 8 | 7% |
| Funding Round | 8 | 7% |
| Convertible Note | 7 | 6% |

9 stages tracked in total.

### Country

| Country | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| United States | 30 | 28% |
| Canada | 3 | 3% |
| Ireland | 1 | 1% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Dataplor | Dataplor is a location intelligence platform provider that connects businesses with an on-demand mobile workforce. The platform offers real-time data verification, augmentation, and market research on local firms using machine learning and artificial intelligence models, allowing clients to alter their collecting requirements readily. | $20.5M | Series B | Jun 03, 2025 |  |
| PrivacyHawk | Privacyhawk is a consumer privacy platform that assists clients in taking control of their personal data. It automates opting out, unsubscribing, managing, controlling, and deleting data from thousands of databases exploiting clients' personal data. | $3.5M | Venture - Series Unknown | Aug 01, 2024 |  |
| Dataplor | Dataplor is a location intelligence platform provider that connects businesses with an on-demand mobile workforce. The platform offers real-time data verification, augmentation, and market research on local firms using machine learning and artificial intelligence models, allowing clients to alter their collecting requirements readily. | $10.6M | Series A | Apr 18, 2024 |  |
| Softdrive | Softdrive is redefining cloud workspaces.We offer a fully integrated platform for virtualization, management, and low-latency remote access, delivering a seamless, high-performance desktop experience from anywhere.Softdrive is designed for fast deployment and simple management, powering both high-performance workloads like CAD, mediaproduction, and simulation, as well as day-to-day office tasks. With a clear subscription model, we provide flexibility without complexity.Our stack includes a custom hypervisor, a browser-based management GUI, and an ultra-responsive remote desktop protocol. Everything is built to work together from day one.We empower businesses in architecture, media, and manufacturing by streamlining infrastructure and ensuring users have consistent, reliable access to their virtual desktops, no matter where they are.Our mission is to enable incredible and accessible human-computer interaction. We are backed by ffVC, Globalive, Growth Warrior Capital, Connetic Ventures, and DMZ Ventures.Softdrive is shaping the future of cloud workspaces with speed, performance, and simplicity at its core. |  | Seed | Apr 01, 2024 |  |
| PrivacyHawk | Privacyhawk is a consumer privacy platform that assists clients in taking control of their personal data. It automates opting out, unsubscribing, managing, controlling, and deleting data from thousands of databases exploiting clients' personal data. | $1.8M | Seed | Jun 12, 2023 |  |
| Softdrive | Softdrive is redefining cloud workspaces.We offer a fully integrated platform for virtualization, management, and low-latency remote access, delivering a seamless, high-performance desktop experience from anywhere.Softdrive is designed for fast deployment and simple management, powering both high-performance workloads like CAD, mediaproduction, and simulation, as well as day-to-day office tasks. With a clear subscription model, we provide flexibility without complexity.Our stack includes a custom hypervisor, a browser-based management GUI, and an ultra-responsive remote desktop protocol. Everything is built to work together from day one.We empower businesses in architecture, media, and manufacturing by streamlining infrastructure and ensuring users have consistent, reliable access to their virtual desktops, no matter where they are.Our mission is to enable incredible and accessible human-computer interaction. We are backed by ffVC, Globalive, Growth Warrior Capital, Connetic Ventures, and DMZ Ventures.Softdrive is shaping the future of cloud workspaces with speed, performance, and simplicity at its core. | $800K | Pre-Seed | Aug 19, 2021 |  |
| Zenith Aerospace | Located in the epicenter of the Silicon Valley, Zenith Aerospace is developing a disruptive aerial platform able to fly for years without landing.Working at the intersection of aerospace and electrical engineering, computer vision, and data science, they are reimagining earth imaging.Their mission is to help operators in the field, byproviding them the best information possible, in real-time, day and night, with a groundbreaking accuracy to improve and simplify their action. | $5.8M | Venture - Series Unknown | Jul 27, 2021 |  |
| Lynq Technologies | Lynq connects the people who protect our lives. Lynq’s instant-on, scalable, and secure networks are used by first responders, government agencies, and enterprises for whom reliable communications is a life-or-death requirement. When seconds count in complex environments with no or unreliable connectivity, organizations rely on Lynq to connectpeople and their equipment. | $6M | Seed | Jan 28, 2020 |  |
| Manna Air Delivery | Manna is a Drone Delivery “As a Service” business. We enable, transform and grow local businesses of all types by powering a 3-minute delivery service across a 30 square mile catchment area for them. Reaching more customers - more quickly and in a more scalable way than road-based delivery.Manna is regulated by the relevant aviation regulatorybodies in Europe and USA. | $3M | Seed | Dec 18, 2019 |  |
| Manna Air Delivery | Manna is a Drone Delivery “As a Service” business. We enable, transform and grow local businesses of all types by powering a 3-minute delivery service across a 30 square mile catchment area for them. Reaching more customers - more quickly and in a more scalable way than road-based delivery.Manna is regulated by the relevant aviation regulatorybodies in Europe and USA. | $2.2M | Seed | Jul 01, 2019 |  |

10 of 108 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Correlation Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/correlation-ventures) — VC Fund, 13 deals together
- [Lerer Hippeau](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/lerer-ventures) — VC Fund, 6 deals together
- [Romulus Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/romulus-capital) — VC Fund, 5 deals together
- [Hatch](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/hatch-partners-llc) — VC Fund, 4 deals together
- [HSBC](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/hsbc) — VC Fund, 4 deals together
- [Huron River Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/huron-river-ventures) — VC Fund, 4 deals together

## About ff Venture Capital

VC Fund · New York, United States

ff Venture Capital (ffVC) is a technology venture capital firm investing in some of the strongest growth areas to date, including cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, machine learning, drones, enterprise cloud software, and crowdfunding. The firm identifies and invests in technology and technology-enabled companies at its inception acrossgeographies and emerging industries. With three partners and an acceleration team of 20+ investment and operations professionals, ffVC actively participates with founders to develop products, target markets, and accelerate growth. Since 2008, ffVC has invested in over 100 companies and has helped to create companies with an aggregate market value exceeding $6 billion.

5 contacts available at ff Venture Capital.

| Name | Title | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Maciej Skarul | Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/maciej-skarul |
| Alex Katz | Partner & General Counsel | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/alex-katz-jd |
| Bobby Guthrie II | Associate | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/bobby-guthrie-ii |
| Florin Mihoc | Venture Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/florin-mihoc |
| John Frankel | Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/john-frankel |

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## FAQ

### What does John Frankel invest in?

John Frankel invests primarily in Software, Mobile and Information Technology startups, most often at Seed and Series A stage. Most of the 108 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 John Frankel last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for John Frankel closed in Jun 2025. Shizune tracks 108 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.

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