# John Johnston

> John Johnston is a Series D investor at August Capital backing Mobile and Software. See 19 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: Angel Investor
- Fund: [August Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/august-capital)
- Total investments: 19
- Last investment: Jun 2018
- Lead investor: 32%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-johnston-7a0237a

John Johnston is a Series D investor at August Capital focused on Mobile and Software. John co-founded August Capital in 1995. Prior to that he served as a general partner with Technology Venture Investors (TVI) from 1988, and Hambrecht & Quist Venture Partners (H&Q) from 1983 to 1988.During his venture career, John has invested in more than 25 technology companies including Sybase, Intuit, Visio, Postini, Shopping.comand eShop.In addition to his U.S. venture capital experience, John worked in Hong Kong for five years at a pioneering Asian venture capital firm, Inter-Asia Management Co., Ltd. (IAM). While at IAM, he participated in investments such as McDonald’s Restaurants (HK) Ltd. and Ikea Furniture (HK) Ltd.John received an AB in English from Princeton University and an MBA from Harvard University. He is a past director of the Western Association of Venture Capitalists.

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Mobile | 2 | 11% |
| Software | 2 | 11% |
| Analytics | 2 | 11% |
| iOS | 1 | 5% |
| SaaS | 1 | 5% |

28 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Series D | 4 | 21% |
| Series A | 3 | 16% |
| Series E | 3 | 16% |
| Series B | 2 | 11% |
| Series C | 2 | 11% |

8 stages tracked in total.

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Airship | Airship creates deeper connections with customers by delivering incredibly relevant, orchestrated messages on any channel. Marketing and digital experience teams at thousands of the world’s most admired companies rely on Airship’s Customer Engagement Platform to create deeper connections with customers by delivering incredibly relevant,orchestrated messages on any channel. Founded in 2009 as a pioneer in push notifications, Airship now gives brands the user-level data, engagement channels, AI orchestration and services they need to deliver push notifications, emails, SMS, in-app messages, mobile wallet cards, and more to exactly the right person in exactly the right moment — building trust, boosting engagement, driving action and growing value. | $25M | Series F | Jun 20, 2018 |  |
| Airship | Airship creates deeper connections with customers by delivering incredibly relevant, orchestrated messages on any channel. Marketing and digital experience teams at thousands of the world’s most admired companies rely on Airship’s Customer Engagement Platform to create deeper connections with customers by delivering incredibly relevant,orchestrated messages on any channel. Founded in 2009 as a pioneer in push notifications, Airship now gives brands the user-level data, engagement channels, AI orchestration and services they need to deliver push notifications, emails, SMS, in-app messages, mobile wallet cards, and more to exactly the right person in exactly the right moment — building trust, boosting engagement, driving action and growing value. | $8.3M | Series E | Apr 29, 2016 |  |
| Avant | Avant operates an online marketplace that provides users with access to personal loans to consolidate debt, pay unexpected medical expenses, and for family vacations. Through the use of big data and machine-learning algorithms, the company offers a customized approach to streamline credit options. The company caters to consumers in the UnitedStates and the United Kingdom.Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, Avant was founded in November 2012. | $325M | Series E | Sep 29, 2015 |  |
| Airship | Airship creates deeper connections with customers by delivering incredibly relevant, orchestrated messages on any channel. Marketing and digital experience teams at thousands of the world’s most admired companies rely on Airship’s Customer Engagement Platform to create deeper connections with customers by delivering incredibly relevant,orchestrated messages on any channel. Founded in 2009 as a pioneer in push notifications, Airship now gives brands the user-level data, engagement channels, AI orchestration and services they need to deliver push notifications, emails, SMS, in-app messages, mobile wallet cards, and more to exactly the right person in exactly the right moment — building trust, boosting engagement, driving action and growing value. | $21M | Series D | Mar 03, 2015 |  |
| Avant | Avant operates an online marketplace that provides users with access to personal loans to consolidate debt, pay unexpected medical expenses, and for family vacations. Through the use of big data and machine-learning algorithms, the company offers a customized approach to streamline credit options. The company caters to consumers in the UnitedStates and the United Kingdom.Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, Avant was founded in November 2012. | $225M | Series D | Dec 04, 2014 |  |
| Avant | Avant operates an online marketplace that provides users with access to personal loans to consolidate debt, pay unexpected medical expenses, and for family vacations. Through the use of big data and machine-learning algorithms, the company offers a customized approach to streamline credit options. The company caters to consumers in the UnitedStates and the United Kingdom.Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, Avant was founded in November 2012. | $20M | Series B | Aug 14, 2013 |  |
| InstaEDU | InstaEDU makes it easy for any student to instantly connect with a top tutor in an online lesson space. The website combines the effectiveness of face-to-face private tutoring with the convenience and affordability of an online service. Students can browse tutor profiles, a message with tutors, and choose to get connected instantly or to set up alesson with a specific tutor at a specific time. InstaEDU was founded in 2011 and headquartered in San Francisco, California. |  | Series A | Aug 14, 2013 |  |
| Avant | Avant operates an online marketplace that provides users with access to personal loans to consolidate debt, pay unexpected medical expenses, and for family vacations. Through the use of big data and machine-learning algorithms, the company offers a customized approach to streamline credit options. The company caters to consumers in the UnitedStates and the United Kingdom.Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, Avant was founded in November 2012. | $9M | Series A | May 08, 2013 |  |
| Airship | Airship creates deeper connections with customers by delivering incredibly relevant, orchestrated messages on any channel. Marketing and digital experience teams at thousands of the world’s most admired companies rely on Airship’s Customer Engagement Platform to create deeper connections with customers by delivering incredibly relevant,orchestrated messages on any channel. Founded in 2009 as a pioneer in push notifications, Airship now gives brands the user-level data, engagement channels, AI orchestration and services they need to deliver push notifications, emails, SMS, in-app messages, mobile wallet cards, and more to exactly the right person in exactly the right moment — building trust, boosting engagement, driving action and growing value. | $25M | Series D | Feb 06, 2013 |  |
| InstaEDU | InstaEDU makes it easy for any student to instantly connect with a top tutor in an online lesson space. The website combines the effectiveness of face-to-face private tutoring with the convenience and affordability of an online service. Students can browse tutor profiles, a message with tutors, and choose to get connected instantly or to set up alesson with a specific tutor at a specific time. InstaEDU was founded in 2011 and headquartered in San Francisco, California. |  | Seed | May 30, 2012 |  |

10 of 19 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [True Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/true-ventures) — VC Fund, 4 deals together
- [Balyasny Asset Management](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/balyasny-asset-management) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Bessemer Venture Partners](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/bessemer-venture-partners) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Correlation Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/correlation-ventures) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [DFJ Growth](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/dfj-growth) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Foundry Group](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/foundryvc) — VC Fund, 2 deals together

## About August Capital

VC Fund · Menlo Park, United States

August Capital is an early stage venture capital fund focused on investing in companies differentiated by technical innovation and entrepreneurial excellence. Today, August Capital's six active investment professionals -- David Hornik, Eric Carlborg, Howard Hartenbaum, Tripp Jones, Villi Iltchev, and Lisa Marrone -- have more than a century ofcombined venture and operational experience. Together they manage $2.5 billion and have invested in hundreds of companies across the technology spectrum.From its inception, August Capital has funded an extraordinary group of entrepreneurs who have built significant, long-term value across the full range of information technologies. The companies that August Capital's partners have backed represent an aggregate market capitalization of well over $250 billion, generate in excess of $75 billion in annual revenue and employ a quarter of a million people around the world. This success is a testament to the entrepreneurs themselves, as well as the fundamental technologies they have created. They are proud to have supported these entrepreneurs and their companies as they have grown and prospered.

5 contacts available at August Capital.

| Name | Title | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Eric Carlborg | General Partner, Investment Professional | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/eric-carlborg |
| John Johnston | Co-Founder & General Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/john-johnston |
| David Hornik | General Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/david-hornik |
| David Marquardt | Co-Founder, General Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/david-marquardt |
| Howard Hartenbaum | General Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/howard-hartenbaum |

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## FAQ

### What does John Johnston invest in?

John Johnston invests primarily in Mobile, Software and Analytics startups, most often at Series D and Series A stage. Most of the 19 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 Johnston last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for John Johnston closed in Jun 2018. Shizune tracks 19 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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