# Leader Ventures

> Leader Ventures is a VC fund in Menlo Park backing Solar and Travel. See 6 investments, check sizes, portfolio and contact details. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Menlo Park, United States
- Total investments: 6
- Last investment: Jan 2012
- Lead investor: 33%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/leader-ventures/
- X (Twitter): http://twitter.com/LeaderVentures
- Website: http://leaderventures.com

Leader Ventures is a private investment firm providing debt and equity financing to a diversified portfolio of early and late stage, private companies.With offices in Menlo Park and San Francisco, Leader Ventures invests primarily in the U.S. and employs a variety of loan structures to invest in companies of different developmental stages andacross technology, clean tech and life science industries.The investment professionals of Leader Ventures come from Dominion Capital Management and Western Technology Investment. The team has a wide range of expertise in lending to, investing in, and running start-ups.

## Contacts

5 contacts available for Leader Ventures. Shizune tracks 6 team members at Leader Ventures. Sign up free to unlock them: https://app.shizune.co/sign-up/investor-profiles/find-team-emails/leader-ventures?utm_source=investor_profile

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Solar | 1 | 17% |
| Travel | 1 | 17% |
| Computer | 1 | 17% |
| Facebook | 1 | 17% |
| Advertising | 1 | 17% |

15 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Series C | 2 | 33% |
| Debt Financing | 2 | 33% |
| Funding Round | 1 | 17% |

## Team

| Name | Title | Investments | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Brian Best | Managing Director | 0 | — |
| Chad Olson | Managing Partner | 0 | — |
| Emily Walther | Finance Manager | 0 | — |
| Joni Wesley | Portfolio Administration | 0 | — |
| Patrick Gordan | Managing Director | 0 | — |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Avalanche Technology | Avalanche is a disruptive technology company developing innovative, ultra high performance enterprise solid-state storage arrays using tightly integrated hardware/software and leveraging its own non-volatile magnetic memory. Backed by top-tier investors and led by a veteran management team, we’ve amassed a distinctive portfolio of more than200 cell, circuit, process and system patents. | $11.5M | Series C | Jan 23, 2012 |  |
| Innovalight | Founded by Conrad Burke, Innovalight is focused on bringing high efficiency, low-cost solar modules to the marketplace. Enabling this manufacturing paradigm shift is the company's silicon ink, which has been in development since 2005. Historically, silicon has been processed either as a solid or as a gas. Using liquid based processingInnovalight will dramatically improve the cost and efficiency of today's solar modules. | $15M |  | Oct 13, 2009 |  |
| Tagged | Tagged.com was launched in 2004, and is an explosively growing social-networking portal developed specifically for teens aged 13 through 19. Emerging as the premier brand in the lucrative teen demographic, Tagged.com is rapidly becoming the number one teen site on the web. | $5M | Debt Financing | Dec 18, 2008 |  |
| Revance Therapeutics | Revance Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company, engages in developing and commercializing products and treatments in dermatology and aesthetic medicines. Its products include RT001, a physician-applied topical botulinum toxin type A (BoNT-A) for cosmetic, hyperhidrosis, and dermatologic indications. The company was formerly known as EssentiaBiosystems. | $8M | Debt Financing | Nov 18, 2008 |  |
| Vindicia | Vindicia offers comprehensive subscription management solutions that help businesses acquire and retain more customers. Providing much more than just a billing and payments system, we strive to enrich eCommerce connections and transform them to feel simple and personal anytime, anywhere. Subscription intelligence is baked into everything we do,giving our clients the data-driven insights needed for growth. At Vindicia, we place an emphasis on diversity and respect which ultimately leads to operational excellence and success. | $5.6M | Series C | Mar 31, 2008 |  |
| SideStep | SideStep is a metasearch engine for travel which makes money through advertising and referral fees. It searches more than 200 websites looking for the best travel deals.SideStep has recently been aggressive in building up its offerings. They acquired the goal of becoming "the leader in online travel related information." In addition, they have launched two SideStep was acquired in December 2007 by their nearest competitor Kayak for roughly $180,000,000.Other popular travel metasearch sites and SideStep competitors include | $15M | Series C | Feb 01, 2007 |  |

6 of 6 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Horizon Technology Finance](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/horizon-technology-finance) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [180 Degree Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/180-degree-capital) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Apax Partners](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/apax-partners) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [ARCH Venture Partners](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/arch-venture-partners) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Bessemer Venture Partners](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/bessemer-venture-partners) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- Convexa Capital Ventures — VC Fund, 1 deal together

## Similar investors

### Similar stage
- [Sequoia Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/sequoia-capital) — VC Fund
- [New Enterprise Associates](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/new-enterprise-associates) — VC Fund
- [Bessemer Venture Partners](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/bessemer-venture-partners) — VC Fund

## FAQ

### What does Leader Ventures invest in?

Leader Ventures invests primarily in Solar, Travel and Computer startups, most often at Series C and Debt Financing stage. Most of the 6 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### How do I contact Leader Ventures?

Public channels for Leader Ventures include LinkedIn, X (Twitter) and the website linked on this profile. For a verified work email and phone number, create a free Shizune account — contact data is searched across 20+ sources and validated before delivery, so your outreach lands in the right inbox.

### Who are the partners at Leader Ventures?

The team at Leader Ventures includes Brian Best (Managing Director), Chad Olson (Managing Partner) and Emily Walther (Finance Manager), among 6 team members tracked by Shizune. The Team section lists each member with their title, investment count and links.

### 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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