First Star Ventures
VC Fund
Boston, United States
First Star Ventures is a VC fund in Boston focused on Software and Artificial Intelligence. First Star partners with entrepreneurs solving real-world problems using data and machine learning, focusing on applications of frontier technologies such as AI, computational biotech, connected sensors, AR/VR, and blockchain. We believe in investing with conviction in visionary, technical founders inventing the future. Drawing on our experience and network of strategic partners across industries and regions, we help startups think big and grow fast.
- Total investments:
- 68
- Last investment:
- Lead investor:
- 15%
- Fund size:
- $40M
- Last fund:
Last updated:
For AI agents: llms.txt
Industries First Star Ventures invests in
Stages First Star Ventures invests in
Countries First Star Ventures invests in
Round sizes
Contacts
| Name | Phone | Socials | |
|---|---|---|---|
Round size
- Seed
- $895k–$7M
- Pre-Seed
- $575k–$2.8M
- Series A
- $4.2M–$15M
Investment Focus
Industry
- Software 12 (18%)
- Artificial Intelligence 8 (12%)
- Biotechnology 7 (10%)
- SaaS 6 (9%)
- Analytics 6 (9%)
Stage
- Seed 35 (51%)
- Pre-Seed 10 (15%)
- Series A 8 (12%)
- Venture - Series Unknown 4 (6%)
- Series B 1 (1%)
Country
- United States 35 (51%)
- Canada 4 (6%)
- Israel 2 (3%)
Team
| Name | Title | Investments | Links | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Drew Volpe
Partner, Co-Founder
|
Partner, Co-Founder | Total investments: 36 | Find email | |
Millie Liu
Co-Founder, Partner
|
Co-Founder, Partner | Total investments: 2 | Find email |
Investments
| Company | Description | Round | Links |
|---|---|---|---|
| Extellis is a satellite imaging company focused on delivering reliable Earth observation data at an industrial scale with affordable and high-volume capacity. which allows satellites to capture real-time images in all weather conditions, 24/7. This technology enables Extellis to offer high-capacity satellite imaging that can monitor changesanywhere on Earth as they happen, overcoming limitations of current satellites that cannot take enough images daily for continuous monitoring. | $6.8M / Seed / Nov 10, 2025 | ||
| iOrganBio is a pioneering cell production platform that uses CellForge to facilitate the intelligent manufacturing of human cells and organoids. | $2M / Seed / Oct 29, 2025 | ||
| Bedrock Energy is developing drilling technology and advanced subsurface simulation software to enable geothermal heating and cooling. The company develops autonomous drilling technology and advanced subsurface simulation software to make geothermal heating and cooling more widespread, affordable, and accessible. | $12M / Series A / Jan 22, 2025 | ||
| PhaseShift Technologies is addressing the critical need for new materials that can overcome limitations in performance, efficiency, cost, availability, and sustainability. Traditional material development relies heavily on trial-and-error, requiring costly and time-consuming physical experiments. This approach can extend projects over 10-20 yearsand cost millions of dollars, with no guarantee of success.PhaseShift's Rapid Alloy Design (RAD)™ technology revolutionizes this process by using AI to create optimized alloys tailored to specific use cases. Paired with Multi-Scale Simulations to accurately predict material performance, RAD™ minimizes the time and effort spent on unsuccessful trials. This leads to faster, more efficient development cycles and a significant reduction in resources required to meet design goals.Through the RAD™ platform, PhaseShift designs a portfolio of innovative alloys, which are commercialized via strategic partnerships with manufacturers. | $3M / Seed / Oct 21, 2024 | ||
| Throne is a health company that focuses on individual gut wellness and hydration maintenance. | $1.2M / Seed / Oct 20, 2024 | ||
| Bot Auto develops and operates autonomous trucks for middle-mile freight. | $20M / Seed / Sep 26, 2024 | ||
| Enzymit is creating a new transformation layer for manufacturing by combining computational enzyme design, deep learning, and a proprietary high-throughput discovery platform. We develop novel enzymatic pathways and run them in controllable cell-free production systems. This approach merges the selectivity of biology with the precision ofchemistry, enabling cleaner and more efficient production. Our platform has been validated with pharmaceutical-grade hyaluronic acid (HA), produced at kilogram scale with superior consistency and purity compared to fermentation. We are now advancing toward commercial HA supply while expanding the platform to products like heparin and human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs). | $10M / Series A / Sep 25, 2024 | ||
| Zanskar develops a predictive platform informed by massive data for discovering previously unknown geothermal resources. Its platform includes subsurface characterization technology and massive data sets, enhancing and reducing risk in the exploration of geothermal resources. | $30M / Series B / May 06, 2024 | ||
| Bedrock Energy is developing drilling technology and advanced subsurface simulation software to enable geothermal heating and cooling. The company develops autonomous drilling technology and advanced subsurface simulation software to make geothermal heating and cooling more widespread, affordable, and accessible. | $8.5M / Seed / Oct 11, 2023 | ||
| SaolaAI is the go-to platform for zero-maintenance, maximum-coverage quality, powered by real user behavior insights. With over 30 million user sessions recorded, SaolaAI stands at the forefront of autonomous quality, trusted by hundreds of engineering teams to catch critical issues throughout the application lifecycle, ensuring top-notch productquality with ease. | Pre-Seed / Sep 12, 2023 | ||
| See all 68 investments → | |||
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FAQ
What does First Star Ventures invest in?
First Star Ventures invests primarily in Software, Artificial Intelligence and Biotechnology startups, most often at Seed and Pre-Seed stage. Most of the 68 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.
What round sizes does First Star Ventures invest in?
First Star Ventures typically joins rounds of $895k–$7M at Seed, $575k–$2.8M at Pre-Seed and $4.2M–$15M at Series A. These are whole funding-round sizes, not First Star Ventures's own check, which is rarely disclosed: the 10th–90th percentile of the confirmed public funding rounds First Star Ventures took part in.
How do I contact First Star Ventures?
Public channels for First Star 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 First Star Ventures?
The team at First Star Ventures includes Drew Volpe (Partner, Co-Founder) and Millie Liu (Co-Founder, Partner). 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 Oct 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.
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