Seed-stage VC, US

Lerer Hippeau

Venture capital firm · New York City · Founded 2010

Quick read

Lerer Hippeau is a seed-stage VC firm founded in 2010, headquartered in New York City. It leads pre-seed and seed rounds across consumer and enterprise, with 400+ portfolio companies including Warby Parker, Glossier, and Allbirds. The firm recently closed a $200M ninth fund and is co-chairing a celebration of 30 years of Silicon Alley.

Key facts

Founded
2010
Founders
Kenneth Lerer, Ben Lerer, Eric Hippeau
Employees
11-50
Sectors
generalist, consumer, enterprise, saas, fintech, ai
Website
lererhippeau.com

Investment thesis

Lerer Hippeau leads pre-seed and seed rounds in consumer and enterprise startups, aiming to be the first institutional investor. The firm backs founders with strong product vision and brand-building instincts, investing across all sectors without geographic or category constraints.

Recent activity

  • Jun 2026investment
    Lerer Hippeau's latest investment was in Scotch as part of a Series A on June 4, 2026, bringing its total investments to 730. cbinsights.com
  • May 2026press
    Portfolio company Everlane exited — Lerer Hippeau's most recent portfolio exit as of May 17, 2026. cbinsights.com
  • Mar 2026press
    Managing partner Eric Hippeau appeared on CNBC's 'Money Movers' to discuss SpaceX and IPO markets. cnbc.com
  • Apr 2025fundraise
    Lerer Hippeau closed its ninth fund at $200 million — up from $140 million for fund eight. techcrunch.com
  • Oct 2025investment
    Portfolio company Magic emerged from stealth with Loyalist, an AI platform for personalized hospitality, raising $10 million in seed funding. zoominfo.com
  • Sep 2025investment
    Le Walk, an audio tour guide app, raised a $4.1 million seed round led by Adverb Ventures and Lerer Hippeau. profiles.crustdata.com
  • Jul 2025leadership
    Ron Zori was named venture partner for Fund IX, the $200M early-stage fund that closed in April 2025. venturecapitaljournal.com
  • Apr 2025fundraise
    Lerer Hippeau closed LH Fund IX at $200M, oversubscribed and up from Fund VIII's $140M. The fund focuses exclusively on early-stage investments and brings total AUM to approximately $1.5B across nine funds. superscout.co
  • 2025investment
    Tilt, an AI-powered direct indexing platform based in Miami, raised $7.1M in Seed funding in a round co-led by Lerer Hippeau and Portage, with Golden Ventures, Real Ventures, Cumberland Investments, and FJ Labs also participating. yourinfodaily.com
  • Jan 2025press
    Lerer Hippeau co-chaired '30+ Years of Silicon Alley,' a late-January event celebrating three decades of New York tech, alongside other founding NYC venture firms. Managing Partner Ben Lerer appeared on a podcast discussing his history founding Thrillist, Group Nine Media, and Lerer Hippeau. linkedin.com
  • 2025press
    Ben Lerer appeared on the GTMnow podcast to discuss founder selection philosophy, explaining why the firm backs 'crazy' founders over safe bets and how it competes for deals as a smaller fund. thegtmnewsletter.substack.com
  • Jan 2026leadership
    Will McKelvey promoted to Principal; Maurice Russo also received a promotion across the team. linkedin.com

Notable investments

Key people

Named individuals at the firm. We don't expose direct email or phone — use their LinkedIn for outreach.

  • Ben Lerer · Managing Partner
  • Eric Hippeau · Managing Partner
  • Graham Brown · Managing Partner
  • Kenneth Lerer · Managing Director Emeritus
  • Andrea Hippeau · Partner
  • Joe Medved · Partner
    LinkedIn
  • Will McKelvey · Principal
    LinkedIn
  • Julian Moncada · Senior Associate

Sources

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Frequently asked

What is Lerer Hippeau?+

Lerer Hippeau is a seed-stage VC firm founded in 2010, headquartered in New York City. It leads pre-seed and seed rounds across consumer and enterprise, with 400+ portfolio companies including Warby Parker, Glossier, and Allbirds.

Where is Lerer Hippeau headquartered?+

Lerer Hippeau is headquartered in New York City, United States.

When was Lerer Hippeau founded?+

Lerer Hippeau was founded in 2010 by Kenneth Lerer, Ben Lerer, Eric Hippeau.

What sectors does Lerer Hippeau invest in?+

Lerer Hippeau focuses on generalist, consumer, enterprise, saas, fintech, ai. They primarily invest in these sectors.

How do I prepare for a meeting with Lerer Hippeau?+

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Generated by briefthecall.com from public web sources. Last updated July 22, 2026. Each claim is linked to its source above.

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