Pre-seed & seed VC, US

Pear VC

Venture capital firm · Menlo Park · Founded 2013

Quick read

Pear VC is a pre-seed and seed venture firm founded in 2013 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California. It runs PearX, a 12-week hands-on accelerator, alongside its investing arm, and backs founders from idea stage through to institutional rounds. With ~$800M AUM and notable early bets on DoorDash, Dropbox, Guardant Health, and Gusto, co-founders Pejman Nozad and Mar Hershenson have each appeared multiple times on the Forbes Midas List.

Key facts

Founded
2013
Founders
Pejman Nozad, Mar Hershenson
Employees
11-50
Sectors
generalist, ai, saas, fintech, healthcare, biotech, climate, enterprise
Website
pear.vc

Investment thesis

Pear VC writes pre-seed and seed checks ($150K–$4M) into technology startups across AI, SaaS, enterprise, fintech, healthcare, biotech, and climate, pairing capital with in-house recruiting, go-to-market coaching, and accelerator infrastructure (PearX) to help founders build category-defining companies from day one.

Recent activity

  • Aug 2026investment
    Pear VC participated in Maximum's $30M round. Maximum's thesis: banks need more than an AI upgrade. refreshmiami.com
  • 2026product
    PearX W27 applications opened. Pear solicited ideas from top founders and operators rather than pitches, publishing a public "what we wish someone would build" list. x.com
  • 2026product
    Pear's Prime 2026 cohort placed new graduates at companies including OpenAI, Sierra, Cardless, and Vals AI. Some cohort members went on to found startups backed by Pear VC, a16z Speedrun, and Y Combinator. linkedin.com
  • 2026investment
    Andera (PearX S24) closed a $37M Series A led by Lightspeed. Pear had backed the company at pre-seed and seed before participating in this round. x.com
  • May 2026investment
    Pear VC had invested in 270 companies as of May 2026, with 30 new investments in the prior 12 months. Most recently participated in a Seed round for Kin Health. tracxn.com
  • Sep 2024product
    Pear launched an Emerging Manager in Residence program, welcoming three new VCs into its offices over a 12-month cycle. The program targets operators transitioning into fund management. techcrunch.com
  • May 2023fundraise
    Pear closed its oversubscribed $432M Fund IV — a 270% step-up from its prior $160M fund — making it one of the largest seed-stage funds of its kind. Pejman Nozad credited the raise to the firm reaching its own product-market fit after ten years. pitchbook.com
  • Jul 2026product
    PearX S26 accelerator batch launched, continuing the program's twice-yearly cadence. startupintros.com
  • Apr 2026investment
    Portfolio company Sudozi was acquired by Zone & Company Software Consulting. tracxn.com
  • Mar 2026product
    PearX applications for the S26 cohort opened. The accelerator offers $250K–$2M per company over 12 weeks, with a reported 90% rate of follow-on raises. f4.fund
  • Mar 2026investment
    Pear VC backed Nomadic in an $8.4M funding round alongside TQ Ventures and Google DeepMind. tracxn.com
  • Feb 2026investment
    Pear co-led a Series A round in Amari alongside First Round Capital. f4.fund

Notable investments

Key people

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

  • Pejman Nozad · Founding Managing Partner
  • Mar Hershenson · Founding Managing Partner
  • Vivien Ho · Partner
  • Keith Bender · Partner
  • Addison Leong · Partner
  • Matt Birnbaum · Talent Partner
  • Naomi Chetrit Band · Head of Dorm / Senior Associate
    LinkedIn

Sources

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Frequently asked

What is Pear VC?+

Pear VC is a pre-seed and seed venture firm founded in 2013 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California. It runs PearX, a 12-week hands-on accelerator, alongside its investing arm, and backs founders from idea stage through to institutional rounds.

Where is Pear VC headquartered?+

Pear VC is headquartered in Menlo Park, United States.

When was Pear VC founded?+

Pear VC was founded in 2013 by Pejman Nozad, Mar Hershenson.

What sectors does Pear VC invest in?+

Pear VC focuses on generalist, ai, saas, fintech, healthcare, biotech, climate, enterprise. They primarily invest in these sectors.

How do I prepare for a meeting with Pear VC?+

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

Automatically generated by AI from public sources. May be inaccurate or out of date. Remove or correct this profile →