Vertically Integrated and AI-First
Co-authored with Jared Hecht A new pattern is emerging that we are excited about at USV: entrepreneurs are upgrading physical industries with an AI-first and vertically integrated approach. Instead of selling software to industry incumbents, startups are increasingly deciding to [...] Read more
Code
USV participated in a seed financing of Code, which is building a global payments app on the Solana blockchain. Code announced the financing today on their blog. You can see a nice visualization of the Code payments experience here and [...] Read more
AI Aesthetics
The word “technology” comes from the Greek word techne, which refers to an art or skill or practice. Plato writes a lot about the concept, often making reference to artists such as flute players as canonical examples of those engaged [...] Read more
Training the Weird
We are entering a new age of consumer fun and function. AI is going to supercharge both the utility and entertainment of consumer products, introducing new form factors and experiences that feel made for me. As Jared wrote recently, we [...] Read more
Healthcare at the Edge
Co-authored with Jared Hecht USV invests at the edge of large markets being transformed by technological and societal pressures, and we believe that healthcare is at a transformational inflection point. At the edge we have a confluence of movements ranging [...] Read more
Investing at the Edge of Large Markets Under Transformative Pressure
Union Square Ventures turns 20 this year. Brad and Fred began to deploy the first USV fund in 2004. The dot com bubble had recently popped, modern smartphones hadn’t been invented, “social media” wasn’t a thing, and the first bitcoin [...] Read more