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Learn which startups Moonshots Capital invests in, what size check sizes they write, and who their partners are (e.g. Kelly Perdew).
Key people at Moonshots Capital.
Moonshots Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in technology companies. The firm provides financial capital alongside strategic guidance, leveraging the operational experience of its leadership. This dual approach aims to equip portfolio companies with both the resources and mentorship necessary to scale and succeed in competitive markets.
The firm was founded by Kelly Perdew and Craig Cummings, both military veterans and seasoned entrepreneurs. Their collective insight was that a disciplined, mission-focused ethos, cultivated through military service and business acumen, could profoundly benefit nascent technology ventures. This foundational principle guided the firm's establishment.
Moonshots Capital supports a diverse portfolio of technology startups. Its vision centers on becoming a pivotal partner for founders, offering not just investment but also a robust network and strategic expertise. The firm is dedicated to cultivating resilient, impactful enterprises that drive technological innovation and achieve significant market presence.
Key people at Moonshots Capital.
# Moonshots Capital: Veteran-Focused Early-Stage Venture Capital
Moonshots Capital is a seed-stage venture capital firm that has carved out a distinctive niche by prioritizing extraordinary leadership, particularly among military veterans and serial entrepreneurs[1]. Founded in 2017, the firm operates from offices in Los Angeles and Austin, managing multiple funds with a focus on early-stage companies demonstrating strong product-market fit and operational discipline[1][2].
The firm's investment philosophy centers on identifying disruptive startups with 10x+ valuation potential while leveraging the operational expertise and networks of its founding team[5]. Rather than functioning as a passive capital provider, Moonshots Capital takes an active role in portfolio companies, often securing board seats or formal advisory positions to deliver strategic guidance and operational support beyond capital[1]. This hands-on approach reflects the founders' conviction that extraordinary leadership combined with experienced mentorship creates the conditions for exceptional returns.
Moonshots Capital was established in 2017 by Kelly Perdew and Craig Cummings, both West Point graduates with extensive military and entrepreneurial backgrounds[1][4]. This founding pedigree directly shaped the firm's investment thesis: the co-founders recognized that military veterans and non-traditional founders often possessed the discipline, resilience, and leadership qualities necessary to build transformative companies, yet faced barriers in accessing venture capital[4]. Rather than viewing military service as tangential to startup success, Perdew and Cummings positioned it as a competitive advantage—a source of operational rigor and decision-making under uncertainty that translates directly to scaling businesses.
The firm's evolution reflects this founding conviction. Since inception, Moonshots Capital has deployed capital across three primary funds, with Fund II closing in June 2020 and Fund III opening in June 2022[2]. The firm has maintained consistent investment activity, with its most recent investment recorded in October 2024, demonstrating sustained market engagement[1].
Moonshots Capital's most distinctive feature is its explicit focus on military veteran founders and serial entrepreneurs[1][4]. This is not a secondary consideration but a core pillar of the investment strategy. The firm actively seeks out founders with non-traditional backgrounds who bring operational discipline and proven execution capability to their ventures.
The firm maintains disciplined investment standards that filter for companies with genuine traction[5]:
These criteria ensure the firm invests in companies beyond the ideation phase, reducing early-stage risk while maintaining exposure to high-growth opportunities.
Moonshots Capital distinguishes itself through operational involvement. The firm leverages the military and entrepreneurial experience of its partners to provide strategic guidance, operational support, and network access[1]. This model appeals to founders seeking mentorship alongside funding, particularly those from military backgrounds who may benefit from guidance navigating venture capital dynamics.
The firm's portfolio spans fintech, cybersecurity, consumer internet, web3, and emerging technology sectors[1]. Notable exits and current holdings include Slack, Robinhood, ID.me, Bitium (acquired by Google Cloud), Carta, Cart.com, and x.AI—a portfolio demonstrating both early-stage conviction and the ability to identify companies that achieve significant scale[6].
With a historical average check size of $2 million and maximum check of $132 million, Moonshots Capital operates across a meaningful range, allowing participation in seed rounds while maintaining capacity for follow-on investments[1]. The firm's typical check size range of $500,000 to $1 million aligns with seed and early Series A financing needs[4].
Moonshots Capital operates at the intersection of two significant trends reshaping venture capital: the democratization of founder demographics and the professionalization of early-stage investing.
The venture capital industry has historically concentrated capital among founders from elite educational backgrounds and established networks. By explicitly targeting military veterans and non-traditional founders, Moonshots Capital addresses a market inefficiency—talented leaders with proven execution capability who lack traditional venture connections. This positioning aligns with broader industry recognition that diverse founder teams often outperform homogeneous ones, making the firm's thesis both principled and pragmatic.
The firm's rigorous investment criteria—requiring $100,000+ MRR and $500,000+ in prior raises—reflect a broader shift toward professionalizing seed-stage investing. Rather than betting on raw ideas, Moonshots Capital invests in companies with validated business models and operational proof points. This approach reduces failure rates and improves return profiles compared to traditional seed investing.
By creating a dedicated capital source for military veterans, Moonshots Capital has effectively legitimized this founder category within venture capital. The firm's portfolio successes—particularly with companies like Slack and Robinhood—demonstrate that military backgrounds correlate with exceptional entrepreneurial outcomes, influencing how other investors evaluate veteran-founded companies.
Moonshots Capital has successfully built a repeatable, differentiated investment model that captures value from an underserved founder demographic while maintaining disciplined investment standards. The firm's track record—145 investments with notable exits and unicorn-stage companies—validates its thesis that extraordinary leadership, particularly among military veterans, deserves dedicated capital and mentorship.
Looking forward, several dynamics will shape the firm's trajectory. First, as military-founder networks strengthen and more venture firms adopt similar theses, Moonshots Capital's first-mover advantage in this space may diminish, requiring continued differentiation through operational value-add. Second, the firm's positioning in emerging sectors like AI and web3 positions it to capture value from transformative technology trends, though these sectors carry elevated risk. Third, the firm's ability to scale while maintaining its hands-on operational model will determine whether it can grow assets under management without diluting the quality of founder support that defines its brand.
The broader implication is that Moonshots Capital has demonstrated a sustainable model for venture capital: identify an underserved but high-quality founder cohort, provide both capital and operational mentorship, and let the quality of leadership drive returns. In an era of venture capital consolidation and commoditization, this founder-centric, values-aligned approach offers a compelling alternative to scale-at-all-costs models.
