Unusual Ventures

Unusual Ventures is a seed-stage venture capital firm based in Menlo Park, California,[1][2] founded in 2018 by John Vrionis and Jyoti Bansal.[3][4][5] The firm focuses on early-stage investments in enterprise software startups, particularly those leveraging artificial intelligence.[6][7][8][9]

History

John Vrionis, formerly a partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Jyoti Bansal, a serial entrepreneur known for founding AppDynamics and co-founding Harness and Traceable AI, co-founded Unusual Ventures in 2018.[10][11][12][13]

The company's debut fund was centered on seed stage investments primarily in enterprise software and infrastructure.[7] In the same year, Unusual Ventures launched Unusual Academy, a startup education and accelerator program.[14]

Unusual Ventures raised its second fund, which came from nonprofit organizations, research organizations, and academic institutions, in 2019.[6][13]

In May 2022, Unusual Ventures closed its third fund with $485 million in capital commitments.[6] In the same year, the company announced that it was opening an office in Boston.[15] Unusual Ventures also added Lars Albright as a General Partner in 2022.[1]

In 2025, Jill Puente was appointed as the company's chief marketing officer.[16]

Unusual Ventures has invested in companies such as Artic Wolf Networks, Traceable AI, Harness, Strella, and Alto.[17][18][19]

References

  1. ^ a b Staff, V. C. J. (2022-01-19). "Unusual Ventures adds Lars Albright as GP". Venture Capital Journal. Retrieved 2025-06-20.
  2. ^ Harris, William (2024-10-23). "Strella Raises $4M to Advance AI-Run Market Research". citybiz. Retrieved 2025-06-20.
  3. ^ Wolverton, Troy. "These investors say venture capital is broken — and they've started an 'Unusual' new fund to fix it". Business Insider. Retrieved 2025-06-20.
  4. ^ Griffith, Erin (2018-11-01). "Start-Ups Ask, 'Are We Making Money for Saudi Arabia?'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-06-20.
  5. ^ "Unusual Ventures - Venture Capital Firm | Signal". Signal: where top founders find and get introduced to the right investors. Retrieved 2025-06-20.
  6. ^ a b c Loizos, Connie (2022-05-05). "Unusual Ventures just closed a $485M fund by promising hands-on (full-time) help". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2025-06-20.
  7. ^ a b Konrad, Alex. "The Founder And First Investor Behind $3.7B Exit AppDynamics Launch $160M Fund To Do VC Differently". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-06-20.
  8. ^ Melton, Julie Bort, Leena Rao, Vishal Persaud, Alistair Barr, Monica. "Seed 75: The best seed VC firms for founders looking to raise money in 2023". Business Insider. Retrieved 2025-06-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ "Unusual Ventures Portfolio Investments, Unusual Ventures Funds, Unusual Ventures Exits". www.cbinsights.com. Retrieved 2025-06-20.
  10. ^ Garfinkle, Allie. "After selling his startup for a life-changing $3.7 billion, Jyoti Bansal launched a VC firm and two high-value startups. Why?". Fortune. Retrieved 2025-06-20.
  11. ^ "These investors say venture capital is broken - and they've started an 'Unusual' new fund to fix it". Business Insider. 2018-05-18. Archived from the original on 2018-08-05. Retrieved 2025-06-20.
  12. ^ Loizos, Connie (2022-05-05). "Unusual Ventures just closed a $485M fund by promising hands-on (full-time) help". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2025-06-20.
  13. ^ a b Hernbroth, Megan. "SoftBank's Saudi ties put a spotlight on where VC firms get their money. Unusual Ventures is betting $400 million that socially conscious founders are wising up". Business Insider. Retrieved 2025-06-20.
  14. ^ Loizos, Connie (2018-08-15). "AppDynamics founder Jyoti Bansal and longtime VC John Vrionis are now taking applications for their new accelerator program". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2025-06-20.
  15. ^ "Early-stage VC firm Unusual Ventures to open Boston office". bizjournals.com. 2022-01-19. Retrieved 2025-06-20.
  16. ^ Hawkins, Eleanor (2025-05-02). "Jill Puente joins Unusual Ventures". Axios. Retrieved 2025-06-20.
  17. ^ "Alternative retirement investment platform Alto raises $40m in Series B". fintechfutures.com. 2022-01-06.
  18. ^ Nuñez, Michael (2024-10-15). "Strella raises $4 million to automate market research with AI-powered customer interviews". VentureBeat. Retrieved 2025-06-20.
  19. ^ "Jyoti Bansal's studio Big Labs launches Traceable with $20M from Unusual Ventures". PitchBook. 2020-07-14. Retrieved 2025-06-20.
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