Uncork Capital is a conviction-driven seed firm focused on writing the first institutional check into North American startups and supporting them through growth with dedicated follow-on capital. The firm is notably founder-centric, prioritizing exceptional teams with authentic market insight over trend-chasing, while maintaining a strong bias toward B2B software, infrastructure, and AI-native companies.
Evaluation weights
How much weight this firm places on each dimension. Totals 100%.
Revenue, growth, and unit economics
Size, timing, and competitive landscape
Founder experience and execution ability
Differentiation and technical quality
- Strong preference for founder quality over early metrics at seed
- Skeptical of hype cycles, FOMO, and consensus investing
- Higher conviction in technical B2B and infrastructure businesses
- More metrics-driven and selective once evaluating Series A and later
Pitch difficulty
How hard it is to get a meeting and close funding from this firm.
- Funded / yr
- 21Deals closed in a typical year.
- Led / yr
- 5Rounds led in the last 12 months.
- Pitches / yr
- ~2236Decks reviewed in a typical year.
- Acceptance rate
- 0.9%Share of pitches that get funded.
Estimated — public data is not fully disclosed.
Why it's hard
- Competes to lead the first institutional round but only behind high-conviction founders
- Founder-market fit and execution credibility are scrutinized intensely
- Seed-stage flexibility is balanced by a strong anti-hype filter
- Series A and beyond require more concrete ARR and traction thresholds
Uncork is highly open to early-stage risk and will back companies pre-product or pre-revenue, which increases accessibility for exceptional seed founders. However, the bar for founder quality, market ambition, and authenticity is high, and the firm is especially intolerant of hype-driven or weakly reasoned opportunities.
Green flags
What drives a yes for this firm.
- Exceptional founders with clear founder-market fit and execution grit
- A large, credible market opportunity with room for an outsized company
- A product thesis that feels sharp, differentiated, and important early on
- Willingness to back companies pre-product or pre-revenue if insight is strong
- Evidence the team can navigate uncertainty better than incumbents or peers
Red flags
What kills deals and gets a fast no.
- Pitching a hype-driven AI or trend thesis without original insight
- Weak founder-market fit or inability to explain why this team should win
- Small market masquerading as venture-scale
- Lack of execution signals despite time and capital spent
- Series A ask without the ARR or traction expected for that stage
How to win
Patterns that lead to successful pitches.
- Lead with why this team is uniquely suited to win, not just what the product does
- Frame the opportunity around a genuinely large market with durable need
- Show authentic insight and crisp thinking rather than trend-heavy storytelling
- Present an early product wedge that can expand into a larger platform
- Demonstrate speed, customer pull, or execution proof even if revenue is still nascent
Fund strategy & identity
Who they are and how they operate.
- Write $1.5M-$3M+ initial seed checks, often as the first major institutional capital
- Lead or co-lead seed rounds and set terms with high-conviction underwriting
- Reserve significant follow-on capital through Plus funds for breakout winners
- Concentrate primarily on North American headquartered companies
- Invest across software, infrastructure, selective consumer, and frontier tech with an AI-native lens
Firm identity
Investment focus
Industries, themes, and typical ARR expectations.
Industries
Investment themes
Typical check by stage
Typical ARR by stage
Investment thesis
Core beliefs and strategy behind their investing approach.
Uncork Capital positions itself as a fully‑dedicated seed‑stage firm that backs founders “from zero” and stays with them through growth via its Plus funds. The core belief is that deep, conviction‑driven partnership with exceptional teams creates long‑term value, rather than chasing fleeting trends. Allocation guidance from Fund VIII outlines roughly 45 % B2B SaaS, 30 % developer tools/infrastructure/security, 15 % consumer software and services, and 10 % frontier technologies such as space, robotics, semiconductors and AI‑native companies, with a strong current emphasis on AI‑native businesses across these categories. The firm primarily targets North‑American headquartered companies, though engineering talent may reside elsewhere. Uncork deliberately avoids thematic FOMO and groupthink, preferring authentic founder insight and a clear founder‑market fit over hype‑driven sectors.
Decision patterns
How they evaluate and make investment decisions.
Uncork Capital’s investment decisions are heavily founder‑centric. Jeff Clavier’s famous “three asses” rule – a smart‑ass team, a kick‑ass product, and a big‑ass market – and Andy McLoughlin’s repeated “Team, Team, and TAM” mantra put the founding team first, followed by market size, with traction considered a secondary filter at seed stage. The firm is willing to write the first institutional check even when a product is pre‑product or pre‑revenue, provided the team shows unique insight and execution grit. Deal‑breakers include hype‑driven theses, weak founder‑market fit, and unclear execution signals. For later rounds, especially Series A, the presence of meaningful ARR becomes a primary filter, but the early‑stage focus remains on the team’s ability to navigate uncertainty.
Risk appetite
Uncork exhibits an aggressive, conviction‑driven risk posture at the seed stage, comfortable with high uncertainty, pre‑product or pre‑revenue companies, especially when the founders have proven execution history. The firm has a strong bias to lead or co‑lead seed rounds, setting terms and maintaining sizable reserves for follow‑on investments through its Plus funds. While aggressive in early‑stage bets, they become more selective in later rounds, using ARR benchmarks as a first filter for Series A opportunities.
Notable investments
Key portfolio companies and why they fit the thesis.
- Human Interest (formerly Captain401)B2B fintech modernising retirement benefits for SMBs; strong founder-market fit and large TAM match Uncork's thesis.
- PostmatesConsumer marketplace acquired by Uber; exemplifies Uncork's early bets on breakout consumer platforms.
- SendGridDeveloper-first email infrastructure (IPO, acquired by Twilio); core to Uncork's B2B/infra thesis.
- EventbriteConsumer marketplace (IPO 2018); reflects Uncork's pattern of early conviction on consumer platforms.
- LaunchDarklyLeadDeveloper tooling/feature flags; Uncork led the seed, fitting its developer infrastructure thesis.
- TailscaleLeadZero-trust networking for developers; Uncork led the seed, aligning with its dev tooling/infra focus.
- Carrot FertilityLeadB2B benefits platform; Uncork led an early round, matching its B2B applications focus.
- PoshmarkConsumer social commerce (IPO 2021); fits Uncork's consumer marketplace thesis.
Co-invested with
Other firms in this catalog who've backed the same companies.
Partners
Full firm roster — key partners, partners, and the wider team.
Key partners
Andy McLoughlin
Managing Partner
Uncork Capital
Andy McLoughlin is a managing partner at Uncork Capital focused on enterprise software, developer tooling, and deeply technical teams.
Jeff Clavier
Founding Partner
Uncork Capital
Jeff Clavier is the founding partner of Uncork Capital and has backed seed-stage companies including Fitbit, SendGrid, Postmates, Mint, Eventbrite, and Poshmark.
Amy Saper
General Partner
Uncork Capital
Amy Saper is a general partner at Uncork Capital backing seed-stage B2B startups building AI-enabled applications and infrastructure for engineering, product, and design teams.
Susan Liu
General Partner
Uncork Capital
Susan Liu is a general partner at Uncork Capital backing founders using AI to transform legacy industries, with a focus on B2B applications.
Tripp Jones
General Partner
Uncork Capital
Tripp Jones is a general partner at Uncork Capital focused on overlooked markets, network effects, recurring revenue, and consumer experiences.
Public voice
Notable statements and public positions.
- Andy McLoughlin (2026): “The point is this: Uncork is a seed firm. Fully, deliberately, and by conviction—not by happenstance… We’re still writing the first major check at seed.”
- Jeff Clavier (2014): “I look for a smart‑ass team building a kick‑ass product in a big‑ass market.”
- Andy McLoughlin (2023): “That kind of groupthink is how you get hype and FOMO — the most dangerous four‑letter words in investing.”
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