Pear VC closes $333M Fund V for early bets

Pear VC closed its fifth venture fund, Fund V, at $333 million on October 14, 2026, while also promoting three investors to general partner. The firm said the new vehicle will continue its long-running focus on very early-stage startups, with most of the capital aimed at pre-seed and seed investments deployed over roughly two and a half years.

Pear said it aims to invest before founders have polished pitch decks, revenue or sometimes even a company, and said it now sees thousands of opportunities every year across its pre-seed and seed practices. The firm said Fund V brings its assets under management to more than $1.1 billion.

What is Pear VC using Fund V for?

Pear VC said the majority of Fund V will go to new pre-seed and seed investments, with capital reserved for follow-on rounds. The firm said it expects to deploy the fund over about two and a half years.

That focus fits Pear’s stated model. The firm said it built PearX, university programs, hackathons, founder communities and two studios to source founders, and it said it spends time with student talent years before those people start companies. Pear also said its engineering team uses AI to manage deal flow and build internal tools, while its founder services team helps portfolio companies with talent, go-to-market, marketing and fundraising.

Pear said the close continues an early-stage investment approach across AI, enterprise software, biotechnology, consumer technology, deep tech, fintech and healthcare. The firm has backed founders behind DoorDash, Gusto, Guardant Health, Vanta and Listen Labs.

Who are Pear VC's new general partners?

Pear VC promoted Arash Afrakhteh, Ajay Kamat and Shravan Reddy to general partner alongside the Fund V close. The firm said the three will help build what comes next for Pear.

Afrakhteh joined Pear in 2020 and invests in enterprise and B2B companies across AI/ML, cloud and data infrastructure. Pear said he previously co-founded Cariden Technologies, which Cisco acquired in 2012.

Kamat joined in 2015 and invests in consumer, fintech and healthcare companies. Pear said he previously co-founded Wedding Party, a Pear-backed company acquired by Instacart, and served as its CEO.

Reddy joined in 2024 and invests in AI infrastructure, robotics and vertical AI companies. Pear said he previously co-founded Pixelapse, which Dropbox acquired, and led engineering teams at Stripe.

What does Pear's early-stage pipeline look like now?

Pear says its pipeline includes PearX, university programs, hackathons, founder communities and two studios, with PearX accepting fewer than 1% of applicants. The firm said more than 6,000 startups applied to its Summer 2026 cohort, and about 80% of PearX companies later raise institutional seed financing.

Pear also said its talent team has helped portfolio companies make more than 300 hires. The firm presents that hiring support alongside its sourcing efforts as part of how it works with companies at the earliest stage.

Pear and other reports cited examples from its portfolio, including Forus raising a $150 million Series C at a $3 billion valuation, Gravis Robotics raising a $200 million Series A, Vals AI securing $40 million led by Andreessen Horowitz, and Andera raising $37 million led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. Tech Funding News also reported that Listen Labs, which uses AI agents to interview customers, signed a definitive agreement on September 29 to be acquired by Salesforce.

How does Fund V compare with Pear's earlier funds?

The Wall Street Journal reported that Fund V is roughly $100 million smaller than Pear's fund launched in 2023 and that the firm plans to deploy capital more rapidly into earlier-stage startups. TechFundingNews similarly reported that Fund V is about $99 million smaller than Pear’s $432 million Fund IV, raised in May 2023.

Even with the smaller fund size, Pear said the close lifts assets under management above $1.1 billion and extends a strategy built around finding founders early. The firm said it announced Fund V and the three new general partners in a post authored by founding managing partner Pejman Nozad on October 14, 2026.