About ESD
ESD is a venture capital firm founded in 1968. It is primarily based out of New York City, United States. As of May 2026, ESD is an active investor, having invested in 21 companies, with 2 new investments in the last 12 months. It primarily invests in Grant (prize money) round in United States based startups. Its investments are spread across a wide range of sectors from High Tech to Life Sciences and Enterprise Applications. Most recently it participated in the $***** Series A round of Crew Carbon Overall, ESD portfolio has seen 1 IPO and 6 acquisitions including key companies like Dick's Sporting Goods, URSA and TARA Biosystems. A lot of funds co-invest with ESD, with names like Alexandria sharing a substantial percentage of its portfolio. ESD has team of 51 people including 17 partners.Key Metrics
Team Members
Portfolio Count
Portfolio Sectors
Portfolio Locations
Rounds of Entry
Grant (prize money), Series A & 3 more
Portfolio IPOs
Portfolio Acquisitions
Portfolio Soonicorns
Deals in last 12 months
ESD's List of Top Investments
ESD has a portfolio of 21 companies. Their most notable investments are in URSA and Soundmind Intelligence.Their portfolio spans across and United States. They have invested in High Tech, Life Sciences, Enterprise Applications and 11 other sectors, across stages such as Grant (prize money), Series A and 3 more. Here is the list of top investments by ESD:
Dick's Sporting Goods is the retailer of sporting goods, offering a broad assortment of brand name sporting goods equipment, apparel, and footwear. It has 610 stores in 47 states. It also runs specialty chains like Golf Galaxy, True Runner and Field Stream. In 2022, the company recorded annual revenues of $12.37B and a net profit of $1.04B.
Key facts about Dick's Sporting Goods
- Founded Year: 1948
- Location: Pittsburgh (United States)
- Annual Revenue: $1B+ as on Jan 31, 2026
- Stage: Public
- Employee Count: 35,347 as on May 31, 2026
- Investors: Black Capital Investments, Dragon Global and 8 Others
- Latest Funding Round: PE, Jan 13, 2016, $*****
- Highlight: Public
Provider of fresh produce and packaged dips using sustainable farming. The company focuses on reimagining agricultural practices to produce food. It offers a range of greens suitable for various culinary applications. The company also provides packaged dips, expanding its product line beyond fresh produce. It aims to revitalize communities through its farming initiatives.
Key facts about Gotham Greens
- Founded Year: 2009
- Location: Brooklyn (United States)
- Stage: Series E
- Total Funding till date: $440M
- Employee Count: 296 as on Jul 31, 2026
- Investors: Commonfund, ESD and 10 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series E, Sep 12, 2022, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
3. Crew Carbon
Developer of a platform removing greenhouse gas emissions from wastewater. It provides users with a company focused on removing greenhouse gas emissions by utilizing enhanced weathering technology to store CO2 permanently. Their platform uses natural weathering to treat wastewater and remove carbon dioxide from municipal and industrial systems.
Key facts about Crew Carbon
- Founded Year: 2022
- Location: Brooklyn (United States)
- Stage: Series A
- Total Funding till date: $24.3M
- Employee Count: 29 as on Jul 31, 2026
- Investors: ESD, AP Ventures and 13 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series A, May 14, 2026, $*****
4. Cree
Manufacturer of silicon carbide power solutions and materials. It offers power modules, discrete MOSFETs and Schottky diodes, bare die products, and related reference designs and evaluation kits. The company also provides materials products for various applications, including automotive, renewable energy, and industrial sectors. Its offerings support the development of more efficient and sustainable power electronics systems.
Key facts about Cree
- Founded Year: 1987
- Location: Durham (United States)
- Stage: Funding Raised
- Employee Count: 1,659 as on Jul 31, 2026
- Investors: ESD and Renaissance Ventures
- Latest Funding Round: Grant (prize money), Nov 26, 2019, $*****
ESD's Year-on-Year Investment Trends
ESD has invested in 21 companies over the last 21 years, with an average of 1 new investment annually in the last 10 years. As of May 2026, it has made 2 investments in this year. Its most recent first time investment was in Crew Carbon.Year | No. of Investments | ||
|---|---|---|---|
1st Round | Follow-on | Total | |
2026 (YTD) | 2 | 0 | 2 |
2025 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2024 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2023 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2022 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
2021 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
2020 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2019 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
2018 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
2017 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
ESD's Investments by Stage
ESD has made 6 investments in Grant (prize money) stage with an average round size of $83.9M, 6 investments in Series A stage with an average round size of $23.2M, 4 investments in Seed stage with an average round size of $4.03M, 2 investments in Series B stage with an average round size of $11.3M and 1 investment in Series C stage.Stage of entry | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Grant (prize money) | 6 |
Series A | 6 |
Seed | 4 |
Series B | 2 |
Series C | 1 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
ESD's Investments by Sector
ESD has a diverse portfolio, with companies operating in the Enterprise Applications, Life Sciences, High Tech, Sustainability Tech and Environment Tech. Notably, it has invested in 15 Tech companies, 13 Enterprise (B2B) companies, 10 Software companies and at least 7 companies focusing on Consumer (B2C).Sector | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Enterprise Applications | 5 |
Life Sciences | 5 |
High Tech | 4 |
Sustainability Tech | 4 |
Environment Tech | 3 |
Others | 15 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
ESD's Investments by Geography
ESD has made most investments in United States (18), followed by Spain where it has made 1 investment.Country | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
United States | 18 |
Spain | 1 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
ESD's recent investments
ESD has made 2 investments in 2026 so far - Crew Carbon and Fathomtx.Here are the most recent investments by ESD:
Filter this listDate | Company | Location | Round Details | Round Amount | Co-Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
May 14, 2026 | United States | Series A | 8665 | [+10] | |
Apr 27, 2026 | United States | Series A | 7898 | [+2] | |
Mar 31, 2022 | United States | Seed | 7035 | [+4] | |
Jan 18, 2022 | United States | Seed | 5753 | [+4] | |
Jun 29, 2021 | United States | Series A | 7841 |
IPOs and Publicly Listed companies in ESD's Portfolio
1 of ESD's portfolio company became public - Dick's Sporting Goods. It got listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), in Oct 2002 at marketcap of $235MHere are ESD's portfolio companies that went public:
Company | IPO Date | First Invested on | First Round of Investment | Round Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Oct 18, 2002 | - | - | 6932 |
Acquired companies in ESD's Portfolio
6 companies from ESD's portfolio have been acquired. The most recent acquisition was Empire Genomics in Nov 2022 by Biocare Medical for $*****.Here are ESD's portfolio companies that got acquired most recently:
Company | Acquisition Date | First Invested on | First Round of Investment | Round Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Nov 22, 2022 | Aug 03, 2010 | Grant (prize money) | 6830 | |
Mar 01, 2022 | Oct 16, 2017 | Series A | 6787 | |
Jan 12, 2022 | Nov 11, 2019 | Series B | 7486 | |
Sep 27, 2021 | May 22, 2019 | Series A | 9932 | |
Oct 08, 2020 | Feb 09, 2018 | Series B | 7075 |
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Team profile of ESD
ESD has a team of 51 members including 17 Partners and 27 Principals located in United States and Australia. ESD's team does not sit on the board of any company as of now.Here is a list of top team members in ESD:
Name | Designation | Location | Board Memberships | Contact Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Partner | - | - | - | |
Partner | New York | - | ||
Partner | Melbourne | - | ||
Partner | New York City | - | - | |
Partner | - | - | - | |
Partner | - | - | - | |
Partner | - | - | - | |
Partner | United States | - | - | |
Partner | - | - | - | |
Partner | New York City | - | - | |
Partner | Syracuse | - | - |
Co-investors of ESD
Over the past 21 years, 127 investors have co-invested in ESD's portfolio companies. This includes funds and angels.
- Invested before ESD: HHS, Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator and 42 others have invested in rounds before ESD. There are 2 companies where HHS has invested before ESD and 2 companies where Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator has invested before ESD.
- Top Co-investors of ESD: 47 investors entered a company along with ESD. These include investors like Alexandria (2 companies).
- Invested after ESD: A total of 36 investors have invested in ESD's portfolio after their investments. Top Investors include United States Department of Agriculture (2 companies), Silverman Group (1 company) and Creadev (1 company).
Recent News related to ESD
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