About LightShed Ventures
LightShed Ventures is a venture capital firm founded in 2020. It is primarily based out of New York City, United States. As of May 2026, LightShed Ventures is an active investor, having invested in 26 companies, with 3 new investments in the last 12 months. It primarily invests in Seed round in United States based startups. Its investments are spread across a wide range of sectors from Enterprise Applications to Consumer and Gaming. Most recently it participated in the $***** Series A round of Status Overall, LightShed Ventures portfolio has seen 6 acquisitions including key companies like Illumix, Memo and Supersocial. A lot of funds co-invest with LightShed Ventures, with names like General Catalyst sharing a substantial percentage of its portfolio. LightShed Ventures has team of 6 people including 4 partners.Key Metrics
Team Members
Portfolio Sectors
Portfolio Locations
Rounds of Entry
Seed, Series A & 3 more
Portfolio Soonicorns
LightShed Ventures' List of Top Investments
LightShed Ventures has a portfolio of 26 companies. Their most notable investments are in Federated Wireless and BREACH.Their portfolio spans across United States, Guernsey and United Kingdom. They have invested in Enterprise Applications, Consumer, Gaming and 13 other sectors, across stages such as Seed, Series A and 3 more. Here is the list of top investments by LightShed Ventures:
1. Status
Developer of an AI-powered platform for role-playing and social interaction. The platform allows users to create characters and engage in simulated social scenarios. Users can interact with AI-driven characters within various fandoms or original universes. The platform personalizes interactions based on user choices and actions.
Key facts about Status
- Founded Year: 2024
- Location: Long Island City (United States)
- Stage: Series B
- Total Funding till date: $17M
- Employee Count: 41 as on Sep 30, 2026
- Investors: Union Square Ventures, Creator Ventures and 4 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series B, Aug 11, 2026, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
2. Illumix
Developer of spatial intelligence platform for real-world augmented and mixed reality. The platform delivers core spatial AI technology for real-world interaction. It offers environment localization, precision, and stability across lighting and environmental changes. The platform supports mobile, AI/XR wearables, and robotics, operating offline without GPS or custom sensors.
Key facts about Illumix
- Founded Year: 2017
- Location: Redwood City (United States)
- Stage: Acquired
- Total Funding till date: $26.6M
- Employee Count: 18 as on Sep 30, 2026
- Investors: Raptor Group, Lightspeed Venture Partners and 15 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series A, Mar 20, 2023, $*****
- Highlight: Acquired
3. Memo
PR analytics and insights solutions for enterprises. It provides PR measurement insights by reporting the number of people reading articles about brands, industries, and competitors. It allows brands to track coverage, drive earned media, observe data on the dashboard, and more. It focuses on different aspects of PR measurement, such as social media engagement, media monitoring, or media contact management.
Key facts about Memo
- Founded Year: 2018
- Location: New York City (United States)
- Stage: Acquired
- Total Funding till date: $17M
- Employee Count: 39 as on Sep 30, 2026
- Investors: Susa Ventures, Founder Collective and 11 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series A, Aug 21, 2021, $*****
- Highlight: Acquired
AI-native solutions unlocking shared and unlicensed spectrum for enhanced wireless connectivity. The company empowers connectivity through leadership, innovation, and support excellence in shared and unlicensed spectrum. They deliver cutting-edge, AI-driven technology that enables partners and customers to build the future of connected, automated, and mission-critical networks. They provide proven, scalable, and secure spectrum solutions that simplify complexity and accelerate time to value. Their expertise spans regulatory compliance, technical leadership, and vendor-neutral approaches, ensuring unmatched performance and support. They offer AI-native lifecycle solutions, including spectrum controllers and adaptive network planners, built on a cloud-native architecture. The company focuses on driving innovation and removing complexity in shared and unlicensed spectrum, fostering an open ecosystem for new use cases. Their solutions optimize network planning, deployment, and operations, leveraging spectrum availability, equipment specifications, and usage patterns. They provide carrier-grade observability, security, and global regulatory compliance, supported by round-the-clock network operations center and service level agreements.
Key facts about Federated Wireless
5. Giant
Developer of personalized, interactive stories designed to help children grow. The stories adapt to a child’s name, voice, and interests, making learning feel magical and meaningful. The experiences help children grow socially and emotionally. The platform provides a safe, private, and parent-approved environment with no ads or tracking.
Key facts about Giant
- Founded Year: 1998
- Location: Carlisle (United Kingdom)
- Stage: Seed
- Total Funding till date: $8M
- Employee Count: 19 as on Sep 30, 2026
- Investors: Flex Capital, This is Water and 7 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Seed, Feb 23, 2026, $*****
LightShed Ventures' Year-on-Year Investment Trends
LightShed Ventures has invested in 26 companies over the last 5 years, with an average of 3 new investments annually in the last 5 years. In 2025, it made 1 investment, while as of May 2026, it has made 4 investments in this year. Its most recent first time investment was in Status and most recent follow-on round was in Status.Year | No. of Investments | ||
|---|---|---|---|
1st Round | Follow-on | Total | |
2026 (YTD) | 3 | 1 | 4 |
2025 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
2024 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
2023 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
2022 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
2021 | 14 | 0 | 14 |
LightShed Ventures' Investments by Stage
LightShed Ventures has made 13 investments in Seed stage with an average round size of $4.34M, 9 investments in Series A stage with an average round size of $20.9M, 1 investment in Series B stage with an average round size of $15M, 1 investment in Series C stage with an average round size of $113M and 1 investment in Series D stage with an average round size of $14M.Stage of entry | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Seed | 13 |
Series A | 9 |
Series B | 1 |
Series C | 1 |
Series D | 1 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
LightShed Ventures' Investments by Sector
LightShed Ventures has a diverse portfolio, with companies operating in the Enterprise Applications, Consumer, Media & Entertainment, Gaming and FinTech. Notably, it has invested in 23 Tech companies, 17 Software companies, 15 Enterprise (B2B) companies and at least 13 companies focusing on Consumer (B2C).Sector | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Enterprise Applications | 10 |
Consumer | 7 |
Media & Entertainment | 6 |
Gaming | 5 |
FinTech | 3 |
Others | 19 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
LightShed Ventures' Investments by Geography
LightShed Ventures has made most investments in United States (23), followed by Guernsey where it has made 1 investment.Country | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
United States | 23 |
Guernsey | 1 |
United Kingdom | 1 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
LightShed Ventures' recent investments
LightShed Ventures has made 4 investments in 2026 so far. Status and Status are the latest among them.Here are the most recent investments by LightShed Ventures:
Filter this listDate | Company | Location | Round Details | Round Amount | Co-Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
May 19, 2026 | United States | Series A | 4506 | [+3] | |
May 19, 2026 | United States | Seed | 8845 | [+3] | |
Feb 23, 2026 | United Kingdom | Seed | 1959 | [+6] | |
Jan 23, 2026 | United States | Seed | 5089 | [+5] | |
Apr 09, 2025 | United States | Series A | 3757 | [+5] |
Acquired companies in LightShed Ventures' Portfolio
6 companies from LightShed Ventures' portfolio have been acquired. The most recent acquisition was Illumix in Jun 2026 by Snap for $*****.Here are LightShed Ventures' portfolio companies that got acquired most recently:
Company | Acquisition Date | First Invested on | First Round of Investment | Round Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Jun 04, 2026 | Mar 20, 2023 | Series A | 2722 | |
Mar 26, 2026 | Mar 16, 2021 | Seed | 3380 | |
May 01, 2025 | Sep 29, 2021 | Seed | 3688 | |
Jan 27, 2025 | Aug 24, 2021 | Seed | 9368 | |
Sep 19, 2023 | Apr 27, 2021 | Seed | 8132 |
Team profile of LightShed Ventures
LightShed Ventures has a team of 6 members including 4 Partners and 1 Principal located in United States. LightShed Ventures' team does not sit on the board of any company as of now.Here is a list of all team members in LightShed Ventures:
Name | Designation | Location | Board Memberships | Contact Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Partner | New York | - | ||
Partner | New York | - | ||
Partner | New York | - | ||
Partner | - | - | - | |
Principal | - | - | - |
Co-investors of LightShed Ventures
Over the past 5 years, 254 investors have co-invested in LightShed Ventures's portfolio companies. This includes funds and angels.
- Invested before LightShed Ventures: Founder Collective, Third Kind Venture Capital and 78 others have invested in rounds before LightShed Ventures. There are 2 companies where Founder Collective has invested before LightShed Ventures and 2 companies where Third Kind Venture Capital has invested before LightShed Ventures.
- Top Co-investors of LightShed Ventures: 164 investors entered a company along with LightShed Ventures. These include investors like General Catalyst (2 companies).
- Invested after LightShed Ventures: A total of 10 investors have invested in LightShed Ventures's portfolio after their investments. Top Investors include Flex Capital (1 company), Sony Music (1 company) and SVB (1 company).
Recent News related to LightShed Ventures
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Giant Raises $8 Million to Build Storytelling Platform for KidsTechStartups.com•Feb 23, 2026•Arbitrum Gaming Ventures, Perceptive Ventures, Matrix, Decasonic and 5 others
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Cashmere Raises $5M Seed Led by Reach Capital for Premium Publishing and Gen AIUtahbusiness•Jan 24, 2026•Cashmere Solutions, Fortitude Ventures, LightShed Ventures, Ingram Content Group and 4 others
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Startup Affiniti raises UAS 17 million in Series A funding round
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Business newsletter company Workweek raises $12.5M in series A roundEditor and Publisher•Jun 14, 2024•WorkWeek, Next Coast Ventures, LightShed Ventures
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Boomerang raises $4.9M to automate lost and found experienceVator•Feb 03, 2024•Boomerang, LightShed Ventures, Notable Capital, Gold House and 4 others
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Sway Raises $19.5M in Series A FundingFinSMEs•Jan 19, 2024•Sway, Blackhorn Ventures, LightShed Ventures, Returnmates and 2 others
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Breach Insurance Raises Funding RoundFinSMEs•Jun 16, 2023•BREACH, RW3, LightShed Ventures, Raptor Technologies and 7 others
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Illumix Closes Series A Round Funding, Strengthening ItsBusinessFortNight•Mar 20, 2023•Illumix, LightShed Ventures, KKR, Epyllion Group and 5 others
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Sony Music joins $7.5m funding round for royalty-free music startup Slip.streamMBW•May 26, 2022•Slip-Stream, Sony Music, Third Prime, LightShed Ventures
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East Ventures, Y Combinator back digital wallet’s $6.2m raiseTech in Asia•May 24, 2022•Pebble, LightShed Ventures, East Ventures, Y Combinator and 10 others
