Hannah Grey

WHO WE ARE

Hannah Grey is a $50MM first check venture capital fund investing in customer centric founders reimagining everyday experiences to improve work and life. Based in New York City and Denver, we track societal shifts to understand how changes in consumer and worker behavior create outsized market opportunities. Hannah Grey has completed its first close with institutional backing from fund of funds, a foundation, blue chip VC firms, a strategic, family offices and several tech influencers.

50,000,000

TARGET SIZE OF FUNDS

Sector

AI/ML, B2B, SaaS, E-commerce/ Consumer Internet, Fintech, FemTech, Healthcare, Cleantech, Education, Business Intelligence

Stage

Pre-Seed, Seed

Region

North America

Countries

Canada, US

Founder(s)

Jessica Peltz-Zatulove

Jessica Peltz-Zatulove is a Founding Partner at Hannah Grey, a first check venture capital firm investing in visionary founders reimagining everyday experiences to improve work and life. Prior to founding Hannah Grey, Jessica was the Senior Managing Partner at MDC Ventures, the corporate VC fund of MDC Partners. She’s a known thought leader and was recognized on the Global Corporate VC PowerList for top CVC fund managers in 2019 and 2020. While focusing on investments addressing the needs of the Modern CMO, she scaled MDC Ventures into a robust operation, evaluating hundreds of early stage companies a year while educating marketers on the trends driving the advertising industry. She’s led investments in companies including Netomi, Gradient.io, Veritonic, Indicative, Catch & Release, Perksy, and Mezzobit (acquired by OpenX). She’s also an active angel with investments in breakout companies such as Lively (acquired by Wacoal), AspireIQ, Bennie, Alleyoop, and Sphere. Before transitioning to VC, Jessica specialized in connecting marketers with tech and spent 10+ years working with brands including Verizon, Kraft, PUMA, 20th Century Fox, Jim Beam Brands, H&M, and others. She was the second employee at innovation consultancy Evol8tion, where she was instrumental in scaling the business while helping startups secure their first customers through brand partnerships. As a Vice President at Zenith Media, she was recognized as an industry pioneer in the mobile space and launched the Android device for Verizon; her cutting edge media partnerships were often featured in Mashable, Adage, and Mediapost. Her deep understanding of the intersection between customer needs, branding, and technology has enabled her to guide countless startups on positioning and commercializing their business effectively. Jessica is a strong advocate for gender diversity in the venture community, running both NYC’s Women in VC group and creating the Global directory for Women in VC, which now includes 3,000+ women investors spanning 1,800+ venture funds across 180+ cities and 60+ countries. She also frequently devotes time as a mentor at Techstars, Entrepreneurs Roundtable, and #BuildByGirls, a program for promising young women in high school interested in technology careers. In addition to being featured on CNBC, Fox Business, and popular podcasts, she’s been named by Forbes as a “Women Leader in Corporate VC to Know”, and has been published in several industry trades including Adweek, CampaignUS, Venturebeat, and the Association of National Advertisers (ANA).

Kate Beardsley

Kate Shillo Beardsley is a Founding Partner at Hannah Grey, an early-stage venture capital firm investing at the intersection of human behavior and technology. Kate built Upslope Ventures (FKA Galvanize Ventures); as a Partner at Upslope, Kate led investments in Billie (acquired by P&G), Gridcraft (acquired by Workday), Notion (acquired by Comcast), Parcel (acquired by Walmart), PureWow (acquired by Gallery Media Group), Vida (acquired by Compress USA), Slash (acquired by Giphy), Wisebanyan (acquired by Axos), and many others. Prior to Upslope, Kate was the first founding member of Lerer Hippeau in NYC where she worked with founders scaling their businesses and became a trusted ally of the inner circle of early NYC entrepreneurs. She helped raise 3 funds and invested in 200+ startups, including sourcing now-iconic brands Paperless Post and Venmo (acquired by Braintree), and participated in investments including Warby Parker, Glossier, Casper, Everlane, Food52 (acquired by Cherin Group), Makerbot, Barkbox, and BaubleBar. Today Lerer Hippeau is one of the largest and most active funds in NYC. Kate is Board Co-Chair of the Rocky Mountain Venture Capital Association and on the board of the Rockies Venture Club. She has appeared on CNBC and Fox Business and has been featured on CNN, the Denver Business Journal as well as leading technology podcasts Twenty Minute VC, She-VC, and Upside.fm.