Heroic Ventures

Heroic Ventures is a Palo Alto-based early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2015. The firm operates almost exclusively as a formation and first-money-in investor — deliberately positioning itself at the extreme edge of the risk curve, often writing checks before most institutional investors engage. The firm invests primarily in Silicon Valley and Israel, with select exposure to Colorado, focusing on digital and life sciences startups across AI, fintech, healthcare, defense technology, and enterprise software. Heroic has made over 55 investments to date, with Fertik known for backing companies at their earliest imaginable stage, sometimes before a product exists. Typical check sizes range from $100K to $5 million. Notable investments include Cursor (via parent company Anysphere, where Fertik was the first-ever investor), Dwellsy, Triumph, Nikkl, Modelcode.ai, and b4.ai. Fertik is also an active public commentator on AI, defense technology, and digital privacy, with frequent appearances on CNBC and other major media outlets.