While tech races ahead, Wisdom Ventures will focus on startups built to elevate the mind, body and soul
Can emotional intelligence be a venture-backed category? Wisdom Ventures thinks so.
The San Francisco-based VC firm has locked in $16 million for the first close of its second fund, aiming to scale startups that put emotional intelligence and human resilience at the core of their tech.
Fund II follows the rapid deployment of its $10 million debut fund, which backed breakout names such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Function Health and the mindfulness app Opal. This time around, Wisdom plans to invest $1 million to $5 million in roughly 35 early-stage companies developing technology centered on emotional intelligence, wellbeing tools and human-centered platforms.
“Wisdom Ventures has shown that investing in innovation designed to enhance human wellbeing can generate both exceptional financial returns and profound societal impact,” said Ho Nam, an LP in both Wisdom funds and managing director at Altos Ventures.
Both funds are backed by high-profile investors, including LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, Pinterest co-founder Evan Sharp, Slack co-founder Stewart Butterfield and Away co-founder Jenn Rubio, along with other prominent founders and investors focused on health and wellness. Fund II is led by Bradley Horowitz, a former Google vice president; Cecily Mak, a startup operator and legal expert; and Soren Gordhamer, founder of the Wisdom 2.0 conference.
“Bradley, Cecily and Soren bring an incredible combination of visionary thinking with deep operational expertise, showing that ethical innovation is good business,” Nam said.
Mak, who serves as general partner alongside Horowitz and Gordhamer, framed Fund II as a timely response to the growing tension between technological advancement and human wellbeing.
“We’re at a pivotal moment where technology must support our humanity, not replace it,” Mak said. “With breakthroughs in AI rapidly reshaping our society, Fund II arrives at a watershed moment when technology can either drive great improvement or decline of the human condition. Our mission is to make sure it’s here to improve our mental, physical and spiritual health.”
