DCVC
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Team
About
DCVC (formerly Data Collective) is a deep technology venture capital firm founded in 2011 by Matt Ocko and Zachary Bogue 12. The firm is headquartered in Palo Alto, California, with a second office in San Francisco 2.
DCVC manages approximately $4 billion in assets under management across 13 funds, including six flagship funds, dedicated bio funds, and a climate fund 23. The firm employs approximately 45 team members 2. DCVC partners have backgrounds with “unusually high concentrations” in hard-science and national-security domains, including intelligence, cybersecurity, and government systems, and the firm has more published scientists than MBAs on staff 23.
The firm’s fifth flagship fund, DCVC V, closed at $725 million in September 2019, oversubscribed by 25% from an initial $575 million target 4. Limited partners include university endowments, global charities, global insurance funds, and pension funds 4. In 2018, DCVC launched DCVC Bio as a dedicated life sciences division co-founded by Dr. John Hamer, Dr. Kiersten Stead, Matt Ocko, and Zachary Bogue, which closed its third fund at $400 million in 2024 25. DCVC also launched a climate-focused fund in 2022, raising over $700 million across the bio and climate funds combined 5.
The firm’s name originated from its founding thesis around big data and computation. As Ocko has explained, when they started, “one of the hard real-world problems was the scale-out compute problem when everyone’s databases were breaking and big data was largely unknown, leading them to put it in the company name ‘Data Collective’” 6.
The portfolio includes 26 unicorns, 18 IPOs, and 115 acquisitions as of January 2026 3. Notable portfolio outcomes include SentinelOne (IPO, DCVC led the seed in 2013 and participated in every round through Series E), Planet (IPO on NYSE in 2021), and investments in Databricks, Elastic, and Rocket Lab 378.
Stated Thesis
DCVC publicly describes its mission as backing “entrepreneurs solving trillion-dollar problems to multiply the benefits of capitalism for everyone while reducing its costs” 2. The firm states it steers “away from the frothy, the faddish, and the fashionable” to invest in deep tech companies with “computationally accelerated ways to solve the hardest, most urgent science and engineering problems” 9.
Managing Partner Matt Ocko has described DCVC’s meta-thesis as focusing on “the use of compute and novel, highly defensible algorithms” with capital efficiency as a key aspect 6. The firm defines deep tech as backing entrepreneurs who use applied AI to address hard problems in sectors including agriculture, mining, manufacturing, health, and defense 6.
The firm emphasizes it is “most explicitly not a double bottom line fund,” with Ocko stating: “We are here to drive returns for our LPs” 6.
Inferred Thesis
Based on the portfolio companies listed on DCVC’s website across 10 sector categories 8, the following patterns emerge. The website lists approximately 200 portfolio companies.
Sector distribution (approximate, from website categories; companies may appear in multiple categories): - TechBio/Computational bio & chemistry: ~44 companies — the single largest category, including AbCellera, Atomwise, Ginkgo Bioworks, Freenome, Chai Discovery - Industrial transformation/Robotics: ~27 companies — Agility Robotics, DroneDeploy, Lumafield, Pyka, Fulfil - Enterprise enablement: ~16 companies — Airtable, Databricks, Elastic, Honeycomb.io, CircleCI, SingleStore - Climate: ~21 companies — Fervo Energy, Oklo, Twelve, Pivot Bio, Mainspring Energy, Brimstone - Cybersecurity/Defense: ~11 companies — SentinelOne, Illumio, Epirus, Fortem Technologies, Reality Defender - Finance & Insurance: ~10 companies — Checkr, Flutterwave, Feedzai, Signifyd, Tala - Foundational technology (quantum, chips): ~10 companies — Atom Computing, Rigetti Computing, Graphcore, StarkWare - Space: 5 companies — Planet, Rocket Lab, Capella Space, Impulse Space, Akash Systems - TechMed/Healthcare: ~19 companies — Carbon Health, Curative, Freenome, Karius, Enlitic
Stage distribution: DCVC primarily invests at Seed and Series A, with typical check sizes of $5M-$25M 10.
Geographic focus: Primarily U.S.-based companies, with some investments in Africa (notably Flutterwave and Tala) 810.
Notable patterns: - The bio/life sciences vertical is the largest single focus area, consistent with the launch of a dedicated DCVC Bio fund structure 25. - Climate technology is a major and growing focus, with a dedicated fund 5. - The firm’s emphasis on “computational approaches” means even its bio and climate investments are typically AI/ML-enabled rather than purely traditional. - Defense and space investments are present but represent a smaller portion compared to firms like Lux Capital.
Portfolio
| Company | Stage | Year | Sector | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SentinelOne | Seed ($2.5M) | 2013 | Cybersecurity | Public (IPO 2021) | 71415 |
| Planet | Early | 2012 | Space/Earth observation | Public (NYSE 2021) | 11 |
| Databricks | Early | 2013 | Data infrastructure | Active | 812 |
| Elastic | Early | 2014 | Enterprise search | Public | 8 |
| Rocket Lab | Early | 2015 | Space/Launch | Public | 8 |
| Airtable | Series A | 2015 | Enterprise SaaS | Active | 8 |
| Ginkgo Bioworks | Early | 2015 | Synthetic biology | Public | 8 |
| Illumio | Seed | 2013 | Cybersecurity | Active | 8 |
| Oklo | Early | 2016 | Nuclear energy | Public | 8 |
| Fervo Energy | Early | 2018 | Geothermal energy | Active | 8 |
| Agility Robotics | Early | 2016 | Robotics | Active | 8 |
| Flutterwave | Series A | 2018 | Fintech (Africa) | Active | 8 |
| Checkr | Series A | 2015 | Background checks | Active | 8 |
| Freenome | Early | 2016 | Biotech/Diagnostics | Acquired (Dec 2025) | 3 |
| AbCellera | Early | 2017 | Biotech | Public | 8 |
| Twelve | Seed | 2016 | Climate/Carbon transformation | Active | 8 |
| Pivot Bio | Series A | 2016 | Agriculture/Biotech | Active | 8 |
| Carbon Health | Series A | 2018 | Healthcare | Active | 8 |
| DroneDeploy | Series A | 2014 | Drones/Software | Active | 8 |
| Rigetti Computing | Early | 2014 | Quantum computing | Public | 8 |
| Capella Space | Seed | 2016 | Space/SAR | Active | 8 |
| Epirus | Early | 2019 | Defense/Directed energy | Active | 8 |
| StarkWare | Early | 2018 | Blockchain/ZK proofs | Active | 8 |
| Mainspring Energy | Early | 2017 | Energy/Power generation | Active | 8 |
| Latus Bio | Series A Extension (DCVC Bio, follow-on) | 2026-05-04 | Biotech / Gene Therapy | Active | 1617 |
| Kanvas Biosciences | Series A (co-led, $48M) | 2026-05-06 | Biotech / Microbiome / Spatial Biology | Active | 181920 |
This table represents approximately 12% of DCVC’s estimated 200+ portfolio companies 2. Years are approximate based on available data.
In Their Own Words
“You can have prosperity and resilience — and you don’t have to be a caricature of a nineteenth-century robber baron to do it.” — Matt Ocko, Co-Founder and Managing Partner 9
“We are here to drive returns for our LPs.” — Matt Ocko, on DCVC not being a double-bottom-line fund 6
“With DCVC, we back entrepreneurs solving trillion-dollar problems computationally. And five or ten years from now, I hope we’re still doing that and at an even greater scale.” — Zachary Bogue, Co-Founder and Managing Partner 6
“Pretty much everything in advanced manufacturing also falls into the bucket of decarbonization.” — Milo Werner, General Partner 9
What Founders Say
“More than just money, DCVC’s seed investment accelerated Twelve’s detailed techno-economic analysis while validating key aspects of our business model, something we wouldn’t have been able to achieve as quickly alone.” — Dr. Etosha Cave, Co-Founder and CSO of Twelve 13
Sources
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Crunchbase, “DCVC - Company Profile & Funding,” accessed March 2026. https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/data-collective↩
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DCVC website, “About,” accessed March 2026. https://www.dcvc.com/about/↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩
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Tracxn, “DCVC - 2026 Investor Profile, Portfolio, Team & Investment Trends,” accessed March 2026. https://tracxn.com/d/venture-capital/dcvc/__U-sTZv3lGW3JzbFd1B0t1odqvimUpz9FTj_iPpUWJcU↩↩↩↩↩
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Fortune, “Data Collective Raises $725 Million to Invest in ‘Deep Tech’,” September 18, 2019. https://fortune.com/2019/09/18/venture-capital-firm-dcvc-raises-new-fund/↩↩
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DCVC website, “DCVC Bio III closes at $400 million,” September 2024. https://www.dcvc.com/news-insights/dcvc-bio-iii-closes-at-400-million/↩↩↩↩
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MCJ Podcast, “How a $4B Deep-Tech Fund Tackles Emissions with DCVC,” accessed March 2026. https://mcj.vc/inevitable-podcast/zachary-bogue-dcvc↩↩↩↩↩↩
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DCVC website, “Protecting the Digital World Around Us: SentinelOne IPO,” accessed March 2026. https://www.dcvc.com/news-insights/protecting-the-digital-world-around-us-sentinelone-ipo/↩↩
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DCVC website, “Companies,” accessed March 2026. https://www.dcvc.com/companies/↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩
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DCVC website, “DCVC DTOR 2025: Introduction,” accessed March 2026. https://www.dcvc.com/news-insights/dcvc-dtor-2025-introduction/↩↩↩
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VCSheet, “DCVC - VC Fund Breakdown,” accessed March 2026. https://www.vcsheet.com/fund/dcvc↩↩
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DCVC website, “Planet,” accessed March 2026. https://www.dcvc.com/companies/planet/↩
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DCVC website, “Databricks,” accessed March 2026. https://www.dcvc.com/companies/databricks/↩
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Sparkco, “DCVC: A Comprehensive Investor Profile,” accessed March 2026. https://sparkco.ai/blog/dcvc↩
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Crunchbase, “Seed Round — SentinelOne — 2013-08-05,” accessed March 2026. https://www.crunchbase.com/funding_round/sentinel-seed–061d73f3↩
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Pestel-analysis.com, “What is Brief History of SentinelOne Company?” accessed March 2026. https://pestel-analysis.com/blogs/brief-history/sentinelone↩
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BioSpace, “Latus Bio Announces $97 Million Series A Financing to Expand the Reach of Gene Therapy to Larger Populations,” May 4, 2026. https://www.biospace.com/press-releases/latus-bio-announces-97-million-series-a-financing-to-expand-the-reach-of-gene-therapy-to-larger-populations — DCVC Bio (DCVC’s life sciences division) participated as an existing investor in the $43M Series A Extension led by 8VC, bringing total Series A to $97M. Latus is advancing AAV gene therapies for Huntington’s disease (LTS-201, IND expected Q3 2026) and CLN2 (LTS-101). ↩
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BioPharma Dive, “With $97M, Latus pursues a different kind of Huntington’s gene therapy,” May 4, 2026. https://www.biopharmadive.com/news/latus-huntington-gene-therapy-cln2-biotech-startup/819174/↩
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DCVC, “Kanvas makes the microbiome druggable—and the implications are massive,” by Jason Pontin, May 6, 2026. Accessed May 2026. https://www.dcvc.com/news-insights/kanvas-makes-the-microbiome-druggable-and-the-implications-are-massive/ — Confirms DCVC co-led the $48M Series A and has backed Kanvas since inception in 2021. Capital will fund a new GMP manufacturing suite and anaerobic fermentation facility in South San Francisco. ↩
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BioSpace, “Kanvas Biosciences Secures $48M Series A to Deliver Novel Microbiome Therapeutics to Cancer Patients,” May 6, 2026. Accessed May 2026. https://www.biospace.com/press-releases/kanvas-biosciences-secures-48m-series-a-to-deliver-novel-microbiome-therapeutics-to-cancer-patients — Confirms $48M Series A co-led by DCVC and Lions Capital LLC with participation from Gates Foundation, ATHOS KG, Germin8, Ki Tua Fund, Pangaea Ventures, Alumni Ventures, Boutique Venture Partners, Cornell University, FemHealth Ventures, Gaingels, Mana Ventures, Red Bear Ventures, RIT Venture Fund, Triple Impact Capital, Kicker Ventures, and Uncommon Denominator. Brings total funding to $78M. ↩
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BusinessWire, “Kanvas Biosciences Secures $48M Series A to Deliver Novel Microbiome Therapeutics to Cancer Patients,” May 6, 2026. Accessed May 2026. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260506062784/en/Kanvas-Biosciences-Secures-$48M-Series-A-to-Deliver-Novel-Microbiome-Therapeutics-to-Cancer-Patients — Cross-references the BioSpace announcement; confirms board chair Jason Pontin (DCVC) commentary on Kanvas’s “deep engineering prowess.” ↩