Pear VC

About

Pear VC is a venture capital firm specializing in pre-seed and seed-stage investments, founded in August 2013 by Pejman Nozad and Mar Hershenson ¹². The firm was originally named Pejman Mar Ventures and rebranded to Pear VC in 2016 ². The name “Pear” was chosen because pear trees are resilient and require proper conditions to flourish, mirroring startup development ².

The firm is headquartered at 1800 Owens Street in San Francisco, with a second office at 241 El Camino Real in Menlo Park ³. Pear also operates “Pear Studio,” providing office spaces for portfolio founders at both locations ³.

Pear VC has seeded companies with a combined valuation exceeding $300 billion ³. The portfolio includes 260+ companies, with 7 unicorns and 3 public companies ²³⁴.

The firm has raised four funds ⁵:

Fund IV, closed in May 2023, was one of the largest seed funds raised in recent years by a non-multistage firm ⁵. The fund includes a PearX for AI track, a program tailored for AI builders ⁵.

Pear operates several signature programs: PearX (early-stage accelerator), Dorm (supporting student builders), Female Founders Circles, Persian Founders Circles, and an AI Researcher Grant ³.

The team has grown to 26+ members, including 12 investing partners ⁵⁶. Co-founder Pejman Nozad immigrated to the U.S. from Iran with $700 and initially worked as a rug dealer in Palo Alto before transitioning to angel investing ²⁷. Co-founder Mar Hershenson is originally from Barcelona, holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering from Stanford, and has founded three companies ². Both have been recognized on the Forbes Midas List from 2021 through 2025, with Nozad ranked #1 on the Forbes Midas Seed List three years running (2023-2025) ⁸.

Stated Thesis

(Self-reported: These represent what Pear VC says publicly about its approach. See Inferred Thesis for analysis of actual investment behavior.)

Pear VC describes itself as specialists in pre-seed and seed investing, positioning as “founders-and-operators turned investors who understand building companies from the ground up” ³.

The firm’s stated investment thesis emphasizes backing “mission-driven founders” pursuing “big problems in large markets,” even at pre-product stages ⁹. The leadership philosophy centers on betting on people first ⁹.

Nozad has described his goal as building “the best-performing seed fund that ever existed” by partnering with entrepreneurs at the earliest stages, sometimes at the idea stage and even pre-idea ⁷. He prioritizes relationship-building, spending months getting to know founders through multi-hour dinners and deep conversations about their values before making investment decisions ⁷.

Pear invests across a broad range of sectors including AI, consumer, SaaS, enterprise tech, healthcare, deep tech, fintech, biotech, and climate tech ⁹.

Check sizes range from $250K-$2M at pre-seed/PearX stage, $1M-$6M at seed, and up to $10M for follow-on ⁹.

Inferred Thesis

Based on 17 verified portfolio investments, the following patterns emerge. Note: This represents a small sample of 260+ total investments, so percentages should be treated as directional.

Sector Distribution (17 verified investments): - Healthcare / Biotech: 4 of 17 (24%) — Guardant Health, Viz.ai, Counsel Health, Senti Bio - Enterprise / SaaS: 4 of 17 (24%) — Vanta, Affinity, Federato, Dealops - Consumer / Marketplace: 3 of 17 (18%) — DoorDash, SoundHound, AppLovin - Fintech: 2 of 17 (12%) — Gusto, Cardless - Climate / Deep Tech: 2 of 17 (12%) — Aurora Solar, WindBorne - Other: 2 of 17 (12%) — Branch, Listen Labs

Stage: Predominantly pre-seed and seed. The firm invests at idea stage through PearX and leads seed rounds. Notable exceptions include SoundHound (Series A, 2006 — a Pejman Nozad angel-era investment) and Guardant Health (Series B, 2014).

Notable patterns: - Significantly broader sector coverage than most seed funds; not concentrated in any single vertical - Strong Stanford network effect (both founders have Stanford ties, and PearX draws heavily from the Stanford ecosystem) - Healthcare/biotech allocation (24%) is notably higher than most seed-stage firms - Deep tech investments (climate, space, robotics) differentiate Pear from typical software-focused seed funds - The PearX accelerator creates a structured pipeline that most seed firms lack - Programs specifically targeting female founders and Persian founders suggest intentional community-building as a sourcing strategy

Gaps vs. stated thesis: The stated thesis is deliberately broad (“big problems in large markets”), which makes it hard to identify divergence. The actual portfolio does align with the breadth claimed.

Portfolio

Note: This table represents approximately 7% of 260+ claimed investments. All dates have been verified against Crunchbase funding round records and primary announcement sources, except Listen Labs (~2022) which remains approximate.

In Their Own Words

The firm has stated its core values as “Perseverance, can-do mentality, collaboration, service, and legacy remain the pillars of our fund” ⁵.

On the firm’s founding philosophy: Pear was established with the goal to “build a VC firm that truly helps founders” ².

On the firm’s confidence in seed investing during the 2023 downturn, Pear cited three factors: exceptional talent entering entrepreneurship, AI accelerating company building capabilities, and reduced resources needed for sales and marketing at scale ⁵.

What Founders Say

Tony Xu, CEO of DoorDash, has stated: “Pear’s philosophy has always been first and foremost to bet on the people” ⁹.

Xiling Shen, CEO of Xilis, has stated: “Pear is always there when we need help or advice” ⁹.

William Ross, CEO of Federato, has stated: “The extended Pear team has always been there when we had operational problems” ⁹.

Sources