# Footwork

> Footwork is a San Francisco early-stage venture firm founded by investor Nikhil Basu Trivedi and former Stitch Fix president and COO Mike Smith. Across a $175 million first fund and a $225 million second fund, the equal partners lead or co-lead Seed and Series A rounds, generally investing $1 million to $15 million in startups showing early product-market fit. Its portfolio spans consumer technology and consumer-like enterprise products, including Table22, Cradlewise, GPTZero, Elicit, Fuse, Tracksuit and Watershed.

- **Founded:** 2021
- **Headquarters:** San Francisco, United States
- **Founders:** Mike Smith (Co-Founder and General Partner), Nikhil Basu Trivedi (Co-Founder and General Partner)
- **Team size:** LinkedIn lists a 2-10 employee company-size band and 24 associated profiles; Footwork describes its investment team as the two equal general partners.
- **Products:** Seed and Series A investing, Founder and board partnership, Footwork Fund I, Footwork Fund II
- **Notable:** Closed a $175 million first fund in 2021 and began investing a $225 million second fund in 2025., Built a portfolio of 25 companies by Q2 2026 while continuing to lead or co-lead most Seed and Series A investments., Nikhil Basu Trivedi was named to the Forbes Midas Seed List, as noted in Footwork's 2026 year-five review.

## Products & services

- **Seed and Series A investing** — Footwork leads or co-leads early-stage rounds in companies with early signs of product-market fit, typically investing $1 million to $15 million initially.
- **Founder and board partnership** — Both equal general partners work across every portfolio company, offering company-building, operating, hiring, fundraising and board-level support.
- **Footwork Fund I** — A $175 million inaugural early-stage venture fund launched in April 2021.
- **Footwork Fund II** — A $225 million venture fund that began investing in 2025.

## Achievements

- Closed a $175 million first fund in 2021 and began investing a $225 million second fund in 2025.
- Built a portfolio of 25 companies by Q2 2026 while continuing to lead or co-lead most Seed and Series A investments.
- Nikhil Basu Trivedi was named to the Forbes Midas Seed List, as noted in Footwork's 2026 year-five review.
- Mike Smith was named to the Forbes BLK Masters 50 list, as noted in Footwork's 2026 year-five review.
- Portfolio company Tracksuit reported more than 1,000 customers and 240% annual growth when announcing its Series B.
- Footwork completed Fund I's initial investment period after more than four years and activated Fund II in 2025.

## Latest updates

- **2026-04** — Footwork co-led Monk's $25 million Series A and published its five-year review.
- **2026-03** — Footwork and a group of existing investors led Fuse's $25 million Series A for its AI-native loan-origination platform.
- **2026-01** — Footwork announced its investment in Snout's $10 million Series A for veterinary wellness plans.
- **2025-09** — Footwork led an $11 million round in AI app-building platform Anything.
- **2025-02** — Footwork co-led Elicit's $22 million Series A and filed a Form D for Footwork Fund II, L.P.

## Links

- Website: https://footwork.vc
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/footworkvc
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/footworkvc
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MdYnMRdsnY

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/footwork
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-15