# Pear VC

> Pear VC is a Menlo Park-based venture firm founded by Pejman Nozad and Mar Hershenson in 2013. It invests at pre-seed and seed, pairing capital with recruiting, customer discovery, marketing and fundraising support. Its PearX accelerator runs for 12 weeks with no more than 25 teams per cohort. Pear announced a $333 million fifth fund in October 2026 and reports more than $1.1 billion in assets under management.

- **Founded:** 2013
- **Headquarters:** Menlo Park, United States
- **Founders:** Pejman Nozad (Co-founder and Founding Managing Partner), Mar Hershenson (Co-founder and Founding Managing Partner)
- **Products:** Pre-seed investment through PearX, Early-stage venture investment, Founder Services, Pear Studio, Female Founders Circle
- **Notable:** Announced $333 million Fund V on October 14, 2026; reports more than $1.1 billion in assets under management., Early portfolio includes DoorDash, Guardant Health, Gusto, Vanta and Aurora Solar., Reports four portfolio IPOs on its current company-history page.

## Products & services

- **Pre-seed investment through PearX** — 12-week accelerator, twice yearly, up to 25 teams per cohort; current checks of $500,000-$2 million, typically targeting 7% ownership. In-person participation in the San Francisco Bay Area is required.
- **Early-stage venture investment** — Lead and co-lead early-stage rounds, with checks up to $10 million according to the current investment page.
- **Founder Services** — Talent recruiting, customer discovery, pricing and sales coaching, fundraising preparation, investor introductions, marketing and PR.
- **Pear Studio** — Founder workspaces in San Francisco and Menlo Park, with more than 100 dedicated desks across locations. Current PearX materials offer up to six months of free workspace.
- **Female Founders Circle** — Eight-week San Francisco community program for technical female founders and engineers; reports a community of more than 350.
- **Persian Founders Circle** — Founder community for Persian entrepreneurs.
- **Pear Fellows** — University-oriented program connecting student builders with the early-stage startup ecosystem.

## Achievements

- Announced $333 million Fund V on October 14, 2026; reports more than $1.1 billion in assets under management.
- Early portfolio includes DoorDash, Guardant Health, Gusto, Vanta and Aurora Solar.
- Reports four portfolio IPOs on its current company-history page.
- Reports more than 300 hires made for portfolio companies.
- Currently reports that 80% of PearX teams raise from institutional investors; this is a firm-reported fundraising metric, not a survival rate or investment return.

## Latest updates

- **2026-10** — Closed $333 million Fund V and promoted Arash Afrakhteh, Ajay Kamat and Shravan Reddy to General Partner.
- **2026-10** — Current PearX page lists $500K-$2M checks, a typical 7% ownership target and up to 25 teams per cohort; these supersede older program descriptions.

## Links

- Website: https://pear.vc/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pear-vc/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/pearvc
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pear.vc/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pearvc

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/pear-vc
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-26