# Pejman Nozad

> Pejman Nozad is the Founding Managing Partner of Pear VC, a $800M+ AUM seed-stage venture firm he co-founded in 2013. Born in Tehran, he arrived in Silicon Valley in 1992 with $700 and no English, worked as a car washer, lived in a yogurt shop attic, then became the top Persian rug salesman on University Avenue in Palo Alto — selling $8M in a single year to the Valley's most powerful VCs and founders. Those relationships became deal flow. He backed Dropbox, DoorDash ($1.9M seed → $440M), AppLovin, and Andy Rubin's pre-Android company Danger. Forbes ranked him #1 on its Midas Seed List three consecutive years (2023, 2024, 2025). He has no CS degree, no MBA, and never worked in tech — yet built one of the highest-performing seed funds ever and joined the board of Sheffield United FC in 2025.

- **Role:** Founding Managing Partner at Pear VC
- **Organizations:** Pear VC, Pejman Foundation, Sheffield United FC (Board), Amidzad Partners
- **From:** Tehran, Iran
- **Nationality:** Iranian-American
- **Education:** Enrolled (dropped out), Shahid Beheshti University, English language courses, Community College (US)
- **Known for:** Forbes Midas Seed List #1 three consecutive years (2023, 2024, 2025), Forbes Midas List Top 15 (2021, 2022), Ellis Island Medal of Honor (2014)

## Career timeline

- **1969** — Born in Tehran, Iran
- **~1985** — Hosted Iran's most popular sports radio talk show at age 18
- **~1987** — Played professional soccer in Iran; earned scholarship to Germany
- **1990** — Became member of International Sports Press Association
- **1992** — Immigrated to the US with $700; worked as car washer, lived in yogurt shop attic
- **1993** — Joined Medallion Rug Gallery on University Avenue, Palo Alto
- **~1998** — Peak rug sales year — sold $8M in Persian rugs, building relationships with top VCs
- **1999** — Co-founded Amidzad Partners with the Amidi brothers; first venture fund
- **2000** — Backed Andy Rubin's company Danger with ~$400K; Rubin later created Android
- **2005** — Missed Facebook investment at $80M valuation over office lease dispute
- **2007** — First investor in Dropbox; helped connect them to Sequoia Capital
- **2013** — Co-founded Pear VC (originally Pejman Mar Ventures) with Mar Hershenson
- **2014** — Received Ellis Island Medal of Honor; launched PearX Accelerator
- **2016** — Pejman Mar Ventures rebranded as Pear VC; raised $75M Fund II
- **2019** — Raised Pear VC Fund III at $160M
- **2020** — DoorDash IPO — Pear's $1.9M seed investment worth ~$440M
- **2021** — Forbes Midas List #15; Pear portfolio collectively valued near $50B
- **2023** — Raised Pear VC Fund IV at $432M; Forbes Midas Seed List #1
- **2024** — Forbes Midas Seed List #1 for second consecutive year; launched Emerging Managers in Residence
- **2025** — Forbes Midas Seed List #1 third year running; joined board of Sheffield United FC

## Achievements

- Forbes Midas Seed List #1 three consecutive years (2023, 2024, 2025)
- Forbes Midas List Top 15 (2021, 2022)
- Ellis Island Medal of Honor (2014)
- Built Pear VC to $800M+ AUM from scratch with no traditional VC background
- Pear VC's DoorDash seed investment of $1.9M grew to ~$440M post-IPO
- First investor in Dropbox (2007); orchestrated Sequoia introduction
- Early backer of AppLovin, Gusto, Guardant Health, Vanta, SoundHound, and 200+ companies
- Co-founded PearX Accelerator with 90%+ follow-on funding rate for alumni
- Raised Pear VC Fund IV at $432M — one of the largest seed funds ever raised by a non-multistage firm
- Backed Andy Rubin's Danger in 2000 — pre-Android investment
- Joined board of Sheffield United FC in March 2025
- Built network connecting Valley's top VCs while working as rug salesman with no industry credentials

## Latest updates

- **2025-03** — Joined the board of directors of Sheffield United Football Club as an investor
- **2025-01** — Named #1 on Forbes Midas Seed List for the third consecutive year
- **2024-09** — Pear VC launched Emerging Managers in Residence program to support up-and-coming VCs
- **2023-05** — Raised Pear VC Fund IV at $432M — one of the largest seed-only funds ever raised

## Links

- Website: https://pear.vc/team/pejman-nozad/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pejman
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/pejmannozad
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pejmannozad/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/pejman-nozad
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-05