Brightstone Venture Capital

General contacts

Investor type

PE / VC

Founded

1985

AUM

$100 M

Location

Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

Investment Ticket

$10-50 m

Investment Stage

Series B Series A Seed Late Stage (Series C+)

Region of investment

North America

Investor profile last updated: 16 August, 2026

Profile

Brightstone Venture Capital is a venture capital firm based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, founded in 1985. The firm is led by experienced partners including David Dalvey, Patrick O'Shaughnessy, and Jeff Cowan, who bring decades of experience in venture finance, investment banking, and early-stage management. Brightstone is known for its deep operating experience and successful investment background, focusing on building exceptional companies.

Brightstone invests primarily in early-growth stage opportunities across sectors such as technology and life sciences. Their sector focus includes data storage and management, virtual/augmented reality, AI/machine learning, enterprise security, blockchain, cloud infrastructure, regenerative medicine, stem cell research, and genomics. The firm manages a $100 million venture fund and typically invests in companies based in the United States.

Notable investments by Brightstone include FLYR Labs - AI-based revenue optimization, Wasabi - cloud storage platform, BiteSquad - food delivery service, VRChat - virtual reality social network, and FlipGrid - network app sold to Microsoft. These investments highlight Brightstone's commitment to supporting innovative and disruptive companies in their respective fields.

Industry

Biotechnology Financial Services Fintech Healthcare Services Medical Devices Other Real Estate SaaS Security Software Blockchain/Crypto AI MedTech Technology Life Sciences Infrastructure Cloud VR/AR HealthTech Machine Learning (ML) Data infra Marketing and Advertising Media and Entertainment Robotics

Brightstone Venture Capital Funds

Name	Type	Industry	Stage	Region	Size	AUM	Launch date
BVC2	Venture Capital (VC)	Financial Services Fintech Healthcare Services Marketing and Advertising Media and Entertainment Real Estate SaaS Software HealthTech	Pre-seed Seed	North America	$5-10 m	$25 M	August 2017
BVC3	Venture Capital (VC)	Healthcare Services Real Estate Robotics SaaS Software HealthTech	Pre-seed Seed	North America	$5-10 m	$41 M	July 2022

Contacts

Name

Title

Social Networks

Patrick OShaughnessy General Partner

General Partner

p•••@•••

David Dalvey Managing General Partner

Managing General Partner

d•••@•••

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Investment-team contacts for Brightstone Venture Capital — including verified work emails and LinkedIn profiles — are available to Private Equity List subscribers.
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FAQs about Brightstone Venture Capital

Is Brightstone Venture Capital a venture capital or private equity firm?

Brightstone Venture Capital is a venture capital and private equity firm. It backs companies at Series B, Series A, Seed and Late Stage (Series C+), writing tickets of $10-50 m.

Where is Brightstone Venture Capital located?

Brightstone Venture Capital is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States.

When was Brightstone Venture Capital founded?

Brightstone Venture Capital was founded in 1985.

What sectors and industries does Brightstone Venture Capital invest in?

Brightstone Venture Capital invests in companies and startups in Biotechnology, Financial Services, Fintech, Healthcare Services, Medical Devices, Other, Real Estate, SaaS, Security, Software, Blockchain/Crypto, AI, MedTech, Technology, Life Sciences, Infrastructure, Cloud, VR/AR, HealthTech, Machine Learning (ML), Data infra, Marketing and Advertising, Media and Entertainment, Robotics.

What is Brightstone Venture Capital geographical focus of investments?

Brightstone Venture Capital invests in companies and startups in North America.

At what stages of companies and startups does Brightstone Venture Capital typically invest in?

Brightstone Venture Capital invests in companies and startups at Series B, Series A, Seed, Late Stage (Series C+).

What is the usual amount of Brightstone Venture Capital investment?

Brightstone Venture Capital usually invests $10-50 m on average.

What is the amount of assets of under management (AUM) for Brightstone Venture Capital?

Brightstone Venture Capital has around $100m assets under management.

When was Brightstone Venture Capital last fund created?

Brightstone Venture Capital last fund was created/launched in 2022-07-06

What are the contacts of Brightstone Venture Capital?

Brightstone Venture Capital can be reached through its website brightstonevc.com, its LinkedIn page and its X account. Its general enquiries address is [email protected]. Cold-mailing a general inbox rarely reaches a partner, so Private Equity List also lists the investment-team contacts for Brightstone Venture Capital — names, roles, verified work emails and LinkedIn profiles — available on a Pro plan from $129/month (see pricing). Contacts are sourced from the firm's website and LinkedIn and re-verified on a rolling cycle. Spot a stale contact, or none at all? Report it — we re-run that firm within 48h and get back to you.

Can I access Brightstone Venture Capital data via API or MCP?

Yes. Every field on this page — profile, funds, investment criteria, portfolio and investment-team contacts — is available programmatically through the Private Equity List REST API and MCP server, so AI assistants such as Claude and ChatGPT can query Brightstone Venture Capital directly instead of scraping this page. One subscription covers both the web app and machine access — see API & MCP.

When was the Brightstone Venture Capital profile last updated?

Private Equity List re-verifies investor profiles on a rolling cycle, pulling from the firm's own website and LinkedIn rather than a one-off import. This profile was last updated on 16 August, 2026. Something out of date here? Report it — we re-run that firm within 48h and get back to you.