First Star Ventures

General contacts
Investor type

VC

Founded

2014

AUM

$40 M

Location

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Investment Ticket

$10-50 m

Investment Stage

Seed Pre-seed

Region of investment

North America
Investor profile last updated: 16 August, 2026

Profile

First Star Ventures is a venture capital firm based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, founded in 2014. The firm is led by a small team of three professionals, including partners Drew Volpe and Teddy Blank. They focus on investing in deeply technical founders who are transforming industries through the application of frontier technologies like AI, computational biotech, and robotics. Their approach is characterized by a strong emphasis on data-driven decision-making and a commitment to supporting visionary entrepreneurs.

First Star Ventures primarily invests in early-stage startups, particularly in the pre-seed and seed stages. Their sector focus includes AI, biotech, climate tech, and deeptech, with a geographical emphasis on the United States. The firm typically writes checks ranging from $100K to $1M. They have a history of co-investing with other notable venture capital firms and offer additional opportunities to their LPs through SPVs or direct investments.

Notable investments by First Star Ventures include Jellyfish - a software engineering intelligence platform, Zanskar - an AI-native geothermal developer, Throne - a smart toilet-mounted sensor company, PlusOne Robotics - a robotics company, Oort - a cybersecurity firm, and Swiftly - a company focused on transportation solutions. These investments highlight their commitment to backing companies that leverage advanced technologies to address complex challenges.

Industry

Healthcare Services Marketing and Advertising Security Software Transportation Education Edtech Fashion/Beauty Financial Services Fintech Food and Beverage Foodtech Media and Entertainment Other Pharmaceuticals Telecommunications MedTech Technology Life Sciences Infrastructure Energy HealthTech AdTech SaaS CleanTech

First Star Ventures Funds

Name Type
Questionare
Industry
Questionare
Stage
Questionare
Region 		Size AUM Launch date
First Star Venture Fund I
Venture Capital (VC)
Healthcare Services
Media and Entertainment
SaaS
Security
Software
Energy
CleanTech
HealthTech
Pre-seed
Seed
North America
$5-10 m
$40 M
February 2014

Contacts

Name
Title
Email
Social Networks
avatar
Millie Liu Founder and Managing Partner
Founder and Managing Partner
m•••@•••
LinkedIn
avatar
Drew Volpe Founder / Managing Partner
Founder / Managing Partner
d•••@•••
LinkedIn
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FAQs about First Star Ventures

First Star Ventures is a venture capital firm. It backs companies at Seed and Pre-seed, writing tickets of $10-50 m.
First Star Ventures is located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States.
First Star Ventures was founded in 2014.
First Star Ventures invests in companies and startups in Healthcare Services, Marketing and Advertising, Security, Software, Transportation, Education, Edtech, Fashion/Beauty, Financial Services, Fintech, Food and Beverage, Foodtech, Media and Entertainment, Other, Pharmaceuticals, Telecommunications, MedTech, Technology, Life Sciences, Infrastructure, Energy, HealthTech, AdTech, SaaS, CleanTech.
First Star Ventures invests in companies and startups in North America.
First Star Ventures invests in companies and startups at Seed, Pre-seed.
First Star Ventures usually invests $10-50 m on average.
First Star Ventures has around $40m assets under management.
First Star Ventures last fund was created/launched in 2014-02-13
First Star Ventures can be reached through its website firststar.vc, 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 First Star Ventures — 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.
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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.