Haystack

General contacts
Investor type

VC

Founded

2013

AUM

-

Location

San Francisco, California, United States

Investment Ticket

$1-5 m

Investment Stage

Seed Pre-seed Series A

Region of investment

North America
Investor profile last updated: 18 August, 2026

Profile

Haystack is a venture capital firm based in San Francisco, California, founded in 2013. The firm was established by a group of investors who were passionate about backing outlier founders at the earliest stages. With a small team, Haystack operates with a craftsman mentality, focusing on high-signal founders across various geographies and categories. The firm is known for its systematic visibility into large multi-stage platforms' decisions, setting it apart in the venture capital landscape.

Haystack invests primarily in sectors such as SaaS, Devtools, Deeptech, and Data, with a typical check size ranging from $250K to $1.5M. The firm targets early-stage investments, including Pre-Seed, Seed, and Series A rounds, primarily within the USA. Haystack operates as a small core fund complemented by heavy AngelList syndicates, allowing it to maintain a flexible and dynamic investment approach.

Notable investments by Haystack include DoorDash - a food delivery platform, Instacart - an online grocery service, Figma - a design platform, Hashicorp - infrastructure management, and Opendoor - an online home-selling service. These investments highlight Haystack's focus on innovative companies that are poised to disrupt their respective industries.

Industry

Education Fintech Marketing and Advertising Security Software Transportation Edtech Fashion/Beauty Financial Services Food and Beverage Foodtech Gaming Healthcare Services Media and Entertainment Other Pharmaceuticals Real Estate Robotics Sports/SportsTech Telecommunications Travel MedTech Technology Life Sciences Infrastructure LegalTech HealthTech AdTech TravelTech

Contacts

Name
Title
Email
Social Networks
avatar
Semil Shah Founder, General Partner
Founder, General Partner
s•••@•••
LinkedIn
avatar
Aashay Sanghvi Principal
Principal
a•••@•••
LinkedIn
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Investment-team contacts for Haystack — including verified work emails and LinkedIn profiles — are available to Private Equity List subscribers.
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FAQs about Haystack

Haystack is a venture capital firm. It backs companies at Seed, Pre-seed and Series A, writing tickets of $1-5 m.
Haystack is located in San Francisco, California, United States.
Haystack was founded in 2013.
Haystack invests in companies and startups in Education, Fintech, Marketing and Advertising, Security, Software, Transportation, Edtech, Fashion/Beauty, Financial Services, Food and Beverage, Foodtech, Gaming, Healthcare Services, Media and Entertainment, Other, Pharmaceuticals, Real Estate, Robotics, Sports/SportsTech, Telecommunications, Travel, MedTech, Technology, Life Sciences, Infrastructure, LegalTech, HealthTech, AdTech, TravelTech.
Haystack invests in companies and startups in North America.
Haystack invests in companies and startups at Seed, Pre-seed, Series A.
Haystack usually invests $1-5 m on average.
Haystack can be reached through its website haystack.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 Haystack — 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.
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 Haystack directly instead of scraping this page. One subscription covers both the web app and machine access — see API & MCP.
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 18 August, 2026. Something out of date here? Report it — we re-run that firm within 48h and get back to you.