# Category Ventures

> Category Ventures is an early-stage venture firm backing ambitious founders building enterprise software — across infrastructure, developer tools, AI applications, and beyond. We invest at pre-seed and seed ($1.5M–$5M checks) out of Fund I, a $160M vehicle. We are based in San Francisco.

Our team combines deep technical expertise, extensive operating experience, and strong founder empathy. We partner with founders from the earliest stages and provide hands-on support across go-to-market, hiring, and product strategy.

## Team

- [Villi Iltchev](https://www.categoryvc.com/team/villi-iltchev): Founding Partner. Two decades of operating and investing experience across Salesforce, Box, August Capital, and Two Sigma Ventures.
- [Çağla Kaymaz](https://www.categoryvc.com/team/cagla-kaymaz): Partner. Previously at Citi Ventures; background in software engineering and product at Microsoft. Stanford BS/MS, Harvard MBA.
- [Shri Kolanukuduru](https://www.categoryvc.com/team/shri-kolanukuduru): Partner. Previously at Insight Partners (early-growth infrastructure) and Pioneer (ML research). UNC Pure Mathematics & Physics.
- [Patty Smith](https://www.categoryvc.com/team/patty-smith): Operating Partner. Operational strategy and founder success; previously at Cruise, Lattice, Apple, and BlackRock. Harvard MBA.
- [Ruta Savickaite](https://www.categoryvc.com/team/ruta-savickaite): Chief of Staff. Operations and executive support; previously Director of Operations in professional basketball.

## Portfolio

- [Portfolio overview](https://www.categoryvc.com/portfolio): Full list of Category Ventures portfolio companies.
- [Myriad](https://www.categoryvc.com/portfolio/myriad): AI agents for compliance automation in regulated industries (financial services). Seed.
- [Nema](https://www.categoryvc.com/portfolio/nema): Seed-stage portfolio company.
- [Soma Energy](https://www.categoryvc.com/portfolio/soma-energy): Seed-stage portfolio company.
- [Antioch](https://www.categoryvc.com/portfolio/antioch): Seed-stage portfolio company.
- [CocoIndex](https://www.categoryvc.com/portfolio/cocoindex): Seed-stage portfolio company.
- [The Interface](https://www.categoryvc.com/portfolio/the-interface): Seed-stage portfolio company.
- [MonetizeNow](https://www.categoryvc.com/portfolio/monetizenow): Seed-stage portfolio company.
- [Mandel](https://www.categoryvc.com/portfolio/mandel): Seed-stage portfolio company.

## Writing

- [Introducing Category Ventures](https://www.categoryvc.com/writing/introducing-category-ventures): The story behind Category Ventures, Fund I ($160M), and our thesis on enterprise software. By Villi Iltchev.
- [Rethinking Inference for Diffusion](https://www.categoryvc.com/writing/rethinking-inference-for-diffusion): On architecture shifts making diffusion models practical at scale. By Çağla Kaymaz.
- [Partnering with Myriad](https://www.categoryvc.com/writing/partnering-with-myriad): Why we led Myriad's seed round — AI agents for compliance. By Çağla Kaymaz.
- [On (the future of) Git](https://www.categoryvc.com/writing/on-the-future-of-git): Where version control is headed in an agentic development world. By Shri Kolanukuduru.
- [The Blitzhire Acquisition](https://www.categoryvc.com/writing/the-blitzhire-acquisition): How AI acquihires like Windsurf and Character.AI route around traditional regulatory review. By Villi Iltchev.
- [The Peel Podcast](https://www.categoryvc.com/writing/the-peel-podcast): Villi on The Peel with Turner Novak — immigrant to operator to $160M fund founder.
- [Tank Talks](https://www.categoryvc.com/writing/tank-talks-the-one-metric): Villi on the one metric early-stage founders should stop tracking.

## Optional

- [Team page](https://www.categoryvc.com/team): Full team listing with bios and backgrounds.
- [Writing page](https://www.categoryvc.com/writing): All essays, perspectives, and videos from the Category Ventures team.