Capital One Ventures: Why we invest in tech startups

The most innovative companies don’t just watch the future unfold—they help shape it. 

That’s the case for many of the startups we invest in and Capital One lives by this philosophy. 

Capital One revolutionized the credit card industry with data and technology, starting with our first customer in 1994. Three decades later, we are still founder-led and serve more than 100 million customers across a continuum.  

To make this all possible, Capital One embarked on a massive technology transformation, moving to the cloud. This involved rebuilding our tech stack and infrastructure and building a modern data ecosystem. We built an in-house organization of thousands of technologists to unlock new possibilities.

We recognized that investing in and working with startups was going to be key to our technology transformation and shaping the future. 

This led to the formation of Capital One Ventures, the strategic investing arm of Capital One. 

As a founder myself, tech startups provide insight into where the world is moving. And we’ve had the opportunity to fund more than 100 of them over the last decade.

How we invest in startups that drive innovation

Our investment thesis begins with the strategic imperatives of the business of Capital One. 

Generally speaking, we invest in leading-edge startups that are driving the future of data, technology and financial services. Ones that are solving real-world challenges at scale and creating capabilities that drive shared innovation—for our customers, for us and for startups.

Our investments help Capital One get a front row seat to study and access the next breakthrough, whether it's new innovative products and services or applications of generative AI. It also means that Capital One’s developers are equipped with the latest technology. 

Great entrepreneurs remember that the source of capital matters when they are raising money to grow their startup. For over a decade, our tech teams have partnered closely as developmental partners—offering feedback, pilots and real-world use cases that help shape product roadmaps and the future.

Our portfolio in action: startup partnerships that scale

Capital One Ventures is about progress, and the impact of the way we approach corporate venture capital is tangible.

Powering a modern tech stack with startup solutions

Capital One is focused on building seamless customer experiences that make banking and commerce simpler and easier—wherever those customers are, digital or in-person. Like many cloud-first organizations, our data volume continues to expand. We invested in and now use Observe, which connects logs, metrics, traces and events for full-stack observability. We invested in Databricks, which provides foundational infrastructure for Capital One’s AI/ML and data operations.

Fueling innovative, digital products with accessibility in mind

Capital One is committed to providing accessible products and services, and believes in financial independence for everyone. We invested in Evinced, which uses AI to identify and address accessibility issues early in the software development cycle—helping to build user-friendly customer experiences from the ground up.

Extending the frontier of AI with emerging startups

Our venture philosophy also extends to what we call horizon opportunities, especially as AI takes hold. We invested in Glean, which supercharges enterprise search, unlocking generative AI productivity by connecting teams to knowledge faster. We are one of the investors in GetReal as it tackles the growing threat of deepfakes and malicious AI content. 

Tech isn't just an enabler of our business—it is our business. Strategic investing in tech startups is a vital piece of delivering innovative products and services, including those that can harness the power of AI.

Learn more about Capital One Ventures.

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