Vermilion Cliffs Ventures
Status
ACTIVE
Global HQ
New York, United States
Countries of investment
- United States
Investment stages
- Pre-Seed
- Seed
Industries
- Artificial Intelligence
- Developer Tools
- Infrastructure
- Cybersecurity
- Enterprise Software
- Data
- Machine Learning
- Security
About
Vermilion Cliffs Ventures is a New York-based venture capital firm focused on backing technical founders building developer-led companies. Their focus spans AI, developer tools, infrastructure, cybersecurity, and enterprise software across the United States. The firm supports developer tool founders from pre-seed through seed stages.
Vermilion Cliffs Ventures is a New York-based venture capital firm focused on backing technical founders building developer-led companies. Their focus spans AI, developer tools, infrastructure, cybersecurity, and enterprise software across the United States. The firm supports developer tool founders from pre-seed through seed stages.
Investment Thesis
Vermilion Cliffs Ventures is a pre-seed and seed stage venture capital firm deploying capital across AI, developer tools, infrastructure, cybersecurity, and enterprise software sectors. They invest $200K to $500K first checks in technical founders building category-defining products for developer-led ecosystems, providing hands-on go-to-market and product-led growth support. The firm differentiates itself through founder Ashley Smith's operator experience scaling GTM at Twilio, Parse, GitHub, and GitLab, offering practical support beyond capital.
Manager's Experience
Founded in May 2023 by Ashley Smith (Founder and General Partner), operator turned investor with GTM exits at Twilio, Parse, Facebook, GitLab, and GitHub. Meghan Murphy serves as Chief of Staff and Head of Platform, specializing in helping early-stage technical teams with launch strategy and early GTM execution. Solo GP fund with a small team, backed by notable LPs including Screendoor and Sapphire Ventures. Debut fund launched with $13M in February 2025. The firm operates from New York City (228 Park Ave S) with connections to Salt Lake City. Portfolio of 38 companies including 7 successful exits (Graphite acquired by Cursor, Sequin acquired by Notion, Keycard, and others). Ashley Smith's operating background includes scaling go-to-market strategies at some of the most successful developer companies of the last decade, providing portfolio companies with practical help on go-to-market strategy, first marketing lead hiring, launch posts, and turning early customers into champions.
Vermilion Cliffs Ventures Contacts Information
Primary contact
Team
Ashley Smith - Founder & General Partner
Meghan Murphy - Chief of Staff & Head of Platform
Portfolio
Catio
CopilotKit
Cognee
Confident AI
Atomic Software
Lemma
Wallfacer
Anchor.dev
Graphite
Sequin
Keycard
Probably