by Dr. Gopi Sundaramurthy
We find startup teams using a novel, data-driven approach.
In the early days of venture capital, deal sourcing was simple. The Bay Area’s Sand Hill Road was the epicenter of startup activity, and investors there had a natural advantage: proximity. Nearly every startup seeking funding came to them. But the world has changed. Over the past two decades, the startup ecosystem has exploded in scale and geography. Today, there are over 100,000 startup financings annually worldwide, with talent hubs and innovation stretching far beyond Silicon Valley. The result? An unprecedented challenge for investors: finding the best teams in an increasingly vast and dispersed market.
At Ensemble, we’ve built a solution. Recognizing that no single investor can meet every startup team or analyze every opportunity, we’ve created the world’s leading data science platform for startup team analysis. Every day, a wealth of data points is generated as startup talent interacts—through investments, job changes, promotions, and more. Our platform leverages these data points to build sophisticated network graphs and identify both quantitative and qualitative insights around the factors that lead to success. Using vast quantities of data, we draw empirical insights that enable us to find exceptional teams no matter where they are. It sounds like magic, but it works.
This approach redefines what’s possible in venture capital. Historically, the investors with the strongest networks and the best Rolodexes had an edge. Ensemble’s platform re-establishes that edge—but at scale and with precision. We qualify a dramatically larger pool of opportunities than any traditional sourcing method, ensuring we never miss out on transformative ideas. And by automating much of the legwork, we free up our team’s time to focus on what matters most: deep diligence and providing value to our portfolio companies.
In a world where no investor can claim to have “met all the teams,” Ensemble’s data-driven platform ensures that we’re meeting the right ones. We’ve replaced the geographical and social edge of Sand Hill Road with a technological edge, enabling us to find and back the best startups, wherever they are building. This is how we invest in the future.
Conrad Shang joins 'Venture with Grace' podcast to talk AI, Deep Tech, Healthcare, and the future of VC
In a recent interview with Grace Gong, Ensemble founding partner Conrad Shang explains how the firm’s AI-native infrastructure and software-first approach give it a competitive edge in winning deals and supporting founders. He highlights Ensemble’s long-term conviction in data-driven venture—built before it was fashionable—and how their proprietary tools like GTM 2.0 turn vague promises into tangible results. At its core, Ensemble believes that while data guides attention, it’s the people you surround yourself with who drive outcomes.
WATCH: Collin West talks next-gen VC on the VC10X podcast with Prashant Choubey
In his recent appearance on the VC10X Podcast, Ensemble founder Collin West laid out the art of data-driven venture and the future of the industry. As we've said many times before, there's a lot more to our approach than just collecting data. Over the last decade, Ensemble has been at the forefront of developing the processes integral to converting data insights into actionable, outbound strategies.
From Brains to Nervous Systems: The Agentic Revolution in AI Infrastructure
In the second installment of Lilly’s series on AI infrastructure, we explore why Agentic AI is more than a passing trend. As organizations move beyond basic LLMs, autonomous agents are emerging as the key to real-world impact—driving action, orchestration, and results. Learn how this shift is reshaping the AI stack from the ground up.
Press Release: Ensemble VC “Unity” launch
Ensemble VC launches Unity, a first-of-its-kind AI platform to derisk venture capital investing by ranking startup teams with hundreds of objective data points. Already in use by Draper Associates, Boost, Overmatch, and Wilson Sonsini, Unity empowers VCs to source, select, and support high-potential startups with precision across sectors like SaaS, AI, defense tech, and space.
Welcome to the team, Hannah Vu!
We’re excited to welcome Hannah Vu to Ensemble VC as a Data Engineer, where she’ll help scale the back-end infrastructure that powers Unity, Ensemble's proprietary data platform.
Rare Earth Elements: The Next Big Thing Is Buried
In a world obsessed with software, the next decacorn might come from a mine. With China controlling 90% of rare earth processing, a new industrial frontier is opening for founders to rebuild the backbone of modern technology—starting with the ground beneath our feet.
