Investor profile
Derive Ventures
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Derive Ventures is an early-stage venture fund investing in the next generation of hospitality, experiences, and real estate. Its mission is to bridge the gap between technology and travel by supporting entrepreneurs shaping the future. The firm targets investments in companies raising capital in core travel sectors as well as sectors tangential to travel with innovative business concepts, ideas, and technology — providing portfolio companies with connections to decision-makers across the travel industry to drive sales and partnerships, while deriving insights and best practices from all industries to advance the sector. Founded in 2021 as a spin-out drawing on Thayer Ventures and KSL Capital Partners heritage, Derive focuses on the seed-to-Series A white space in travel venture. With over $45 million in AUM across Fund I ($21M committed fund capital plus $21M direct investment capital), the firm backs software, hospitality, and real estate technology companies primarily in the United States. In September 2024, Derive merged its management with Thayer Ventures to form Thayer Investment Partners (TIP), combining the two most active early-stage travel and hospitality investors.
Notable quotes
“Tyler with Thayer had moved a little later stage and that kind of left a white space in the earlier stage side of travel venture, the seed to series A stage. That gave us the opportunity to spin off and attack that category and take best practices from each.”
“We are thrilled to team up with Thayer Ventures to launch Thayer Investment Partners. The combined platform will bring an unmatched level of investing experience and strategic support to advance innovation in the travel industry. It will also reinforce our differentiated sector focused approach to producing best-in-class returns and providing the highest level of service to our industry partners.”
“Thayer and Derive are already the leading early-stage investors in travel and hospitality, together we are best positioned to capitalize on the next wave of innovation and leverage an expanded team to deliver maximum value to our industry partners. We are set to tackle a new era of innovation in travel, which includes the transformative development of AI, a radically rethought and reimagined booking funnel and the need to break down silos that continue to hold back progress toward seamless customer journeys.”
Recent investments
| Company | Round | Size | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vend Park | Series A | — | 2025-11 |
| Guidesly | Series A | $10m | 2025-01 |
| Cents | Series B | — | 2024-08 |
| Topkey | Seed | $5m | 2023-07 |
| Operto | Series B | — | 2023-03 |
| Mews | Series C | $185m | 2022-12 |
| MarginEdge | Series C | $45m | 2022-12 |
| Bilt Rewards | Series B | — | — |
| Life House | Series C | $60m | — |
| Canary Technologies | Series B | — | — |
Frequent co-investors
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