Capital F Research
Investment Thesis
Capital F is a San Francisco-based early-stage venture capital firm investing in technology for the $15 Trillion female economy. Founded by GPs Dawn Dobras and Margaret Coblentz—two veteran C-level digital operators—Capital F backs top founders building in three core verticals: Health, AI, and Digital Commerce. Their thesis is that a massive, underfunded market exists at the intersection of technology and products and services that shape women's lives, and that operator-led investors are best positioned to support founders in this space.
Capital F describes itself as "operators who invest, not VCs," capitalizing on a combined 50 years of C-level operating experience. The fund writes "catalytic checks" into tech solutions for the female economy, prioritizing B2B SaaS and B2C technology companies. They explicitly target overlooked problems and under-innovated industries, seeking founders with a passionate, unique vantage point and a distinctive superpower enabling them to solve that problem.
Stage Focus
Capital F invests at Pre-Seed and Seed stage, with selective follow-on capacity into Series A for existing portfolio companies. They emphasize being the first institutional money in and writing catalytic, conviction-driven checks rather than participating in crowded rounds.
Check Size
- Minimum: $100,000
- Maximum: $2,000,000
- Typical check: $100K–$2M range, with pre-seed checks likely in the $100K–$500K range and seed checks up to $2M
Fund I is a $30M pre-seed/seed fund currently warehousing 8 of their best investments. The fund is anchored by Russ Carson of Welsh Carson, with notable LPs including Jenny Ming and Anthony Soohoo. Track record: 1.6 MOIC, 34% IRR on $1.4M invested over 4 years (as of 2024 data).
Lead Tendency
Capital F leads rounds. They led Heatseeker AI's $1.5M pre-seed round in May 2025 (with Euphemia, Even Capital, and East End as co-investors). They are positioned as a first-check, catalytic capital provider, writing the initial check and helping founders hone their story, pitch decks, and go-to-market strategy.
Geographic Focus
Capital F invests in US-based businesses exclusively (as per their investment criteria). Their team is based in the San Francisco Bay Area (Margaret Coblentz in San Francisco; Dawn Dobras in Mill Valley). One exception: Heatseeker AI is an Australian company—suggesting they will make selective international investments.
Sector Focus
Capital F invests across three broad buckets aligned with the female economy:
- Digital Commerce & AI — B2B SaaS and B2C e-commerce tools, AI-powered commerce (Aimerce AI, Heatseeker AI, Big Sur AI, Archive, Atelier, Brandefy, Pockyt, To the Market, Workstream)
- Digital Health — Women's health, mental health, sleep, fertility, longevity (Hey Jane, Stellar Sleep, Xella Health, Rezilient, WTHN, Oscar AI, Penguin)
- Future of Work / Digital Workplace — Productivity, HR, talent (Mentra, Portex, Early Day)
- Consumer & Lifestyle — Sustainable fashion, apparel, community (Everywhere, Hue, Super Circle, The Cool Down, Stardust)
They explicitly exclude fossil fuels, tobacco, and firearms from their portfolio.
Recent Activity
- May 2025: Led $1.5M pre-seed round in Heatseeker AI (AI-powered market research, Australia) — oversubscribed
- March 2024: Participated in Big Sur AI $6.9M Seed round alongside Lightspeed Venture Partners
- February 2025: Re-invested in Archive (resale platform, previous portfolio)
- Currently deploying Fund I ($30M), which appears to be in active fundraising/deployment mode
Portfolio Highlights
Capital F Fund I Portfolio (active):
- Aimerce AI (aimerce.ai) — AI-powered commerce personalization
- Big Sur AI (bigsur.ai) — AI shopping assistant; seed co-invested with Lightspeed
- Fram (framenergy.com) — Energy/climate
- Heatseeker AI (heatseeker.ai) — AI market research; May 2025 pre-seed, Capital F led
- Hey Jane (heyjane.com) — Women's reproductive healthcare
- Stardust (stardust.app) — Period tracking / women's health app
- Stellar Sleep (stellarsleep.com) — CBT-I sleep app
- Xella Health (joinxella.com) — Fertility/hormonal health
Previous Investments:
- Archive, Atelier, Brandefy, The Cool Down, Early Day (acquired), Everywhere, Hue, Mentra, Oscar AI, Penguin, Pockyt, Portex, Rezilient, Super Circle, To the Market, WTHN, Workstream.io
Team
Dawn Dobras — General Partner 30+ years as a C-level executive, consumer operator, and board member. Most recently CEO of Credo Beauty, named "World's Most Innovative Beauty Company" by Fast Company. Harvard Business School MBA. Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Harvard Business School. Portfolio is 90% female-founded and 60% POC-founded. Third-generation entrepreneur.
Margaret Coblentz — General Partner Investor and advisor for 20+ early-stage companies. Founded and scaled DTC brand Frances Austen (through acquisition). Stanford Business School alumna. Known for hands-on portfolio support: honing founder stories, crafting pitch decks, writing first checks. Based in San Francisco.
Decision Process
Capital F is a two-GP partnership (Dawn Dobras and Margaret Coblentz). Decisions are made collaboratively between the two GPs. They are known for a hands-on, high-touch approach with founders from early stages.
Founder Preferences
Capital F looks for:
- Passionate founders with a unique vantage point on overlooked problems
- A "superpower" that specifically enables solving the problem at hand
- Ambitious, imaginative, kind people
- US-based businesses (primarily)
- Digital visionaries in health, AI, and commerce sectors
- Female founders and underrepresented founders are prioritized (90% female, 60% POC portfolio)
Anti-Thesis
Capital F explicitly excludes:
- Fossil fuels, tobacco, firearms
- Non-tech businesses
- Companies outside the female economy thesis