We are BULLISH on India

Pienza Ventures is a Seattle-based early-stage venture fund, founded by Aaron Bird, backed by Version One Capital, MHS Ventures and Cercano Management.

We are BULLISH on India.

We believe the next two decades will see the rise of the Indian startup ecosystem to become one of the best in the world. We want to help build that dream.

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Accelerated Access to the best in the game

The ONE thing smart founders need to win – Access. We accelerate your access to the market through our world-class mentor panel. 
  • Show all
  • Engineering
  • Fundraise
  • GTM
  • Product Led Growth
  • Sales Led Growth
  • Product
  • Strategy
Mike Weir - Pienza Mentor

Mike Weir

string(29) "Fmr Chief Revenue Officer, G2"
Fmr Chief Revenue Officer, G2
Rajan Patel, Pienza Mentor

Rajan Patel

string(43) "Vice President of Search Experience, Google"
Vice President of Search Experience, Google

Brewster Stanislaw

string(35) "Chief Product Officer at Demandbase"
Chief Product Officer at Demandbase
Rob Ray - Pienza Mentor

Rob Ray

string(60) "Strategic Advisor, fmr CEO and Head of B2B Marketing, Merkle"
Strategic Advisor, fmr CEO and Head of B2B Marketing, Merkle
Boris Wertz

Boris Wertz

string(79) "Early-stage investor - Version One VC. Fmr Co-founder AbeBooks (sold to Amazon)"
Early-stage investor - Version One VC. Fmr Co-founder AbeBooks (sold to Amazon)
Arjun Pillai, Pienza Mentor

Arjun Pillai

string(60) "fmr Chief Data Officer, ZoomInfo (Nasdaq: ZI) | CEO, Docket "
fmr Chief Data Officer, ZoomInfo (Nasdaq: ZI) | CEO, Docket
Mark Sugarman - Pienza Mentor

Mark Sugarman

string(29) "Founding Partner, MHS Capital"
Founding Partner, MHS Capital

Designed for Indian SaaS Startups

A program designed to help Indian founders scale their US GTM journey.

Indian startups need access to mentors and early customers, super fast validation, and local immersion. We provide just that. 

Accelerated Market Access

We accelerate your access to mentors, design partners and early customers through the Pienza network of mentors.

Strategic Guidance

GTM strategy, hiring, expanding in the US - We provide tailor-made strategic guidance to set up your US GTM. No generic sessions. Just focused guidance.

Offline US immersion

A trip to the US where we line up conversations, customer intros and close circle events for you to help accelerate your US market familiarity.

Hyper-focused and personalised

Each startup, product and market segment is different. We offer one-to-one support and unlock just the opportunities that you need.

Apply to Pienza

Portfolio

We invest in entrepreneurs with grand dreams.

Direct Investments

Investments through other funds

A Team for the Win

A perfect blend of US market knowledge and Indian ecosystem exposure
Aaron Bord - Pienza Ventures

Aaron Bird

Founding Partner

Founder and CEO, Inflection. Formerly the founder and CEO of Bizible (acq Marketo), SVP of Product @ Marketo and VP of Product at Adobe. Active angel investor with 70+ investments.

Jofin Joseph - Pienza Ventures

Jofin Joseph

Partner

Two-time founder. Built Profoundis, in the early days of Global SaaS from India, sold to FullContact. Angel investor, active ecosystem player and true believer of Indian startups.

FAQs

What is the Pienza accelerator program?

Pienza accelerator program helps growth stage companies to accelerate their US market access. We do it though focused mentorship, reviews, connects to world-class mentors and potential customers (see our mentor panel here), and an offline US market immersion. 100% of the focus of the program will be to help Indian founders get familiarised with US GTM.

What happens during the program?

The Pienza accelerator program will be a 4-month intense and focused market access program. There will be the following components.

  • Office Hours – Weekly 30-minute sessions with Pienza partners to discuss progress, identify new opportunities, and discuss and prioritize code needs. These will be one-to-one, hyper-focused sessions to understand and help you in exactly the areas you need help.
  • Mentor Connects – Based on your stage, focus and needs, the Pienza partners do matchmaking with the mentors in our panel and the ones we can find from our network. We do the work of scouting for new mentors or potential early customers and partners. We respect your time and the mentors’ time. There will not be random, out-of-context connects, but very contextual relevant ones only.
  • Work jam sessions – For specific, tactical activities in your execution, Pienza partners will work hand-in-hand with you to help you on the ground. This will be an ad-hoc, need-based exercise.
  • US offline immersion – During the course of your program, we plan a 2-week trip to the US where we give you direct introductions to the industry leaders, host micro-events, lunches etc to help you with market access and give you a real feel of how GTM works in the US.

Is there a program fee?

There is no program fee. We work on an advisory equity model, with an equity-back guarantee.

Does Pienza commit investment in all startups in the program?

We do not. You have an opportunity to be considered for investment by Pienza or Pienza’s partner funds, but funding is not committed with the selection into the program.

Do I have to be in Bangalore (or any other location) for the program?

No. You are welcome from anywhere in India. The program will predominantly be handled remotely.

However, we will have a US immersion program where you will be expected to travel to the US and we might have occasional in-person meetups in Bangalore or other Indian cities where you would be expected to be present.

Who can apply to Pienza?

If you have a B2B SaaS or AI product with at least 5 paying customers in the US and/or $500K in annual recurring revenue, you are a right fit.

Apply to Pienza

We help you scale your US GTM.

Are you a startup with at least 5 paying customers? Or do you have $500K in ARR? Let’s talk.