MoonShot
Technology Focus Areas (Top 4): Robotics; Aerospace; Advanced Manufacturing; Space & Satellite
Series: Seed & A
Location: Austin TX
Moonshots Capital: Complete History and Overview
The Founding Story
Moonshots Capital started with a pretty compelling origin story. Back in 2017, two West Point graduates and military veterans – Kelly Perdew and Craig Cummings – decided to formalize what they'd been doing as angel investors since 2014. Based between Austin, Texas and Los Angeles, California, these guys had a clear vision: back startups led by extraordinary leaders, particularly U.S. military veterans and battle-tested repeat founders.
The firm's tagline says it all: "investing in extraordinary leadership." They're not just throwing money at companies and hoping for the best. Instead, they leverage their military and entrepreneurial backgrounds to actively help portfolio companies grow. It's a hands-on approach that goes way beyond typical VC involvement.
What makes them different is their focus. About 70% of their deals go to veteran-founded companies or founders with similar leadership traits forged through "trial-by-fire" experiences. They're industry-agnostic but tend to invest where they can create "unfair advantages" for founders – think dual-use defense tech, fintech, consumer internet, AI, and cybersecurity.
Funding
Moonshots' fundraising journey shows steady growth and evolution. They started as an angel syndicate in 2014 before moving to traditional VC funds.
The Angel Syndicate Days (2014-2017) Before launching formal funds, Perdew and Cummings pooled investments through a syndicate model. Their first deal was $150K in 2014, but they grew this approach significantly over three years. By 2017, they'd made 40+ syndicated investments totaling around $44 million, with individual checks ranging from $1.5M up to $11M for later-stage opportunities. This syndicate approach let them follow on in promising deals and even participate in later rounds alongside bigger VCs.
Fund I (2017) Their inaugural committed fund raised approximately $20 million. This was a seed-stage fund that invested in 14 companies, with typical check sizes of $500K to $800K. They focused on "late-seed" startups – companies that already had products in market, some revenue, and prior funding, where Moonshots could roll up their sleeves to help them scale.
The track record here is pretty impressive: as of mid-2021, 13 of the 14 Fund I companies were still operating, with one exit already realized. That's an exceptional survival rate that speaks to their selection process and hands-on support.
Fund II (2020) By 2021, they'd closed their second fund at $36 million – a significant step up. This larger fund enabled bigger checks, averaging $1.5-2M (about 50% larger than Fund I). Fund II targets early-stage tech companies from Seed to early Series A, and the team often leads deals. When they lead, they typically take board seats to actively support the startup.
Fund II check sizes range from about $600K up to $2.5M for the right opportunities, allowing them to co-lead $5M+ rounds with other investors. As of their last report, Fund II had invested in 13 companies.
Fund III (2022-Present) The latest fund launched in 2022 with a significantly larger target – reportedly around $100 million based on regulatory filings. As of late 2023, Kelly Perdew confirmed they're "in the process of deploying Fund III."
One notable early Fund III investment was Outpost, a space-tech startup building returnable satellites, which Moonshots led in 2022 as their first space-sector bet. This Fund III enables even larger check sizes and follow-on investments to support portfolio companies through Series A and beyond.
The Numbers Across all their funds, Moonshots' estimated total assets under management exceeds $50 million from Funds I and II alone, plus additional capital in syndicates and Fund III. They typically make 8-12 investments per year, focusing on U.S.-based startups, especially in Texas and California where they have physical presence.
The Team
The founding duo brings complementary skills that make this partnership work.
Kelly Perdew – Co-Founder & Managing General Partner Kelly's the public face of Moonshots and brings a fascinating background. He's an Army veteran and West Point graduate who served as an Army Intelligence Officer with elite training (Airborne Ranger). After military service, he earned a joint JD/MBA from UCLA.
But here's where it gets interesting – Kelly first gained national fame by winning Season 2 of NBC's "The Apprentice" in 2005. Donald Trump even wrote the foreword to Kelly's subsequent leadership book. After his TV moment, he became a serial entrepreneur and started angel investing in 2004.
Kelly's investing track record is impressive: he's backed over 110 early-stage companies, with 27 exits and around a dozen unicorns among those investments. He was an early investor in notable companies like LinkedIn, Pandora, TrueCar, Ustream, Bitium, and ID.me – many of which had successful exits.
At Moonshots, Kelly focuses on sourcing deals and mentoring founders. Portfolio CEOs consistently cite his hands-on guidance and vast network as major assets. He's also a nationally recognized speaker on leadership and entrepreneurship.
Craig Cummings – Co-Founder & General Partner Craig is Kelly's co-founding partner and fellow West Point alum. He served 17 years in the Army as a Major, including time as an Intelligence Officer supporting the NSA and a deployment to Afghanistan with JSOC, where he earned a Bronze Star.
After military service, Craig pursued academia (PhD in Political Science from Columbia University) and taught at West Point before jumping into entrepreneurship. He co-founded RideScout, a transportation tech startup, and as COO led it to a successful exit when Daimler/Mercedes-Benz acquired it in 2014.
Craig's been an active angel/VC investor since the mid-2010s, often focusing on veteran-led startups. He holds or has held board seats with companies like Cartwheel, Copper Labs, Shep (acquired by Flight Center), Zabo (acquired by Coinbase), and Threatcare (acquired by ReliaQuest).
Based in Austin, Craig spearheads Moonshots' Texas presence and deal flow. He's also involved in the local startup scene as Director of Military and Veteran Affairs at Austin's Capital Factory incubator. Inc. Magazine named him a Top 20 Military Veteran Entrepreneur.
The Supporting Cast Moonshots operates lean but effectively. Mike Bryan serves as VP of Finance & Operations, bringing accounting and CFO experience to manage the firm's finances. Farah Daou works as Principal on sourcing and diligence – she's an ex-investment banker and entrepreneur passionate about early-stage investing.
The firm also leverages a network of advisors and "Military Fellows" (often veterans on fellowship programs) who help with deal sourcing and due diligence. This extended team aligns with their focus on veteran leadership and provides additional expertise to support portfolio companies.
Media
For a relatively new VC firm, Moonshots has built a solid media presence through multiple channels.
Thought Leadership They run a Medium publication called "Leadership Prevails" where Kelly, Craig, and team members regularly write about venture investing, leadership, and portfolio news. This blog has hundreds of followers and serves as a platform for the GPs to share insights from their 30+ years combined experience as founders and investors.
Kelly wrote a particularly insightful piece when Moonshots reached 100 investments, detailing their journey from angel syndicates to multi-fund VC and lessons learned. Craig has written about new investments, like announcing their first space-tech deal in Fund III. The articles consistently highlight their philosophy about resilient leadership and military values in startups.
Press Coverage Their unique focus on veteran founders has attracted tech media attention. Crunchbase News profiled the firm's launch in 2018 when Fund I closed, highlighting their mission to invest in military veterans and the founders' belief that military training produces exceptional leaders.
In 2021, dot.LA interviewed Kelly about Fund II's raise, reporting the $36M fund size and their strategy of cutting larger checks for founders who have "been through the ringer." The article noted their impressive portfolio retention – all but one of the 14 startups from Fund I were still alive as of 2021, which is remarkable in the startup world.
Speaking Circuit Both co-founders are active speakers in the startup and veteran entrepreneurship space. Kelly's background as a TV personality-turned-VC often draws interest. He was featured on Zack Ellison's venture podcast in 2023 in an episode titled "From Star Apprentice to Leading Venture Capitalist," discussing his journey from winning The Apprentice to co-founding Moonshots.
Kelly also spoke on a panel about space industry investment at The Economist's Space Economy Summit 2024. Craig engages with media and events focused on military veterans in tech, particularly through Capital Factory's veteran startup events and national veteran business conferences.
Both partners maintain active social media presence on LinkedIn and Twitter, where they promote portfolio news and advocate for the veteran-led startup community.
Portfolio Success Stories
Moonshots' investment portfolio includes dozens of early-stage companies, and they're starting to see significant successes. Notable companies they've backed include Slack, LinkedIn, Carta, ID.me, Cart.com, Pacaso, Red 6, and TrueCar. Many have become industry leaders or reached substantial valuations.
According to their numbers, 13 of their invested companies have reached "unicorn" status and 27 have achieved successful exits across the partners' investing experience.
Early Wins One early exit from Fund I was Threatcare – a cybersecurity startup founded by a Navy veteran – which ReliaQuest acquired in 2019. Other exits include Shep (travel tech, acquired by Flight Centre), Zabo (crypto, acquired by Coinbase), RideScout (Craig's own startup, acquired by Daimler), Bitium (enterprise SaaS, acquired by Google), and Harvest.ai (AI cybersecurity, acquired by Amazon).
Several Moonshots-backed companies have raised substantial follow-on funding from larger VCs. For example, ID.me (which they've backed since seed stage) grew into a leading identity verification unicorn used by government and commercial entities. Pacaso (co-founded by Zillow's Spencer Rascoff) reached unicorn valuation within a year of launch.
The Hands-On Difference What really sets Moonshots apart is their hands-on support model. They often take board seats or formal advisory roles to actively assist founders. Both Kelly and Craig are operators-turned-investors who emphasize adding value beyond money – advising on strategy, hiring, business development, fundraising, and even day-to-day firefighting when needed.
Kelly has written about expanding his help to companies through "cap table restructuring, talent recruitment, business deal structuring, financing strategy and negotiations, go-to-market, sales development, and – perhaps most important – helping think through strategic decisions in good times and bad." Founders tell them this added value has been "critical to their success."
Founder Testimonials Multiple portfolio CEOs have publicly praised Moonshots' impact. Here are some standout examples:
Blake Hall, CEO of ID.me (an Army veteran founder), credits Moonshots as a "game-changing force" for his company. He notes that Craig was one of ID.me's earliest backers and Kelly joined the board as a mentor "from day one." According to Hall, he's "lost track of the number of high-value introductions they made and the amount of advice they provided on critical decisions." He even says "I don't view Kelly just as a board member or investor – he is an ID.me co-founder because he is an entrepreneur at heart."
Berenice Giannini, CEO of eTailPet, recounts how Moonshots led her startup's first funding round and instilled operational discipline early on. When COVID-19 hit and eTailPet experienced a customer surge that strained her small team, Kelly proactively lent one of Moonshots' associates to help at the startup for a few weeks. "That move was brilliant," Giannini says – the team member already knew the company well and could immediately lighten the load during a critical time. eTailPet went on to a successful exit to Quilt Pets in 2021.
Ali Golshan, CEO of Gretel.ai, describes Moonshots as "the best Seed investor I've ever worked with." He highlights that Kelly has been an "invaluable board member" and the Moonshots team contributes across all facets of building the company – "strategy, business development, financing, and recruiting."
Scott Kriz, founder of Bitium (acquired by Google), says Kelly "wrote the first check into Bitium and participated in every round." He calls Kelly an "extremely active board member" who added value "strategically and operationally," from helping recruit key talent to making countless business development introductions. Kriz notes that Kelly operates with "the passion and drive of a founder, not a typical investor."
The Philosophy in Action
These testimonials reveal a consistent theme: Moonshots Capital is highly founder-focused and actively engaged, almost to the point of being an extension of the startup team. Perdew often says that while Moonshots has a fiduciary duty to its limited partners, "at the end of the day, the founders are our true long-term customers" – meaning the firm's success hinges on building a strong reputation among entrepreneurs by helping them succeed.
This strategy appears to be paying off in both goodwill and performance. As more of their companies grow and exit, Moonshots is establishing a track record as a VC that not only picks promising startups but helps convert them into success stories through active mentorship, a powerful network (especially within veteran circles), and a dedication to "extraordinary leadership" as the driver of business outcomes.
The firm represents something unique in the VC world – a fund that successfully combines military leadership principles with startup investing, creating value through deep operational involvement rather than just capital deployment. Their focus on veteran founders isn't just about patriotism; it's based on the belief that military training produces leaders who can handle the chaos and uncertainty that comes with building a company from scratch.
With their third fund now deploying and a growing track record of successful exits, Moonshots Capital seems well-positioned to continue growing their influence in the veteran entrepreneur ecosystem while delivering returns that justify their hands-on approach.
