Shine Capital
About Shine Capital
Shine Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2020 and based in New York City, with a secondary office in San Francisco. The firm focuses on partnering with innovative entrepreneurs to build impactful businesses, primarily investing in seed and Series A rounds. Shine Capital manages approximately $575 million across three early-stage funds and one opportunities fund, with a commitment to identifying unique opportunities in emerging markets.
The firm invests in a diverse range of sectors, including AI, fintech, healthcare, crypto, consumer tech, and enterprise software. Shine
Shine Capital was founded in 2020 by Mo Koyfman, a former general partner at Spark Capital who led investments in Plaid and Warby Parker. Public team listings name Alex Hartz and Ethan Daly as general partners, and Amanda Niu as general partner and CFO. Daly was promoted to general partner in September 2025. Elie Seidman, a former Tinder CEO, is listed as a venture partner. Third-party databases give different totals for capital raised, so check the firm's own materials for current fund figures. One aggregator lists a $100 million opportunities fund, Shine Opportunities I.
Shine describes itself as a generalist firm, and AI is one of several areas it backs. Its recent AI deals lean toward robotics and applied AI for operations. In October 2026 it co-led the $12.2M seed round for SafeWorld, a Palo Alto robot safety simulation company, alongside a16z Speedrun. Alex Hartz said in the announcement that safety needs to become a continuous layer as more physical work is automated. In 2025 it co-led Octup's $12M seed round, for an AI operations platform for third-party logistics providers, and co-led Orchard Robotics' $22M Series A with Quiet Capital. In 2026 it also led a $4.1M seed round in Denki and took part in seed rounds for Walden Robotics and MOTHER.tech. It often invests alongside BoxGroup and a16z.
Shine invests from pre-seed to Series A and can lead rounds. Third-party profiles (VCSheet, F4) give a typical check of $1M to $10M. NFX Signal lists a $1M to $7M range for several partners, with a $5M sweet spot. One directory reports a target ownership of 7 to 10 percent. Shine has not published these figures itself, so treat them as estimates. It also invests in the US, Europe and Israel.
- SafeWorld: robot safety simulation software; $12.2M seed in October 2026, co-led with a16z Speedrun.
- Denki: seed round of $4.1M in March 2026, led by Shine.
- MOTHER.tech: seed round of $15M in 2026.
- Walden Robotics: seed round in July 2026, with Shine participating.
- Orchard Robotics: AI farming company; $22M Series A in September 2025, co-led with Quiet Capital.
- Octup: AI operations platform for 3PL logistics; $12M seed in July 2025, co-led with JAL Ventures.
- roboticstomorrow.com/news/2026/10/05/introducing-safeworld-an-ai-lab-b
- techcrunch.com/2026/10/05/can-safeworld-convince-people-that-gen-ai-ro
- f4.fund/firms/shine-capital
- vcsheet.com/fund/shine-capital
- signal.nfx.com/firms/shine-capital
- o.parsers.vc/fund/shine.vc
- findfunding.vc/shine-capital
- superscout.co/investor/shine-capital
Investing activity
Shine Capital appears in 4 AI deals tracked by the AI Lounge deals desk, rounds totalling $327M, and led 2 of them. The rounds are mostly Seed, with a median round size of $15M and the largest at $300M. The most recent are SafeWorld (Seed, $12.2M, Oct 2026), Walden Robotics (Seed, $300M, Jul 2026) and MOTHER.tech (Seed, $15M, Jun 2026).
Shine Capital most often invests alongside a16z Speedrun, Zelda Ventures, Alpha Square Group and Brave Capital, and the companies it backs on AI Lounge are mostly in AI and Robotics safety / simulation.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Shine Capital
Does Shine Capital invest in AI startups?
Yes. AI is one of its stated focus areas, and recent deals include SafeWorld, Orchard Robotics, Octup and Denki.
What check size does Shine Capital write?
Third-party profiles list $1M to $10M, and NFX Signal lists $1M to $7M for several partners. Shine has not published a check size itself.
What stage does Shine Capital invest in?
Mainly seed and Series A. Some profiles also list pre-seed, and the firm can lead rounds.
Who founded Shine Capital?
Mo Koyfman founded the firm in 2020. He was previously a general partner at Spark Capital.
Who should AI founders contact at Shine Capital?
Alex Hartz, a general partner, was quoted on the SafeWorld deal. Ethan Daly, also a general partner, is another listed investor. Check the firm's site or LinkedIn for current contacts.
What AI companies has Shine Capital invested in?
Shine Capital's AI investments include SafeWorld, Walden Robotics, MOTHER.tech and Denki. The 4 rounds on AI Lounge are listed on this page with amounts, dates and co-investors.
Where is Shine Capital based?
Shine Capital is based in New York, New York, United States.
What stage does Shine Capital invest at?
In the rounds tracked on AI Lounge, Shine Capital has invested at Seed, with a median round of $15M. Shine Capital led 2 of those rounds.
Who does Shine Capital co-invest with?
Shine Capital's most frequent co-investors on AI Lounge are a16z Speedrun (1 deal), Zelda Ventures (1 deal), Alpha Square Group (1 deal), Brave Capital (1 deal) and SV Angel (1 deal).
How can founders reach Shine Capital?
Founders on AI Lounge can see Shine Capital's contact details in AI Investor Contacts (paid plans), check for a warm introduction through members who worked with the firm under Warm Paths, and add Shine Capital to their Investor Pipeline to track the conversation.