Sterling Road
Sterling Road is a venture capital firm based in San Francisco, California, specializing in pre-seed and idea-stage investments. Founded in 2017 by Ash Rust, the firm adopts a "founder-first" investment model, focusing on coaching and strategic guidance for B2B startups before providing capital. Sterling Road primarily targets companies in the USA, Canada, and the UK, working closely with founders to refine their business strategies and prepare for fundraising. The firm offers investment tiers of up to $150,000 for idea-stage companies and up to $250,000 for pre-seed investments, with potenti
Investing activity
Sterling Road appears in 1 AI deal tracked by the AI Lounge deals desk. The rounds are mostly Seed, with a median round size of $6M. The most recent is Lightsprint (Seed, $6.1M, Oct 2026).
Sterling Road most often invests alongside 645 Ventures, Eli Brown, FJOR and Rebel Fund, and the companies it backs on AI Lounge are mostly in AI.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Sterling Road
What AI companies has Sterling Road invested in?
Sterling Road's AI investments include Lightsprint. The 1 round on AI Lounge are listed on this page with amounts, dates and co-investors.
Where is Sterling Road based?
Sterling Road is based in San Francisco, California, United States.
What stage does Sterling Road invest at?
In the rounds tracked on AI Lounge, Sterling Road has invested at Seed, with a median round of $6M.
Who does Sterling Road co-invest with?
Sterling Road's most frequent co-investors on AI Lounge are 645 Ventures (1 deal), Eli Brown (1 deal), FJOR (1 deal), Rebel Fund (1 deal) and Kasra Nejatian (1 deal).
How can founders reach Sterling Road?
Founders on AI Lounge can see Sterling Road'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 Sterling Road to their Investor Pipeline to track the conversation.