Unusual Ventures
About Unusual Ventures
Unusual Ventures was started in 2018 by co-founders John Vrionis and Jyoti Bansal. Vrionis joined from a partner role at Lightspeed Venture Partners. Bansal founded AppDynamics and later co-founded Harness and Traceable AI. The firm's debut fund focused on seed investments in enterprise software and infrastructure. The same year, the firm launched Unusual Academy, a startup education and accelerator program. PitchBook lists Fund II at $400M (2019 vintage, closed) and Fund III at $485M (2024 vintage, closed), both managed by the firm from Menlo Park.
PitchBook says the firm prefers artificial intelligence, fintech, cybersecurity and infrastructure. Wikipedia describes its early-stage focus as enterprise software startups, particularly those using AI. On the Lounge deals desk, the firm led a $6.3M seed round for Miravoice in April 2026. Dream Labs raised a $90M seed round in October 2026, and Oliver AI raised a pre-seed round in August 2026 with the amount undisclosed.
Public sources describe Unusual Ventures as a seed-stage investor. Check sizes are not published in the sources reviewed, so none are listed.
- Dream Labs: seed round of $90M, October 2026 (Lounge deals desk)
- Oliver AI: pre-seed round, amount undisclosed, August 2026 (Lounge deals desk)
- Miravoice: seed round of $6.3M led by the firm, April 2026 (Lounge deals desk)
- Sway AI: Fund II investment with a July 2022 deal date per PitchBook; business description not confirmed
- Connectly: Fund II investment listed by PitchBook; business description not confirmed
- Collate: Fund III investment listed by PitchBook; business description not confirmed
Investing activity
Unusual Ventures has made 172 investments according to Crunchbase across 118 portfolio companies, and has led 49 rounds and seen 24 exits, 1 of them by IPO.
Unusual Ventures appears in 3 AI deals tracked by the AI Lounge deals desk, rounds totalling $90M, and led 1 of them. The rounds are mostly Seed and Pre-seed, with a median round size of $90M. The most recent are Dream Labs (Seed, $90M, Oct 2026), Oliver AI (Pre-seed, Aug 2026) and Miravoice (Seed, $6.3M, Apr 2026).
Unusual Ventures most often invests alongside B Capital, Kindred Ventures, Scribble VC and SV Angel, and the companies it backs on AI Lounge are mostly in AI and Robotics foundation models.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Unusual Ventures
What AI companies has Unusual Ventures backed?
Recent AI rounds on the Lounge deals desk include Miravoice, Oliver AI and Dream Labs, all dated 2026. Earlier portfolio names listed by PitchBook include Sway AI, Connectly and Collate.
Who founded Unusual Ventures?
Unusual Ventures was founded in 2018 by John Vrionis and Jyoti Bansal. Vrionis previously was a partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Bansal founded AppDynamics.
How large are Unusual Ventures' funds?
PitchBook lists Fund II at $400M with a 2019 vintage and Fund III at $485M with a 2024 vintage. Both are shown as closed.
What stage does Unusual Ventures invest in?
Public sources describe the firm as a seed-stage investor focused on early-stage enterprise software. The firm's check sizes are not public.
Where is Unusual Ventures based?
The firm is headquartered in Menlo Park, California. Its website is unusual.vc.
What AI companies has Unusual Ventures invested in?
Unusual Ventures's AI investments include Dream Labs, Oliver AI and Miravoice. The 3 rounds on AI Lounge are listed on this page with amounts, dates and co-investors.
What stage does Unusual Ventures invest at?
In the rounds tracked on AI Lounge, Unusual Ventures has invested at Seed and Pre-seed, with a median round of $90M. Unusual Ventures led 1 of those rounds.
Who does Unusual Ventures co-invest with?
Unusual Ventures's most frequent co-investors on AI Lounge are B Capital (1 deal), Kindred Ventures (1 deal), Scribble VC (1 deal), SV Angel (1 deal) and A Capital (1 deal).
How can founders reach Unusual Ventures?
Founders on AI Lounge can see Unusual Ventures'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 Unusual Ventures to their Investor Pipeline to track the conversation.