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David C. Schwab

David C. Schwab

Founding Managing Director atVertical Venture PartnersPalo Alto & San Diego
LinkedIn Vertical Venture Partners websiteFirm profile

David C. Schwab is the founding managing director of Vertical Venture Partners, which he founded in 2014 to invest in industry-specific software solutions. He has an engineering and sales background, including co-founding Scopus Technology.

What David can write

Writes checks of$250K to $10M
Comes in atSeed, Series ACan lead the round
Best routeA short note on LinkedInA warm intro from a founder they backed works better.

Vertical Venture Partners writes $250K to $10M checks, larger than 33% of firms in the atlas.

Bars: how many firms report each check band. Highlighted: Vertical Venture Partners.

Career

  1. Lockheed · engineering and engineering management positions
  2. Sun Microsystems · sales job
  3. Scopus Technology
  4. Sierra Ventures · venture career
  5. Vertical Venture Partners · Founding Managing Director
    Now
  6. Scopus Technology
  7. Sierra Ventures

Companies founded

Scopus TechnologyVertical Venture Partners

Focus

enterprise softwareindustry-specific softwareventure capitalCRM

Education

Harvard Business School, MBAStanford University, ENG & MS (AEROSPACE)UC San Diego, BA (SYSTEMS SCIENCE)

Before you pitch

Vertical Venture Partners does not invest inWe do not invest in anything B2C. We do not invest in companies with business models that are capital-intensive and/or require many years of development to bring a product to market.

Also at Vertical Venture Partners

Brad Corona
Brad CoronaManaging Director
Matt Schwab
Matt SchwabSenior Associate

Partners like David

At firms with a similar stage, sector and check size.

Clara BrennerManaging Partner, Urban Innovation Fund
Blair Garrou
Blair GarrouManaging Partner, Mercury Fund
Nick MoranGeneral Partner, New Stack Ventures
Josh LumerSenior Principal, Allstate Strategic Ventures
Alex Kamenetskiy
Alex KamenetskiyManaging General Partner and Head of MRV, Munich Re Ventures
Brendon DurkinManaging Director, Koch Disruptive Technologies

Alert me when Vertical Venture Partners is active

One email when David's firm raises a fund, adds a partner or shows new activity.

Founders and investors at a Mode VC gathering

Send Mode VC your deck

Raising a pre-seed or seed round? We write $1M to $5M first checks and help founders with distribution. A partner reads every deck.

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Questions

Who is David C. Schwab?

David C. Schwab is the founding managing director of Vertical Venture Partners, which he founded in 2014 to invest in industry-specific software solutions. He has an engineering and sales background, including co-founding Scopus Technology.

How much does David C. Schwab invest?

David C. Schwab invests through Vertical Venture Partners, which writes checks of $250K to $10M at seed, series a.

How do I pitch David C. Schwab?

A warm intro from a founder Vertical Venture Partners backed works best. A short LinkedIn note with one line on traction is the next best route.

What did David C. Schwab do before Vertical Venture Partners?

engineering and engineering management positions at Lockheed; sales job at Sun Microsystems; Scopus Technology; venture career at Sierra Ventures; Scopus Technology; Sierra Ventures.

Last updated 2026-10-15. Is this you? Ask for a correction.