Early-stage venture capital
We invest early, and we invest with conviction.
512 Venture Partners is a founder-led firm making a small number of high-conviction investments in early-stage companies — and staying close to the ones we back.
About us
A small firm, on purpose.
512 Venture Partners is an early-stage venture firm run by Joel Trammell and Bart Davis. We write early checks into companies and founders we believe in, then stay close — offering the kind of direct, hands-on support that only a small and focused firm can.
We’d rather do a few things great than many things with mediocrity. That means fewer investments, deeper relationships, and partners who actually pick up the phone.
Team
Two partners.
Joel Trammell
Partner
A serial entrepreneur with three decades of building, scaling, and exiting technology companies. Joel co-founded NetQoS (acquired by CA Technologies for $200M) and Cache IQ (acquired by NetApp), founded Khorus Software, and has led public and private companies as CEO. He’s the author of three books on executive leadership and owns Texas CEO Magazine.
Bart Davis
Partner
A finance operator with 15+ years in CFO and finance-leadership roles at growth-stage startups, beginning his career at PwC. Bart is the CEO and co-founder of 512Financial, the fractional CFO firm he launched in 2022 and grew sixfold, and he brings a hands-on, exit-focused lens to the companies 512 backs.
Portfolio
Companies we’ve backed.
A concentrated portfolio of early-stage companies we’re proud to partner with.
An employee engagement platform that replaces long annual surveys with a single three-second question each day — surfacing real-time signals on trust, workload, and belonging so leaders can act, and reduce turnover, before problems take hold.
First investment
An automated valuations platform that expedites M&A for lenders, investors, and other deal participants — compressing slow, manual analysis into a fast, repeatable workflow.
Latest investmentThesis
What we look for.
A rough sketch of where we invest today.
Above all, we back experienced founders — operators who’ve built, shipped, and led before.
Stage
Pre-seed & seedThe earliest institutional check, often the first.
Focus
Fintech, applied software & tech-enabled servicesWhere our operating experience runs deepest.
Check size
$50K – $500KInitial checks, sized to the opportunity.
How we help
Hands-on, founder-firstDirect partner access, no layers in between.
Get in touch
Let’s talk.
Building something early? Tell us about it — we read every message.