DFX Intelligence
Venture Capital Intelligence
Firms, funds, partners, companies and rounds from sworn filings, firm sites and announcements, kept as a graph with a date and a source on every edge. Facts, inferences and estimates are labelled as such. A fund target is never a close, GAV is never dry powder, and a round size is never an investor’s check.
Firms / Defy Partners Management, LLC
Defy Partners Management, LLC
Defy Partners – Early stage venture capital firm supporting authentic founders in building enduring companies. We help entrepreneurs defy expectations.
venture manager, reported GAV $412M across 5 vehicles
Importance
30
moderate
Active deployment
0
low
Emerging
0
low
Completeness
69
high
Freshness
100
high
Research priority
5
low
Identity and regulatory footprint
- Headquarters
- Woodside, CAadviserinfo.sec.gov
- Office address
- 2995 WOODSIDE ROAD, SUITE 400-273, Woodside, CA, 94062adviserinfo.sec.gov
- Business phone
- 650-530-0193adviserinfo.sec.gov
- Website
- HTTPS://DEFY.VC
- SEC adviser type
- exempt reporting adviseradviserinfo.sec.gov
- SEC exemption claimed
- venture capital fund adviseradviserinfo.sec.govItem 2.B(1): advises solely venture capital funds
- Latest Form ADV
- Mar 24, 2026
- Private funds reported
- 5 (5 venture capital funds)adviserinfo.sec.gov
- Private fund gross assets
- $1.2Badviserinfo.sec.govreported GAV of the funds, the adviser's own number; not fund size, not dry powder
- business email
- hello@defy.vcdefy.vcpublished by the subject
- business phone
- 650-530-0193adviserinfo.sec.govpublished by the subject
Stated thesis versus observed behaviour
no observed deals yet
Stated (the firm’s website)
- Sectors
- not stated or not yet read
- Stages
- early
- Geography
- not stated
- Check size
- not stated; DFX does not estimate checks from round sizes
- Self-described
- venture capital
Observed (from deals on record)
Stage at participation: no observed deals yet
Stage at first entry: no observed deals yet
Sectors: no observed deals yet
lead rate n/afollow-on rate n/anew logos, 12 months 0
Funds and vehicles
5 reported
| Vehicle | Type | Vintage | Lifecycle | Reported GAV | Owners | Form D sold | Latest Form D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defy Partners III, L.P. | Fund | 2022 adv first reported | Active deployment | $26.3M Mar 7, 2024 | 37 | $0 of $300M | Oct 22, 2021 |
| Defy Partners Goals I, L.P. | Fund | 2022 adv first reported | Active deployment | $8.6M Mar 7, 2024 | 20 | $0 of $100M | Oct 22, 2021 |
| Defy N, L.P. | Fund | 2021 form d first sale | Mature | $4.0M Mar 7, 2024 | 3 | $5.3M of $5.3M | Dec 28, 2021 |
| Defy Partners II, L.P. | Fund | 2019 form d first sale | Mature | $217M Mar 7, 2024 | 48 | $262M of $262M | Apr 11, 2019 |
| Defy Partners I, L.P. | Fund | 2017 form d first sale | Harvest | $156M Mar 7, 2024 | 37 | $151M of $151M | Sep 27, 2017 |
GAV is the gross asset value the adviser reported on Form ADV for the vehicle, never the fund’s committed size and never dry powder. Form D sold is the amount sold as of the latest filing, never a final close.
Investment team
2 current, 2 departed
Defy Vc
PartnerOur perspectives are unique—our decisions are shared. When you partner with one of us, you partner with all of us.
Neil Francis Sequeira
PartnerManager Of Defy Partners Management, Llc · since Sep 1, 2016
2 departed (kept with end dates)
- Trae Vassallo · Co-Founder And Partner Of Defy Partners Management, Llc · Sep 1, 2016 to Mar 10, 2022 Inference
- Purvi Chandrakant Shah · Partner, Chief Financial Officer Of Defy Partners Management, Llc · Jul 1, 2017 to Mar 7, 2024 Inference
Investments on record
0 edges, 0 companies, 0 partner-attributed
No investment on record yet. Edges arrive from the firm’s portfolio page, financing announcements, and Form D board seats.
Co-investors
0 relationships from shared deals, counted for the whole firm
No co-investor relationship yet: these are derived only from rounds and portfolio listings the graph has seen both investors on.
Limited partners
5 disclosed
- Los Angeles City Employees' Retirement System in Defy Partners III, L.P. $20.0M Oct 21, 2021 lacers.org
- Los Angeles City Employees' Retirement System in Defy Partners II, L.P. $18.0M Mar 22, 2019 lacers.org
- Los Angeles City Employees' Retirement System in Defy Partners I, L.P. $10.0M lacers.org
- Los Angeles City Employees' Retirement System in Defy Partners II, L.P. $18.0M lacers.org
- Los Angeles City Employees' Retirement System in Defy Partners III, L.P. $20.0M lacers.org
Timeline
8 dated events
- Mar 7, 2024Purvi Chandrakant Shah (Partner, Chief Financial Officer Of Defy Partners Management, Llc) no longer on Schedule A of Defy Partners Management, LLC
- Mar 10, 2022Defy Partners III, L.P. first reported on Form ADV by Defy Partners Management, LLC (Venture Capital Fund), GAV $222,984,693Fund first reported on Form ADVFundsFactDefy Partners III, L.P.SEC Form ADV filing data 2011 to 2024 (every filing, Schedule D 7.B.(1) private funds, Schedules A/B)
- Mar 10, 2022Defy Partners Goals I, L.P. first reported on Form ADV by Defy Partners Management, LLC (Venture Capital Fund), GAV $41,505,102Fund first reported on Form ADVFundsFactDefy Partners Goals I, L.P.SEC Form ADV filing data 2011 to 2024 (every filing, Schedule D 7.B.(1) private funds, Schedules A/B)
- Mar 10, 2022Defy N, L.P. first reported on Form ADV by Defy Partners Management, LLC (Venture Capital Fund), GAV $5,252,631Fund first reported on Form ADVFundsFactDefy N, L.P.SEC Form ADV filing data 2011 to 2024 (every filing, Schedule D 7.B.(1) private funds, Schedules A/B)
- Mar 10, 2022Trae Vassallo (Co-Founder And Partner Of Defy Partners Management, Llc) no longer on Schedule A of Defy Partners Management, LLC
- Mar 19, 2020Defy Partners II, L.P. first reported on Form ADV by Defy Partners Management, LLC (Venture Capital Fund), GAV $262,000,000Fund first reported on Form ADVFundsFactDefy Partners II, L.P.SEC Form ADV filing data 2011 to 2024 (every filing, Schedule D 7.B.(1) private funds, Schedules A/B)
- Sep 24, 2017Defy Partners I, L.P. first reported on Form ADV by Defy Partners Management, LLC (Venture Capital Fund), GAV $151,000,000Fund first reported on Form ADVFundsFactDefy Partners I, L.P.SEC Form ADV filing data 2011 to 2024 (every filing, Schedule D 7.B.(1) private funds, Schedules A/B)
- Sep 24, 2017Defy Partners Management, LLC first filed Form ADV (ERA, venture capital fund adviser exemption)First SEC adviser filingOrganizationFactSEC Form ADV filing data 2011 to 2024 (every filing, Schedule D 7.B.(1) private funds, Schedules A/B)
Classification history
- Sep 12, 2026Institutional venture firm (confirmed, 95%, cls-1)venture manager, reported GAV $412M across 5 vehicles
Evidence
50 observations from 3 sources