Illuminate Ventures
What We Do Illuminate’s focus is on finding, funding, and accelerating visionary founders building game-changing companies in the B2B/Enterprise software computing space. Illuminate Ventures leads Series Seed investments, bringing resources to bear that are designed to help transform startups into market leaders. We focus on platforms and applications that leverage data and AI to quickly
In the firm's own words, from its website.
5 additional investments, funds and LPs, 3 events, 1 verified contact (1 firm phone)
Every relationship, signal and contact on this record, with the source on each.
Includes 3 days of DFX Intelligence. Then $199/month unless canceled.
Nothing material in the last 180 days. Last change: 15 Oct 2025, 2 new companies in the last 12 months. Latest round Intelo.ai round ($2M round, led) on 15 Oct 2025.
People to know
View all people- Managing PartnerWhy: Managing partner: runs the firmNo route on file yet
- Managing PartnerWhy: Managing partner: runs the firmNo route on file yet
Relationship network
14 connected entities3 observed roundsrounds 2010 to 2025
From financing rounds and every investor named in them, Form ADV and Form D filings, the firm's funds and team, and disclosed LP commitments in the venture capital graph. A round's amount is the size of the round, not money that moved between two investors.
Some relationships on this record are counted rather than named here. They open with the full profile.
Click any name or line for the rounds and sources behind it. Line weight is rounds together; dashed lines are inferred.
- Sponsor
- Company
- Fund or vehicle
- Person
›How strength and recency are read
Co-investors are read from the rounds: three or more shared rounds is a strong observed relationship, two a repeat co-investor, one a single round. Funds and people are structural. Nothing is scored that a reader cannot check.
Darker lines were active in the last 24 months or are current; lighter lines are older or undated.
How am I connected?
Name your firm, a company or a person, and DFX finds the published routes to Illuminate Ventures: a shared portfolio company or board, a prior employer, a co-investor, a shared LP or service provider. Every step is a filed or published record with its source; none is a guess about who knows whom.
See how you connect to Illuminate Ventures
Includes 3 days of DFX Intelligence. Then $199/month unless canceled.
Investing
4 companies on record, 2 new in 12 months
Investments on record
What these amounts mean“This investor” is the amount disclosed for this investor alone; it is unknown unless a source said it. The round size is the whole round.Acquired, Public, Exited and Active are what the firm’s own portfolio card says, read on the date shown when you hover the chip; they are not deal dates. A company with no chip is one whose card states no outcome: DFX does not assume it is active.| Company | Round | Role | Partner | Round size | This investor | Date | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sydney | portfolio listing | unknown | unknown | unknown | unknown | Sep 16, 2026 | Fact Firm website |
| IP Author, Inc. | Form D equity offering | unknown · board | Cynthia Beth Padnos (strongly supported) | $3.1M form d sold | unknown | Nov 4, 2025 | Inference Form D |
| Intelo.ai | Funding round | lead | Cindy Padnos (confirmed) | $2.0M | unknown | Oct 15, 2025 | Fact Press release |
Stated thesis versus observed behaviour
- Sectors
- ai, enterprise software, energy, deep tech, space, b2b
- Stages
- seed, early
- Geography
- not stated
- Check size
- not stated; DFX does not estimate checks from round sizes
- Self-described
- venture capital
Team
2 current, 0 departed
Decision makers
- Cindy Padnos · Managing PartnerWhy this person: Managing partner: runs the firm; Named with investment responsibility; Led 1 round on record
- Cynthia Beth Padnos · Managing PartnerWhy this person: Managing partner: runs the firm; Named with investment responsibility
Ranked by the role the firm or its filing states, a route on file and deals led. Every reason is read from the record, never inferred. Routes are published by the person or the firm (their bio, the team page or a filing) and are revealed on a plan; data bought from a provider is never shown, and a route printed at a firm the person has since left is held back.
Investment team
How the team is orderedPartners who lead rounds first (rounds led, then deals attributed, then seniority), then the rest of the investment team, then investor relations, finance and operations. A person named by two sources under two spellings is shown once.- Managing Partner · led 1 round on record
- Managing Partner · 2 deals attributed
Contacts
1 firm phone on record, each with its source. Values open with the complete profile.
Funds and LPs
7 vehicles, 0 LPs disclosed
Funds and vehicles
What these amounts meanGAV 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.| Vehicle | Type | Vintage | Lifecycle | Reported GAV | Owners | Form D sold | Latest Form D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Illuminate Ventures Spotlight Fund II, LP | Fund | 2023 adv first reported | Active deployment | $5.0M Mar 24, 2026 | 19 | $0 of $20.0M | Jan 6, 2023 |
| Illuminate Ventures III, LP | Fund | 2022 form d first sale | Active deployment | $22.8M Mar 24, 2026 | 45 | $21.3M of $50.0M | Aug 2, 2024 |
| Illuminate Ventures Spv II, LP | SPV or co-invest vehicle | 2022 adv first reported | Active deployment | $2.0M Mar 24, 2026 | 12 | unknown | unknown |
Limited partners
Known LPs and allocators
What these amounts and dates areEach commitment is counted once across the pension tape and the allocator graph. A commitment date prints only when the source printed one; otherwise the row carries the report date. A foundation’s 990-PF line is a holding at fair value, never a commitment. Rows without a fund on the venture graph are commitments to this manager.Relationships across DFX
1 co-investors · on 1 other DFX graph
Co-investors
- 2010-07-071 shared deal · one time
Across DFX and the capital chainon 1 other DFX graph ShowHide
- The same institution is held on RIA and Wealth, matched by identifier. See which records
Illuminate Ventures is the same institution as 1 record in RIA and Wealth.
The joined record opens with the product, beside every other relationship on this page.
Checking your plan…
Evidence and history
8 dated events, 71 observations from 3 sources
Timeline
- Mar 28, 2023Illuminate Ventures III, LP first reported on Form ADV by Illuminate Ventures (Venture Capital Fund), GAV $8,494,949
- Mar 28, 2023Illuminate Ventures Spotlight Fund II, LP first reported on Form ADV by Illuminate Ventures (Venture Capital Fund), GAV $3,163,265
- Mar 29, 2022Illuminate Ventures Spv II, LP first reported on Form ADV by Illuminate Ventures (Venture Capital Fund), GAV $1,113,106
- Mar 18, 2021Illuminate Ventures Spv I, LP first reported on Form ADV by Illuminate Ventures (Venture Capital Fund), GAV $1,210,000
- Mar 17, 2016Illuminate Ventures II, LP first reported on Form ADV by Illuminate Ventures (Venture Capital Fund), GAV $16,000,000
Identity and regulatory footprint
Address, phone, Form ADV filing and ownersForm ADV filed Mar 24, 2026 · 5 private fundsShowHide
- Headquarters
- St. Helena, CAadviserinfo.sec.gov
- Office address
- unknownadviserinfo.sec.gov
- Business phone
- unknownadviserinfo.sec.gov
- Website
- ILLUMINATE.COM
- 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, adviser total
- $102Madviserinfo.sec.govreported GAV of the funds, the adviser's own number; not fund size, not dry powder
Classification history
Classification history
Every classification this record has carried2 on recordShowHide
- Sep 23, 2026Institutional venture firm (confirmed, 95%)Venture manager, reported GAV $105M across 7 vehicles
- Sep 12, 2026Institutional venture firm (confirmed, 95%)Venture manager, reported GAV $119M across 7 vehicles
Evidence
Every observation behind this profile, with its source, date and class
| Fact | Value | Effective | Class | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Why admitted | VC exemption, VC funds reported | Mar 24, 2026 | Fact | Form ADV |
| SEC exemption claimed | Venture capital fund adviser | Mar 24, 2026 | Fact | Form ADV |
| SEC exemption claimed | Venture capital fund adviser | Mar 25, 2024 | Fact | Form ADV |
| SEC adviser type | Exempt reporting adviser | Mar 24, 2026 | Fact | Form ADV |
| SEC adviser type | Exempt reporting adviser | Mar 24, 2026 | Fact | Form ADV |
| SEC adviser type | Exempt reporting adviser | Mar 25, 2024 | Fact | Form ADV |
| First Form ADV filing | 2012-03-09 | Mar 24, 2026 | Fact | Form ADV |
| First Form ADV filing | 2012-03-09 | Mar 25, 2024 | Fact | Form ADV |
| Adv history loaded | adv-hist-1+panel:2026-09-30 | Oct 1, 2026 | Fact | Form ADV |
| Adv history loaded | adv-hist-1+panel:2026-09-29 | Sep 30, 2026 | Fact | Form ADV |
| Adv history loaded | adv-hist-1+panel:2026-09-25 | Sep 26, 2026 | Fact | Form ADV |
| Adv history loaded | adv-hist-1+panel:2026-09-23 | Sep 24, 2026 | Fact | Form ADV |
| Adv history loaded | adv-hist-1+panel:2026-09-21 | Sep 23, 2026 | Fact | Form ADV |
| Adv history loaded | adv-hist-1+panel:2026-09-22 | Sep 23, 2026 | Fact | Form ADV |
| Adv history loaded | adv-hist-1 | Sep 12, 2026 | Fact | Form ADV |
| Latest Form ADV filing | 2026-03-24 | Mar 24, 2026 | Fact | Form ADV |
| Latest Form ADV filing | 2026-03-24 | Mar 24, 2026 | Fact | Form ADV |
| Latest Form ADV filing | 2024-03-25 | Mar 25, 2024 | Fact | Form ADV |
| SEC status | ERA - Active | Mar 24, 2026 | Fact | Form ADV |
| SEC status effective | 2012-03-09 | Mar 24, 2026 | Fact | Form ADV |
| Venture share of reported funds | 1 | Mar 24, 2026 | Fact | Form ADV |
| Venture share of reported funds | 1 | Mar 25, 2024 | Fact | Form ADV |
| Business phone | Mar 24, 2026 | Fact | Form ADV | |
| Business phone | Mar 25, 2024 | Fact | Form ADV | |
| Contact page url | Sep 16, 2026 | Fact | ||
| Description | Sep 16, 2026 | Fact | ||
| Description | Sep 15, 2026 | Fact | ||
| Headquarters | St. Helena, CA | Mar 24, 2026 | Fact | Form ADV |
| Headquarters | St. Helena, CA | Mar 25, 2024 | Fact | Form ADV |
| Office address | Mar 24, 2026 | Fact | Form ADV | |
| Office address | Mar 25, 2024 | Fact | Form ADV | |
| Self-described type | Venture capital “New Thinking in Venture Capital” | Sep 16, 2026 | Fact | |
| Self-described type | Venture capital “New Thinking in Venture Capital” | Sep 15, 2026 | Fact | |
| Legal form | Limited Liability Company | Mar 24, 2026 | Fact | Form ADV |
| Legal form | Limited Liability Company | Mar 25, 2024 | Fact | Form ADV |
| Portfolio page | Sep 16, 2026 | Fact | ||
| Portfolio page | Sep 15, 2026 | Fact | ||
| Private funds reported | 5 | Mar 24, 2026 | Fact | Form ADV |
| Private funds reported | 5 | Mar 24, 2026 | Fact | Form ADV |
| Private funds reported | 7 | Mar 25, 2024 | Fact | Form ADV |
| Private fund gross assets (reported) | $102M | Mar 24, 2026 | Fact | Form ADV |
| Private fund gross assets (reported) | $102M | Mar 24, 2026 | Fact | Form ADV |
| Private fund gross assets (reported) | $119M | Mar 25, 2024 | Fact | Form ADV |
| Schedule a diff | sadiff-1 | Sep 27, 2026 | Fact | Form ADV |
| Stated sectors | AI, enterprise software, energy, deep tech, space, B2B “sector words on the home page” | Sep 16, 2026 | Fact | |
| Stated sectors | AI, enterprise software, energy, deep tech, space, B2B “sector words on the home page” | Sep 15, 2026 | Fact | |
| Stated stages | Seed, early “stage words on the home page” | Sep 16, 2026 | Fact | |
| Stated stages | Seed, early “stage words on the home page” | Sep 15, 2026 | Fact | |
| Team page | Sep 16, 2026 | Fact | ||
| Team page | Sep 15, 2026 | Fact | ||
| Venture funds reported | 5 | Mar 24, 2026 | Fact | Form ADV |
| Venture funds reported | 5 | Mar 24, 2026 | Fact | Form ADV |
| Venture funds reported | 7 | Mar 25, 2024 | Fact | Form ADV |
| Website | Mar 24, 2026 | Fact | Form ADV | |
| Website | Mar 25, 2024 | Fact | Form ADV | |
| Site title | Sep 16, 2026 | Fact | ||
| Site title | Sep 15, 2026 | Fact |
How this is scored
Scores, classification basis and filing advisersInstitutional venture firm, confirmedShowHide
Venture manager, reported GAV $105M across 7 vehicles
- importance
- gav: 0.31 · funds: 0.58 · people: 0.08 · investments: 0.22 · co investors: 0
- active deployment
- investments 12m: 0.13 · fund raising 18m: 0 · people joined 12m: 0 · vintage within 3y: 1 · latest investment at: 2025-10-15
- emerging manager
- fund count: 7 · reported gav: $102M · first adv filing: 2012-03-09 · years since first filing: 14.6
Fits, record history and connections
scored matches for this investor, every identity change, every edge
Record history
- Adviser's first ADV filing2012-03-09source on record
The ledger records every merge, rename and reclassification this record went through and the dated filings observed on it, so the identity on this page can be traced to the records it was built from. The ledger's own sentences name other records, so they show with the names.