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Investing in UnderRepresented Founders and Emerging Managers Who Drive the Future of Learning and Work

We support tech-enabled, mission-driven startups and funds and leverage our experience as educators, venture capitalists, and ecosystem leaders to empower you to find the resources you need, so you can better serve your end user and customer.

About Us

Well-Versed in Education & Workforce Innovation

You benefit more from open doors than strictly capital. Our goal is to partner with you to help you build your business, locate the right talent, shape your culture, access the necessary resources, and guide your company to future milestones.

In 1999, Frank Bonsal, Jr., co-founder of NEA (New Enterprise Associates), launched Bonsal Capital on the belief that seed-stage funding is critical to a thriving entrepreneurship ecosystem, and that finding, mentoring, and supporting the right founders is paramount to ecosystem success. Over the last decade, we have shifted our founder focus to a more representative, more inclusive set of entrepreneurs.

Over time, we have validated tens of thousands of prospective investments and have garnered a reputation as pioneers in education and workforce technology investing. Working with us, you get more than an investment and reporting expectations — you get a partner, with deep knowledge of and networks in the industry, who will help guide your company through its growth trajectory

By The Numbers

Direct Investments
Exits
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MOIC
%
Seed & Early
%
In-Region
%
Underrepresented Founders
yrs.
ave. return horizon
%
Female Founders
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Our Focus on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Underrepresented Founders, Leaders, and Emerging Managers

Bonsal Capital has made a concerted effort over the last decade to invest in and support underrepresented company founders and emerging venture managers. In fact, 80% of our active direct and indirect investments have done just that. We are proud of the impact these founders and leaders have had and will have as they scale up respective solutions.

Our Companies

We have partnered with and invested in nearly 30 education and workforce technology companies since our 1999 founding. Each company founder has a unique story to tell, and we have learned alongside them. Below are some of our companies.

Our Approach

Our Mission is Your Success

At Bonsal Capital, we don’t follow traditional investment methodologies. We take a different approach. Because we have worked alongside them, we understand the needs of today’s “edupreneurs,” their end users and customers, and we make their success our priority. We’d rather open doors to prospects and investors, for instance, than offer a handout. With decades of experience as educators, venture capitalists, and ecosystem leaders, Bonsal Capital seeks to empower founders to find the right resources for their needs, to support the growth of their companies, so they can better serve their end users and customers.

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Mission-Driven Thesis

Bonsal Capital is a mission-driven partnership, and supporting education has been a core driver since our founding in 1999. With decades of experience in education as investors, practitioners, and volunteers, our principals have authentically grown a partnership that seeks founders and leaders who want to make a positive impact with a product and/or service, and who keep prospective scale and sustainability at the forefront. We support the growth of companies focused on tech-enabled services in education, and we have invested in and partnered with more than 20 such companies over the past two decades, providing human and financial capital, as well as other resources, that have made a positive impact on tens of millions of end users.

We believe that, by fostering education, we can make the world a better place and feel good about our place in it. Join us on this mission.

Ecosystem Activation

Bonsal Capital’s founding and managing principals were born and raised in Baltimore, so it seems fitting that Bonsal Capital invests in and supports entrepreneurs and companies started and grown in Baltimore, Washington DC, and the Capital Region. Our founder also founded NEA, the earliest venture capital firm in the region, and is directly and indirectly responsible for catalyzing entrepreneurship in the Capital Region since the late 1970s. Our connections and networks include all manner of a startup’s functional needs, and we connect as many dots and open as many doors as we are able.

Submit a plan to us today.

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Founder-Focus

Founder Focus

We understand that seed- and early-stage venture investment has a heavy tilt toward those founders who define a problem they intend to solve and can scale up. Our approach to this founder support is simple. We ask each prospective founder four basic questions:

  • Who are you?
  • How did you get here?
  • Where do you want to go?
  • How can Bonsal Capital help you get there?

Depending on the answers to these queries, we determine next steps and a course of personalized action designed to help yield the best outcome. Our goal is to be a partner who can help you build your business, locate the right talent, shape your culture, access necessary resources, and achieve your goals.

Start a conversation with us today.

Team

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Frank Bonsal III
Managing Partner

Frank Bonsal III is a pioneer in the fields of education innovation, technology, and investment and has demonstrated sustained empathy for the education end user.

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Frank Bonsal Jr.
Founder Emeritus

Frank Bonsal Jr. is an internationally acclaimed venture capitalist with decades of direct and indirect (fund) investing experience in the USA and abroad.

“Bonsal Capital has served as an investment partner and strategic advisor to Allovue for over 6 years, practically since our inception. With over two decades of experience in venture capital and education, Frank has been a tremendous resource to me as a first-time founder. He demonstrated a clear understanding of both the nuances of our industry and the tactical mechanics of starting and growing a venture-backed business. No matter the topic, Frank has seen it before and provides invaluable guidance on the peaks and pitfalls of start-ups.”

Jess Gartner, founder & CEO, Allovue

“Bonsal Capital gets it. They embody the aspiration of doing well by doing good. We’ve had the benefit of Frank’s strategic advice and counsel both in our current venture, Faculty Guild, and previously with Starfish Retention Solutions. It has always been clear that he cares about the education community and wants to see meaningful solutions have a chance to make a difference.”

David Yaskin, founder & CEO, Faculty Guild & Starfish Retention Solutions

“Bonsal Capital is uniquely positioned. Not only are its principals savvy, successful investors with an impressive track record, but their depth of knowledge and passion for education and edtech is unparalleled. With this depth of understanding of the industry, they identify the "zebras" - then roll up their sleeves to mentor, advise, network, and nurture. They are an integral part of our team.”

Beth Lawrence, co-founder & CEO, InferCabulary

“Bonsal Capital brings a unique combination of classroom passion and boardroom savvy to the EdTech ecosystem. The ultimate problem-solvers, Bonsal Capital's principals are masterful in helping entrepreneurs pave scalable pathways to sustainability and high growth. Torchlight benefits significantly from Frank's multifaceted role as mentor, investor and community builder.”

Adam Goldberg, founder & CEO, Torchlight

“Bonsal Capital is exactly the type of investor every founder hopes to have on their team. The firm has a clear 'founder-first' ethos, really works to be helpful however they can, and they truly share our passion for education. Their deep domain expertise, large rolodex, and history investing in and supporting some of the biggest edtech success stories are exactly what founders need to build world-class companies. Additionally, Frank is an all-around great guy and a pleasure to work with.”

Chris Freire, founder & CEO, Student Opportunity Center