Pear VC

Building in any of these spaces? PearX S26 applications are open. Apply at pear.vc/pearx/

The most successful companies don't start with a product. They start with a problem worth solving. Today we're sharing Pear's Request for Startups: 11 areas we’re most excited to see founders tackle next. You can read the full post here:pear.vc/request-for-st… 👇 Here are the highlights: @ShravanGReddy 🗺️ Plan-mode for every knowledge worker: Vertical AI that plans before it executes 🔍 Personalized people search for the agent era: Context-rich data for agentic workflows @ryanbsells 🏦 Financial-grade agent infrastructure: Trust, policy & audit layers for agents in finance 🛒 Intent-native commerce infrastructure: Rebuilding commerce for agents, not browsers @MarHershenson 🎙️ Ambient AI for vertical workflows: The Jump AI / Abridge playbook, applied everywhere 💸  Agents to manage SMB expenses: Continuous cost optimization, running in the background @wwshaef ✅ Verified consumer health marketplaces: Accountability-first health commerce 🤝 IRL trust networks: Real-world reputation, made portable in an AI-saturated world @eddie_eltoukhy 🧬 Foundational datasets for biological intelligence: Closing the data bottleneck in AI-driven biology @ParambathAndrew 🏥 Systems of record → Systems of coordinated action in healthcare: Beyond EHRs, actual execution across stakeholders 📊 Outcome-based models in healthcare: Paying for results, not activity

Exceptional pre-seed founders wanted. Low wages. Consistent doubt. Hazardous journey. Ferocious competition. Long months wandering pre-PMF. Honor and recognition in case of success. Camaraderie regardless.

Apply here 👇 pear.vc/pearx

The early application deadline for PearX S26 closed recently — and we’ve already received thousands of applications. 🚀 Our team has been so impressed by the caliber of founders and we're reviewing applications as quickly as we can! The best part? The regular application deadline doesn't close until April 12. If you’re building at pre-seed and looking for a long-term partner from the very beginning, we’d love to meet you. 🍐

@nerdwillz Congrats Will!

@earth_ish Remediation in progress. Should be back up soon. 🙏status.airtable.com

@pearvc :/

🚨 The Early Application Deadline for PearX S26 is in 2️⃣ days! Apply by 𝗦𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗙𝗲𝗯𝗿𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝟮𝟮 𝗮𝘁 𝟭𝟭:𝟱𝟵 𝗣𝗠 𝗣𝗦𝗧 and hear back from us by the end of March. If you’re building at the pre-seed stage, PearX is designed to help you move from idea to product-market fit faster: 💰 Get up to $2M in capital 🤝 Work directly with Pear partners—all former founders and operators 🧠 Hire your founding team with dedicated recruiting services 📈 Build your GTM motion with hands-on support 🚀 Pitch to top-tier VCs at our invite-only Demo Day If you're ready to make the jump, apply today: pear.vc/pearx/

@NoKennyy Remediation in progress. Should be back up soon. 🙏status.airtable.com

@pearvc Airtable currently down :(

@iroshads Remediation in progress. Should be back up soon. 🙏status.airtable.com

@pearvc Airtable down

@Zaz_Labs Thanks for flagging. Airtable is down, and should be back up soon. status.airtable.com

What's wrong @pearvc ?

@innotone_ai Thanks for flagging. Airtable is down, and should be back up soon. status.airtable.com

@pearvc Airtable not opening!!

@MaxAragon Thanks for flagging. Airtable is down, and should be back up soon. status.airtable.com

@wwshaef We're now taking applications for PearX S26: pear.vc/pearx-applicat…

Being a founder is lonely in a very specific way. You’re often the only person in the room who sees the thing you’re trying to build. That’s why I’m a believer in small, cohort-based programs early on, and why I love spending time on PearX, Pear’s pre-seed program. PearX isn’t about flash. It’s about increasing the odds of success: help with hiring, product and distribution, and a small group (20–30) of founders going through the same painful 0-1 early phase together. I’m especially excited about B2C and B2B2C teams who ship fast, learn from users, and think seriously about defensibility (too few consumer founders think about this). If you’re building something ambitious and early, check out PearX. Apps just opened.

Read more about PearX S26 on our blog: pear.vc/pearx-s26-appl…

🚀 𝗣𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗫 𝗦𝟮𝟲 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻 AI has made it easier than ever to build. That also means it’s easier than ever to build something no one really needs. At the earliest stages, the real advantage isn’t how fast you ship — it’s how fast you learn to: 👥 Find real customer pain 🖥️ See workflows others miss 💡 Turn early insight into durable advantage That’s why PearX exists. It's our exclusive, small-batch program for pre-seed companies where founders get dedicated time with Pear VC partners — all former founders or operators. We work closely with teams on everything from customer discovery to fundraising to help them get on the path to success as fast as possible. If you’re interested in building with us, we’d love to meet you. 👉 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗣𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗫 𝗦𝟮𝟲 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆: 𝗵𝘁𝘁𝗽𝘀://𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗿.𝘃𝗰/𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘅/

@benln @hf0residency @ycombinator @southpkcommons @sequoia @neo @conviction @a16z @fdotinc S26 apps are open: pear.vc/pearx-applicat…

For any early founders considering accelerators, this is my shortlist: • @HF0Residency (SF) • @ycombinator (SF) • @southpkcommons (SF/NYC/BLR) • @sequoia Arc (US/EU) • @pearvc PearX (SF) • @Neo (SF) • @conviction Embed (SF) • @a16z Speedrun (SF) • @fdotinc (SF)

@nerdwillz @ShiplightAI Congrats @nerdwillz @feng_2000! So excited to see @ShiplightAI out in the world. 🚀

🚀 Today we’re coming out of stealth and unveiling @ShiplightAI, the most reliable AI-native testing platform that scales E2E test coverage with near-zero maintenance. For years, software teams have accepted a painful tradeoff: Move fast and risk breaking production, or slow down under the weight of brittle tests and endless QA maintenance. AI-assisted coding makes this gap even wider. Modern teams ship faster than ever. Products change daily. Yet testing is still stuck in a world of scripts, manual upkeep, and fragile workflows that collapse the moment your UI changes, making testing the new bottleneck. Feng and I built @ShiplightAI to make testing a force multiplier for modern software teams. As AI accelerates coding, autonomous, reliable testing closes the loop from code to confident releases. Our goal is simple but ambitious: Make test coverage effortless, and teams can ship with confidence anytime. This mission is personal for us. Throughout our careers, we’ve always been obsessed with building high-quality software that lasts. We’re already trusted by some of the most innovative, fast-moving teams. Seeing Shiplight earn their trust and transform their release cycles is the strongest signal that we’re building something real. We’re grateful to be backed by Pear VC (Shravan Reddy, Mar Hershenson) and Embedding VC (Roger Luo), along with incredible angels like Oliver Jung. We’re just getting started, and we can’t wait to partner with more teams who are building fast and care deeply about quality. 👉 Book a demo: shiplight.ai/demo #AI #SoftwareEngineering #QAAutomation #ShiplightAI #AgenticAI

San Francisco, meet Known. 💕 Congrats to @Celesteamadon and team (PearX S25) on launching a new kind of dating app, built for meeting with intention—not endless swipes. @joinknown_ is now live on the App Store: apps.apple.com/us/app/id67489…

@Celesteamadon We love to see it. Congrats @Celesteamadon! 💕

Known is finally live on the App Store. San Francisco feels a little different this morning. For the past few months, we’ve been building a new kind of dating platform for the post-swipe era.  Known is intentional, designed to get people on real dates. Love is coming.