Floodgate is a Silicon Valley venture capital firm founded in 2006 by Mike Maples Jr. See sector focus and contact routes.
Floodgate is a Silicon Valley venture capital firm founded in 2006 by Mike Maples Jr. and Ann Miura-Ko, originally operating as Maples Investments before rebranding to Floodgate Fund in March 2010[1][2]. The firm pioneered the micro-VC model, focusing exclusively on early-stage technology startups at the pre-seed and seed stages, primarily in sectors like AI, enterprise software, healthcare, fintech, consumer tech, and crypto[2][8]. Floodgate typically invests between $150,000 and $1 million per company and often leads or co-leads seed rounds to set terms rather than just follow on[2][3]. Notable portfolio companies include Twitter, Lyft, Twitch, and Okta, all backed early before achieving massive market traction[3][6][9]. A distinctive point of view is Maples’ “Inflection Theory,” which identifies “Prime Movers”—founders navigating major technological or market shifts—as the firm’s ideal investment target[2][6]. Floodgate also promotes the “Thunder Lizards” concept, describing companies with potential to become wildly disruptive market leaders[3].
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