William Elkus is the Founder and Managing Director of Clearstone Venture Partners. See sector focus and contact routes.
William Elkus is the Founder and Managing Director of Clearstone Venture Partners, a venture capital firm he established in 1997 (some sources cite 1998) in Santa Monica, California, with a background in finance, technology, law, and entrepreneurship. His investment thesis targets early-stage technology companies, focusing on seed through Series B rounds in sectors including fintech, payments, enterprise technology, digital media, and data-driven marketplaces across the United States and India. Clearstone typically invests $1 million to $15 million per company and consistently leads investment rounds rather than following. Notable portfolio companies include PayPal, eToys, and United Online, which reflect his focus on transformative internet and financial technology businesses. Elkus is recognized as a prominent early-stage lead investor who has helped the firm deploy $650 million across three funds, resulting in nine IPOs and nearly a dozen M&A exits. While he is a respected figure in Southern California venture capital, there is no publicly available record of distinctive point-of-view articles or published writing by Elkus himself in the search re
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