San Francisco, California, United States
Charles Hudson is the Managing Partner and Founder of Precursor Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm focused on investing in the first institutional round of investment for the most promising software and hardware companies. He invests in people over product at the earliest stage of their entrepreneurial journey. Under his leadership, Precursor Ventures has raised four funds and has over $250 million under management. He has invested in more than 450 companies and has supported more than 1,000 founders, including the teams behind Bobbie Baby, Carrot, Incredible Health, Juniper Square, Modern Health, Pair Eyewear, Rad AI, and The Athletic (sold to the NY Times for $525 million in 2022). Prior to founding Precursor Ventures, Charles was a Partner at Uncork Capital where he focused on identifying investment opportunities in mobile infrastructure, mobile applications, and marketplaces and supporting their portfolio companies on business and corporate development matters. He was also the Co-founder and CEO of Bionic Panda Games, an Android-focused mobile games startup based in San Francisco, CA. Charles is an active member of the VC community. He was the 2023-2024 Chair of the NVCA Board of Directors, is on the investment committee for Screendoor, and is on the Path Ahead Ventures Advisory Board. Charles is also on the organizing team for Equity Summit and is an advisor and mentor to a number of emerging managers. Charles holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a B.A. in Economics and Spanish from Stanford University. He maintains close connections with his alma mater and was awarded the 2021-22 Governors’ Award in honor of his exceptional volunteer service to the university as a board member and volunteer. He is also on the teaching team for the Entrepreneurship from Diverse Perspectives course in the Stanford Graduate School of Business. In addition to his volunteer work at Stanford, Charles serves on the Advisory Board for the San Francisco Opera Association, where he is a member of the Marketing and Directors and Officers Committees.
Precursor Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm focused on pre-seed investments in the San Francisco, New York, and Toronto metropolitan regions. The firm focuses on investments in B2B and B2C software applications.
I am on the teaching team for STRAMGT 308: Entrepreneurship from Diverse Perspectives. This seminar showcases the diversity of entrepreneurs and the range of entrepreneurial paths they pursue. Thirty-five entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, primarily from historically underestimated groups (HUGs), will share their personal and professional journeys, and how each embodies the entrepreneurial mindset
Equity Summit is an invitation-only gathering that brings together thought-leading LPs and GPs for intimate, off-the-record conversations designed to drive industry change, resulting in more investments in women and under-represented GPs.
Investing in new VC managers; We make meaningful capital commitments that can catalyze fundraises, provide personal mentorship, and offer access to our extensive community from across the venture capital ecosystem.