Growth Warrior Capital Raises $26M to Back Enterprise AI Startups

Growth Warrior Capital, the operator-led venture firm founded by tech executive Promise Phelon, has closed its inaugural fund with $26 million to invest in early-stage artificial intelligence startups focused on enterprise productivity.

The fund targets what Phelon calls “dangerous founders”—entrepreneurs building scalable companies at the intersection of enterprise software and AI. Growth Warrior has already deployed more than half of the fund into companies including Barometer, an AI platform for assessing brand safety in audio advertising, and ForceMetrics, which provides decision-support tools to law enforcement agencies.

“I launched Growth Warrior Capital with a belief: bringing operator chops and an efficient approach to growth and scale to the early stage would be interesting,” Phelon said in a statement posted to LinkedIn. “Add to that a thesis centered on Enterprise Productivity multiplied times AI — Dangerous Founders building scalable companies would lead the next wave of innovation. Not someday—now.”

Investors in the fund include Ho Nam and Han Kim of Altos Ventures, Brad Feld and Seth Levine of Foundry Group, Amazon’s Catalytic Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, Bank of America, and Pivotal Ventures, the investment firm launched by Melinda French Gates.

Phelon, who previously served as CEO of TapInfluence, said the firm is not only writing checks, but also working closely with founders on growth strategy and operations.

Barometer CEO Tamara Zubatiy credited Phelon with helping the company transition from survival to scale. “Promise helped reshape our strategy, gave us tools to lead, and has been instrumental to our growth,” she said. Barometer has reported 300% quarter-over-quarter growth since GWC’s investment.

Growth Warrior’s second fund is expected to target AI innovations in industrial sectors such as logistics, energy, and manufacturing — industries where labor costs are high and automation is gaining traction.

The firm is based in San Francisco and focuses on early-stage software and AI companies transforming how enterprise work gets done.

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