Gutter Capital announced the closing of its $75 million Fund III and the opening of applications for the second cohort of Elbow Grease, the firm’s founder-led accelerator based in New York City. The latest fund brings the venture firm’s total to three funds raised in less than three years and represents a tripling in size since inception.
Founded in 2021 by former Managed by Q CEO Dan Teran and investor James Gettinger, Gutter Capital focuses on providing hands-on operational support to early-stage companies. According to the firm, both Fund I and Fund II rank in the top quartile of their respective vintages based on Cambridge Associates benchmarks, while portfolio companies are twice as likely to progress from Seed to Series A and from Series A to Series B based on Carta data.
The firm has also expanded its operating team, adding Vince Li as Head of Product to complement founding Head of Talent Richard Hughes, who has helped recruit more than 100 employees across Gutter portfolio companies.
The $75 million Fund III will support Gutter Capital’s strategy of making a limited number of investments while providing direct operational support to founders. The fund follows the launch of Elbow Grease, a small-batch accelerator introduced in January 2026.
Applications are now open for the accelerator’s second cohort, which will begin this fall. The program will accept up to 15 companies, each receiving an initial $300,000 investment and participating in a 10-week residency at Gutter’s headquarters in New York City’s Chinatown.
Participants will work directly with the firm’s founders and be paired with mentors who have either raised capital beyond Series B or achieved successful exits. Mentors include BarkBox co-founder Carly Strife, Electric AI CEO Ryan Denehy, and Order CEO Zach Garippa.
The accelerator is sponsored by Mercury and Orrick and will run from September 15 through November 19, 2026. Applications will close on July 31, 2026.
KEY QUOTES:
“We saw that founders without typical Silicon Valley pedigree can do incredible things with the right team around them. In a market that is obsessed with second time founders, we saw a big opportunity to do old school venture capital – partner closely with overlooked founders to build companies of consequence.”
Dan Teran, Co-Founder of Gutter Capital
“Elbow Grease brings out the best in Gutter, and offers something different. We partner with founders to help them achieve their goals, and when they do, we keep investing, so they can spend their time building the company, not prepping for demo day.”
James Gettinger, Co-Founder of Gutter Capital
“It is hard to overstate how critical the Gutter team has been to Rebuild’s success. Richard helped recruit almost every member of our incredible NYC-based team, and Vince has raised the bar on our product while helping to deliver critical features in record time.”
Alex Toporek, Co-Founder and CEO of Rebuild
“We joined Elbow Grease because of the opportunity to learn from some of the best operators in the business. We didn’t need the money.”
Rohan Kumar, CEO of QuickSecure
“After seeing the value Gutter could bring to our company in just a few weeks, we knew this was where we needed to be.”
Rohan Kumar, CEO of QuickSecure
