The founder-led venture firm triples in size from inception, expands its operating bench, and doubles down on New York based accelerator
NEW YORK, June 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Gutter Capital today announced the opening of applications for the second cohort of Elbow Grease, the firm’s small-batch accelerator in New York City, sponsored by Mercury and Orrick, alongside the close of Fund III at $75M.
Fueled by performance, the firm has closed a total of three funds in under three years. Both Funds I and II are in the top quartile of their respective vintages, according to Cambridge Associates benchmarks. Companies backed by Gutter Capital are twice as likely to graduate from Seed to Series A, and from Series A to Series B, based on Carta data.
The firm attributes that performance to a hands-on approach to early stage investing that has been core to Gutter since its founding, and is central to Elbow Grease. Gutter Capital was founded in 2021 by Dan Teran, former co-founder and CEO of Managed by Q, and James Gettinger, a computer scientist and professional gambler turned investor. The pair made over 110 angel investments together prior to Fund I, and in 2020 began working closely with a small handful of companies out of a shared office in downtown New York, helping founders to recruit early teams and navigate early strategic decisions.
“We saw that founders without typical Silicon Valley pedigree can do incredible things with the right team around them,” said Teran, who founded his company at age 24 and led as CEO through a $200M exit. “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.”
To scale their impact, Teran and Gettinger have built a senior bench of Operating Partners. Richard Hughes joined as founding Head of Talent at inception. Since joining, Hughes has recruited over 100 engineers, designers, sellers, and marketers to Gutter companies. This year, Vince Li joined Gutter as Head of Product, to accelerate critical product, engineering, and design work within Gutter portfolio companies.
“It is hard to overstate how critical the Gutter team has been to Rebuild’s success” said Alex Toporek, Co-Founder and CEO of Rebuild, a Fund II investment. “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.”
In January 2026, the firm launched the inaugural cohort of Elbow Grease, a small batch, founder-led accelerator in New York City, to return to their hands-on, early stage roots. The second cohort, starting this fall, will consist of up to 15 teams. Each company will receive a $300k initial investment, and spend 10 weeks on-site at Gutter’s headquarters, where they will work directly with the Gutter Capital partnership.
“Elbow Grease brings out the best in Gutter, and offers something different,” said Gettinger. “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.”
In addition to working one-on-one with Teran and Gettinger, each company will be matched with a mentor; founders who have raised past Series B or exited, including Carly Strife, Co-Founder of Bark Box; Ryan Denehy, CEO of Electric AI; and Zach Garippa, CEO of Order. Mentors have close ties to the firm, many have taken investment from Gutter themselves, and are investors in Gutter funds.
“We joined Elbow Grease because of the opportunity to learn from some of the best operators in the business,” said Rohan Kumar, CEO of QuickSecure, who at age 19 took a leave of absence from Georgia Tech to participate in the inaugural cohort. “We didn’t need the money.”
Elbow Grease is at the center of the thriving New York tech ecosystem. Participating teams work alongside more than 70 founders and operators in Gutter’s headquarters in Chinatown. Founders participating this fall will join a series of off-the-record conversations with industry leaders in New York, including Scott Belsky, Partner at A24; Neil Blumenthal, Co-CEO of Warby Parker; and Kate Ryder, CEO of Maven.
During the first cohort, Rohan Kumar and his co-founder made the decision to relocate to New York to continue building QuickSecure at Gutter headquarters. “After seeing the value Gutter could bring to our company in just a few weeks, we knew this was where we needed to be.” Since the program’s conclusion, they have made their first two hires, and raised follow-on investment from Gutter Capital.
Applications for Elbow Grease are open now at elbowgrease.gutter.cc and close July 31, 2026. The accelerator will run from September 15 through November 19, 2026.
About Gutter Capital
Gutter Capital is an early-stage venture firm that builds companies of consequence in partnership with mission-driven founders. Gutter was founded in 2021 by Dan Teran and James Gettinger. The firm is small by design, making few investments each year and providing direct operational support to achieve exceptional results. Gutter Capital has been recognized by Business Insider as a Top 100 Seed Investor in 2023, 2024, and 2025.
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SOURCE Gutter Capital
