DNS Capital
400 N Michigan Ave, Ste 1700, Chicago, IL, 60611, United States
Overview
DNS Capital is an investment office for the business enterprise of Gigi Pritzker, Michael Pucker, and their immediate family that provides long-term control and minority investments in companies. DNS Capital takes a long-term and flexible approach to invest by building relationships with business owners, management teams, and entrepreneurs to align interests, evolve businesses, and create lasting value with a sense of purpose and a sense of humor.
- Total investments
- 32
- Lead investments
- 9
- Investments · 12mo
- 1
- Active investors
- 5
Sector focus
- Finance
- Financial Services
- Venture Capital
Investment portfolio
- Seasats
Participated · Series A · Feb 2026
Seasats develops autonomous surface vessels that can operate for weeks or months, tackling the “dull” but mission-critical tasks of persistent maritime surveillance, port security, and coastal patrol. Its flagship long-endurance craft has completed both trans-Pacific and trans-Atlantic crossings, while its interceptor platform has run continuous week-long operations, validating reliability and range. The company combines commercial manufacturing agility with defense-grade robustness to deliver cost-effective, scalable maritime autonomy. Demand is accelerating: Seasats has landed more than $100 million in U.S. government contracts, including awards from the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, and the Department of War’s APFIT program. To date, the firm has raised over $40 million in venture funding. Fresh capital will expand production capacity, open new facilities, launch additional product lines, and grow the team to meet surging domestic and international interest. Headquartered in San Diego, Seasats positions itself as a key enabler of maritime domain awareness and risk reduction for both military and commercial customers.
- Vermillio
Led · Series A · Mar 2025
Vermillio builds an AI licensing and protection platform designed to let IP holders and talent safely engage with generative AI technologies. Its core product, TraceIDTM, provides attribution and features including IP and NIL content monitoring and reporting, alerts and takedowns, auditing of authorized AI licenses, lost revenue management, and payment management. The company has demonstrated TraceID in partnerships with WME, Sony Pictures, Sony Music/Legacy Recordings, The Orb, and David Gilmour, tracking and enabling monetization of fan-created works. With new capital, Vermillio plans to scale operations and continue building solutions aimed at a generative AI internet that prioritizes consent, credit, and compensation. The team emphasizes secure control of data and AI rights to open new revenue streams for creators and rightsholders. Co‑founder and CEO Dan Neely, who recently made TIME’s list of 100 most influential individuals in AI, has been active in policy conversations including guidance on the NO FAKES Act.
- Quantifind
Participated · Equity · Jan 2025
Quantifind develops the Graphyte AI-native Risk Intelligence platform, which unifies internal, third-party, and open-source data and applies advanced entity resolution, Name Science™, dynamic risk typologies, and real-time network graph intelligence. It also offers Graphyte Agentic Middleware to help operationalize agentic AI within risk workflows while preserving explainability, auditability, and human oversight. The company serves a global customer base, including six of the world's top 10 Tier 1 financial institutions, and its platform supports tens of thousands of financial crime, compliance, and national security professionals. An independent Celent economic analysis cited in the announcement estimated Tier 1 banks deploying Graphyte across KYC and sanctions screening could reduce annual alert-processing costs by up to $177.9 million. Quantifind says it has generated rapid, profitable growth. The company plans to use the new capital to expand internationally across Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Americas and to strengthen regional partnerships and regulatory alignment.
- Truvian Sciences
Participated · Equity · Jul 2024
Truvian Health offers an automated benchtop platform designed to perform comprehensive, routine blood tests with central-laboratory-equivalent accuracy at the point of care. The company has presented multiple independent clinical studies showing concordant results with central laboratories across a large panel of tests. Its integrated platform has been evaluated on more than 50,000 samples from roughly 5,000 donors and has achieved a platform run reliability rate above 98%. Truvian has scaled instrument and consumable manufacturing to initiate clinical trials and early partner access programs. The company is pursuing US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance for its platform and is using recent capital to support that effort. Truvian positions its solution for deployment in clinics, doctors’ offices and pharmacies to increase access to routine testing and earlier medical intervention. Truvian Sciences is a healthcare company at the intersection of diagnostics and consumer technology, developing an automated benchtop system to produce lab-accurate results for a full suite of health tests from a small blood sample. The system is powered by patented technologies and intelligent integration to provide a convenient, affordable alternative to off-site labs and deliver immediate insights to inform healthcare decisions. The company plans to use the new capital to advance development of the device, prepare and submit it for U.S. FDA clearance, and scale its team for broad commercialization. Truvian closed a Series C of more than $105M, bringing total funding to over $150M to date. The financing was accompanied by a roster of executive and board appointments, including Jay Srinivasan as Chief Product Officer and new board members Glen Tullman, Greg Wasson, and Megh Gupta. Inventor Dean Kamen was named Senior Technology Advisor. Truvian develops an automated benchtop diagnostic system intended to deliver lab-accurate results for a full suite of health tests from a small blood sample in roughly 20 minutes. Its platform is powered by patented technologies and intelligent integration and delivers results electronically through a digital platform. The system uses dry reagent technology that allows consumables to be stored at room temperature, eliminating cold chain and refrigeration requirements. Truvian is working toward a CE Mark for the European Economic Area and plans a submission to the FDA for 510(k) clearance along with a CLIA waiver application to enable use in retail settings and doctors’ offices. The company added Katherine Atkinson as Chief Commercial Officer and appointed Paul Meister to its board; the board is chaired by co-founder Kim Kamdar, and co-founder Dena Marrinucci serves as SVP of Corporate Development and Business Operations. Truvian intends to use new funding to expand operations and advance development efforts.
- Hero Bread
Led · Equity · Jun 2024
Hero Bread produces an artisanal line of low-carb, high-nutrition baked goods using resistant wheat starch to achieve minimal to zero net carbs. Its portfolio includes croissants, cheese biscuits, rolls, buns, tortillas and seeded and white breads sold DTC and across over 4,000 retailers. The company says sales have more than doubled every year since launch and expects to easily double sales year over year. Founder Cole Glass launched the business in 2021 and early backers included athletes Tom Brady and Kevin Durant and recording artists including The Weeknd. Hero Bread has invested in product formulation and manufacturing capacity, iterating recipes (for example replacing seed oils with olive oil) and building a test kitchen and manufacturing system to support rapid growth. The company plans to expand national distribution, broaden retail doors in 2024, continue product innovation and explore other carbohydrate-rich categories. Hero Bread produces low‑carbohydrate breads that replace standard flour with proteins and plant fibers, delivering roughly 0–2 grams of carbs per serving versus more than 20 grams in traditional white bread and offering higher protein. The company’s products are positioned as direct substitutes for conventional bread with a nutrition-forward formulation. Online sales through the company website are expanding, and the firm plans a retail rollout into 32 U.S. states, including placement at Sprouts Farmers Market. Athlete sponsors Tom Brady and Kevin Durant are among the company’s backers. The business just completed new fundraising to support growth through the end of 2023, and leadership has signaled the remainder of the raise could close earlier if performance exceeds expectations.