Sam Hodges
About Sam Hodges
Sam Hodges co-founded Vouch Insurance, a commercial insurance platform for high-growth startups. He ran it as CEO for almost eight years, then moved to Executive Chairman, and co-founder Travis Hedge became CEO, per his LinkedIn post.
Before Vouch he co-founded Funding Circle US and ran it as U.S. Managing Director. A third-party profile says it scaled to over $1.5 billion in originations. Earlier roles include VP of Business Development at SecondMarket, the investment team at Pequot Capital, and strategy consulting at Katzenbach Partners. He also served as Interim CEO of WorkingPoint and studied at Stanford Graduate School of Business. Crunchbase also lists him as a Partner/Investor at Endurance Companies.
Crunchbase counts 23 personal investments, with Cara as the latest. Tracxn dates the start of his startup activity to 2019 and lists investments in the United States and United Kingdom.
Crunchbase lists him as an investor in rounds at Ascend (seed), Ocrolus (Series A) and Petal (seed). His AngelList syndicate page describes him as an early-stage investor with deal flow in financial technology and adjacent areas such as real estate tech, and says he is an active investor in fintech, health tech, real estate tech and marketplace businesses.
In March 2026 he joined Cara's $8M seed round, which was led by Kearny Jackson. Cara is an AI platform that automates sales and servicing workflows for insurance brokerages. Other angels in the round included Claire Hughes Johnson, Kevin Mahaffey and Colin Evans.
In October 2024 he took part in the $5.3M seed round of Stream. The round was led by Spark Capital, and Stream builds AI tools for workers' compensation medical document management.
His public investments cluster in fintech and insurance, with AI applied to insurance workflows. Most rounds found are seed or Series A. NFX Signal ranks him in Seed and Series A for insurance and fintech, and lists an investment range of $100K to $5.0M with a $1.5M sweet spot. That is a third-party listing, not a statement from him. Stated thesis: fintech and adjacent areas. He is based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
- Cara: AI platform for insurance brokerages; seed round announced March 2026.
- Stream: AI for workers' compensation case management; seed round in October 2024.
- Meanwhile: flexible finance tools for small businesses; seed round in June 2023.
- Ascend: seed round listed on Crunchbase, year not confirmed.
- Ocrolus: Series A listed on Crunchbase, year not confirmed.
- Petal: seed round listed on Crunchbase, year not confirmed.
- app.dealroom.co/news/feed/cara-raises-8m-to-automate-insurance-brokera
- pulse2.com/cara-8-million-raised-for-ai-insurance-brokerage-platform
- stream.claims/post/stream-raises-5-3m-seed-round-bringing-total-fundin
- linkedin.com/in/samhodges
- crunchbase.com/person/sam-hodges
- crunchbase.com/person/sam-hodges/person_overview_investor/timeline
- signal.nfx.com/investors/sam-hodges
- venture.angellist.com/hodgessam/syndicate
Investing activity
Sam Hodges appears in 1 AI deal tracked by the Lounge deals desk. The rounds are mostly Seed, with a median round size of $8M. The most recent is Cara (Seed, $8M, Apr 2026).
Sam Hodges most often invests alongside Kearny Jackson, Kevin Mahaffey, Claire Hughes Johnson and Colin Evans, and the companies they back on Lounge are mostly in AI.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Sam Hodges
Who is Sam Hodges?
Sam Hodges is a co-founder of Vouch Insurance, where he was CEO for almost eight years before becoming Executive Chairman. He also co-founded Funding Circle US and invests as an angel.
Does Sam Hodges invest in AI startups?
Yes. He took part in Cara's $8M seed round in March 2026 and Stream's seed round in October 2024. Both apply AI to insurance workflows.
What stage does Sam Hodges invest in?
The rounds found are seed and Series A. NFX Signal ranks him in both stages for insurance and fintech.
What is Sam Hodges' check size?
He has not stated one publicly that we found. NFX Signal lists an investment range of $100K to $5.0M with a $1.5M sweet spot, which is a third-party figure.
What sectors does Sam Hodges back?
Fintech, insurance, real estate tech, health tech and marketplaces, according to his AngelList profile and investment records. His recent AI deals are in insurance.
Should I pitch Sam Hodges if I am not building in insurance or fintech?
His public record is concentrated in fintech and insurance, so a pitch there fits best. His AngelList profile also names real estate tech, health tech and marketplaces.
Is Sam Hodges an angel investor?
Yes. Sam Hodges invests personally as an angel.
What AI companies has Sam Hodges invested in?
Sam Hodges's AI investments include Cara. The 1 round on Lounge are listed on this page with amounts, dates and co-investors.
What stage does Sam Hodges invest at?
In the rounds tracked on Lounge, Sam Hodges has invested at Seed, with a median round of $8M.
Who does Sam Hodges co-invest with?
Sam Hodges's most frequent co-investors on Lounge are Kearny Jackson (1 deal), Kevin Mahaffey (1 deal), Claire Hughes Johnson (1 deal) and Colin Evans (1 deal).