Pejman Nozad

Founding Managing Partner

AI, Consumer

Pejman is the Co-Founder and Founding Managing Partner of Pear VC.

Over the past two decades, he has been a seed investor in some of the most iconic tech companies including Doordash, Dropbox, Applovin, Gusto, Guardant Health, Branch, Aurora Solar, Soundhound, CourseHero, and others.

As an immigrant from Iran, Pejman did not take the typical path towards becoming a VC. In fact, he is tech’s most unlikely venture capitalist. After arriving in the U.S., he lived in an attic above a yogurt shop and then worked at a rug store in downtown Palo Alto. He immersed himself in the vanguard of technology and slowly, with a few small investments, developed a reputation for both identifying talent and taking promising ideas to the next level.

Pejman lives in California with his wife, Mania, and their two children. He was included in the Forbes Midas List in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 and ranked #1 in the world on the Forbes Midas Seed List three years in a row (2023, 2024, 2025). Pejman received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 2014 for his contribution to America as an immigrant. Pejman started his career in Iran as a sports journalist and played soccer. He has attended 6 FIFA World Cups, two of them as an accredited journalist to cover the games.

Pejman is an investor and board member of Sheffield United, historic soccer club in the UK.

Outside of work…

I love family, traveling, the World Cup, and Pear!”

most used emoji

Raising hands! 🙌

favorite book


The Power Of Now by Eckhart Tolle

Childhood dream job

Become an astronaut and then a soccer player!

favorite sports teams

Manchester United

Selected Investments

Aurora
B2B
Aurora

Software platform for solar PV sales and design

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Branch
B2B
Branch

Mobile deep linking and attribution platform for marketers

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DoorDash
DoorDash

On-demand food, grocery, and retail delivery platform

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Gusto
B2B
Gusto

Payroll, benefits, and HR for small businesses

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Guardant Health
Guardant Health

Conquering cancer with data

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Vanta
Vanta

Automated security compliance and trust management platform

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Nova Credit
Nova Credit

Alternative credit data infrastructure for lenders and businesses

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