When you find your people, you know.
We’ve worked together for over two decades as colleagues, investors, advisors, and entrepreneurs in our core markets. Each partner brings their own specialized operating expertise. Our superpower comes from strategic collaboration, anchored in trust.
the grit team














Palmieri
Paul Palmieri is Managing Partner of Grit Capital Partners, and has a focus on investments using applied AI to transform commerce, media, and martech. Paul is a zero-to-public unicorn-founder/CEO and serial entrepreneur turned 10-year student of venture investing.
Prior to founding Grit Capital Partners, he leaned into venture in roles at New Enterprise Associates and Bluerun Ventures before assembling the partnership and patiently delivering two top-decile pilot funds and over $1B in exit EV. He co-founded Millennial Media (IPO) in the mobile transition, and Incremental, an AI company in this cycle. Earlier in his career, he led mobile data for Verizon Wireless from $30M-$4B, and led teams and an industry to define the app economy, and bring advertising technology to life. He is widely recognized for this leadership. He currently serves on the boards of Niche and Incremental.
Paul is former Global Chairman of the MMA (Mobile Marketing Association) and served on the board of the IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau). He has been a national judge for the EY Entrepreneur of the Year program, and is a winner of the award in the technology category. Paul is a graduate of Mount St. Mary’s University and splits time between New York City and Maryland.
What sets US apart

GRIT IS MORE
THAN OUR NAME–
IT’S HOW WE WORK, HOW WE INVEST, AND HOW WE WIN.
DEEP EXPERIENCE
We create a personal bond with each founder and when we invest, we're all in. We’re committed to guiding our founders because we’ve been founders ourselves, and have trailblazed the categories they operate in. We believe in their vision, embody their grit, and are their fiercest advocates. We give each founder individualized attention and care in a relationship rooted in authenticity and trust. They know they can count on us for thoughtful advice from strategic vision to tactical support. We invest with ownership, not for ownership.

Our specialization is our strength. As forerunners in these sectors at the infancy of AI, we can see opportunities and anticipate roadblocks because we know these industries intimately. Each of us has deep knowledge in our sectors of expertise and we work hand-in-hand with the founders in those sectors. Our domain knowledge and active engagement model make us invaluable partners in accelerating growth, delivering expertise across talent acquisition, fundraising, go-to-market strategy, and achieving product-market fit.

OUR Support
Because we’ve been there, we understand the highs and lows, risks and rewards. We’re there to pick up the late-night call and offer counsel, provide access, and shared knowledge.

We are open and honest. We view challenges as opportunities for growth. We collaborate with founders before investing to build clear milestones for success. From product development to fulfillment, we help you identify opportunities and navigate challenges.

Our
Network
We’ve built authentic, loyal relationships throughout our careers and our deep network spans technology incumbents, industry leaders, talent from our operating companies and investments, and aligned investors. We are generous with our introductions and time, helping to open doors to partners, customers, distribution channels, investors, and acquiring companies.

We are team builders, building storied teams from three to 700. We've placed 55 successful CEOs in digital media and technology companies. One of our partners led an executive search firm specializing in Board, C-suite, and executive talent. We bring this core leadership talent sourcing capability to our founders, securing transformational team members from infancy to scale.

Our track record
Since 2017, we've carefully refined our investment strategy across two pilot funds. Our performance stems from disciplined selection, smaller fund size, active engagement, and concentrated portfolio construction in companies where we have high conviction. Of our 28 investments, eight companies have been acquired, with many more emerging as market leaders.

We have been investors since the mid-2000s, funding early-stage companies such as clicker, datasnap.io, FusionOne, Jackpocket, Millennial Media, Pulse8, Simplebet.ai, tapad, and thumbplay.