Daniel Goldberg

Daniel Goldberg co-founded Bridge Investments (which operates the Bridge Venture Fund) more than 20 years ago and has run it since the late 1990s, building it around what he calls a value-add, collaborative partnership model — "I believed in creating a culture of collaboration from the start." He holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Michigan. Over the firm's history he has frequently taken Board Director or Advisor seats with portfolio companies, including earlier-era holdings such as QDiscovery, FreightWatch, PV Media Group, and Stonegate Capital.

Bridge's investment focus centers on seed-stage vertical software, marketplaces, and consumer brands, with a stated thesis of "backing underestimated ventures that overdeliver" — identifying overlooked categories and markets underserved by venture capital, especially in the Midwest and other non-coastal regions. Goldberg leads the firm alongside partners including Jason Thomas (formerly of Red Barn Investments), Connor Ryan (Notre Dame; Kellogg MBA), and Karen Park (Co-Founder, VP Finance & Operations; CPA).

In 2020–2021 Goldberg launched Palo Santo, a Chicago-based venture fund dedicated to psychedelic and central-nervous-system mental-health therapeutics, together with co-founders Tim Schlidt and Tony Eisenberg. Palo Santo debuted with roughly $35M in initial capital to back 20+ companies across biopharma, digital therapeutics, healthcare services, and tech-enabled care, and later reporting described it as one of the largest venture vehicles focused purely on psychedelic medicine (cited around $50M). Through this work Goldberg has become a regularly quoted voice on psychedelic mental-health investing in outlets such as Reuters, Bloomberg, and CNBC, and has appeared on panels including the Endwell Project's psychedelics programming.

• Stage & checks: Seed and Series A primarily; checks roughly $100K–$5M with a ~$1.5M sweet spot. Typically does not lead rounds.
• Geographic edge: Targets "undercapitalized," non-coastal U.S. regions (Midwest emphasis) — the core "backing underestimated ventures that overdeliver" thesis.
• Sectors at Bridge: Vertical/SaaS software, marketplaces, and consumer brands (including consumer health, wellness/fitness, and retail/CPG-D2C).
• Sectors at Palo Santo: Psychedelic and CNS mental-health therapeutics spanning biopharma, digital therapeutics, and healthcare services.
• What gets a yes: Overlooked categories and markets, founders building durable and scalable businesses, and a hands-on partnership relationship — Goldberg emphasizes a collaborative, value-add approach rather than passive capital.