From scrubbing his way through humble beginnings in Bulgaria to generating nearly $900 million in returns from a single deal, Villi Iltchev ’s journey is nothing short of cinematic. The early GitLab investor and now founder of Category Ventures has raised a $160 million debut venture fund—a bold step towards building his own legacy in the world of enterprise software and AI investments.
Iltchev’s reputation precedes him. As a key player behind GitLab’s $10 billion market cap and Remote’s meteoric rise from a $30 million seed to a $3 billion valuation, he’s long proven his eye for game-changing tech. Yet, he stands apart from the Silicon Valley stereotype. No viral tweets. No flashy brand. Just raw hustle and deep conviction in the founders he backs.
Entrepreneur Ian Glow, once a lead on Tesla’s Autopilot team, knew Iltchev was different. “He understood my life arc,” Glow said. When Glow was launching his startup Zeromatter, it wasn’t the big-name VCs that earned his trust—it was Iltchev’s quiet confidence and respect for the founder’s journey.
Born in Bulgaria to highly educated parents whose careers collapsed post-communism, Iltchev’s life changed when he earned a scholarship to a boarding school in Georgia, USA, at age 15. Villi Iltchev ‘s talent in tennis earned him another scholarship at a small Christian college in South Carolina, and from there he climbed, degree by degree, job by job—from PwC to Merrill Lynch to tech titans like Salesforce, Box, and LifeLock.
By the time he landed in venture capital, Iltchev was already a seasoned operator. At August Capital, his GitLab deal returned more than double the entire $450 million fund. Later, at Two Sigma Ventures, his seed investment in Remote proved just as legendary. But rather than stay in the shadow of larger institutions, Iltchev has now stepped into the spotlight with Category Ventures.
Category will focus on early-stage enterprise software startups, especially in developer tools, infrastructure, applications, and AI. With $1.5M to $5M checks per company, Iltchev wants to own the early cap table—and truly help founders scale. He’s raising the fund solo, one of the largest first-time funds launched by a solo VC in recent years.
Behind the scenes, founders rave about his commitment. Jonathan Anderson of Candu says Iltchev made 200 intros for them—”ten times more than other investors.” Remote’s CEO, Job van der Voort, calls him not only an investor, but a neighbor and even a reliable pizza chef.
Soft-spoken yet fiercely competitive, Iltchev is out to build something lasting.
“If I fall on my face, I’ll be fine,” he says. “And I want my kids to see that. If I’m successful, I want them to see that too”
Category Ventures isn’t just another VC fund. It’s the culmination of decades of hard work, immigrant grit, and a belief that the best companies begin with the boldest founders—and the most loyal backers.
