Santosh Sankar / Dynamo Ventures

Santosh Sankar is the Co-Founder of Dynamo Ventures, a Chattanooga-based firm investing in supply chain and logistics technologies. Fund III just closed at $54 million.

When Santosh co-founded Dynamo in 2016, supply chain tech wasn’t trendy. “Our thesis has always been about the backbone industries of the economy. When we started ten years ago, people questioned why we’d focus solely on supply chain and logistics. Now, everyone understands that these foundational systems need modernization.”

Dynamo’s evolution shows an increasing focus on getting in earlier. Fund II maintained a 50/50 split between pre-seed and seed. Fund III leans more heavily into pre-seed, with two-thirds of investments at the earliest stage.

Our conversation gets into why pre-seed is where they add the most value. “We’re making high-conviction bets when others are hesitant, writing meaningful checks, and providing hands-on support when founders need it most.” Too many investors want traction metrics. Dynamo is comfortable making decisions based on the founder’s vision and their understanding of the market opportunity.

“It drives me nuts when some investors ask a pre-seed company what their moat is. They’re in the middle of building it.”

Recent news on Stord’s $200M round at a $1.5B valuation confirms Dynamo’s thesis. As the first check in 2016 from Fund I, Stord has sustained profitability since 2024, 5.5x growth since 2022, and over 30M orders delivered in 2024.

We also talk about Dynamo’s Chattanooga location. “Being headquartered in Chattanooga gives us proximity to the real economy—the warehouses, distribution centers, and manufacturing facilities that make modern life possible. We’re not just investing in technology. We’re investing in transforming industries that have been the backbone of the global economy for generations.”

While rooted in America’s heartland, Dynamo’s vision is global. Two-thirds of investments are in North America, the balance overseas. Concentration in Europe, Latin America becoming important.

Full episode below, or on Spotify / Apple Podcasts