About UsWho we are.
A venture capital firm based in Richmond, VA, investing in AI companies building the autonomous systems that will define the next era of business.
Headquartered In
Richmond, Virginia
Deploying capital into AI companies across the US
Why "Fifth
Turning"?
Our name is rooted in The Fourth Turning — the 1997 book by historians William Strauss and Neil Howe. Their generational theory holds that history moves in roughly 80-year cycles, each composed of four distinct "turnings": a High, an Awakening, an Unraveling, and a Crisis.
Each turning reshapes society from the ground up. The Crisis — the Fourth Turning — is the crucible: old institutions break down, new ones emerge, and the social order is fundamentally rewritten. Think the American Revolution, the Civil War, the Great Depression and World War II.
We believe we are living through the final phase of one of those cycles. But we also believe something new is happening — something the Strauss-Howe model didn't anticipate.
The High
Post-crisis prosperity. Institutions are strong. Individualism recedes. Society builds.
The Awakening
Spiritual and cultural upheaval. Institutions are attacked. New values emerge.
The Unraveling
Institutions weaken. Individualism rises. Culture wars intensify.
The Crisis
Old order collapses. Existential threats emerge. Society is remade.
The Fifth Turn
AI. The unprecedented acceleration that breaks the historical cycle — and defines what comes next.
History has never seen anything quite like this.
Every previous turning — no matter how disruptive — operated within the constraints of human cognitive capacity. Revolutions were led by people. Institutions were built by people. Markets moved at the speed of human decision-making.
Artificial intelligence breaks that constraint. For the first time in history, we have systems that can reason, plan, and act — autonomously — at a scale and speed no human organization can match.
This isn't the next turning in the Strauss-Howe cycle. It's something outside the model. A Fifth Turn — an inflection point that doesn't just reshape society, but reshapes the fundamental capabilities available to it.
Fifth Turn Capital exists to deploy capital into the companies building the infrastructure, tooling, and applications of this new era. We invest in AI companies — specifically the agentic AI layer — because we believe this is where the most durable value will be created.
We invest in AI companies.
Specifically, agentic AI — companies building autonomous systems that execute end-to-end workflows for small and medium-sized businesses.
Existing AI Companies
We deploy into companies that are already building — with product in market, early traction, and a clear path to the SMB segment.
Agentic Focus
Not chatbots. Not co-pilots. Agents that take action, execute decisions, and operate continuously with minimal human oversight.
SMB & Startup Market
The 99% of businesses that enterprise AI vendors ignore. We back companies purpose-built for this massively underserved segment.