IMPORTANT – if you learned about Mana Ventures via a referral, social media or other means outside of AngelList please note it in your application.
Hi, I’m Morgan! I’m a previous venture backed founder and angel in 200+ companies. My partner Jack is currently Chief Product Officer at Suno AI ($500M) and previous VP of Product at Snap. After delivering strong returns on Mana Ventures Fund I, we launched the MV Syndicate and MV Rolling Fund (II) to back the smartest founders tackling the hardest problems.
Our Thesis
We invest Seed - Series C companies w/ check sizes that range from $100k - $1M. Here are a few criteria that are important to us.
- Founders we know well. As previous product founders and operators ourselves, our network of sharp friends & colleagues starting companies is strong.
- Outsized Return Deep Tech Verticals. AI, Data, Robotics, Automation, Space, Defense, Health Tech, & BioTech.
- Product market fit. We often invest at the early signs of product market fit or scaling traction. These are typically companies at or above $1M ARR.
- Outside of major tech hubs. Silicon Valley is now everywhere. Great teams are becoming distributed. We will continue to find incredible founders building strong businesses with reasonable valuations outside of the major US tech hubs and internationally.
- Seed+ Opportunities. Some of our best investments have been in Seed+ rounds, where founders aren’t quite ready for a large Series A, but have strong enough traction that we can see where it is heading and we can come in before it gets too competitive / expensive.
- Pro Rata Rights. 75+% of our deals include pro rata rights. We request it early on so we can continue to participate as the business scales and raises more capital.
- Reasonable Valuations. The majority of the companies we back are in the $10m - $30M valuation range.
Our Track Record
In 2016, We launched Mana Ventures Fund I. Over the span of 2 years, we deployed $885k of capital in 9 companies which included two breakout investments in recently public Unity Technologies (IPO - $12B+) and quickly growing Restream ($50M Series A).
In 2019, We launched the Mana Ventures AngelList Syndicate. Over the last 4 years, we have grown the syndicate to be one of the most active on the platform with a portfolio of 200+ companies, and a network of 7,200+ LP's including notable founders, executives, operators, engineers, and product leaders.
Our portfolio companies have gone on to raise $1B+ in VC from top tier funds / angels including Sequoia, Andreessen Horowitz, Sam Altman, Peter Thiel, Reid Hoffman, Founders Fund, Google Ventures, Greycroft Partners, General Catalyst, 8VC, Floodgate, Kleiner Perkins, Index Ventures, Insight Partners, among others. For a full breakdown of portfolio data please click here.
Mana Ventures Rolling Fund
We launched the MV Rolling Fund to enable us to invest in quickly moving and often oversubscribed deals, where syndicates may not be an option. While still early on, we’ve already had 85 mark-ups in our Rolling Fund portfolio. On a quarterly basis, gross MOIC’s are as follows: Q4-20 @ 1.8x / Q1-21 @ 3.3x / Q2-21 @ 2.1x / Q2-21 @ 1.4x.
*Gross MOIC's above as 11/24. Prior performance is not an indication of future success.
Also, active Rolling Fund LP’s receive a number of benefits based on commitment size, including reduced carry (fund / syndicates), reduced mgmt fee, priority access to syndicates, and no cut-backs on oversubscribed syndicates.
Learn more about our Rolling Fund.
Our Portfolio Markups
* The below multiples represent gross MOIC as of 11/24, from initial entry point to latest valuation. Prior performance is not an indication of future success.
OneBrief (33.8x Gross MOIC) - 2020 Pre-Seed. Backed by Caffeinated Capital. Has since raised a $53M Series B.
Yummy (31x Gross MOIC) - 2021 Pre-Seed. Backed by Anthos Capital & Y-combinator. Has since raised $20M Series A.
Everyday Dose (15.7x Gross MOIC) - 2022 Pre-Seed. Has since raised $20M Series A.
Motion (15x Gross MOIC) - 2022 Pre-Seed. Backed by Headline. Has since raised $20M Series B.
K2 Space (11.4x Gross MOIC) - 2023 Seed +. Backed y Altimeter. Has since raised $50M Series A.
Copper (10.2x Gross MOIC) - 2021 Seed. Backed by Fiat Ventures. Has since raised $30M Series A.
Unity Technologies (9.5x Gross MOIC) - 2015. Backed by Sequoia Partners. Has since gone public.
Restream (9.3x Gross MOIC) - 2015 Seed. Backed by Sapphire Ventures & Insight Partners. Has since raised a $50M Series A.
Brightland (8.7x Gross MOIC) - 2020 Pre-Seed. Backed by Founders of SweeetGreen. Has since raised a Series A.
JuneShine (11.6x Gross MOIC) - 2018 Seed. Backed by Founders of Rxbar. Has since raised a $20M Series B.
Abridge (7.7x Gross MOIC) - 2022 Series A+. Backed by Redpoint Ventures. Has since raised $150M Series C.
Houm (5.3x Gross MOIC) - 2021 Seed. Backed by Goodwater Capital & Fifth Wall. Has since raised $40M Series A.
We almost always invest alongside top funds, angel investors, and venture capital firms. Our deal flow comes from our strong network of founders, operators, & investors as well as our robust scout program. Our Rolling Fund LP's receive priority access to all of our investments, as well as lower carry on syndicates.
