Geek Ventures

Ihar Mahaniok, Founder and Managing Partner, leads all investment decisions. Mahaniok spent a combined decade as a Staff Engineer at Google and Facebook, and his technical background is central to the firm's sourcing and diligence process. The firm operates with a lean team structure where Mahaniok is the primary decision-maker on new commitments.

The firm invests exclusively in immigrant-founded technology startups at pre-seed and seed stage, targeting B2B software, AI/ML infrastructure, and developer tools. Mahaniok has publicly stated that 55% of US unicorns had an immigrant founder, and Geek Ventures is built to concentrate capital on that demographic before institutional venture firms enter. The thesis combines demographic targeting with technical diligence drawn from Mahaniok's own engineering career.

Geek Ventures writes initial checks at pre-seed and seed and reserves capital for follow-on rounds in existing portfolio companies. The firm has led rounds when deal dynamics fit its check size, though specific lead-versus-participant ratios are not publicly disclosed. It also invests through syndicates alongside other early-stage managers.

Sourcing is driven by Mahaniok's personal network of senior engineers and engineering managers at hyperscale technology companies, especially Google and Facebook alumni. The firm does not operate a traditional associate-driven funnel. Instead, it relies on mapping technical talent as it leaves Big Tech, identifying founders before they formally raise capital.

The firm is headquartered in New York and invests across North America, with a concentration in New York and the San Francisco Bay Area. It does not publicly limit its mandate by geography beyond backing immigrant-founded companies operating primarily in the US market.

The firm has not published a formal exclusion list, but its portfolio and public communications show no presence in consumer social, hardware, biotech, or regulated industries such as fintech and healthcare. Its concentration is in enterprise software, AI infrastructure, and developer tools — sectors where Mahaniok's engineering background directly informs diligence.

Geek Ventures has not publicly disclosed its fund size, AUM, or limited partner composition. The firm operates below the threshold of mandatory public fund disclosures, consistent with a first-time or early-fund manager. No credible third-party publication has reported a verified fund size (as of mid-2026).