Max Ventures

Ryan Darnell and Matthew Weinberg lead the firm as named principals. They own the fund, make all investment decisions, and are directly involved in portfolio support. The firm's website emphasizes that when founders partner with Max Ventures, they work directly with the people who control the capital.

Max Ventures sources deal flow through its internal incubation studio, where it co-founds companies alongside talented founding teams before making a seed investment. This approach generates proprietary deal flow that is not broadly shopped to other seed funds. The firm has co-founded eight companies internally since 2017, giving it an early look at ventures it later funds.

Max Ventures targets the earliest stage, describing itself as day-zero investors who often commit to invest before a company is incorporated. The firm concentrates on pre-seed and seed rounds, with an initial check size of $1.0–1.5 million. It invests a majority of its capital in the initial round to maximize alignment with founders.

The firm's portfolio spans enterprise software, digital health, AI/ML, fintech, and healthcare services. Confirmed investments include Sana (enterprise AI), K Health (digital health), Elion (healthtech), Adonis (healthcare services), and The Post (fintech). It does not publicly disclose sectors it explicitly avoids.

The firm runs a concentrated strategy, investing a meaningful percentage of its fund — typically 2–5% — into each initial check. This structure ensures the GP has significant exposure to each portfolio company's outcome. The principals also own the fund themselves, avoiding the short-term, transactional incentives the firm associates with multi-manager venture platforms.