# Nazare Ventures

Nazare Ventures is a Venture Capital based in Zurich, Switzerland.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Venture Capital
- **Headquarters:** Zurich, Switzerland
- **Region:** Europe
- **Address:** Zurich, Switzerland
- **Founded:** 2024
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** nazare.io
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/nazarevc

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

Nazare Ventures is a venture capital firm founded by Dr. Steven Waterhouse. The firm focuses on identifying the systems layer before the application layer becomes obvious, drawing on the founder's 30 years of experience in machine learning and crypto. Investments include Vast.AI, Prime Intellect, and the Open Superintelligence Stack.

## Sectors

- AI/ML
- Crypto / Web3
- Enterprise Software

## People

- Unnamed Principal — Founder

## Questions

### What is Nazare Ventures' investment thesis?

Nazare Ventures invests in the 'agent-first' computing paradigm, arguing that AI agents are the new users. The firm backs companies building the infrastructure and applications natively for this machine-native world, a thesis its founder describes as finding the systems layer before the application layer is obvious. This extends the founder's previous pattern of investing in foundational technology, from IP to crypto infrastructure at Pantera Capital.

### Who founded Nazare Ventures and what is his track record?

The firm was founded by an unnamed principal with a 30-year career spanning academia, operations, and investing. He earned a PhD in machine learning from Cambridge, worked at NASA Ames, co-founded RPX Corporation (IPO'd 2011), and was a Managing Director at Fortress. As a partner at Pantera Capital, he led the Series A for Circle in 2013, and later co-founded Orchid Labs, which he grew from a $30 million FDV seed to a $1 billion peak valuation.

### What investment stages does Nazare Ventures target?

The firm's public materials indicate a focus on early-stage companies, stating that most of the defining companies in the agent-first paradigm are 'still being founded' and that Nazare exists to back them early. Given the founder's history of seed-stage involvement, such as leading Circle's Series A and co-founding Orchid Labs from seed, the firm is expected to concentrate on first institutional rounds and seed-stage investments.

## Related profiles

- [Nazarbayev University Endowment](https://altss.com/profile/nazarbayev-university-endowment)
- [Nazca](https://altss.com/profile/nazca)

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Last updated: 2026-07-10T08:08:34.000Z

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