# SNR

SNR is a Private Equity based in Seattle, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Private Equity
- **Headquarters:** Seattle, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** San Francisco, CA, United States
- **Founded:** 2015
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** www.snr.vc
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/snr-certifecation

## About

SNR are principles-driven builders who aim to be first-believers in the most ambitious founders on the planet and help them succeed. They focus on big opportunities, equity-efficient execution paths, avoiding death, and long-term partnerships. They operate differently than other venture firms and aim to earn the promotion from investor to friend.

## Sectors

- Enterprise Software
- AI/ML
- Robotics & Automation
- SpaceTech
- Energy Transition & Renewables
- Biotech

## People

- Kevin Mahaffey — Co-founder & Investor
- Amit Gupta — Co-founder & Investor

## Questions

### Who runs investment decisions at SNR?

Investment decisions are led by co-founders Kevin Mahaffey and Amit Gupta. Mahaffey, a cybersecurity unicorn founder and former Y Combinator partner, brings deep technical and crisis-tested founder experience. Gupta complements this with company-building expertise gained across Qualcomm, INQ Mobile, Lookout, and Benchling. All investment activity flows through this dual-principal structure.

### How does SNR source proprietary deal flow?

SNR relies on the personal networks Kevin Mahaffey and Amit Gupta built across nearly two decades in Silicon Valley. Mahaffey's tenure as a part-time Y Combinator partner provides direct access to a concentrated pipeline of early-stage technical founders. Gupta's operating roles at high-growth companies give the firm insight into talent and company-building trends before they become widely shopped.

### What investment stages does SNR typically target?

SNR targets the earliest stages of company formation, describing itself as a 'first-believer' in founders. The firm writes first checks into companies that are often pre-revenue or pre-product, where technological risk remains high but the principals' operating experience can materially change the trajectory of a technical team.

### Does SNR participate in fund commitments or only direct deals?

The firm's public materials exclusively describe direct investments in early-stage operating companies. There is no mention of fund-of-fund commitments, secondaries purchases, or co-investment vehicles alongside external general partners. SNR's value proposition is its hands-on, operator-to-founder partnership model.

### Which sectors does SNR explicitly avoid?

SNR does not publish an explicit negative list, but its portfolio rationale is centered on software-enabled, defensible technology that shifts productivity curves. Consumer internet, media, and traditional brick-and-mortar businesses appear absent from its portfolio. The firm's capital explicitly chases audacious technical problems — asteroid mining, wildfire-fighting AI, autonomous robots — and implicitly avoids capital-light or undifferentiated services businesses.

## Related profiles

- [Snowwater Investment Partners](https://altss.com/profile/snowwater-investment-partners)
- [SNT Savings Bank](https://altss.com/profile/snt-savings-bank)

---

Last updated: 2026-08-11T15:08:11.274Z

Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/snr

Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology