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Third Kind Venture Capital
Shana Fisher's Third Kind Venture Capital structures early-stage deals via SPVs, not a blind pool, from New York.
Third Kind Venture Capital
Shana Fisher established Third Kind Venture Capital in 2015, roughly a year after departing her role as Managing Director at Andreessen Horowitz. Before joining a16z, she spent over a decade as Senior Vice President of Strategic Planning at IAC, where she oversaw mergers and acquisitions. Her track record includes pre-IPO stakes in companies like Etsy and Pinterest, securing Series B access in 2012 for the latter. The firm is headquartered in New York and manages capital on behalf of a concentrated group of founders and operators, avoiding the institutional LP fundraising cycle entirely. Third Kind concentrates on seed-stage and early-stage technology investments, primarily in consumer internet, marketplaces, and enterprise software. The firm does not operate a flagship commingled fund. Instead, Fisher structures each investment through individual special purpose vehicles, giving her the flexibility to vary check sizes and hold periods. Known investments from this deployment model include the meditation app Headspace and the online education platform MasterClass. Fisher has led rounds or joined cap tables alongside firms such as Union Square Ventures and Accel, frequently taking board seats. Geographic coverage is focused on the United States, specifically Silicon Valley, New York, and Los Angeles. Fisher operates with an intentionally lean team, forgoing the partnership and analyst layers typical of a venture firm of her profile. The firm does not publicly report assets under management, a direct consequence of the SPV-driven structure that avoids pooled fund reporting requirements. In a notable operational event, the firm's investment in Passes, a creator monetization platform, followed Fisher's pattern of backing founders monetizing their audience directly — a domain she has tracked since her IAC tenure (per Axios, 2022). Third Kind's structural differentiator is its architecture as a near-permanent capital vehicle masquerading as a venture firm. Because Fisher deploys capital on a deal-by-deal basis for a tight syndicate of backers, she avoids the pressure to deploy within a fund's investment period and can hold assets indefinitely. This aligns the firm more closely with the posture of a family office or a holding company than a typical 10-year venture partnership, giving it a patience that proved particularly valuable during periods of valuation volatility.
General information
Firm type
Venture Capital
Year founded
2015
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
New York
Corporate office
New York, NY, United States
Principals
Shana Fisher
Managing Partner
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Third Kind Venture Capital?
Shana Fisher is the sole Managing Partner and makes all investment decisions. She brings operator and strategic M&A experience from her prior roles as Senior Vice President at IAC and Managing Director at Andreessen Horowitz. Her IAC tenure included early involvement with companies such as Match.com and Vimeo. She typically takes a board seat at portfolio companies post-investment.
How does Third Kind Venture Capital source its deals?
Third Kind relies heavily on Fisher's personal network built over two decades in New York and Silicon Valley. Her time at IAC and Andreessen Horowitz created relationships with serial founders who now refer deal flow. The firm's founder-backers also contribute to sourcing, creating an informal but highly curated deal pipeline that bypasses the traditional cold-inbound path.
Does Third Kind operate as a traditional venture fund?
No. Third Kind deliberately avoids the traditional 10-year blind pool fund structure. Fisher raises capital on a per-deal basis through special purpose vehicles. This structure means the firm's total assets under management are not publicly disclosed, and it does not face pressure to deploy a fixed amount of capital within a defined period.
What investment stages does Third Kind typically target?
The firm focuses almost exclusively on seed and Series A rounds. Fisher has stated a preference for being the first institutional check into a company, often leading rounds. Investments such as the 2015 seed round in MasterClass and the Series A in Headspace fit this early-stage pattern.
How is Third Kind related to Andreessen Horowitz or IAC?
Third Kind is an independent firm. Shana Fisher was previously a Managing Director at Andreessen Horowitz and, prior to that, the SVP of Strategic Planning at IAC. Several of her early deals, including a pre-IPO stake in Pinterest, were completed during her tenure at Andreessen Horowitz, but Third Kind operates completely separately from both organizations.
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