- A-Star has closed a $450 million third fund, its largest raise so far
- The venture firm was founded by Eventbrite co-founder Kevin Hartz and former Coatue investor Bennett Siegel
- The fund is focusing on selective seed-stage investments
Early-stage venture capital firm A-Star closed $450 million for its third fund, doubling down on selective startups.
The new fund continues the firm’s core strategy: concentrated seed-stage investing in a small number of companies, with conviction-led ownership targets and a deliberate refusal to compete in the mega-round market that has come to dominate Silicon Valley, including the $15 billion investment vehicle Andreessen Horowitz unveiled earlier this year.
A-Star, also known as A*, was founded by Kevin Hartz, Bennett Siegel and Gautam Gupta, in 2020 in San Francisco. Hartz previously built ticketing platform Eventbrite into one of Silicon Valley’s notable consumer technology businesses, while Siegel brought experience from investment firm Coatue Management. Together, they created A-Star to focus heavily on seed and pre-seed opportunities rather than competing in the increasingly crowded late-stage market.
The firm’s core investment strategy centres on concentrated early-stage backing. A-Star invests in roughly 30 to 40 startups per fund, writing cheques between $3 million and $5 million while targeting ownership stakes of at least 10%. Once it reaches that threshold in a company, the firm avoids investing in direct competitors.
Hartz believes early-stage investing works best through careful selection rather than continuously participating in every funding round until a company reaches the public markets.
A-Star’s portfolio reflects its focus on backing category-defining technology companies early. The firm has invested in major names, including Airbnb, DoorDash, Notion, Ramp, Pinterest, and Palantir Technologies. More recent bets include startups such as Krea, Mercor, Paraform, and Decagon, highlighting A-Star’s growing interest in enterprise software, automation, and next-generation digital infrastructure.
Looking ahead, A-Star plans to deploy the new $450 million fund over nearly three years. The firm is betting that patient capital allocation and targeted ownership strategies will continue to create opportunities, even as the broader venture market becomes increasingly dominated by massive funding rounds and escalating competition for breakout startups.
