A-Star, co-founded by Eventbrite's Kevin Hartz, announced a $450 million third fund on Tuesday—its largest yet, but a deliberate counterpoint to the multibillion-dollar AI investment vehicles gaining traction across venture capital.
Hartz and co-founder Bennett Siegel, formerly of Coatue, are charting a distinct path while competitors like Andreessen Horowitz deploy substantially larger funds to capture AI opportunities across company lifecycles.
The $450 million fund marks A-Star's most significant capital raise to date. The firm focuses on early-stage investments, a niche that contrasts sharply with the industry's recent pivot toward massive, AI-specialized vehicles designed to back startups at multiple growth phases.
Hartz, whose background spans founding Eventbrite and years as a startup investor, has observed the venture landscape shift toward larger check sizes and broader deployment strategies. A-Star's approach emphasizes concentrated bets during companies' initial growth stages.
The announcement underscores a widening divergence in venture strategy: while some firms chase AI ubiquity with megafunds, others remain committed to traditional early-stage thesis despite—or perhaps because of—sector trends toward consolidation around billion-dollar opportunities.
Adapter, an infrastructure platform enabling AI agents and applications to leverage and control data, has emerged from stealth with $17.8 million in funding led by GV.
Chinese AI developer DeepSeek is raising approximately $1.5 billion at a $71 billion valuation and planning to go public in 2027, according to reports.
State Affairs, backed by Founders Fund, launched a Bloomberg Terminal-like product that uses AI trained on reporting from its 76 staffers to deliver policy and political intelligence.
Justin McLeod, founder of dating app Hinge, has raised $18 million for Overtone, a new AI-powered dating service that prioritizes voice and audio interactions.