A* is a San Francisco-based early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2020 by Kevin Hartz, Bennett Siegel, and Gautam Gupta. The firm invests at the seed stage , committing early before traction or external validation and taking an active role in helping founders find their first customers, make early hires, and work through the decisions that define their companies. With the close of Fund III, A* manages over $1 billion in assets less than five years after launch.
A* is a generalist by sector, backing founders across AI applications, fintech, healthcare, security, developer tools, consumer internet, marketplaces, and SaaS. The firm does not organize around a market thesis, instead backing exceptional builders and following them into the most important categories. A* has drawn particular attention for backing unusually young founders, including a significant share of its previous fund deployed into companies led by teenagers.
A* Fund III closed at $450 million in May 2026. The fund will target at least 30 startups, with average check sizes of $3–10 million, deployed over two to three years. LPs include nonprofits, foundations, and endowments, with Carnegie Mellon University among publicly named backers.
Fund II closed at $315 million in June 2024 and was oversubscribed. Fund I closed at $300 million in 2021.
Leadership
Kevin Hartz is Co-Founder and General Partner. He is a serial entrepreneur best known for co-founding Xoom, the international money-transfer service PayPal acquired for $1.1 billion in 2015, and Eventbrite, the event-ticketing platform that went public in 2018. Bennett Siegel is Co-Founder and General Partner; he came up through Boston Consulting Group and Altamont Capital Partners before spending four years as a partner at Coatue Management. Gautam Gupta is Co-Founder and General Partner, previously a finance executive at Uber and operator at Opendoor. Vikram Ramakrishnan and Jordan Windmueller are Partners.
Investment Strategy
A* invests before consensus, before traction, and often before there is even a product. The firm is selective at entry and concentrated over time, partnering with a small number of founders per fund and deepening commitment as companies take shape. It deliberately positions itself against the megafund model, smaller fund size, higher capital per company, and price discipline at entry. Capital for Fund III will be deployed over two to three years.
Notable Investments
Email: hello@a-star.co
Kevin Hartz - Co-Founder & General Partner
Bennett Siegel - Co-Founder & General Partner
Gautam Gupta - Co-Founder & General Partner
Vikram Ramakrishnan - Partner
Jordan Windmueller - Partner
United States
