Striker Venture Partners is a newly launched venture capital firm founded by Max Gazor, a four-time Midas List investor with 14 years at CRV. The firm is built around an inception-stage strategy that emphasizes extreme conviction, concentration, and close board-level partnerships with technical founders. Striker positions itself against the trend of broad portfolio diversification, instead pursuing a focused approach designed to generate true alpha in early-stage venture capital.
Striker backs inception-stage, pre-revenue technical founders with a focus on AI, cybersecurity, and infrastructure software.
The firm prioritizes entrepreneurs who are tackling transformative markets and building products from day zero, with Gazor and his team taking a highly involved role in product development, team building, and fundraising.
In October 2025, Striker Venture Partners announced its debut fund of $165 million, raised in weeks from only 10 limited partners.
The fund will target just 10 inception-stage investments, deploying $5–30 million per company with the goal of delivering concentrated, high-conviction support.
Leadership
The firm is led by Max Gazor, Founder and General Partner. Gazor is best known for his board work at CRV, where he was an early investor in companies like ReflectionAI, Airtable, Cribl, Dyna Robotics, Lepton AI, and CloudGenix.
His track record is rooted in inception-stage investing and building alongside founders from the earliest days.
Investment Strategy
Striker’s model centers on concentration over diversification: fewer investments, larger commitments, and deeper engagement with each founder.
The fund is designed to support inception-stage companies with significant technical depth, providing board-level involvement and long-term guidance. Striker’s positioning is differentiated by its willingness to embrace higher risk at the earliest stage in exchange for outsized outcomes.
Notable Investments
As a newly formed firm, Striker has not yet announced portfolio companies. Max Gazor’s prior track record includes early investments in:
Notable Exits
No exits yet for Striker’s debut fund. Gazor’s prior investments at CRV include companies that achieved significant scale and market impact.
Other
The fund’s exclusive base of just 10 LPs underscores its highly concentrated strategy.
Striker is positioning itself as one of the few funds globally willing to operate with such a focused inception-stage model.
