Mana Ventures

What Mana Ventures does

Mana Ventures is a private, founder-led venture capital firm based in San Francisco, founded in 2017 by Morgan Schwanke. The firm invests exclusively in early-stage deep tech and artificial intelligence companies from Seed through Series C, deploying checks of $2M-$10M per round alongside lead investors (the firm does not lead rounds). Investment verticals include AI/Compute, Space/Defense, Robotics/Autonomy, BioTech, HealthTech, B2B SaaS, Consumer, and Energy/Climate, with a documented track record of 300+ portfolio investments across the US, Europe, India, New Zealand, the Netherlands, and Israel.

The firm's operating model is built around three structural modules: (1) a direct co-investment channel targeting companies with proven product-market fit (typically $250K-$1M ARR); (2) the 'Mana Collective,' a curated network of 100+ value-add LPs including founders of Dropbox (Arash Ferdowsi), WordPress (Matt Mullenweg), Oculus (Michael Antonov), fuboTV (David Gandler), and HotelTonight (Sam Shank), who support portfolio companies with recruiting, customer introductions, and follow-on fundraising; and (3) the 'Scout Program,' a referral mechanism that lets external scouts submit deals and earn 20%-50% of Mana's 100% carry on closed transactions, with 48-hour review turnaround. Capital is deployed both directly and through an AngelList syndicate and SPV structure enabling individual LP co-investment, and the firm distributes deal flow via a branded newsletter called FirstWave.

Mana's revenue model is a standard venture capital structure: management fees on committed capital plus 100% carried interest on successful exits (shared with scouts and LPs). Notable portfolio outcomes include participation in rounds for Skild AI ($1.4B at $14B+ valuation), Figure AI ($1B at $39B valuation), K2 Space ($250M at $3B valuation), Onebrief ($200M Series D at $2.15B valuation), Neurophos ($110M Series A), and RapidFort ($42M Series A). The core team is compact — General Partner & Founder Morgan Schwanke, Principal Parker Hughes, and Investor Jared Van Ryne — supplemented by the broader Collective LP network and scout referral base. The firm is privately held with no parent company and no disclosed ownership changes.

Name

Mana Ventures

Legal name

Mana Ventures

Website

https://manaventures.vc

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Mana Ventures is a San Francisco-based venture capital firm founded in 2017 that invests $2M-$10M in Seed through Series C rounds of deep tech and AI startups across AI/Compute, Space/Defense, Robotics, BioTech, HealthTech, and B2B SaaS globally, operating through an AngelList syndicate, a 100+ member value-add Collective LP network, and a Scout Program.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital

NAICS

All Other Financial Investment Activities (52399)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Sector-Focused Venture Capital (Vertical Specialists) (FSANAAAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Early-Stage Venture Capital (Pre-Seed/Seed) (FSANAAAA), Early-Stage Venture Capital (Series A/B) (FSANAAAB)

Keywords

• Venture capital investing
• Deep tech startups
• Early stage funding
• AI startup investing
• Scout program

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Venture Capital Carried Interest: Primary revenue stream is carried interest (carry) earned on successful exits and liquidity events from the 300+ portfolio investments. Standard VC fund structure with 100% carry that is shared with scouts and LPs on deals.
2. Scout Program Carry Split: Scouts who refer successful deals receive 20%-50% of Mana's 100% carry on those deals; scouts may also invest carry-free in the SPV. This is a deal-sourcing incentive rather than direct revenue, but reflects the fund's carry economics.
3. AngelList Syndicate SPV Participation: Capital deployment via AngelList syndicates and SPVs, allowing individual LPs to co-invest alongside Mana Ventures.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Mana Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests Seed through Series C capital ($2M–$10M rounds) into 300+ deep tech and AI startups spanning AI/Compute, Space/Defense, Robotics/Autonomy, BioTech, HealthTech, B2B SaaS, Consumer, and Energy/Other categories. The firm co-invests alongside lead investors and wraps its fund with a value-add LP Collective network, a carry-sharing Scout Program for external referrals, and the FirstWave newsletter that distributes top deep tech and AI deals.

Product overview

Mana Ventures is a venture capital firm built around a single core investment offering (Seed through Series C deep tech and AI funding, with 300+ portfolio companies across AI/Compute, Space/Defense, Robotics/Autonomy, BioTech, HealthTech, B2B, Consumer, and Energy/Other from 2017 to 2025) supported by a small set of community-style modules. The Scout Program and its companion Submit Scout Deal form act as the deal-sourcing add-on that lets outside scouts earn 10%-50% carry on referred investments. The Collective functions as the LP/value-add network module supplying founders, operators, and executives (e.g., from Dropbox, WordPress, Oculus, HotelTonight) to portfolio companies. FirstWave is the firm's deep tech and AI deal-flow newsletter sub-brand, while the Startup Jobs board at jobs.manaventures.vc is an ancillary module that surfaces open roles across the portfolio. Together these components wrap the underlying fund in a "democratizing venture and deploying evangelism at scale" platform rather than a traditional single-product SaaS.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Mana Ventures Collective: An LP network brand of value-add founders, investors, executives, operators and specialists that supports Mana Ventures portfolio companies and deal sourcing.
• MV Scout Program
• First Wave

Products and services

• Mana Ventures Fund (Seed–Series C deep tech and AI capital) Core offering: venture capital investment in early-stage deep tech and AI startups across Seed through Series C rounds, deploying $2M–$10M checks alongside lead investors in categories including AI/Compute, Space/Defense, Robotics/Autonomy, BioTech, HealthTech, B2B SaaS, Consumer, and Energy/Climate.
• Mana Ventures Scout Program Referral program that lets external scouts worldwide pitch startups to Mana Ventures; scouts earn 20% of Mana's 100% carry on standard referred deals (up to 50% on top-tier deals) and may invest carry-free in the SPV, equivalent to writing a $25K–$50K angel check. Scouts are not required to be accredited investors and deal reviews are returned within 48 hours.
• The Mana Collective (LP Network) Value-add LP network of 100+ founders, investors, executives, operators, and specialists (including founders and executives from Dropbox, WordPress, Oculus, fuboTV, HotelTonight, Mozilla, Ancestry, Capital One, Salesforce, Walmart, Uber Freight) who provide portfolio companies with recruiting, strategic partnerships, customer introductions, and follow-on fundraising support.
• FirstWave Newsletter Subscription newsletter (firstwave.manaventures.vc) delivering the top deep tech and AI deals to subscribers' inboxes.

Quantifiable outcome

• 300+ Investments completed across Deep Tech and AI (2017-2025)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• AngelListcore distribution platformChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAngelList is Mana Ventures' syndication platform. The site links to venture.angellist.com/mana-ventures/syndicate for LP participation in SPVs and back deals.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Boost VC: Early-stage deep tech and crypto VC with a community-driven founder cohort model. Directly comparable to Mana's Deep Tech focus and community/network-led deal sourcing approach, though with a more concentrated accelerator-style thesis.
• SOSV: Multi-stage deep tech VC running accelerator programs (HAX for hardware, IndieBio for biotech, dlab for blockchain). Comparable to Mana as a deep tech-focused investor with operator/accelerator-style portfolio support infrastructure.
• Root Ventures: Pre-seed/seed VC focused exclusively on hard-tech and engineering-heavy startups. Strong direct comparable given Mana's deep tech investment thesis at the seed stage.
• Village Global: Early-stage VC with a network-led LP collective including tech founders and operators (e.g., Reid Hoffman, Jeff Bezos). Closely mirrors Mana's Collective LP model and seed-to-Series A focus.
• MaC Venture Capital: Early-stage tech VC founded by former AOL executives with a network of operators and founders as LPs. Comparable in scale, stage focus, and network-driven thesis.
• Glasswing Ventures: Early-stage AI and deep tech VC focused on enterprise infrastructure and AI startups. Comparable as a sector-specialist AI investor at seed/Series A; notably co-invested with Mana on TensorStax.
• Hustle Fund: Pre-seed/seed VC investing globally with a community of founders and a deal-sourcing network. Comparable in stage focus and community-led thesis; co-invested with Mana on Secludy.
• Builders VC: Early-stage VC focused on construction, real estate, and deep tech at the frontier. Comparable early-stage thesis; co-invested with Mana on Knapsack.
• FundersClub: Online venture capital platform enabling syndicated investing, similar in mechanism to Mana's AngelList syndicate. Operates a fund + syndicate model analogous to Mana's structure.

Broad incumbents

• Crosslink Capital: Multi-stage VC with deep tech and software focus, larger fund size, and lead-investor capability. Comparable in sector overlap but with more institutional scale; co-invested with Mana on Knapsack.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/Mana_Ventures
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/manaventures

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments194 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Mana Ventures