Lionheart Ventures

What Lionheart Ventures does

Lionheart Ventures is a privately held, seed-stage venture capital firm founded in 2019 and operating through its legal entity Lionheart Fund Management, LLC, registered at 120 Juniper Road, Bolinas, California. The firm invests in "the wise development of transformative technologies," with two stated themes: (1) artificial intelligence — companies that defend and enhance human flourishing, agency, and resilience as advanced AI systems emerge, and (2) frontier mental health — psychedelic medicine, novel neuropharmacology, neuromodulation, and digital mental-health platforms addressing the global mental health crisis. Its portfolio spans approximately 50 companies, including Anthropic, Calm, NeuroBionics, Goodfire, Gray Swan, Softmax, Lucid Computing, Reconnect Labs, Clerkenwell Health, Tactogen, and Wonder Sciences. Deal flow is sourced through a curated network of expert advisors (neuroscientists, AI safety researchers, psychedelic medicine practitioners, and repeat entrepreneurs), direct outreach, and founder referrals.

The firm is founder-led and operator-led. Founder & Managing Partner David Langer previously founded Zesty (YC-backed, acquired by Square in 2018, $20M raised from Founders Fund) and GroupSpaces. Partner Shelby Clark founded Turo, the car-sharing marketplace that filed an S-1 for a multi-billion-dollar IPO. Principal Armin Khayatian was previously Director of Business and Corporate Development at Compass Pathways. The team also includes Associate Yury Orlovskiy (Center for AI Safety), VP of Finance Carlos López Enríquez (ex-Quiet Capital), Controller Tuan Nguyen, Chief of Staff Renée Alexiev, plus executive and events support, totaling fewer than 10 employees. Lionheart supplements capital with portfolio services including a portfolio job board (jobs.lionheart.vc, powered by Getro) that connects portfolio companies with talent.

Revenue is generated through the standard VC model: management fees on committed capital from limited partners (institutional investors, family offices, endowments, and high-net-worth individuals) and carried interest — typically 20% of profits above a hurdle rate — on successful portfolio exits. The firm does not publish fund size, AUM, or revenue figures. Distribution of capital occurs via direct equity investments, predominantly at seed stage, across a global footprint that includes the United States, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and the Asia-Pacific region. Marketing and brand presence is maintained through a direct website (lionheart.vc), LinkedIn, and the portfolio job board; no paid acquisition channels are reported.

Name

Lionheart Ventures

Legal name

Lionheart Fund Management, LLC

Website

https://lionheart.vc

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Lionheart Ventures is a seed-stage venture capital firm investing in AI safety and frontier mental health startups. It serves ethical founders building transformative technologies, generating returns through management fees and carried interest on a 50+ company portfolio.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (52394)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

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

Keywords

• Seed-stage venture capital
• AI technology investing
• Mental health investing
• Frontier technology venture
• Transformative technology funding

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Venture Capital Returns: Lionheart Ventures generates returns through equity investments in early-stage companies developing AI and mental health technologies. Returns come from management fees on committed capital and carried interest (typically 20% of profits above a hurdle rate) on successful exits.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Lionheart Ventures is a seed-stage venture capital firm that invests equity capital in exceptional, ethical founders developing transformative artificial intelligence and frontier mental health technologies. The firm sources and leads/participates in seed funding rounds, supports portfolio companies with strategic guidance and access to a network of domain expert advisors, and operates a portfolio job board to assist portfolio companies with recruiting talent.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Lionheart Ventures Seed-Stage Investment Services Seed-stage equity investment fund focused on transformative artificial intelligence and frontier mental health technologies. The firm invests in exceptional, ethical founders developing technologies with the potential to impact humanity on a meaningful scale, while generating attractive returns for limited partners. Investments span AI safety, interpretability, alignment, data sovereignty, psychedelic medicine, novel mental health drug development, neuromodulation devices, digital therapeutics, and corporate mental health platforms.
• Portfolio Job Board (jobs.lionheart.vc) Job board platform powered by Getro that connects portfolio companies with prospective talent, supporting portfolio company growth and recruiting.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Negev Capital: Psychedelic-medicine-focused fund investing in companies developing psilocybin, MDMA, and ketamine therapies. Directly overlaps Lionheart's mental-health portfolio thesis.
• Fifty Years: Seed-stage fund backing founders building profitable, world-positive companies in science and technology. Comparable mission-driven early-stage orientation.
• AIX Ventures: AI-focused fund led by AI practitioners investing in AI safety, infrastructure, and applications. Closely overlaps Lionheart's AI safety vertical thesis.
• Zetta Venture Partners: Early-stage VC focused on AI-centric startups with an emphasis on foundational AI companies and AI infrastructure. Closely aligned with Lionheart's AI thesis.
• Obvious Ventures: Mission-driven venture firm investing in world-positive companies across health, sustainability, and AI. Similar values-aligned, thematic approach to seed investing.
• Future Ventures: Steve Jurvetson's seed-stage fund focused on frontier deep tech and transformative science. Future Ventures directly co-invested with Lionheart in NeuroBionics, indicating overlapping sourcing networks in neurotech and frontier tech.
• Palo Santo Ventures: Early-stage VC dedicated to psychedelic and mental health therapeutics, a core vertical for Lionheart. Operates as a domain specialist with comparable thesis concentration.

Broad incumbents

• Lux Capital: Science and deep-tech focused VC investing in frontier AI, health, and climate technologies. Larger, more established incumbent with comparable sector specialization.
• Khosla Ventures: Large seed and early-stage investor with heavy weighting toward AI, biotech, and transformative science. Established alternative to Lionheart's vertical thesis.
• Founders Fund: Peter Thiel's fund, which David Langer raised $20M from for Zesty. Broad deep-tech and AI portfolio with a longer track record and institutional brand.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lionheartvc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments36 records

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

Frequently asked questions about Lionheart Ventures