HVF Labs

Early Stage Venture Capitalhvflabs.com

SciFi VC is an early-stage generalist venture capital firm founded in 2023 by Max and Nellie Levchin, investing in seed and Series A rounds in fintech, AI, and science-focused companies globally. It provides hands-on operational and strategic support to portfolio founders.

Company typePrivate
Founded2023
HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
Headcount1–10
GTM typeB2B
OfferingServices

What HVF Labs does

SciFi VC is an early-stage generalist venture capital firm founded in 2023 by Max Levchin and Nellie Levchin. The firm invests at brainstorm, seed, and Series A stages, with selective follow-on participation into growth rounds, and positions itself around 'hard' problems in fintech, artificial intelligence, and science-based commercialization. Its stated focus areas include credit, infrastructure, insurance, payments, and real estate fintech; AI infrastructure and applications; and science categories such as CRISPR, robotics, and quantum computing, alongside opportunistic bets in enterprise software, healthcare, and security. The firm explicitly highlights hands-on operational support (product strategy, financial modeling, fundraising, partnerships, credit) and a thesis that science-heavy ventures can be commercialized with the right operator network.

The team consists of Max Levchin and Nellie Levchin as Partners, Brooks Hosfield as a Partner, Matt Therian as Partner focused on Finance and Operations, and Mikaela Encarnacion as Executive Assistant. Named portfolio companies include Brex, Loft, and Aven, each referenced via founder testimonials emphasizing the firm's involvement in formative product, capital structure, and operating decisions. Deal sourcing is referral- and network-driven via a Substack blog (scifivc.substack.com) and a dedicated pitch inbox ([email protected]), with no outbound paid marketing.

SciFi VC does not sell a product or service in the conventional sense; it deploys LP capital into equity investments in early-stage companies and earns returns through portfolio exits (IPO or acquisition), supplemented by conventional venture fund management economics (management fees and carried interest). No fund size, AUM, capital deployed, revenue, or fee structure is disclosed in the available sources, and the firm is privately held and US-domiciled based on available signals.

HVF Labs firmographics

Firmographics

Name: HVF Labs
Legal name: SciFi VC
Website: https://hvflabs.com
Company type: Private
Founded year: 2023
Operating status: Operating
Headcount range: 1–10 employees
Short description: SciFi VC is an early-stage generalist venture capital firm founded in 2023 by Max and Nellie Levchin, investing in seed and Series A rounds in fintech, AI, and science-focused companies globally. It provides hands-on operational and strategic support to portfolio founders.
Ownership category
akta.pro rank

HVF Labs industry classification

Industry

Product category: Early Stage Venture Capital
NAICS: Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (52394)
SIC: Investment Advice (6282)
akta.pro primary industry: Early-Stage Venture Capital (Series A/B) (FSANAAAB)
akta.pro secondary industry: Late-Stage Venture Capital (Series C+) (FSANAAAC)

Keywords

Venture capital
Seed stage investing
Early stage funding
Fintech venture capital
Science commercialization

Where HVF Labs is headquartered

Location

Headquarters

HQ city: San Francisco
HQ country: United States
HQ region: North America

Markets served

HVF Labs business model

Business model

GTM type: B2B
Offering type: Services
Cost components: Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

Venture Capital Fund Management: SciFi VC generates returns through equity investments in early stage startups across fintech, artificial intelligence, and science. As a generalist VC firm, they earn returns through portfolio company exits via IPO or acquisition.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

HVF Labs product offering

Product offering

Core offering

HVF Labs (operating as SciFi VC) is an early stage generalist venture capital firm founded by Max and Nellie Levchin. The firm invests LP capital in exceptional founders at the brainstorm, seed, and Series A stages across fintech, artificial intelligence, and science, with selective growth-stage follow-on. Beyond capital, partners provide strategic guidance on product, fundraising, and operations, drawing on deep domain expertise and operator networks.

Product overview

HVF Labs / SciFi VC is a venture capital firm, not a product company. The source material describes SciFi VC as Max and Nellie Levchin's venture fund that partners with exceptional founders solving hard problems in fintech, artificial intelligence, and science. The company does not offer a unified product platform or modules — it provides investment and partnership services to portfolio companies at brainstorm, early stage, and growth stage. No specific named products, modules, or service offerings are documented in the provided sources.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

SciFi VC Venture Fund An early stage generalist venture capital fund that invests LP capital in founders across fintech, artificial intelligence, and science, with selective follow-on through growth stage. Targeted at founders building companies in credit, infrastructure, insurance, payments, real estate, AI infrastructure and applications, CRISPR, robotics, quantum computing, enterprise software, healthcare, and security.
Brainstorm Stage Partnership A pre-investment partnership where HVF Labs / SciFi VC works with founders at the earliest, formative stage of company formation to define product and strategy before leading the seed round. Targeted at ambitious founders exploring fintech, marketplaces, and other areas before formal company formation.

Companies that use HVF Labs

Customer profile

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

HVF Labs technology and API

Technology

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API: No
API docs
API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

HVF Labs partnerships and signals

Strategic signal

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

HVF Labs competitors and assessment

Company assessment

Direct peers

Lux Capital: Early-stage VC specializing in science and deep tech including robotics, quantum, and biotech. SciFi's science thesis (CRISPR, robotics, quantum) closely mirrors Lux's category-defining focus area.
First Round Capital: Seed-stage VC focused on product-market fit and founder community (including First Round Capital's famous founder community). SciFi's brainstorm-stage founder-centric model is highly analogous.
Bloomberg Beta: Early-stage VC focused on the future of work, with strong fintech and AI application exposure. SciFi shares the seed-stage fintech/AI investment thesis at comparable scale.
Lerer Hippeau: Early-stage NYC-based VC writing seed checks across consumer, fintech, and software. SciFi's brainstorm-stage seed model is structurally similar with shared emphasis on founder guidance.
Founders Fund: Early-stage generalist VC founded by a PayPal co-founder (Peter Thiel). SciFi is a direct parallel — Levchin is also a PayPal co-founder, both funds emphasize frontier tech and intellectual founder networks, and both write checks at seed.
Forerunner: Early-stage consumer and fintech-focused VC led by Kirsten Green. SciFi's fintech emphasis (credit, payments, insurance) overlaps significantly with Forerunner's mandate at seed and Series A.
Costanoa Ventures: Early-stage fintech and enterprise software investor. SciFi's fintech seed focus on credit, infrastructure, and payments closely aligns with Costanoa's vertical specialization.

Broad incumbents

Y Combinator: Pre-seed and seed accelerator that partners with founders at the earliest stages across all sectors. SciFi's brainstorm-stage pre-incorporation support model parallels YC's earliest-touchpoint approach, though YC is a much larger platform.
General Catalyst: Multi-stage generalist VC with founder support programs and broad fintech/AI exposure. SciFi mirrors GC's seed-stage creation work but operates at smaller scale and more concentrated thesis.
Andreessen Horowitz (a16z): Large multi-stage VC with founder-focused model and operating partner network across fintech, AI, and biotech. SciFi operates at smaller scale with similar operating-company DNA but a16z is a much broader incumbent.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

HVF Labs financial estimates

Financial estimate

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

HVF Labs leadership team

Management profile

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

HVF Labs funding detail

Funding detail

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

HVF Labs M&A and investment

M&A and investment

M&A

Investments9 records

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

Frequently asked questions about HVF Labs

What does HVF Labs do?

Is HVF Labs a public or private company?

HVF Labs is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.

When was HVF Labs founded?

HVF Labs was founded in 2023. It employs 1 to 10 people.

Where is HVF Labs based?

HVF Labs is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.

How does HVF Labs make money?

One revenue line is on record: venture Capital Fund Management.

Who are HVF Labs's main competitors?

Direct peers on record are Lux Capital, First Round Capital, Bloomberg Beta, Lerer Hippeau, Founders Fund, Forerunner and Costanoa Ventures. Broad incumbents are Y Combinator, General Catalyst and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).

Does HVF Labs have an API?

No public API is recorded for HVF Labs.

What industry is HVF Labs in?

HVF Labs's product category is Early Stage Venture Capital. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSANAAAB, Early-Stage Venture Capital (Series A/B), with a secondary code of FSANAAAC, Late-Stage Venture Capital (Series C+). Its NAICS code is 52394 and its SIC code is 6282.