# A*

> A* is a San Francisco early-stage venture firm co-founded in 2020 by Eventbrite's Kevin Hartz, former Coatue partner Bennett Siegel, and ex-Uber finance chief Gautam Gupta. It runs a deliberately small book - roughly 30 companies per fund, $3M-$5M checks, 10%-plus ownership - and has backed breakout names like Ramp, Mercor and Decagon. In May 2026 it closed a $450M third fund, pushing assets to about $1B while other firms chase size.

- **Founded:** 2020
- **Headquarters:** San Francisco, United States
- **Founders:** Kevin Hartz (Co-Founder and General Partner), Bennett Siegel (Co-Founder and General Partner), Gautam Gupta (Co-Founder and Venture Partner)
- **Team size:** ~13
- **Products:** Early-stage investment (seed / Series A), Incubation, Operator support
- **Notable:** Closed a $450M third fund in May 2026, up 43% from Fund II and 50% from Fund I., Grew to roughly $1B in assets under management within about five years., Early backer of Ramp, Mercor and Decagon, the last of which reached a ~$4.5B tender valuation in 2026.

## Products & services

- **Early-stage investment (seed / Series A)** — Leads at the seed stage with $3M-$5M checks and doubles down at Series A, targeting 10%+ ownership across a portfolio capped near 30 companies per fund.
- **Incubation** — Backs companies from inception, occasionally helping build startups from the idea stage rather than waiting for a formed round.
- **Operator support** — Hands-on help on finance, growth, hiring and go-to-market drawn from partners who founded, scaled and took companies public.

## Achievements

- Closed a $450M third fund in May 2026, up 43% from Fund II and 50% from Fund I.
- Grew to roughly $1B in assets under management within about five years.
- Early backer of Ramp, Mercor and Decagon, the last of which reached a ~$4.5B tender valuation in 2026.
- Recruited a founding team that built Xoom and Eventbrite and invested at Coatue.
- Graduated from founder-LPs (Thiel, Levchin) to institutional capital by Fund III.

## Latest updates

- **2026-05** — A* closed its third fund at $450M, bringing total assets to roughly $1B while keeping its ~30-company portfolio discipline.
- **2026-03** — Portfolio company Decagon completed a tender offer at a ~$4.5B valuation.

## Links

- Website: https://a-star.co
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a-starhq
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/A_StarVC

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/a
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-15