# Manu Kumar

> Dr. Manu Kumar is the founder and Chief Firestarter of K9 Ventures, the firm credited with coining the term 'pre-seed' and pioneering institutional pre-seed investing in Silicon Valley. A serial entrepreneur who bootstrapped his first company with $5,000 and sold it for $100M+ before age 25, Manu holds a PhD from Stanford and has backed companies like Lyft, Twilio, and Carta from their earliest days. He is also co-founder and CEO of HiHello, reimagining professional identity for the digital age.

- **Role:** Founder & Chief Firestarter at K9 Ventures; Co-founder & CEO at HiHello
- **Organizations:** K9 Ventures, HiHello, Carta (eShares)
- **From:** New Delhi, India
- **Nationality:** Indian-American
- **Education:** Secondary Education, Modern School, New Delhi, B.S. Electrical and Computer Engineering (University Honors), Carnegie Mellon University, M.S. Software Engineering (with Business concentration), Carnegie Mellon University, M.S. Computer Science, Stanford University, Ph.D. Computer Science (Distinction in Teaching), Stanford University
- **Known for:** Coined the term 'pre-seed' — first institutional pre-seed VC firm in Silicon Valley, Bootstrapped SneakerLabs with $5,000 and sold it for $100M+ before age 25, Backed Lyft, Twilio, Carta, Auth0, and Osmo at pre-seed stage

## Career timeline

- **1992** — Left India at 17 to attend Carnegie Mellon University
- **1997** — Founded SneakerLabs, Inc. with $5,000 from a summer internship
- **2000** — SneakerLabs acquired by Octane Software for $100M+ in stock
- **2000-2001** — VP of Interactive Technologies at E.piphany (post-acquisition)
- **2001-2002** — Chairman and CEO of iMeet, Inc.
- **2002** — iMeet merged with Netspoke; enrolled in Stanford PhD program
- **2005** — Netspoke sold to Premiere Conferencing (NYSE: PGI)
- **2006** — Wrote first angel check for Refocus Imaging — became an 'accidental investor'
- **2007** — Helped found Lytro (lightfield camera) with Ren Ng during PhD
- **2007** — Received PhD in Computer Science from Stanford
- **2009** — Founded K9 Ventures in April — coined the term 'pre-seed'
- **2009** — Backed Lyft (then Zimride) at pre-seed stage
- **2010** — Backed Twilio at pre-seed stage
- **2012** — Co-founded eShares (now Carta) with Henry Ward; K9 Ventures Fund II ($40M)
- **2017** — Closed K9 Ventures Fund III at $42M
- **2018** — Co-founded HiHello with Hari Ravi; became CEO
- **2019** — K9 Ventures celebrated 10-year anniversary
- **2024** — HiHello added Eugenio Pace (Auth0 co-founder) to board
- **2025** — HiHello launched 'Professional Presence Platform'

## Achievements

- Coined the term 'pre-seed' — first institutional pre-seed VC firm in Silicon Valley
- Bootstrapped SneakerLabs with $5,000 and sold it for $100M+ before age 25
- Backed Lyft, Twilio, Carta, Auth0, and Osmo at pre-seed stage
- ~14% unicorn-to-investment ratio — approximately 2x the average of top-100 seed investors
- PhD in Computer Science from Stanford with Distinction in Teaching
- Co-founded 6+ companies with 3+ successful exits
- Co-founded Carta (eShares), now managing $575B+ in equity for 11,000+ companies
- Built K9 Ventures as a solo GP generating top-decile returns across 3 funds
- Visiting Lecturer at both Carnegie Mellon and Stanford

## Latest updates

- **2025-08** — HiHello launched its 'Professional Presence Platform' — unifying company brand with employee identity
- **2025-07** — Appeared on New to Venture Podcast (Ep. 045) discussing pre-seed investing and founder grit
- **2025-10** — Appeared on 20VC podcast with Harry Stebbings discussing risk, pricing, and startup mortality
- **2024-07** — HiHello added Eugenio Pace (Auth0 co-founder) and Shana Simmons to board of directors

## Links

- Website: https://k9ventures.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sneaker
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/manukumar
- GitHub: https://github.com/manukumar
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/manukumar

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/manu-kumar
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-05