MaC Venture Capital

About

MaC Venture Capital is a Los Angeles-based seed-stage venture capital firm founded in 2019 through the merger of Cross Culture Ventures (co-founded by Marlon Nichols) and M Ventures (co-founded by Adrian Fenty, Michael Palank, and Charles D. King) ¹². The firm’s name combines the “M” from M Ventures and the “aC” from Cross Culture ².

Marlon Nichols previously served as an investment director at Intel Capital ³. Adrian Fenty is the former mayor of Washington, D.C. (2007-2011) ³. Michael Palank was a former member of the founding team at MACRO Media (Charles D. King’s company) and previously worked at Will Smith’s Overbrook Entertainment ³. Charles D. King was the first Black talent agency partner in the history of Hollywood and is an Oscar-winning producer ³².

The firm has raised three funds: Fund I at $103 million (closed March 2021) ⁴, Fund II at $203 million (closed June 2022) ⁵, and Fund III at $150 million (closed October 2024) ³⁶. Total assets under management now exceed $600 million ³. The firm’s initial check size has grown from $1.5 million in 2023 to $2-3 million in 2024 ³. MaC has made over 100 investments, with 76% of its portfolio invested in Black, Latinx, and female founders ⁷.

The firm describes itself as practicing “cultural investing” — studying where people are spending their money and time to identify emerging patterns and investment opportunities ⁸.

Stated Thesis

MaC Venture Capital publicly describes its approach as “cultural investing” — a framework that looks for shifting human behavior as leading indicators of future market opportunities ⁸⁹.

Marlon Nichols has explained the methodology: “We tap into those folks — call them influencers — who are tastemakers and we try to find common links throughout these people and throughout the world. Once we see something that’s popping up over and over again, that tells us that there’s something interesting happening here that we should pay attention to” ⁹.

The firm states it invests in “technology companies that benefit from shifts in cultural trends and behaviors in an increasingly diverse global marketplace” ⁷. Cross Culture Ventures, Nichols’ predecessor firm, made its name with this cultural investing thesis that focused on companies centered at the convergence of global popular culture and technology ⁹.

MaC describes itself as “conviction investors” who take the time to deeply understand markets, companies, and founders as people ⁷.

Inferred Thesis

Based on MaC Venture Capital’s verified portfolio, the firm operates as a generalist seed investor with a distinctive cultural lens and a strong commitment to underrepresented founders.

Stage focus: The firm invests almost exclusively at seed stage, with initial check sizes of $2-3 million as of 2024 ³. This is a pure seed fund — one of the largest in North America at that stage ⁶.

Sector patterns: Based on the 20 verified portfolio companies below, the firm is broadly diversified: consumer/media (Blavity, FaZe Clan, Spill — 3 of 20, 15%), fintech/payments (Pipe, Solo Funds — 2 of 20, 10%), food/agriculture (Thrive Market, Chef Robotics — 2 of 20, 10%), aerospace/deeptech (Stoke Space, Xona — 2 of 20, 10%), fashion/retail (FINESSE — 1 of 20, 5%), and various other sectors. The sample size of 20 out of 100+ investments is too small for reliable percentage breakdowns, but the pattern shows genuine sector diversity with a tilt toward consumer-facing companies.

Founder profile: The firm’s stated 76% investment rate in Black, Latinx, and female founders is a distinctive characteristic ⁷. This represents a conscious investment strategy, not just marketing — the firm was built on the thesis that diverse founders see underserved markets first.

Geographic patterns: While based in LA, MaC invests across North America, with investments also in Africa (Shekel Mobility, Big Cabal Media) and other emerging markets ³⁷.

Exit track record: Wonder Dynamics was acquired by Autodesk in 2024 for a 5.4x return ³. Gimlet Media was acquired by Spotify. The firm has had notable markups in Pipe and Stoke Space ³.

Co-investor patterns: MaC frequently co-invests with other diverse-led funds and has attracted follow-on from major firms including Breakthrough Energy Ventures (Stoke Space) ³.

Portfolio

This table represents approximately 20 of MaC’s 100+ investments. Note: Some investments (MongoDB, Thrive Market, Flexport, Caffeine) may have been made via predecessor funds Cross Culture Ventures or M Ventures prior to MaC’s 2019 formation ⁷¹¹.

In Their Own Words

“I realized I needed some real thought partners that were going to be in the trenches with me, day in and day out.” — Marlon Nichols, on the formation of MaC Venture Capital ³.

“If we’re not upsetting somebody, then we’re probably not doing anything important.” — Adrian Fenty, Managing General Partner ³.

“We tap into those folks — call them influencers — who are tastemakers and we try to find common links throughout these people and throughout the world. Once we see something that’s popping up over and over again, that tells us that there’s something interesting happening here that we should pay attention to.” — Marlon Nichols, on the cultural investing methodology ⁹.

What Founders Say

Andy Lapsa, CEO of Stoke Space, said of MaC: “They think independently and were able to lead our round when there wasn’t activity elsewhere” ³.

Nikola Todorovic, CEO of Wonder Dynamics, said: “They are the kind of folks that I can text at 1 AM” ³.

Brian Manning of Xona stated: “One of the things I really like about MaC is that they are conviction investors. They take the time to dig in and really understand not just a market and company before investing but also get to know the team as real people” ⁷.

A founder from Shekel Mobility stated: “From our very first conversation, it felt less like a pitch and more like a relationship. They immediately asked how they could help — not just as investors, but as partners” ⁷.

Armando Diaz of Purestream said: “After one of my first conversations with Marlon, I walked away feeling more confident in my company because of the questions he asked” ⁷.

Sources