Maverick Ventures

About

Maverick Ventures is the venture capital arm of Maverick Capital, a global investment firm founded by Lee Ainslie in 1993 ¹. Ainslie, a former managing director and technology analyst at Julian Robertson’s Tiger Management, is one of the original “Tiger Cubs” ². Maverick Capital manages over $13.5 billion in gross assets across public equity strategies ³.

Maverick began making private investments using hedge fund capital as early as 2004 under the leadership of David Singer ³. In 2014, Maverick decided to split its funding structure and stop using hedge fund capital for private investments, launching Maverick Ventures as a standalone venture fund on January 1, 2015 ³⁴. The firm raised its first fund from family offices and endowments, with approximately 30% of capital coming from Maverick partners, including Ainslie ³.

Maverick Ventures operates as an evergreen fund — its vintages have no end date, allowing the firm to support companies without the exit pressure of traditional fund cycles ⁵⁶. The firm disclosed its first evergreen fund at $382 million in January 2019 ⁴. A third cycle announced over $600 million of committed capital ⁶. In March 2025, the firm raised $240 million in its fourth vintage, bringing total capital raised to over $855 million and AUM to over $1.4 billion ³.

The firm maintains a deliberately small investment team of five full-time investors, and backs only a few teams per year to enable deep engagement with each company ³⁷. Since separating from the hedge fund, the firm has achieved 19 exits ³. The firm’s strategic LP base includes health systems, insurers, endowments, and industrial conglomerates, and the firm donates over 1% of profits to the Maverick Capital Foundation ⁷.

Stated Thesis

Maverick Ventures publicly describes its focus as investing in early-stage healthcare and technology-driven businesses, partnering with founders “from inception through IPO” ⁷. The firm states it operates with a “no walls” approach between its public and private investment teams, providing portfolio companies access to hedge-fund-grade analysts and public company networks ⁷.

David Singer has stated that the firm is “thematic, but this business is all about opportunism,” adding that “the whole challenge of venture is to figure out what’s next and that, by nature, doesn’t fit into one bucket” ⁴. Singer has also said that investing in early-stage companies “demands proactively building strategies and companies, rather than merely reacting to incoming deal flow” ⁸.

Managing Partner Ambar Bhattacharyya has described a key insight from his experience at MinuteClinic that shapes the firm’s healthcare investing ⁹. The firm focuses on founders building companies where consumers are willing to pay for better healthcare experiences, and on areas where AI can enhance physicians’ capabilities rather than replace them ⁹.

Matt Kinsella, former Managing Director (now CEO of portfolio company Infleqtion), described the evergreen structure: “We don’t have fund one, two and three. It’s one perpetual pool of capital” ⁵. He added: “Most firms have not reserved enough to support a company through its private life. Sometimes, they need to force an exit and that is not always an optimal outcome for an LP or company. With us, there’s no end to the fund life. So how we invest is never based on the dynamics of the fund itself. It’s always an economically rational decision” ⁵.

Inferred Thesis

Based on 21 verified portfolio investments from the Maverick Ventures website and press coverage:

Sector breakdown: Healthcare dominates the portfolio. 14 of 21 verified investments (67%) are in healthcare or digital health companies (Hims & Hers, Devoted Health, One Medical, Cityblock Health, Chapter, Garner Health, Oula, Nourish, House Rx, Notable Health, Mandolin, Daffodil Health, VetCove, Collective Health). 4 of 21 (19%) are in AI/enterprise (MosaicML, Retool, BioCatch, Aurascape AI). 2 of 21 (10%) are in consumer/commerce (Coupang, LTK). 1 of 21 (5%) is in deep tech/quantum (Infleqtion).

Stage distribution: The firm invests primarily at seed and Series A, with some Series B participation. Typical check sizes range from $3 million to $10 million ¹⁰. Several investments (Hims, Cityblock, Infleqtion, Chapter) were made at the seed stage, with the firm following on into later rounds.

Geographic concentration: Portfolio companies are overwhelmingly US-based, with the notable exception of Coupang (South Korea). The firm is headquartered in San Francisco.

Founder profile patterns: The firm shows a preference for founders tackling large, regulated healthcare markets with technology-enabled models. Several portfolio companies (Hims, One Medical, Devoted Health, Cityblock) aim to reimagine how care is delivered to underserved populations.

Co-investor patterns: Frequent co-investors include Thrive Capital (Chapter, Nourish), Index Ventures (Nourish), and various healthcare-focused funds. The firm often leads rounds and takes board seats ¹¹.

Exit pattern: The firm has demonstrated patience through its evergreen structure. Notable exits include Hims & Hers (IPO 2021), One Medical (acquired by Amazon for $3.9 billion, 2023), MosaicML (acquired by Databricks for $1.3 billion, 2023), BioCatch (majority stake sold to Permira at $1.3 billion valuation, 2024), and Coupang (IPO 2021, Maverick held 6.4% worth over $5 billion at IPO) ^312131415.

Notable gap: Despite a stated focus on “technology” broadly, the portfolio is heavily skewed toward healthcare. Pure enterprise software or developer tools investments (Retool, BioCatch) represent a small minority. The firm’s actual behavior is closer to “healthcare-first investor with selective technology bets” than the broader framing suggests.

Portfolio

This table represents approximately 21 of Maverick Ventures’ 207 reported investments (~10%). The full portfolio spans over 100 companies across healthcare, enterprise, consumer, and deep tech sectors ¹¹.

In Their Own Words

David Singer, Managing Partner, on opportunism versus thematic investing:

“We are thematic, but this business is all about opportunism. The whole challenge of venture is to figure out what’s next and that, by nature, doesn’t fit into one bucket.” — TechCrunch, January 2019 ⁴

David Singer on commitment to portfolio companies:

“Once we invest, we’re in it.” — Fortune, March 2025 ³

Matt Kinsella, former Managing Director, on the evergreen fund structure:

“We don’t have fund one, two and three. It’s one perpetual pool of capital.” — Crunchbase News ⁵

“Most firms have not reserved enough to support a company through its private life. Sometimes, they need to force an exit and that is not always an optimal outcome for an LP or company. With us, there’s no end to the fund life. So how we invest is never based on the dynamics of the fund itself. It’s always an economically rational decision.” — Crunchbase News ⁵

Lee Ainslie on success in investing:

“The trait most highly associated with success is simply hard work. What really tends to distinguish people is not even hours of effort, but how intelligently people use that time.” — Business Today, 2021 ²⁸

Lee Ainslie on the future of investing:

“The odds of being a successful investor will be the degree to which they take advantage of data capabilities.” — Business Today, 2021 ²⁸

What Founders Say

BioCatch CEO Gadi Mazor thanked Matthew Kinsella of Maverick Ventures “for their support over the last four years, which was key in helping BioCatch establish its leadership position in the market” upon Permira’s acquisition of a majority stake ¹⁴.

No additional independently sourced founder testimonials found. The firm’s website features portfolio company logos and descriptions but does not include founder testimonials.

Sources