Alexis Ohanian

Background

Alexis Ohanian is the founder of Seven Seven Six (776), an early-stage venture capital firm with nearly $1 billion in assets under management ¹. He is best known as the co-founder of Reddit, which he started with Steve Huffman in 2005 as part of Y Combinator’s first batch ¹.

Ohanian and Huffman sold Reddit to Conde Nast in 2006 for a reported $10-20 million ¹. He returned to Reddit in 2014 as Executive Chairman and helped grow the platform to over 50 million daily active users ¹. He subsequently co-founded Initialized Capital, building a portfolio representing over $200 billion in market value, including investments in Instacart, Coinbase, and Cruise ¹.

In July 2020, Ohanian left his role as Managing Partner at Initialized Capital to build Seven Seven Six from scratch ¹. The firm closed its first fund that year and within one year had reached $750 million in AUM ¹. In February 2022, 776 closed a $500 million second fund split across two vehicles: $300 million for earliest-stage startups and $200 million for growth-stage companies ². Later in 2022, the firm launched Kryptos, a $177.6 million fund focused on cryptocurrency token investments ³.

Ohanian is married to tennis champion Serena Williams ⁴. He has been a prominent investor in women’s sports, leading an early investment in Angel City FC in the NWSL (which later sold for $250 million in 2024), acquiring a Los Angeles League One Volleyball franchise, and purchasing a minority stake in Chelsea Women’s Super League club ⁴.

Stated Thesis

Ohanian publicly positions 776 as “a technology company that deploys venture capital” rather than a traditional venture firm ⁵. The firm describes its approach as focusing on the “earliest possible” stage, with typical investments ranging from $100K to $10M ¹.

On founder selection, Ohanian emphasizes founder-market fit: founders with “lived experience of problems they solve” ¹. He also looks for the ability to build passionate communities around a product and potential for platform scalability ¹.

On women’s sports, Ohanian has described the category as “a generationally undervalued asset class” ⁶ and stated: “As soon as people realize that these athletes are excellent year-round, and not just every four years, you’re going to have a huge opportunity” ⁴.

Ohanian has described his operating philosophy as: “The goal is to scale the most valuable and most productizable parts of our work first, so that when we spend time with our founders it’s the kind of work only humans can do well (empathy, strategy, creativity)” ¹.

Inferred Thesis

Based on publicly identified portfolio companies (approximately 56 companies confirmed in the 776 portfolio, out of 147 total investments reported), the following patterns emerge ^{1 3 7}:

Sector Breakdown (based on notable named investments): Approximately 40% of 776’s portfolio consists of crypto and web3-related companies, per Ohanian’s own disclosure to The Wall Street Journal ³. Named crypto/web3 portfolio companies include Axie Infinity, Yuga Labs (Bored Ape Yacht Club), QuickNode, CoinTracker, and Lolli ^{3 7}. The remaining ~60% spans consumer platforms (Alt, Pipe, Metafy), women’s sports properties (Angel City FC, LOVB, Chelsea Women), and other sectors ^{1 4}.

Note: With only ~20 individually named companies confirmed from 147 total investments, sample size is too small for reliable sector percentages beyond the self-reported 40% crypto figure.

Stage Distribution: 776 focuses on the earliest stages, with the $500M Fund II specifically allocating $300M to earliest-stage and $200M to growth ². Typical check sizes range from $500K to $5M ⁶. The firm almost always leads rounds ¹.

LP Composition as Differentiation: 51% of 776’s LPs identify as female, 13% as Black or Indigenous, and 10% as Latino/a/e — a deliberate differentiation strategy ¹.

Operational Infrastructure: 776 built a proprietary software platform called Cerebro, which provides access to a 44,000-contact database with one-click introductions, real-time portfolio tracking, and LP transparency ¹. This positions the firm more as a technology platform than a traditional fund.

Co-investor Patterns: Given the crypto/web3 focus, 776 frequently co-invests alongside other crypto-native funds. The firm’s non-crypto investments show less concentrated co-investor patterns.

Women’s Sports — A Unique Thesis Extension: Unlike most VC firms, Ohanian has invested in multiple women’s sports properties (Angel City FC, LOVB volleyball, Chelsea Women, Athlos track and field). This appears to be a personal conviction bet, not a typical VC thesis ⁴.

Portfolio

Note: This table represents only ~8% of 776’s reported 147 investments. The firm’s full portfolio is not publicly disclosed. Dates marked with “~” are approximate based on the firm’s founding timeline and reporting context.

In Their Own Words

On his investment approach: “The goal is to scale the most valuable and most productizable parts of our work first, so that when we spend time with our founders it’s the kind of work only humans can do well (empathy, strategy, creativity)” ¹.

On entrepreneurship: “You have to have a solution mindset. You have to have this idea that, ‘OK, I see a problem and I have an idea for what could be a solution, and I’m going to try it’” ⁸.

On democratizing entrepreneurship: “I’d like to see the word ‘entrepreneur’ knocked off its pedestal. Being ‘entrepreneurial’ is something I look for not only in founders to invest in, but also employees to hire” ⁸.

On women’s sports: “As soon as people realize that these athletes are excellent year-round, and not just every four years, you’re going to have a huge opportunity” ⁴.

On diverse perspectives: “One of the greatest privileges of being in an interracial relationship in particular is that I get to feel that discomfort often when I get a blind spot called out” ⁹.

On women’s sports team valuations: “My ambitions are to build billion-dollar businesses” — when discussing how owners should approach women’s sports franchises ¹⁰.

What Founders Say

No independently sourced founder testimonials found.

Sources