Hany Nada

Background

Hany Nada is the Co-Founder and Partner of ACME Capital, an early-stage deep tech venture capital firm based in San Francisco ¹. He co-founded ACME in 2018 alongside Scott Stanford after Stanford parted ways with his earlier business partner Shervin Pishevar at Sherpa Capital ²³. Stanford and Nada had known each other for roughly 16 years prior, dating back to when Stanford worked in investment banking at Goldman Sachs and Nada was a managing partner at GGV Capital ².

Before founding ACME, Nada co-founded GGV Capital (now known as Notable Capital) in 2000, where he served as Managing Partner from 2000 to October 2016, then as Venture Partner from November 2016 to 2018 ¹⁴. At GGV, Nada made the firm’s first investment in China in 2001 and pioneered a one-team approach to create a cohesive culture across the firm’s US and China offices ¹⁵.

Prior to his venture capital career, Nada spent ten years on Wall Street as a Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst at Piper Jaffray & Co., specializing in internet software and infrastructure ¹⁵. He was recognized as a top-ranked research analyst during his tenure ⁵.

Nada holds a B.S. in Economics and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Minnesota ¹.

Stated Thesis

Nada has publicly described ACME’s investment approach as deliberately contrarian and off the beaten path. In an interview with Hello Tomorrow, he stated: “As off-Broadway as possible. If there’s a sector that’s hot in VC we tend to shy away from it and look for whatever is going to be hot next” ⁶. He also cited Warren Buffett’s philosophy: “You want to be greedy when others are fearful and vice versa” ⁶.

When asked about ACME’s competitive advantage, Nada pointed to longevity: “Experience. We have been doing this for 22 years, most of my peers are either retired or running growth funds by now” ⁶.

On evaluating founders, Nada stated: “Alignment of passion + product + market of an entrepreneur = Gold. When you have an entrepreneur who’s passionate about solving a particular problem, and you have a well-built product to solve that problem and a massive market, that’s when you hit a goldmine” ⁶.

Regarding go-to-market challenges in deep tech, Nada noted: “The hardest part of deep tech companies is the go to market strategy. Typically, they’re inventing something new and they need to educate the market” ⁶.

ACME’s website describes the firm as backing “deep-tech founders who pair technical ambition with decisive execution,” focusing on frontier technologies before mainstream adoption ⁷.

Inferred Thesis

Based on 18 verified investments attributed to Hany Nada and ACME Capital (combining his GGV-era and ACME-era portfolios where he served on the board or was named as an investor):

Sector breakdown: - Gaming/entertainment: 5 of 18 (28%) — DraftKings, Xfire, Phoenix Labs, AviaGames, Forte - Deep tech/hardware/semiconductors: 4 of 18 (22%) — Uhnder, IonQ, Heptagon, Sphere Semi - Enterprise software/SaaS: 3 of 18 (17%) — Athenahealth, Regology, Forma.ai - Aerospace/space: 2 of 18 (11%) — Astra, Muon Space - Digital media/social: 2 of 18 (11%) — Tudou, Glu Mobile - Healthcare: 1 of 18 (6%) — Canopy - Other (data/search): 1 of 18 (6%) — Endeca

Stage distribution: Nada invests across seed through growth stages, with ACME’s sweet spot described as “late seed, Series A” ². His board-level involvement spans seed (Sphere Semi, Regology) through later stages (Uhnder Series D, AviaGames growth round). Signal by NFX lists his investment range as $1M-$10M with a sweet spot of $5M ⁴.

Geographic focus: Primarily US-based companies, though Nada’s GGV background included cross-border US-China investments (Tudou).

Founder profile patterns: Nada gravitates toward founders with deep technical expertise building category-defining hardware or software — quantum computing (IonQ), digital radar chips (Uhnder), AI-designed analog chips (Sphere Semi), space systems (Astra, Muon Space).

Co-investor patterns: ACME frequently co-invests with Future Ventures, Construct Capital, and strategic corporate investors (Samsung, Qualcomm Ventures, Magna).

Notable gaps: Despite ACME claiming deep tech as its primary focus, Nada’s personal portfolio includes a significant gaming/entertainment component (28%) that is not prominently featured in the firm’s current positioning. The firm website emphasizes aerospace, defense, physical AI, and advanced materials, but gaming remains a substantial thread in Nada’s individual investments.

Portfolio

Note: Investments from Nada’s GGV Capital era (pre-2018) are listed with approximate dates where exact years could not be independently verified. Nada has reportedly served as a long-term partner to more than 150 companies ¹, so this table represents a fraction of his total investment activity.

In Their Own Words

“As off-Broadway as possible. If there’s a sector that’s hot in VC we tend to shy away from it and look for whatever is going to be hot next.” — Hany Nada, Hello Tomorrow interview ⁶

“Alignment of passion + product + market of an entrepreneur = Gold. When you have an entrepreneur who’s passionate about solving a particular problem, and you have a well-built product to solve that problem and a massive market, that’s when you hit a goldmine.” — Hany Nada, Hello Tomorrow interview ⁶

“The hardest part of deep tech companies is the go to market strategy. Typically, they’re inventing something new and they need to educate the market.” — Hany Nada, Hello Tomorrow interview ⁶

“Do not sell a product when it’s in the prototype phase. Sell a product that’s ready to be self-deployed, self-sufficient from the customer’s point of view.” — Hany Nada, Hello Tomorrow interview ⁶

“We get literally thousands of business plans every week, so we use our network as a filter…A referral has a much higher chance of success.” — Hany Nada, Hello Tomorrow interview ⁶

“Uhnder produces the only radar in the world that is virtually impervious to spoofing by bad actors, boasting best-in-class performance and robustness against interference.” — Hany Nada, Uhnder Series D announcement, February 2024 ¹¹

What Founders Say

No independently sourced founder testimonials found. The ACME Capital website features portfolio founder quotes noting that ACME partners “jumped in the trenches” on regulatory issues and provided customer introductions and strategic advice, with contributions that “far exceed the money they’ve put in” ⁷. However, these are presented on the firm’s own website and cannot be independently attributed to specific named founders.

Sources