Darkmode Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
Darkmode Ventures is an operator-led early-stage fund run by three current and former founders: Amir Shevat, Kat Orekhova, and Rapha Danilo. The firm describes itself as investing in early stage AI companies, with an emphasis on enterprise software and developer platforms. At launch in January 2024 the stated focus was open developer platforms, enterprise AI, and the modern data stack. Their pitch is genuine technical depth and hands-on help: founders quoted on the site say the partners beta-tested their products, made investor and customer introductions, helped with hiring, and joined strategy calls during fundraising.
Stage Focus
Primarily Pre-seed and Seed. The firm aims to write the first check at company inception or within the first few months. There is no traction requirement, and some portfolio companies had no product when funded. For larger Seed rounds they introduce founders to bigger funds that can write larger checks.
Check Size
The site states typical checks of $150K to $250K. Press coverage at launch cited $100K to $200K per company from an initial $5M fund targeting about 35 companies. Third-party directories list $200K to $400K. The firm's own figure is used here.
Lead Tendency
Where possible they lead or co-lead Pre-seed rounds. At Seed they more often act as an early, small check and a connector to larger lead investors.
Recent Activity
The fund was announced publicly in January 2024. Calcalist reported it had already invested in 12 companies, ten with Israeli founders, and planned about 35 in total. The portfolio page lists partnerships dated 2021 through 2025, the latest being Flexion (AI for robotics), Revin (AI for service businesses), and Prysmic (AI for supply chain operations), all 2025. No newer fund announcement was found, so fund status is treated as actively deploying but unconfirmed.
Portfolio Highlights
The page lists Drata (security and compliance, 2021), Camber Health (healthcare automation, 2021), Connectly (AI marketing automation, 2022), Bluesky (open social protocol, 2023), Daytona (AI infrastructure, 2023), Tessl (AI developer platform, 2024), Cellular Intelligence (AI for cell therapy, 2024), Adopt AI (agents and integrations, 2024), Billables (AI for legal, 2024), Flexion, Revin, and Prysmic (2025). Calcalist also names Merge (integrations platform) and Tabnine (AI coding assistant) as early investments.
Team
- Amir Shevat: Former head of Twitter's developer platform. Co-founded Reshuffle, acquired by Twitter. Earlier built developer platforms at Microsoft, Google, Slack, and Twitch. Author of books on conversational software and web APIs.
- Kat Orekhova: Founded Vareto (about $24M raised). Writes on founder motivation, fundraising, and hiring.
- Rapha Danilo: Founded and sold Yobs to Gong. Writes on enterprise AI/ML and hiring. His company sells to talent and HR leaders.
Decision Process
Conviction over consensus. One partner needs full conviction to invest, and no multi-partner approval is required. Typically one partner spends the most time with the company and at least one other partner also meets the founders. Decisions usually take a couple of weeks in areas they know well, longer in unfamiliar spaces.
Founder Preferences
Strong, first-principled founders with a bias for execution and a clear direction. They stress founder-company fit and the founder's personal "why" for starting this company. They use a proprietary competencies framework covering communication, decision-making, hiring and firing, and product and brand building. Strengths should match the space, for example sales leaders starting an enterprise sales company.
Geographic Focus
Currently US-focused. Historically a significant number of investments in Israel, Latin America, and Europe, with the launch press emphasizing Israeli founders who incorporate in the US.
LPs and Fund Structure
Press at launch named LPs including Bain Capital, Foundation Capital, Innovation Endeavors, and AngelList Fund, plus GPs of ICONIQ and Afore Capital and operators at Meta, Google, Coinbase, and Stripe. The initial fund was reported at $5M, which is small by design: the partners argue small funds need smaller exits to return the fund.
Gaps
Headquarters location and AUM are not stated on the site, so they are left unset. Fund size beyond the launch press report is unconfirmed. Portfolio entries carry no stage or round data.