LM Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
LM Ventures is a venture capital firm headquartered in Palo Alto (Silicon Valley), USA, investing in leading deep-tech companies worldwide. The firm describes its mission on LinkedIn as helping "bold immigrant entrepreneurs build legendary companies from early," and its public site tagline is "Global deep tech investing in the age of AI." LM Ventures partners with what it calls "legendary" technology enterprises and determined entrepreneurs, positioning itself as a connector between deep-tech innovation and cross-border capital, with a presence spanning Silicon Valley, Shanghai, and Singapore.
Sector Focus
The firm's stated investment focus spans four core areas: artificial intelligence, robotics, semiconductors, and enterprise software. Its public portfolio page organizes holdings into three named categories: Artificial Intelligence/Autonomous Driving, Electric Vehicle Charging and Infrastructure, and FinTech. In practice this spans AI perception hardware (LiDAR, edge AI chips), computational storage silicon, EV charging and mobility infrastructure, and consumer/enterprise fintech.
Stage Focus
No stage preference is published on the firm's site. The visible portfolio, however, is weighted toward well-capitalized, later-stage and category-leading companies (a mix of growth-stage and pre-IPO/public names) rather than pre-seed or seed startups, suggesting LM Ventures participates as a growth-stage or syndicate co-investor rather than a first check writer. This should be treated as an inference, not a confirmed policy.
Check Size
Not disclosed. LinkedIn lists the firm as a 2-10 person Partnership, consistent with a lean investing team that may write from a smaller balance sheet or via SPVs alongside larger leads.
Lead Tendency
Unclear from public sources; the portfolio composition (large, well-known companies with substantial existing cap tables) suggests LM Ventures more often follows/participates in rounds rather than leading them.
Recent Activity
No verifiable, source-backed recent investment announcements specific to this firm (lm.ventures) were found during this research pass. Note: a separate entity also using the "LM Ventures" name is Lockheed Martin's corporate venture arm (Lockheed Martin Ventures); press coverage referencing "LM Ventures" in syndicate rounds (e.g., a 2026 CloudNC Series B) was verified to refer to Lockheed Martin's fund, not this Palo Alto deep-tech investor, and has been deliberately excluded to avoid misattribution.
Portfolio Highlights
Publicly listed portfolio companies include, under Artificial Intelligence/Autonomous Driving: Innoviz Technologies (automotive LiDAR), Hailo (edge AI processors), ScaleFlux (computational storage semiconductors), Orbifold AI, and Kargo (freight/logistics AI). Under Electric Vehicle Charging and Infrastructure: ampUp and Revel. Under FinTech: Figure (Figure Technologies, blockchain-based lending) and Klarna (global buy-now-pay-later). Several of these (Innoviz, Hailo, Klarna) are large, widely recognized category leaders, indicating LM Ventures has secured access to competitive, oversubscribed rounds.
Team
- Lou Madamba — listed team member, San Francisco Bay Area based.
- Lara Mangiarelli — listed as Advisor.
- Dr. Nils Berkemeyer — self-described as "Deep Tech Investor | Advisor | WHU."
- Patrick Chen — self-described as "Investor."
The firm's own site lists a "Team Members" section but does not publish names, titles, or bios directly; the above were sourced from the firm's LinkedIn company page, which lists 7 total employees.
Decision Process
LinkedIn classifies LM Ventures as a "Partnership" with 2-10 employees, consistent with partner-level decision-making rather than a solo GP or formal investment committee, though this is inferred rather than explicitly stated.
Founder Preferences
The firm's LinkedIn tagline ("Help bold immigrant entrepreneurs to build legendary companies from early") suggests an explicit affinity for immigrant founders and cross-border (notably US-China-Singapore) technology entrepreneurs, aligned with its multi-region office footprint.
Geographic Focus
LM Ventures maintains offices in Silicon Valley (Palo Alto), USA; Shanghai, China; and Singapore, and describes its mandate as investing in leading deep-tech companies worldwide, with an emphasis on bridging US and Asian technology ecosystems.