Mangusta Capital — Investment Thesis & Preferences

01Investment Thesis

The firm believes vertical AI co-pilots that augment domain experts — rather than generic AI — represent the most durable and defensible category.

Exclusion Criteria

Generic horizontal AI tools without clear vertical depth; companies without proprietary data moats; pure consumer lifestyle plays without AI defensibility

02Investment Team

KJ

Kevin Jiang

Co-Founder & Managing Partner

TC

Tommaso Chiabra

Co-Founder, General Partner

LM

Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio

Co-Founder

NF

Natoli Farber

Investment Partner

LJ

Louis Jin Diesel

Investment Partner

AJ

August Johnson

Associate

MT

Marco Talarico

Operating Partner

LG

Luigi Giacomo Mascellaro

Operating Partner

AB

Andrea Bertini

Operating Partner

AP

Andrea Picchi

Operating Partner

03F4 Research Brief

Mangusta Capital Research

Investment Thesis

Mangusta Capital is a venture capital and growth equity firm founded in 2024 by Kevin Jiang, Tommaso Chiabra, and Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio. The firm's name derives from the Italian word for "mongoose," symbolizing its swift, precise, and unrelenting approach to identifying and backing transformative companies.

The firm focuses on three primary investment themes: vertical AI platforms, consumer disruption, and healthcare innovation. Mangusta employs three core evaluation filters for every investment:

Domain Depth — Founders must possess deep vertical-specific expertise solving core workflow pain points, not just generic AI capabilities
Defensibility — Companies need proprietary data access and deep systems integration creating durable competitive advantages
Distribution — Efficient go-to-market strategies, ideally embedded in existing enterprise platforms or workflows

The firm explicitly backs "scrappy underdogs" who demonstrate unshakable ownership, insatiable hunger, and courage to lead through uncertainty.

Stage Focus

Mangusta invests from early venture through growth equity stages, with the bulk of their activity concentrated at Seed and Series A. They occasionally participate in earlier pre-seed opportunities and later-stage growth rounds for breakout companies.

Check Size

Typical check sizes range from approximately $1M to $20M+ depending on stage:

Seed rounds: average ~$8M checks
Series A rounds: average ~$14M checks

The firm was seeded with $50 million in proprietary capital (Fund I) and targets $150 million in deployments over five years.

Lead Tendency

Mangusta is willing to lead and co-lead rounds. They co-led Winn.AI's $18M Series A in February 2026 alongside Insight Partners and S Capital. They also participate in rounds led by others, taking meaningful stakes in high-conviction companies.

Recent Activity (2024–2026)

Since its June 2024 founding, Mangusta has been actively deploying across AI and consumer sectors:

February 2026: Co-led Winn.AI's $18M Series A (AI sales assistant for real-time revenue intelligence)
November 2025: Participated in Bedrock Data's $25M Series A (AI-native enterprise data security/governance, led by Greylock)
October 2025: Backed Letter AI (AI for revenue team learning and performance)
May 2025: Backed Gail in its $8.2M seed (AI for financial institutions)
May 2025: Backed CyberGrant (cybersecurity and digital asset protection)
May 2025: Backed Omnifold (AI-powered supply chain optimization)
February 2025: Backed TaxGPT in its $4.6M seed (AI tax co-pilot for CPAs and accounting firms)
2024: Backed xAI (Elon Musk's AI initiative), Eight Sleep, Sapien, Lifeforce, Function Health, Caliwater

Portfolio Highlights

Notable portfolio companies include:

Eight Sleep: Sleep tech unicorn (thermoregulated smart mattresses), valued over $500M
xAI: Elon Musk's foundational AI infrastructure company (building Grok)
Winn.AI: AI-powered sales assistant, tripled ARR in 2025, zero churn among enterprise customers
Bedrock Data: Enterprise data security and governance, six-figure ACV contracts
MarqVision: AI brand protection platform (raised $48M Series B from Peak XV/Sequoia, DST Global)
TaxGPT: AI tax co-pilot backed by Y Combinator and leading angels
Gail: AI productivity platform for financial institutions
Sapien: Data labeling platform for LLMs

The firm also makes high-profile consumer investments: Caliwater (health beverages with Vanessa Hudgens) and Westbrook E1 Racing (all-electric raceboats with Will Smith), reflecting their celebrity-brand consumer thesis.

Notable prior investment: Beyond Meat (IPO valuation exceeded $12 billion).

Team

Kevin Jiang, Co-Founder & Managing Partner: Grew up in Cupertino, CA as the son of first-generation Chinese immigrants. Harvard A.B. in Economics. Career spans Goldman Sachs (Investment Banking), Soros Fund Management (Public Markets, Tech/Media/Telecom), Apollo Global Management (Private Equity), and SoftBank Vision Fund (over a decade leading Software and Logistics growth equity in North America, including marquee investments in Flexport, ShipBob, and Wiz). Kevin leads the vertical AI thesis and day-to-day operations of the firm.

Tommaso Chiabra, Co-Founder, General Partner: Based in Monaco. Previously founded Neat (sustainable food company) and Royal Yacht International. Brings a global luxury and consumer network.

Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio, Co-Founder: Represents the Del Vecchio family (founders of EssilorLuxottica, the world's largest eyewear company). LMDV Capital serves as the anchor investor for Mangusta Capital Fund I.

Natoli Farber, Investment Partner: Focuses on AI-native enterprise and vertical software applications, cybersecurity, and data infrastructure. Co-authored Mangusta's Bedrock Data investment memo.

Louis Jin Diesel, Investment Partner: Focuses on consumer brands and market disruption.

August Johnson, Associate: Member of the investment team.

Operating Partners: Marco Talarico, Luigi Giacomo Mascellaro, Andrea Bertini, and Andrea Picchi provide operational support to portfolio companies.

Decision Process

Mangusta operates as a partnership with three co-founder GPs (Jiang, Chiabra, Del Vecchio) supported by investment partners and venture advisors. Given the personal relationship emphasis, warm introductions are strongly preferred.

Geographic Focus

Primarily US (San Francisco Bay Area and broader US tech ecosystem) with significant European presence through the Milan office and Italian roots. Portfolio includes Israeli companies (Winn.AI, CyberGrant). Global mandate with particular strength in the SF-Silicon Valley-Europe corridor.

Founder Preferences

The firm backs "audacious entrepreneurs" who:

Have deep domain expertise in their vertical (not generalists)
Build mission-critical capabilities with real workflow ROI
Demonstrate unshakable ownership and execution velocity
Leverage AI to augment human experts rather than purely replace them

The team emphasizes working with founders long-term and building community across their network, hosting exclusive gatherings at F1, Art Basel, SXSW, and Web Summit. The firm sponsors the UIM E1 World Championship (all-electric raceboats) as part of their commitment to sustainable technology.