Narya Research
Investment Thesis
Narya is an early-stage venture capital firm founded in Cincinnati, Ohio in 2019 by Colin Greenspon and J.D. Vance, both alumni of Peter Thiel's Mithril Capital. The firm's stated thesis is to back founders building durable, foundational companies in "large, important markets... where a durable company needs to be built and no one has built it." Narya explicitly avoids incremental technology plays, instead seeking structural gaps in critical national infrastructure: healthcare delivery, domestic manufacturing capacity, and defense and space capability. The firm was seeded with capital from Thiel, Marc Andreessen, Eric Schmidt, and Scott Dorsey, with an original stated mission of investing in founders outside the traditional coastal hubs of Silicon Valley, New York, and Boston, prioritizing underserved regions such as the Midwest, Salt Lake City, Atlanta, and Raleigh-Durham.
Sector Focus
Narya's public portfolio clusters around a small number of thematic areas rather than a broad generalist mandate:
- Healthcare and life sciences — advanced and rare-disease therapeutics (Beren Therapeutics, Kriya Therapeutics, Peptilogics, Reprogram Bio) and Medicare/senior-care navigation technology (Chapter)
- Defense and space — sovereign and commercial space capability and defense-adjacent security tooling (True Anomaly, Realm, Kodex)
- Manufacturing and industrial — rebuilding American production capacity (Atomic Industries, Valinor)
- Agriculture and land — farmland investment infrastructure (AcreTrader)
- Financial services — insurance and asset management reinvented for the modern era (Branch, Strive)
- Media and consumer — Rumble (video platform) and Hallow (faith-based wellness app)
Stage Focus
Narya positions itself as an early-stage, concentrated investor. Public deal data shows the firm entering primarily at Seed through Series B, then continuing to participate as a minority co-investor in later growth rounds (Series C–E) of its strongest portfolio companies rather than initiating new positions at that stage.
Check Size
Check size is not disclosed on the firm's website. Prior F4-OS revealed-preference analysis of Narya's known deal history puts the effective check size in the $10M–$25M range, consistent with a concentrated, high-conviction model rather than a spray-and-pray seed fund.
Lead Tendency
Mixed. Narya has led or co-led at seed/early stage for some portfolio companies, but its presence in large, multi-investor growth rounds (e.g., True Anomaly's $650M Series D, Chapter's $100M Series E) reads as a continuing minority participant rather than a lead investor at that stage.
Recent Activity
Narya has been active through the first half of 2026:
- June 2026 — Participated in Beren Therapeutics' $300M financing package (equity + non-dilutive) ahead of a planned commercial launch of adrabetadex for infantile-onset Niemann-Pick disease Type C.
- April 2026 — Participated in True Anomaly's $650M Series D, co-led by Eclipse and Riot Ventures, bringing the space-defense company's total raised to $1B.
- April 2026 — Participated in Chapter's $100M Series E at a $3B valuation, led by Generation Investment Management.
This cadence — three notable participations in growth-stage rounds across a single quarter — suggests Narya is actively following on into its strongest existing positions rather than deploying heavily into new early-stage names.
Portfolio Highlights
Sixteen portfolio companies are listed publicly: AcreTrader, Atomic Industries, Beren Therapeutics, Branch, Chapter, Hallow, Kodex, Kriya Therapeutics, Peptilogics, Realm, Reprogram Bio, Rumble, Strive, True Anomaly, Valinor, and Valuebase. Notable outcomes include Rumble's public listing (SPAC, 2022) and Chapter's rapid ascent to a $3B valuation with over $100M ARR in 2026. AcreTrader and Strive have both scaled into recognizable financial-services brands.
Team
- Colin Greenspon — Co-Founder. Prior venture experience at Mithril Capital; focuses on identifying structural market shifts and mispriced openings rather than screening by category.
- Falon Donohue — Partner. Founded Sadie Ventures (seed-stage VC) and served as founding CEO of VentureOhio; Ohio Air National Guard veteran; active on nonprofit boards focused on regional innovation and economic development.
- Blythe Smith — Head of Operations. Runs investor relations, reporting, compliance coordination, and portfolio operations; 20+ years of experience including roles at Tipping Point Community and McKinsey & Company.
J.D. Vance co-founded the firm in 2019 and was an active partner in its early years; public disclosures indicate he gave up his partner role in December 2022 (retaining a carry interest) and is not listed among current team members on the firm's website.
Decision Process
Small-partnership model. With only two investing partners (Greenspon, Donohue) and no listed associate/principal investment staff, decisions appear to run through direct partner conviction rather than a broader investment committee.
Founder Preferences
Narya's public messaging emphasizes backing founders tackling structural, overlooked problems in large existing markets — healthcare access, domestic manufacturing, national security — over founders chasing incremental improvements in already-crowded categories. The firm's own language ("the problem, not the category") suggests a preference for technical or domain-expert founders willing to operate in regulated or capital-intensive sectors.
Geographic Focus
Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founding mission was explicitly to source founders outside Silicon Valley/NYC/Boston, with a stated focus on underserved metros (Salt Lake City, Atlanta, Raleigh-Durham) and the broader U.S. Midwest, though the current portfolio also includes companies headquartered in traditional hubs.
Additional Context
Narya was named among the top emerging venture firms in the 2026 Strebulaev-Jackson Venture Ranking (reported as Emerging #94), an academic ranking of VC firm performance spanning 30 years of investment data.