XYZ Venture Capital Research
Investment Thesis
XYZ Venture Capital operates under a distinctive physics-inspired framework built around three core concepts: position, velocity, and acceleration. The firm was named after founder Ross Fubini's great-grandfather Guido Fubini, a leading mathematician who worked with Albert Einstein. This mathematical foundation underpins their belief that building businesses is a complex endeavor with multiple variables working in relation to each other, much like mathematical proofs and physics.
The firm's core thesis is that "great companies aren't born, they're made" through execution and operational excellence. XYZ invests in early-stage founders with exceptional execution capability, deep domain expertise, or lived experience insights that give them unfair advantages. They specialize in helping founders navigate the earliest stages of company building by providing not just capital, but strategic operational support.
Stage Focus and Check Size
XYZ primarily invests in Pre-Seed through Series A companies:
- Pre-Seed: Early-stage founders with ideas and unfair advantages
- Seed: Teams with working prototypes and initial customer validation
- Series A: Companies demonstrating strong product-market fit
Check size range: $10,000 - $5,000,000
- Typical seed investment: $500K - $2M
- Series A follow-ons: $1M - $5M
- Pre-seed: $250K - $1M
The firm is known for leading rounds when they find exceptional founders, but also participates as a follow-on investor.
Sector and Industry Focus
XYZ has historically focused on three primary sectors but has evolved to pursue deeper thesis around building a "safer, stabler society":
Primary Sectors:
- Fintech & Payments - Modern financial infrastructure and services
- Enterprise Software - B2B SaaS and business productivity tools
- Tech-Forgotten Industries - Insurance, public sector, government technology
Emerging Focus Areas (Fund III & IV):
- Defense Tech & Aerospace - Mission-critical defense and aerospace systems
- Public Sector Technology - Government transformation, citizen services
- Healthcare Innovation - Medicare modernization and healthcare delivery
- Climate & Sustainability - Clean energy and environmental solutions
- Manufacturing Software - Industrial modernization and automation
- AI Infrastructure - LLM applications, AI tools, agentic systems
- Legal Tech & RegTech - Regulatory compliance and legal services
The firm's investment philosophy centers on building a safer, stabler society where government reliably meets people's needs and private sector innovation drives quality of life improvements.
Portfolio Highlights
Since 2017, XYZ has backed 70+ companies that have created over $11 billion in aggregate value. The portfolio spans defense, public sector, enterprise software, and emerging AI categories.
Team and Leadership
Founders & Core Partners:
- Ross Fubini - Founder & Managing Partner
- Chauncey Hamilton - Investment Partner
- Art Clarke - Operating Partner (formerly Apple AI/ML)
- Camille Ricketts - Operating Partner & Head of Marketing (Notion first marketing leader)
- JeanClaude Dorsainvil - Principal
Recent Activity and Fund Status
Fund IV Announcement (July 2024): Closed with $1.2 billion in total assets under management.
Recent High-Profile Investments (2024-2025):
- Yurts - Led $40M Series B (AI integration for government, September 2024)
- Chapter - Led $50M Series C (Medicare modernization, May 2024)
- Blues - Led follow-on expansion round to $33M total (July 2025)
- Forterra - Series C, $190M (November 2025)
- 16 investments in 2025 alone
Fund IV is actively deploying with aggressive investment pace. The firm has demonstrated strong momentum with quarterly announcements and major industry presence in defense tech, public sector, and AI infrastructure spaces.
Decision Process and Involvement
Investment Philosophy:
- Lead-oriented but balanced - The firm leads rounds when they identify exceptional founders
- Founder-centric approach - Emphasis on execution mindset and lived experience
- Early operational engagement - Get involved in customer development, hiring, and go-to-market strategy
Typical Involvement:
- Board seat or observer rights on most investments
- Active operational support through fund lifecycle
- Monthly or quarterly check-ins during early growth phase
Decision Timeline: 2-4 weeks for known founders, 4-8 weeks for deeper diligence.
Geographic Focus
Primary investment regions:
- United States - San Francisco Bay Area (HQ), Washington DC, NYC
- Selective International - Canada and other Western markets
Founder Preferences
XYZ Seeks:
- Technical depth and domain expertise
- Lived experience or clear unfair advantage
- Strong execution orientation
- Experience scaling at large companies
- Solving hard problems they deeply understand
Market Positioning
Why founders choose XYZ:
- Operational depth with partners from Apple, Palantir, Notion
- Network in defense, government, enterprise, and AI
- Patient capital for early rounds through Series A
- Hands-on partnership beyond capital
- Public sector expertise
- Defense/aerospace network
Fund Status
- Fund IV Raised: July 2024
- Assets Under Management: $1.2B
- Deployment Rate: Very active - 16 investments in 2025
- Market Position: Major player in defense tech, public sector, AI infrastructure