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About Us

An Early-Stage Venture Capital Fund

Fitz Gate is an early-stage venture capital fund which brings founders exceptional value

Fitz Gate Ventures is an early stage, network-driven venture capital firm formed in 2015. To date, Fitz Gate has minted two unicorns from its early stage investments in Funds I and II (Smartasset and Celestial AI).

Fitz Gate has a proprietary community of hundreds of “Friends of Fitz” (advisors) who are startup founders, venture capitalists, professors, subject matter experts and senior executives who help the firm (deal flow, diligence, advice) and its portfolio companies (introductions to customers, partners, funding sources, etc.). These “Friends of Fitz” coupled with Fitz Gate’s broader networks are a unique strategic advantage of the firm.

Fitz Gate’s independent sourcing capabilities, as well as its success in identifying premium startups, has been demonstrated both by its exceptional returns in its first two funds as well as by the blue chip venture capital firms who have followed after Fitz Gate has invested.

Fitz Gate portfolio companies have been profiled in most major media outlets including Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, CNN, The Financial Times, Bloomberg and Vogue.

Fund III
  • $30M Fund
  • Rice University is one of Fitz III’s anchor investors
  • Will lead, co-invest or invest alone, writing initial checks of $500k-$2mm, reserving for follow-on rounds
  • Can invest nationwide but with a specific focus on New York City (office in NYC) and Texas (office with Rice University in the ION in Houston, Texas)
  • Generalist fund with a sub-focus on tech transfer, deep tech/hard tech where Fitz Gate has had prior success

Sustainable & Differentiated Deal Sourcing

Fitz Gate network + Friends of Fitz referred thousands of companies for firm to review.

 

Expert
Vetting

Through Friends of Fitz and broader firm network, Fitz Gate is one call away from an expert in any industry.

 

Highly Selective
Investment

Fitz Gate targets investing in top 1-2% of companies it reviews (most of which came from trusted sources)

 

Meet the Team

Our top-notch team brings unparalleled expertise and a proven track record of success in driving exceptional growth and returns.

Co-Founder & General Partner

Jim Cohen

Jim is an experienced public company officer and director with a background in investment banking, corporate law, private equity and M&A/strategy. Jim’s career has been focused on making investments in growing businesses.

  • General Partner, Fitz Gate Ventures
  • Adjunct Professor, Rice University Jones School of Business
  • Lecturer, Princeton University Graduate School
  • EVP Corp Dev & M&A, Consolidated Graphics (NYSE: CGX)
  • Co-Founder & General Partner, Main Street Capital (NYSE: MAIN)
  • Corporate Lawyer, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett (NYC, London); Baker Botts (Houston)
  • Financial Analyst, Morgan Stanley

AB Princeton University, cum laude; Class President; Honor Committee
JD New York University

Co-Founder & General Partner

Mark Poag

As a successful software entrepreneur that helped lead a company from start-up, through rapid growth, market dominance and ultimate strategic sale, Mark has first-hand experience of what it takes to start, grow and sell a successful business.

  • General Partner, Fitz Gate Ventures
  • Adjunct Professor, Rice University Business School
  • Lecturer, Princeton University Graduate School
  • SVP Legal, Marketing, Bus Dev and Board Secretary, Datacert
  • President and CEO, DigiContract
  • Corporate Lawyer, Bracewell & Patterson

AB Princeton University; Class President
JD/MBA Tulane University, cum laude

Research Fellow

David Jaurrieta Hinojos

David Jaurrieta is a second-year MBA at Rice Business (Class ’24). Prior to Rice, David was an Industrial Engineer (ITAM ’19) turned Growth Hacker through his experience at both a fintech and an AI-driven HR startup. He has both a passion for strategy and entrepreneurship which led him to intern at McKinsey & Company during the summer of his MBA. He will join McKinsey & Company as an Associate upon graduation.

Teaching

Fitz Gate’s principals teach venture capital both at Rice University Jones School of Business (MBA and undergrad) and at the Princeton University Graduate School.

Award Winning

Fitz Gate’s principals were awarded the Clio Hall Award in 2022 from the Princeton University Graduate School in recognition of their contribution to graduate student education.

Mentoring

Fitz Gate’s principals serve as mentors for Techstars NYC, the Princeton University Entrepreneurship Council, Princeton University’s Keller Center, the National Science Foundation I-Corps Hub program, the Rice Alliance, and the Rice University Lilie Lab. They also sit on the Princeton University Dean for Research’s Advisory Council as well as Rice University’s One Small Step Faculty Grant Committee.

World Class Investors Follow Fitz Gate

World class investors such as Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia, Bessemer, Canaan, Eli Lilly, Temasek/Xora, Blackrock, Glaxo, Bezos Expeditions, Merck, Fidelity, MIT Engine Fund, Morgan Stanley, Blackstone, First Round, Zoom, KKR, Fusion Fund, Formula One, Koch Disruptive Technologies, Fidelity, Astra Zeneca, Porsche and others have invested in follow-on rounds in Fitz Gate portfolio companies.

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