Striker Venture Partners
About Striker Venture Partners
Striker was founded in 2025 in San Francisco by Max Gazor, a former senior partner at CRV. Matan Lamdan, who was also an investor at CRV, joined as a founding partner. Lamdan covers Israel and cybersecurity. He spent a decade in the Israeli army's intelligence unit 8200 and the Intelligence Directorate. Most of the firm's partners are CRV alumni. Gazor's X bio says he has made the Forbes Midas List four times. In October 2025 the firm announced a $165M debut fund, which is Striker Venture Partners Fund I. The Wall Street Journal covered the launch, and the firm describes it as 10 LPs and 10 investments.
Striker invests only in AI and cybersecurity. It looks for technical founders at the start of a company, sometimes before the technology exists. It plans about 10 companies per fund and expects to lead or co-lead large first rounds. In Elorian, a visual reasoning model company, it co-led the $55M seed with Menlo Ventures and Altimeter Capital. In Inferact, the company behind the vLLM inference engine, it was one of the named backers of a $150M seed. Andreessen Horowitz and Lightspeed co-led that round. The firm says it plans to put up to half of Fund I into Israeli companies. It has led one round in a stealth Israeli company that helps organizations adopt AI tools safely.
The firm's website and X profile cite $5M to $30M per company, invested at inception. Press reports say portfolio companies are at pre-seed, seed or Series A and have no revenue when Striker invests. Fund I is $165M. The firm does not publish ownership targets or follow-on terms.
- Elorian: Palo Alto company building visual reasoning models, founded by Andrew Dai and Yinfei Yang. $55M seed announced April 2026, co-led by Striker, Menlo Ventures and Altimeter Capital.
- Inferact: San Francisco company commercializing the open-source vLLM inference engine. $150M seed in January 2026 at a reported $800M valuation, co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and Lightspeed. Striker is a listed backer.
- Ricursive Intelligence: listed by Striker as a portfolio company. It announced a $300M Series A at a $4B valuation in January 2026.
- timesofisrael.com/new-us-venture-fund-bets-big-on-israel-promising-mil
- ynetnews.com/business/article/sk11tpvkebe
- striker.vc/news
- x.com/strikervp
- x.com/maxgazor/status/2042275521049071852
- fundmomentum.vc/funds/striker-venture-partners-fund-i
- pulse2.com/inferact-launches-with-150-million-funding-at-800m-valuatio
- preqin.com/data/profile/asset/elorian/796269
Investing activity
Striker Venture Partners appears in 3 AI deals tracked by the Lounge deals desk, rounds totalling $260M, and led 1 of them. The rounds are mostly Seed, with a median round size of $55M and the largest at $150M. The most recent are Elorian AI (Seed, $55M, Jul 2026), Elorian (Seed, $55M, Apr 2026) and Inferact (Seed, $150M, Jan 2026).
Striker Venture Partners most often invests alongside Altimeter Capital, Menlo Ventures, LG Technology Ventures and Jeffrey Dean, and the companies it backs on Lounge are mostly in AI and Inference infrastructure.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Striker Venture Partners
Who founded Striker Venture Partners?
Max Gazor, a former senior partner at CRV, founded the firm in 2025 in San Francisco. Matan Lamdan, also from CRV, joined as a founding partner.
How large is Striker Venture Partners' fund?
Striker announced a $165M debut fund in October 2025. It plans about 10 investments from the fund.
What check size does Striker Venture Partners write?
Striker states $5M to $30M per company, invested at inception. Press reports say it backs pre-seed, seed and Series A companies that have no revenue yet.
Does Striker Venture Partners invest outside the US?
Yes. The firm says it will invest up to half of Fund I in Israeli companies, with a focus on cybersecurity and AI. Lamdan manages those investments.
What AI startups has Striker Venture Partners backed?
They include Elorian (a $55M seed co-led in April 2026), Inferact (a $150M seed in January 2026) and Ricursive Intelligence. Ricursive announced a $300M Series A in January 2026.
What AI companies has Striker Venture Partners invested in?
Striker Venture Partners's AI investments include Elorian AI, Elorian and Inferact. The 3 rounds on Lounge are listed on this page with amounts, dates and co-investors.
What stage does Striker Venture Partners invest at?
In the rounds tracked on Lounge, Striker Venture Partners has invested at Seed, with a median round of $55M. Striker Venture Partners led 1 of those rounds.
Who does Striker Venture Partners co-invest with?
Striker Venture Partners's most frequent co-investors on Lounge are Altimeter Capital (3 deals), Menlo Ventures (2 deals), LG Technology Ventures (1 deal), Jeffrey Dean (1 deal) and Vijay Krishnan (1 deal).
How can founders reach Striker Venture Partners?
Founders on Lounge can see Striker Venture Partners's contact details in AI Investor Contacts (paid plans), check for a warm introduction through members who worked with the firm under Warm Paths, and add Striker Venture Partners to their Investor Pipeline to track the conversation.