Ventana invests in AI for overlooked industries in the window between breakout and buyout.
Finding hidden potential in plain sight.
The best companies are easy to miss. They operate away from the spotlight and build game-changing products, valuing discipline over hype. We partner with these companies, bringing conviction and support to scale.
What we look for:
Overlooked industries
Obsessed with industry-specific needs
AI-native
Core system that completes work end-to-end
High growth
Proven momentum and primed to accelerate
Capital efficiency
Strong unit economics and lightly capitalized
$3M – 10M
ARR
Established product-market fit and deep customer love
$5M – 15M+
Investments
Flexible capital to lead your next chapter
Fewer companies. Deeper focus.
Great companies are built in the thousands of small decisions that create unstoppable growth. We keep a concentrated portfolio to create strong alignment and provide the full resources of our team to go further faster.
Taking a long view on growth.
Partnership values
We earn your trust.
Our best investments are from relationships built over time. We follow through on commitments and are an active partner.
We show our work.
We become your most impactful investor by studying your market, understanding your business and sharing our insights.
We bring an owner’s mindset.
We are builders ourselves, so we know what’s at stake for you. We bring that same drive to your company and are all-in on your success.
We win together.
Our incentives are aligned with yours from day one. There’s no version of this where we do well and you don’t.
Our team
Kevin Cheng
Co-founder & Partner
Kevin grew up in Santa Barbara, CA (just south of the Ventana Wilderness).
Kevin Cheng is a co-founder and Partner of Ventana, where he partners with founders building high-growth, capital-efficient companies at the early-growth stage.
Kevin was a Partner at Tidemark, where he joined as the first hire and helped build the firm. Earlier, he was a founding member of Sumeru Equity Partners, a growth equity firm that spun out of Silver Lake. He began his career in investment banking at J.P. Morgan and holds a B.S.E. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University.
Vinay Kumar
Co-founder & Partner
Vinay grew up in Santa Cruz, CA (just north of the Ventana Wilderness).
Vinay Kumar is a co-founder and Partner of Ventana, where he partners with founders building high-growth, capital-efficient companies at the early-growth stage.
Vinay was a Principal at Avenir, where he helped lead the software investment strategy. Earlier, he was on the investment team at Sumeru Equity Partners, a growth equity firm that spun out of Silver Lake. He began his career in investment banking at Goldman Sachs and holds a B.A. in Public Policy Studies from Duke University.
Our community
Around us is a vertical-focused network built over years. When you partner with Ventana, you join our community.
News
All news
Why We Started Ventana
Ventana is a growth equity firm based in San Francisco, founded in 2025 by Kevin Cheng and Vinay Kumar. We invest $5M to $15M+ in founder-led companies building AI for overlooked industries, partnering with them in the window between breakout and buyout, typically at $3M to $10M of ARR.
The window is open.
You know your market better than anyone and are building something exceptional. We can help you capture the opportunity.
Let’s talkCONTACT
365 Toni Stone Crossing, Suite 218San Francisco, CA 94158