Kevin Hartz Builds A* Capital After Serial Success at Eventbrite, Xoom, and Early PayPal Investment

Kevin Hartz, co-founder of public ticketing platform Eventbrite and former CEO of cross-border payments company Xoom, has established A* Capital as his latest venture capital platform. The firm represents the latest chapter in a career spanning fintech infrastructure, event technology, and early-stage investing that dates back to the dot-com era.

SEC filings show Hartz served as partner and entrepreneur in residence at Founders Fund from October 2005 to September 2016, bridging his operational roles with institutional investing experience. A-STAR CAPITAL FUND II GP, LLC appears in regulatory documents associated with Hartz's current activities.

From Research to Cross-Border Payments

Hartz's path into technology began unconventionally. After graduating from Miramonte High School in Orinda, California in 1988, he completed his education at the University of Oxford in 1993, according to Bloomberg reporting. His first role was as a research assistant at the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute, a foundation focused on vision research.

The transition from academic research to financial technology came through Xoom, where Hartz served as co-founder and CEO. The company positioned itself in the cross-border payments market that would later become crowded with competitors like Remitly, Wise, and traditional players expanding digital offerings.

During this period, Hartz made what would prove to be a prescient investment in Fieldlink, a company that transformed into PayPal. The investment positioned him within the emerging digital payments ecosystem as it consolidated around a few major platforms.

Eventbrite as Public Company Platform

Hartz co-founded Eventbrite alongside his wife Julia Hartz, with Julia eventually taking the CEO role while Kevin assumed the chairman position. The platform addressed event discovery and ticketing infrastructure, serving both individual organizers and enterprise customers.

Eventbrite completed its public offering and now trades on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker EB. The company navigated the significant market disruption caused by live event cancellations during the COVID-19 pandemic, adapting its platform for virtual and hybrid event formats.

SEC filings confirm Hartz serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors, maintaining his oversight role as the company operates in public markets.

Institutional Investing Experience

The decade-plus tenure at Founders Fund provided Hartz with exposure to institutional venture capital operations during a period of significant portfolio activity. Founders Fund, known for contrarian positions and large outcome bets, invested across multiple technology categories including enterprise software, consumer applications, and deep technology.

From October 2005 to September 2016, Hartz held dual roles as partner and entrepreneur in residence, a structure that typically allows successful operators to evaluate investment opportunities while maintaining optionality for founding new companies.

This experience came during Founders Fund's investment in companies like Facebook, SpaceX, and Palantir, providing direct exposure to scaling high-growth technology platforms across different market categories.

A* Capital Formation

A* Capital represents Hartz's independent venture capital platform following his Founders Fund tenure. The firm structure includes A-STAR CAPITAL FUND II GP, LLC, indicating multiple fund vehicles under the broader A* Capital umbrella.

The naming convention follows venture capital industry patterns where mathematical or scientific symbols suggest analytical rigor or optimization focus. The asterisk symbol in mathematics typically denotes optimal solutions or convolution operations, though the specific strategic positioning remains undisclosed in public filings.

Fund formation documents suggest the firm operates with traditional general partner and limited partner structures common to institutional venture capital. The timeline indicates active fundraising and investment activity, though specific portfolio companies and investment thesis details are not publicly available.

Pattern Recognition Across Technology Cycles

Having observed multiple technology adoption cycles over two decades, I've noticed that successful serial entrepreneurs often transition into venture capital during periods when their operational experience provides differentiated pattern recognition. Hartz's move into institutional investing coincided with the mobile-first application wave that reshaped consumer behavior around 2005-2016.

His portfolio of companies – cross-border payments, event technology, and early digital wallet infrastructure – positioned him to recognize similar themes as they emerged across different verticals. The timing of A* Capital's formation suggests focus on technology categories where his operational experience provides investment advantage.

The broader context here points to venture capital's ongoing evolution toward operator-led funds, where former founders leverage domain expertise and network effects built during their company-building years. This trend has accelerated as traditional Sand Hill Road partnerships compete with specialized funds led by successful entrepreneurs.

The establishment of A* Capital continues this pattern, with Hartz joining a cohort of operator-turned-investors who maintain active involvement in company formation while deploying institutional capital. His background spans critical infrastructure categories – payments, events, and digital platforms – that remain relevant across multiple technology adoption cycles.

For technology professionals tracking venture capital activity, A* Capital represents another data point in the ongoing shift toward specialized, operator-led investment platforms. The combination of public company experience, institutional fund training, and early-stage investment success provides the firm with multiple avenues for portfolio company support beyond capital deployment.