Harvard MBA Students Launch $25M Fund Targeting Elite Business School Graduates

Devon Gethers and Karlton Haney have raised over $35 million across two funds for their seed-stage venture capital firm Meridian Ventures, with their latest $25 million Fund II currently deploying capital to early-stage technology startups. The Harvard Business School MBA '25 candidates have built their investment thesis around backing entrepreneurs from top-tier MBA programs, including Stanford, Harvard, and Wharton.

The firm has completed 45 portfolio investments over the past two years, focusing primarily on business-to-business software companies. Notable portfolio companies include Cast AI, valued at $900 million, and OneImaging, valued at $250 million. Meridian Ventures reports performance metrics placing it in the top quartile on TVPI and graduation rates from seed to Series A rounds.

Founders' Backgrounds and Investment Philosophy

Haney, a 2020 graduate of the University of Arkansas Department of Industrial Engineering, was named to Forbes' 2026 30 Under 30 list for Venture Capital, joining two other University of Arkansas College of Engineering alumni on this year's list. His path to venture capital included a formative experience traveling to Otoxha, a village in western Belize near the Guatemalan border, between his freshman and sophomore years at university.

Gethers serves as Founding Managing Partner at Meridian Ventures, co-leading the firm's strategy alongside Haney. The partners pitch limited partners on their focus demographic by highlighting that the average age of unicorn founders is 28, positioning MBA graduates as a prime target for early-stage investment.

The firm's investment strategy centers on identifying entrepreneurs who have earned or are pursuing MBAs from ten select powerhouse programs. This approach represents a departure from the traditional Silicon Valley model of backing college dropouts or self-taught technologists, instead betting on the operational sophistication and network access that comes with elite business school training.

Portfolio Performance and Market Position

Meridian Ventures has deployed capital across 41 investments in its initial fund cycles, maintaining a concentrated focus on B2B software opportunities. The firm's reported top-quartile performance on total value to paid-in capital ratios suggests strong early returns, though these metrics represent mark-to-market valuations rather than realized returns.

The $900 million valuation achieved by Cast AI, a cloud cost optimization platform, demonstrates the potential scale of Meridian's target market. Cast AI's growth trajectory aligns with broader enterprise adoption of multi-cloud strategies and the corresponding need for cost management tools. OneImaging's $250 million valuation reflects strength in the medical technology sector, where regulatory barriers and enterprise sales cycles often favor teams with formal business training.

Looking at the firm's deployment pace, 45 investments across two years suggests an average of roughly two deals per month, indicating active sourcing and due diligence operations despite the founders' concurrent MBA studies. This velocity mirrors patterns we saw during the 2010-2012 period when several successful micro-VCs launched with similar investment cadences, though today's seed round sizes have expanded significantly since that earlier cycle.

Institutional Backing and Fund Structure

The ability to raise over $35 million while maintaining student status indicates substantial institutional backing, though the specific limited partner composition remains undisclosed. The progression from an initial fund to a $25 million Fund II suggests investor confidence in early performance metrics and the sustainability of the MBA-focused investment thesis.

Fund II's $25 million size positions Meridian in the established micro-VC category, large enough to write meaningful seed checks while maintaining portfolio concentration. This fund size typically enables initial investments of $500K to $2 million, with reserves for follow-on rounds through Series A.

The firm's focus on MBA graduates addresses a potentially underserved market segment in venture capital. While traditional Sand Hill Road firms often prioritize technical founders with deep domain expertise, Meridian's thesis suggests that business acumen and operational sophistication can drive comparable outcomes in B2B software markets where sales execution and go-to-market strategy often determine success.

Market Context and Competitive Landscape

Meridian Ventures enters a venture capital market experiencing significant compression in valuations and deal volume compared to 2021-2022 peaks. Seed-stage investing has remained relatively stable compared to later-stage markets, but competition for top deals continues to intensify among both established firms and emerging fund managers.

The MBA-focused investment strategy differentiates Meridian from generalist seed funds while potentially creating sourcing advantages through business school networks. Elite MBA programs produce hundreds of graduates annually with entrepreneurial ambitions, creating a renewable pipeline of potential portfolio companies.

The firm's reported graduation rates from seed to Series A provide an important performance indicator in current market conditions. Series A funding has become increasingly selective, with institutional investors requiring stronger traction metrics and clearer paths to profitability. Meridian's ability to shepherd portfolio companies through this transition suggests effective post-investment support and portfolio company selection.

Worth flagging: the concentration risk inherent in focusing on a specific demographic of founders. Economic downturns or shifts in MBA enrollment could impact the target population, while market cycles might favor different founder profiles. However, the operational sophistication that MBA training provides may prove particularly valuable as venture markets emphasize fundamentals over growth-at-any-cost metrics.

The success of Meridian Ventures will ultimately depend on whether MBA-trained founders can consistently build venture-scale businesses in competitive technology markets. Early portfolio performance suggests promise, but the firm's track record will require several more years to fully evaluate as companies mature through later funding rounds and potential exits.