【AI前沿】Meridian Ventures launched a $35M fund with a focus on MBA-deferred founders

Meridian Ventures was born out of a shared experience: deferred MBAs. Now, founders Devon Gethers and Karlton Haney have raised a $35 million fund to back pre-seed and seed-stage companies started by people like them.Gethers, 29, told TechCrunch the idea for a firm arose after he met Haney in Harvard’s MBAdeferred admission programin 2020.Gethers grew up in poverty in Washington State, studied behavioral science and finance at the University of Utah, then moved into private equity before launching a company of his own (which he later exited). Haney, meanwhile, grew up on a farm in Arkansas, raising chickens, birds, and “anything that flew,” Gethers said about his business partner.Haney, 28, went on to study industrial engineering at the University of Arkansas and worked as an investor at the family office, the Stephens Group. The two came together in 2023 with the idea of launching a firm that backed people with MBAs, with a tilt toward those who had deferred.“Our thesis is going against a bit of the grain, the rhetoric you hear in Silicon Valley that MBAs don’t make good founders,” Gethers said, referring to the belief that an MBA prepares students for corporate culture, not the flexible, free-wheeling world of Silicon Valley.To prove their thesis, Gethers and Haney went out and cold-called prospective limited partners and knocked on doors until they raised $2.5 million as a proof-of-concept fund to back 45 companies.The two headed off to Harvard Business School in summer 2023 and about a year into it, decided to try and raise their first institutional fund. The funding environment was tough, but the pair ended up raising an oversubscribed $35 million fund from LPs, including publicly traded banks, family offices, and Fortune 500 executives, Gethers said. They graduated from Harvard Business School in 2025.This new fund will back founders building enterprise technology in the United States. Meridian is agnostic, Gethers said, noting that the firm has already invested in companies in fintech, logistics, healthcare, and of course, AI. The average check size will be $500,000 for pre-seed and $750,000 for seed, and the capital hopes to be deployed over the next three years.“We saw an expanding gap between ambitious founders building frontier technologies and the capital required to help carry those ambitions forward,” Gethers said. “With this $35 million fund, our goal is to seal that gap.”This piece was updated to clarify that the firm also backs those who have not deferred.TopicsEnterprise,Meridian Ventures,Startups,VentureWhen you purchase through links in our articles,we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.Dominic-Madori DavisSenior Reporter, VentureDominic-Madori Davis is a senior venture capital and startup reporter at TechCrunch. She is based in New York City.You can contact or verify outreach from Dominic by [email protected] via encrypted message at +1 646 831-7565 on Signal.View BioMay 27Athens, GreeceStrictlyVC Athens is up next. Hear unfiltered insights straight from Europe’s tech leaders and connect with the people shaping what’s ahead. Lock in your spot before it’s gone.REGISTER NOWMost PopularOpenAI is reportedly preparing legal action against Apple; it wouldn’t be the first partner to feel burnedConnie LoizosHow to turn off Instagram’s new Instants feature and retract photos you accidentally sharedAisha MalikMusk’s xAI is running nearly 50 gas turbines unchecked at its Mississippi data centerTim De ChantSpotify launches a Wrapped-style recap of your entire listening historyIvan MehtaAI voice startup Vapi hits $500M valuation after winning Amazon Ring over 40 rivalsJagmeet SinghAmazon launches 30-minute delivery across the USSarah PerezFintech startup Parker files for bankruptcyAnthony Ha