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Graphene Ventures is a multi-stage investor in high-growth tech companies.
Key people at Graphene Ventures.
Graphene Ventures operates as a venture capital firm, providing capital and strategic guidance to early-stage technology companies. Its core involves a hands-on investment model, with an experienced team supporting portfolio companies. This approach delivers "smart money" and operational expertise to promising ventures in enterprise software and consumer technology sectors.
Founded in 2015 by Nabil Borhanu, the Managing Partner, Graphene Ventures recognized transformative ideas need more than financial backing. Borhanu envisioned a firm leveraging its team's operational experience from CEO, CFO, and VC roles, empowering exceptional founders through deep engagement and mentorship.
The firm partners with ambitious founders of early-stage companies, offering crucial resources and guidance for growth. Collaborations span North America, Brazil, and Saudi Arabia, supporting global expansion. Graphene Ventures cultivates an ecosystem where innovative solutions thrive, advancing technology through its partnerships with entrepreneurs.
Graphene Ventures is a multi-stage venture capital firm founded in 2015 that invests in early-stage technology companies across enterprise software, consumer technology, and specialized sectors including healthtech, fintech, and blockchain.[2][3] The firm operates with an operator-first philosophy, combining decades of operational experience with strategic capital deployment to support founders building category-defining companies.[4]
The firm's mission centers on partnering with exceptional founders to build transformative technology companies through smart capital paired with hands-on operational guidance.[4] Graphene's investment philosophy emphasizes identifying startups with sizeable market opportunities at the Seed, Series A, and Series B stages, then providing not only capital but also strategic resources and mentorship to accelerate growth.[1] With a lean team boasting over 50 years of combined operational experience in CEO, CFO, and venture capital roles, Graphene positions itself as a value-added investor rather than a passive capital provider.[4] The firm's sector focus spans B2B software, SaaS, construction, healthtech, sciences, agritech, robotics, and cybersecurity—reflecting a diversified approach to identifying disruptive opportunities across multiple verticals.[1]
Graphene Ventures was established in 2015 by Nabil Borhanu, who serves as Founder and Managing Partner.[3][6] The firm emerged during a period of accelerating venture capital activity and the maturation of cloud computing and mobile technologies, positioning it to capitalize on the next wave of enterprise and consumer software innovation.
From its inception, Graphene adopted a geographically distributed model, establishing operations across multiple continents to serve both North American and international markets.[2] The firm's founding team brought substantial operational pedigree—the investment team's combined experience includes scaling high-growth startups and managing venture capital funds, providing the foundation for an operator-centric investment approach.[1] This early positioning as a hands-on, globally-connected investor set the stage for Graphene to build a portfolio of notable exits and category leaders.
Graphene distinguishes itself through deep operational involvement with portfolio companies rather than passive capital deployment. The fund manager has successfully executed over 30 investments with a data-driven strategy emphasizing hands-on support, driving innovation and measurable growth outcomes.[1]
Operating from Palo Alto, Toronto, São Paulo, and Riyadh, Graphene provides portfolio companies with direct access to multiple geographic markets and regional expertise.[2] This distributed presence enables the firm to identify opportunities across North America, Latin America, and the Middle East while supporting international expansion for its portfolio.
Graphene's portfolio includes notable successes such as Lyft and Snap, both of which achieved successful public offerings, demonstrating the firm's ability to identify and nurture companies that achieve significant scale.[3] Additional portfolio companies like Volansi (VTOL drone logistics) and Everledger (blockchain supply chain solutions) showcase the firm's ability to back diverse, innovative technologies.
With a deliberately lean structure, Graphene's team and advisors bring decades of combined experience in operating, scaling, and investing in high-growth startups.[2] This efficiency model allows the firm to maintain close relationships with founders while avoiding the bureaucratic overhead of larger funds.
Rather than concentrating on a single vertical, Graphene maintains deep expertise across enterprise software, consumer technology, healthtech, fintech, blockchain, robotics, and cybersecurity—enabling pattern recognition across multiple innovation domains.[1][3]
Graphene Ventures operates at a critical inflection point in venture capital evolution. The firm represents a shift toward operator-centric investing, where venture firms increasingly compete on operational support and founder mentorship rather than capital availability alone. This model reflects the maturation of venture markets where capital has become commoditized, but strategic guidance and network access remain scarce.
The firm's geographic diversification—particularly its presence in São Paulo and Riyadh—signals the broader trend of venture capital globalization. Rather than concentrating exclusively on Silicon Valley, Graphene recognizes that innovation and high-growth opportunities are emerging across multiple regions, and that founders benefit from investors with local market expertise and international networks.
Graphene's sector focus on emerging technologies like blockchain, robotics, and agritech positions it to capture value from structural shifts in how industries operate. The firm's backing of companies like Volansi (autonomous logistics) and Everledger (supply chain transparency) reflects its thesis that software and hardware convergence, combined with distributed ledger technology, will reshape traditional industries.
Additionally, Graphene's track record with consumer technology exits (Snap, Lyft) demonstrates its influence in shaping how venture capital evaluates consumer-facing platforms, particularly those leveraging mobile-first and real-time communication paradigms.
Graphene Ventures is well-positioned to thrive in an evolving venture landscape where operational expertise and global reach increasingly differentiate successful investors from capital-only competitors. The firm's lean structure, combined with its multi-geography presence and operator-first philosophy, aligns with founder preferences for investors who can provide strategic guidance beyond check-writing.
Looking ahead, several trends will likely shape Graphene's trajectory. First, the continued globalization of venture capital will amplify the value of the firm's São Paulo and Riyadh offices as emerging markets produce category-defining companies. Second, the AI and deep tech wave will test whether Graphene's operator expertise translates effectively to highly technical founders building infrastructure and foundational models. Third, the firm's ability to support portfolio companies through extended market cycles and potential economic volatility will determine whether its hands-on approach generates superior returns relative to larger, more passive competitors.
The firm's future influence will likely expand as it demonstrates that operator-backed venture capital can achieve both strong financial returns and meaningful founder satisfaction—a combination that attracts both limited partners seeking performance and founders seeking true partnership. Graphene's next chapter will be defined by whether it can scale its model without losing the lean, hands-on ethos that has driven its early success.
Key people at Graphene Ventures.
