Firat Ileri

Firat Ileri is the Managing Partner at Hummingbird Ventures, a global early-stage venture capital firm. He joined the firm in 2012 and became managing partner in 2021. Under his leadership, Hummingbird has invested in companies like Kraken Digital Asset Exchange and Deliveroo. The firm focuses on sectors such as fintech, biotech, SaaS, deeptech, hardware, health, gaming, e-commerce, marketplace, AI, ML, edtech, proptech, medtech, and agtech. Hummingbird operates globally, with investment hubs in Europe, the United States, Israel, MENA, Asia, and Latin America. Firat's investment strategy emphasizes backing outlier founders with non-linear backgrounds, seeking entrepreneurs who have overcome significant challenges and possess obsessive ambition. This approach has led to successful exits, including the sale of Gram Games to Zynga for $250 million and Peak Games to Zynga for $1.8 billion. Firat holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and a Master of Engineering in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT. He also earned a B.S. in Management Science from MIT. Prior to Hummingbird, he worked at J.P. Morgan in the Emerging Markets Structuring and Solutions group. His investment philosophy centers on providing patient and long-term capital, supporting founders through near-death moments, and avoiding a check-the-box approach to investing. Hummingbird's portfolio includes companies like Anima, Aspire, BillionToOne, Enveda, and Etched. The firm invests from $500K at seed to $50M+ when doubling and tripling down, with an average check size between $500K and $10M. Hummingbird's global presence and founder-first model have contributed to its success in identifying and nurturing exceptional entrepreneurs across various sectors and geographies.

Exceptional founders with non-linear backgrounds, Innovative solutions in target industries, Scalable business models, Strong market potential, Commitment to long-term growth