Anu Hariharan, who ran YC Continuity before the famed accelerator scrapped the program, has teamed up with two of her former colleagues and former Brex executive Lucas Fox to launch a new fund that aims to raise around $350 million and operate a program that some consider “YC for growth,” four sources familiar with the matter told TechCrunch.
The new fund, whose name is Avra, plans to operate an eight-week program with a cohort of about a dozen post-Series A startups each quarter. The invitation-only program will select startups with strong product-market fit and generating at least a few million dollars in revenue, people briefed on the matter told TechCrunch.
Similar to Y Combinator’s approach, the initiative aims to connect startup founders with experienced late-stage entrepreneurs. Along with Avra partners (in addition to Hariharan and Fox, two other former YC executives are founding members of Avra, according to sources), these seasoned business leaders will guide the new CEOs through several challenges, including how mature in the leadership role, and help them. to avoid common mistakes.
Avra recently concluded its inaugural eight-week program. It plans to offer to invest in some of the startups from each cohort, some of the sources said, requesting anonymity as the details are private.
Hariharan and Fox declined to comment.
The first cohort of startups included Runway, Supabase, Roboflow and Hextech, sources said. Barry McCardel, co-founder and CEO of Hex, confirmed that his startup participated in Avra’s inaugural program. Tony Xu of DoorDash and Parker Conrad of Rippling were among the mentors of the first group.
“What sold me on Avra was the caliber of the guests who came to speak to us. It was very helpful and inspiring to hear other founders, CEOs, and operators tell how they built their companies. I’m normally pretty skeptical of VC programming, but Anu’s vision and the quality of the guests made it really useful and valuable,” McCardel told TechCrunch in an email.
Runway’s Cristóbal Valenzuela also confirmed the startup’s participation in Avra’s first cohort.
“The program was excellent,” he told TechCrunch. “They mainly invited some of the most exceptional CEOs who have faced similar challenges to what we are going through now. The program is well structured and covers many of the blind spots we had over the next 24 months.” Supabase and Roboflow did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
YC’s abrupt decision earlier this year to abandon its growth-stage fund took several executives by surprise, including Hariharan and Ali Rowghani, who co-managed the late-stage fund. This unexpected shift also left a gap in the sphere of growth and late-stage companies, particularly for a fund capable of providing similar YC-style resources and connections.
Over the years, Hariharan has earned a strong reputation for being incredibly supportive of founders, a trait evident in his continued board involvement with numerous startups in YC Continuity’s portfolio. Just two months after YC closed the Continuity fund, it had finalized plans to launch Avra, according to people who interacted with it in May.
“’Early growth’ companies are in an awkward phase: you may have PMF, but you still have a lot to figure out. (Avra’s) program addressed the biggest and toughest challenges we face and gives us the opportunity to spend time with experts and peers who have been through the same thing. It was super helpful. My only comment is that I wish the show lasted longer,” McCardel said of Hex.
