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Learn which startups Vast Ventures invests in, what size check sizes they write, and who their partners are (e.g. Doug Chertok).
Key people at Vast Ventures.
Vast Ventures operates as a manifesto-driven venture capital firm, strategically deploying capital into disruptive companies poised to generate significant global impact. The firm focuses its investments on five core areas: enhancing worldwide health and happiness, promoting resource sustainability for future generations, boosting human potential and productivity, fostering increased knowledge, empathy, and connectedness, and actively disrupting industries resistant to these progressive goals. This thematic approach guides their selections, targeting innovations that align with their foundational principles.
The firm was founded in 2003 by Doug Chertok, whose insight centered on leveraging venture capital as a direct vehicle for positive societal change. Chertok established Vast Ventures with the conviction that strategic investment, guided by a clear set of principles, could not only yield strong financial returns but also cultivate meaningful advancements in critical global areas, extending beyond traditional market considerations. This vision underpinned the development of their distinctive manifesto-driven investment strategy.
Vast Ventures primarily serves entrepreneurial teams and emerging companies whose innovations are designed to address the firm's core manifesto tenets. The firm envisions a future where capital is a catalyst for substantial, long-term global improvements, fostering a portfolio of companies that collectively contribute to a more sustainable, equitable, and advanced world. Their long-term vision emphasizes lasting impact over short-term gains, positioning their portfolio companies to drive transformative change.
# Vast Ventures: A Manifesto-Driven Venture Capital Firm
Vast Ventures is a manifesto-driven venture capital firm headquartered in New York that invests in disruptive companies with global impact.[1][2] Founded in 2004 by Doug Chertok, the firm has built a distinctive investment thesis centered on four core objectives: improving worldwide health and happiness, promoting resource sustainability, increasing human potential and productivity, and fostering knowledge and empathy.[2] The firm manages a diversified portfolio across healthcare, fintech, AI, cloud software, sustainability, proptech, and biotech sectors, with a demonstrated track record of backing companies like Sweetgreen, Conductor, and Clover Health.[1]
Vast Ventures operates with a philosophy that extends beyond traditional venture capital returns. The firm emphasizes long-term partnerships, providing not just capital but also strategic guidance and operational support to help portfolio companies navigate early-stage growth challenges.[1] Their investment approach is selective—they prefer to lead rounds and take active roles in company development, with a historical average check size of $2.9 million and a maximum check size of $105 million.[1]
Vast Ventures was established in 2004 by Doug Chertok, who assembled a team of experienced professionals to execute the firm's mission-driven investment strategy.[1] The founding team includes Aniq Rahman (Managing Partner) and Talia Zapolanski (Head of Investor Relations), alongside Sean Mccroskey (Senior Associate).[5] This leadership structure reflects a deliberate blend of finance expertise, entrepreneurial experience, and venture capital acumen.
The firm's evolution has been marked by disciplined fund management, with seven closed funds and one fund currently in market as of April 2023.[5] Over two decades, Vast Ventures has completed 92 investments, demonstrating consistent execution of its manifesto-driven thesis.[1] The firm's longevity and sustained fundraising capability suggest that institutional investors and limited partners have validated its approach to balancing impact with financial returns.
Rather than chasing trends, Vast Ventures operates from an explicit set of values that guide capital allocation. This creates a clear filter for deal evaluation and helps portfolio companies understand the firm's expectations beyond financial metrics.[2]
The firm invests across multiple sectors—healthcare, fintech, AI, proptech, biotech, and sustainability—but maintains thematic coherence around impact. This diversification reduces concentration risk while staying true to the core mission.[1][4]
Vast Ventures distinguishes itself by taking leadership positions in funding rounds and providing strategic guidance beyond capital deployment. This hands-on approach attracts founders seeking more than just a check.[1]
The firm invests across the United States, Africa, Latin America, India, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Canada, Israel, and the Middle East, positioning it as a truly global investor despite its New York headquarters.[4]
With a check size range spanning $100K to $3M+, Vast Ventures can participate in pre-seed through Series B+ rounds, allowing the firm to support companies across their growth trajectory.[4]
Vast Ventures represents a meaningful shift in venture capital toward mission-aligned investing. As institutional capital increasingly faces pressure to demonstrate ESG credentials and impact outcomes, the firm's explicit manifesto serves as both a competitive advantage and a template for how values-driven investing can operate at scale.
The firm's focus on healthcare, sustainability, and AI reflects the most consequential technology trends of the 2020s. By concentrating capital in these domains, Vast Ventures influences which founders receive backing and which problems attract venture-scale resources. This capital allocation has downstream effects on the startup ecosystem—it signals to entrepreneurs that solving climate, health, and productivity challenges is fundable at meaningful scale.
Additionally, Vast Ventures' global investment footprint positions it to capture opportunities in emerging markets where impact and financial returns often align more naturally. The firm's willingness to invest in Africa, Latin America, and Asia-Pacific demonstrates a commitment to geographic diversification that many traditional venture firms have only recently begun to pursue.
Vast Ventures has successfully navigated the tension between impact and returns—a challenge that has derailed many mission-driven funds. The firm's 20-year track record and continued fundraising suggest that this model is sustainable and attractive to LPs seeking both financial performance and measurable impact.
Looking ahead, Vast Ventures will likely benefit from several tailwinds: the continued maturation of climate tech and biotech as venture categories, growing institutional demand for impact-aligned returns, and the firm's established relationships with founders and ecosystem players. The key question is whether the firm can scale its operational support model without diluting the quality of partnership that has defined its brand.
The firm's future influence will depend on whether its portfolio companies achieve both financial success and meaningful impact—validating the thesis that doing good and doing well are not mutually exclusive. If Vast Ventures' companies become category leaders in healthcare, sustainability, and AI, the firm will have demonstrated a replicable model for values-driven venture capital, potentially reshaping how the broader industry thinks about capital allocation and founder support.
Key people at Vast Ventures.
