By Lina Hope 
In the high-stakes world of venture capital, the "MBA stigma" has long been a whispered reality. Silicon Valley lore often paints the business school graduate as a product of corporate bureaucracy, ill-equipped for the chaotic, iterative, and high-risk environment of startup building. Devon Gethers and Karlton Haney, the co-founders of the newly minted Meridian Ventures, are not only challenging that narrative—they are building a multi-million-dollar institutional foundation to prove it wrong.
Meridian Ventures has officially announced the closing of a $35 million fund, a milestone achieved amidst a notoriously difficult fundraising climate. With a mandate to support pre-seed and seed-stage companies, the firm is positioning itself as a primary backer for founders who share the founders’ own trajectory: ambitious, academic-minded, and hyper-focused on the intersection of enterprise technology and real-world application.
The Genesis of a Partnership
The roots of Meridian Ventures lie in the halls of Harvard Business School (HBS). Gethers, 29, and Haney, 28, first connected in 2020 through the school’s prestigious deferred admission program—a pathway that allows high-achieving college seniors to secure a spot at HBS while spending a few years gaining professional experience in the "real world" before returning to campus.
Their backgrounds could not be more disparate, yet they share a common thread of grit and non-traditional ambition. Gethers, who grew up in poverty in Washington State, carved his path through the University of Utah, where he studied behavioral science and finance. His early career in private equity and his subsequent journey as a founder—ending in a successful exit—provided him with a firsthand look at the lifecycle of a business, from the garage to the boardroom.
Haney’s path was equally distinct. Raised on a farm in Arkansas, he spent his youth managing livestock and developing an intimate understanding of operational efficiency. He later studied industrial engineering at the University of Arkansas and honed his investment acumen at the Stephens Group, a prominent family office. When the two finally met in person at HBS in 2023, the chemistry was immediate. They weren’t just looking to get an MBA; they were looking to build a vehicle that could capitalize on a specific segment of the talent market: high-potential individuals who, like them, had the foresight to plan their careers around both elite education and hands-on experience.
Chronology: From Cold Calls to Institutional Success
The rise of Meridian Ventures was not a sudden windfall, but a calculated ascent.
Phase I: The Proof of Concept (2022–2023)
Before they ever set foot on the Harvard campus for their formal studies, Gethers and Haney began testing their thesis. They didn’t have a brand name or a track record as VCs, so they relied on the "hustle" characteristic of the founders they hoped to support. They began cold-calling prospective limited partners (LPs), refining their pitch, and knocking on doors that remained largely closed to newcomers.
Their persistence paid off with a $2.5 million "proof-of-concept" fund. This initial capital allowed them to build a portfolio of 45 companies, serving as a real-time laboratory to test their investment strategy and prove that their pedigree-based networking was yielding high-quality deal flow.
Phase II: The Institutional Leap (2023–2025)
In the summer of 2023, the pair officially began their MBA program at HBS. However, they were hardly "students" in the traditional sense. While balancing the rigorous academic load of the program, they began the arduous process of raising their first institutional fund.
The economic backdrop was far from ideal. With interest rates high and the venture market in a "correction" phase, capital had become significantly more selective. Despite these headwinds, Gethers and Haney succeeded in closing an oversubscribed $35 million fund. Their LP base is a testament to their credibility, comprising publicly traded banks, prominent family offices, and seasoned Fortune 500 executives who saw value in the pair’s unique thesis.
Phase III: Deployment (2025 and Beyond)
Having graduated from HBS in 2025, Gethers and Haney are now transitioning into full-time management of the $35 million. The goal is to deploy this capital over the next three years, focusing on a disciplined check-writing strategy that balances risk with the promise of early-stage enterprise technology.
Breaking the Stigma: The Intellectual Thesis
The core of Meridian Ventures’ philosophy is a direct rebuttal to the "MBA as a liability" trope. While critics argue that business school trains students to be risk-averse, Gethers and Haney contend that the right kind of MBA candidate—particularly those who deferred—brings a combination of structured thinking and strategic foresight that is actually a massive asset for early-stage companies.
"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 noted in an interview with TechCrunch.
The firm’s approach is sector-agnostic, provided the companies are building within the enterprise technology space. Meridian has already demonstrated its appetite for diversity in scope, with investments spanning fintech, logistics, healthcare, and artificial intelligence. By focusing on the "enterprise" layer, the firm seeks to back solutions that solve foundational problems for businesses, rather than chasing fleeting consumer trends.
Supporting Data: The Mechanics of the Fund
For entrepreneurs looking to partner with Meridian, the firm offers a clear, structured framework for early-stage funding:
- Fund Size: $35 million.
- Target Stage: Pre-seed and Seed.
- Average Check Sizes: $500,000 for pre-seed; $750,000 for seed-stage rounds.
- Investment Timeline: The firm expects to deploy the fund over a three-year window, allowing for follow-on opportunities within their existing portfolio.
- Scope: Enterprise technology across the United States.
While the firm was founded with a "tilt" toward those who had participated in deferred MBA programs, Meridian has clarified that it is not exclusive to that demographic. The firm is open to any high-potential founder who demonstrates the same blend of academic discipline and gritty, operational execution that the founders embody.
Implications for the Venture Ecosystem
The emergence of Meridian Ventures comes at a critical juncture in the venture capital cycle. As the market moves away from the "growth at all costs" mentality of the 2020–2021 era, there is a renewed emphasis on founders who understand the fundamentals of business, unit economics, and sustainable scaling.
1. The Rise of the "Operator-Investor"
Gethers and Haney represent a new breed of investor that bridges the gap between the academic world and the front lines of startup operations. By moving from private equity and engineering backgrounds into venture, they provide more than just capital; they provide a blueprint for operational rigor.
2. Bridging the "Ambition Gap"
Gethers articulated a fundamental problem in the current market: "We saw an expanding gap between ambitious founders building frontier technologies and the capital required to help carry those ambitions forward." By targeting the pre-seed and seed stages, Meridian is stepping into a critical "funding gap" where many founders struggle to find institutional support before they have achieved massive scale.
3. Redefining the "MBA Founder"
Perhaps most importantly, Meridian is helping to rehabilitate the reputation of the MBA founder. By providing a platform for these founders to excel, they are creating a cycle of success that may eventually force the broader venture community to reconsider its biases. If Meridian’s portfolio companies show consistent, top-tier performance, it will serve as a loud, data-driven argument that business school education, when paired with the right entrepreneurial mindset, is a powerful accelerant for innovation.
As Gethers and Haney look toward the future, the success of their $35 million fund will be measured by more than just returns. It will be judged by their ability to foster a community of founders who are as comfortable analyzing a balance sheet as they are writing code or managing a supply chain. In an increasingly complex global economy, that combination of skills may be exactly what the next generation of enterprise leaders requires.
Ammar Sabilarrohman 
Pevita Pearce 
Asep Darmawan 