Lenore Karafa

Partner, First In
Lenore Karafa, a former Marine officer with Iraq deployments, is an Operating Partner focused on leadership development who combines combat leadership with executive HR experience and advocates veteran leadership.
How to contact Lenore Karafa
Stages their fund invests in
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Sectors their fund invests in
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Avg Check
$500K - $2M
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Does their fund Lead?
Yes
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Geos their fund invests in
Lenore Karafa
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Sectors their fund invests in
Cybersecurity
Defense
Data
Deeptech / Hardware
AI
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Avg Check
$500K - $2M
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Leads?
Yes
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About Lenore Karafa

Lenore Karafa is a former Marine Corps officer who served seven years including deployments to Iraq, and now works as an Operating Partner at First In focused specifically on organizational management and leadership development within portfolio companies rather than traditional finance-first investing. She bridges combat leadership experience with roles as a former managing partner at McChrystal Group and Head of People at Citadel, while serving as a national voice on veteran leadership through her role as former President/Chair of Bunker Labs and frequent Fortune articles on translating military leadership lessons for business audiences.

About their Fund

Sectors
Cybersecurity, Defense, Data, Deeptech / Hardware, AI
Rounds
Seed
Avg Check Size
$500K - $2M

First In is a venture capital fund led by former Marine Corps officers, CIA operatives, and defense-tech operators who apply military systems thinking to invest in early-stage security technologies across cyber, defense, data, and critical infrastructure. The firm targets founders comfortable building at the intersection of national security and commercial markets, backing companies like Anduril and Shift5 that directly shape national defense capabilities rather than typical enterprise software tools.

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