Tanner Smith's path runs from Rolls-Royce's defense division through Scale AI's Public Sector team to investing at MVP Ventures, and he traces his interest back to growing up in what he calls a no-stoplight town in Indiana. While at Stanford, he researched nuclear fuels with Stanford Climate Ventures, worked on AI for national security, invested at MVP Ventures, interviewed former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and helped organize a 900-plus person defense conference that The New York Times covered.
About their Fund
MVP Ventures describes itself as a top-tier co-investor rather than a lead investor, combining three types of capital—broad retail investors, a select group of ultra-high-net-worth individuals, and institutional/family-office money—and using its own data systems to spot and rank startups early, sometimes even before they have a website. It focuses its post-investment help on four specific areas (go-to-market, talent, government, and capital markets), dedicates a large share of its team to this support, and often invests a smaller amount while still aiming to be founders' most valued investor, a pattern reflected in its focus on hard-tech, robotics, aerospace, and AI companies and its willingness to lead later-stage deep-tech rounds when conviction is high.
















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