DFX Intelligence
Venture Capital Intelligence
Firms, funds, partners, companies and rounds from sworn filings, firm sites and announcements, kept as a graph with a date and a source on every edge. Facts, inferences and estimates are labelled as such. A fund target is never a close, GAV is never dry powder, and a round size is never an investor’s check.
Firms / MAX Ventures
MAX Ventures
name or self-description says seed
Importance
19
moderate
Active deployment
33
moderate
Emerging
0
low
Completeness
63
high
Freshness
100
high
Research priority
12
low
Identity and regulatory footprint
- Headquarters
- unknown
- Office address
- unknown
- Business phone
- 615-483-3084adviserinfo.sec.gov
- Website
- https://www.maxventures.vc
- SEC adviser type
- exempt reporting adviseradviserinfo.sec.gov
- SEC exemption claimed
- venture capital fund adviseradviserinfo.sec.govItem 2.B(1): advises solely venture capital funds
- Latest Form ADV
- Mar 27, 2026
- Private funds reported
- 4 (4 venture capital funds)adviserinfo.sec.gov
- Private fund gross assets
- $107Madviserinfo.sec.govreported GAV of the funds, the adviser's own number; not fund size, not dry powder
- business phone
- 615-483-3084adviserinfo.sec.govpublished by the subject
Stated thesis versus observed behaviour
2 observed deals
Stated (the firm’s website)
- Sectors
- healthcare, energy
- Stages
- pre seed, seed, series a, early
- Geography
- global
- Check size
- not stated; DFX does not estimate checks from round sizes
- Self-described
- seed
Observed (from deals on record)
Stage at participation
pre seed 100%
Stage at first entry
pre seed 100%
Sectors
unknown 50%Other Technology 50%
lead rate 0%follow-on rate 0%new logos, 12 months 2
Funds and vehicles
4 reported
| Vehicle | Type | Vintage | Lifecycle | Reported GAV | Owners | Form D sold | Latest Form D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MAX Ventures Fund III, LP | Fund | 2023 form d first sale | Active deployment | $30.8M Mar 29, 2024 | 52 | $35.7M of $50.0M | Sep 27, 2024 |
| MAX Ventures Fund II, LP | Fund | 2020 form d first sale | Mature | $37.2M Mar 29, 2024 | 76 | $30.2M of $30.2M | Aug 6, 2021 |
| MAX Ventures New World Opportunities Fund, LP | Opportunity fund | 2020 form d first sale | Mature | $11.2M Mar 29, 2024 | 32 | $10.3M of $10.3M | Aug 6, 2021 |
| MAX Ventures Fund I, LP | Fund | unknown | Unknown | $24.9M Mar 29, 2024 | 36 | $0 of $10.0M | Mar 2, 2017 |
GAV is the gross asset value the adviser reported on Form ADV for the vehicle, never the fund’s committed size and never dry powder. Form D sold is the amount sold as of the latest filing, never a final close.
Investment team
1 current, 0 departed
Joseph Ryan Darnell
PartnerMember · since Aug 1, 2016
Investments on record
2 edges, 2 companies, 0 partner-attributed
| Company | Round | Role | Partner | Round size | This investor | Date | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cast Insights | Pre-Seed · Pre-seed | participant | unknown | $4.5M | unknown | Jul 23, 2026 | Fact Press release wires (Business Wire, PR Newswire, GlobeNewswire public RSS) |
| Barnwell Bio, Inc. | Funding round | participant | unknown | $6.0M | unknown | Jan 26, 2026 | Fact Press release wires (Business Wire, PR Newswire, GlobeNewswire public RSS) |
“This investor” is the amount disclosed for this investor alone; it is unknown unless a source said it. The round size is the whole round.
Co-investors
12 relationships from shared deals, counted for the whole firm
Stratus Ventures 1 shared · one timeAbstract Ventures 1 shared · one time · they led 1Embassy Ventures 1 shared · one timeVillage Global 1 shared · one timeHF0 1 shared · one timeDaybreak Ventures Management, LLC 1 shared · one timeAgVentures Alliance 1 shared · one timePlaneteer Capital 1 shared · one timeDorm Room Fund 1 shared · one timeBanter Capital 1 shared · one timeTwelve Below 1 shared · one time · they led 1Alumni Ventures 1 shared · one time
Limited partners
0 disclosed
No LP commitment on record. An LP edge needs a public disclosure with a quote: a pension report (see Limited partners for the plans read), a fund announcement naming the LP, or a Form ADV owner. The fund page carries the LP’s reported performance.
Timeline
6 dated events
- Sep 14, 2026MAX Ventures: MULTI_STAGE_VC -> SEED_FUND_MANAGER (name or self-description says seed)Classification changedClassificationInferenceno URL
- Mar 29, 2024MAX Ventures Fund III, LP first reported on Form ADV by MAX Ventures (Venture Capital Fund), GAV $30,781,629Fund first reported on Form ADVFundsFactMAX Ventures Fund III, LPSEC Form ADV filing data 2011 to 2024 (every filing, Schedule D 7.B.(1) private funds, Schedules A/B)
- May 19, 2022MAX Ventures first filed Form ADV (ERA, venture capital fund adviser exemption)First SEC adviser filingOrganizationFactSEC Form ADV filing data 2011 to 2024 (every filing, Schedule D 7.B.(1) private funds, Schedules A/B)
- May 19, 2022MAX Ventures New World Opportunities Fund, LP first reported on Form ADV by MAX Ventures (Venture Capital Fund), GAV $13,440,783Fund first reported on Form ADVFundsFactMAX Ventures New World Opportunities Fund, LPSEC Form ADV filing data 2011 to 2024 (every filing, Schedule D 7.B.(1) private funds, Schedules A/B)
- May 19, 2022MAX Ventures Fund I, LP first reported on Form ADV by MAX Ventures (Venture Capital Fund), GAV $28,694,904Fund first reported on Form ADVFundsFactMAX Ventures Fund I, LPSEC Form ADV filing data 2011 to 2024 (every filing, Schedule D 7.B.(1) private funds, Schedules A/B)
- May 19, 2022MAX Ventures Fund II, LP first reported on Form ADV by MAX Ventures (Venture Capital Fund), GAV $32,795,475Fund first reported on Form ADVFundsFactMAX Ventures Fund II, LPSEC Form ADV filing data 2011 to 2024 (every filing, Schedule D 7.B.(1) private funds, Schedules A/B)
Classification history
- Sep 14, 2026Seed fund manager (confirmed, 95%, cls-1)name or self-description says seed
- Sep 12, 2026Multi-stage venture firm (confirmed, 95%, cls-1)both early and growth/opportunity families, reported GAV $104M
Evidence
42 observations from 3 sources