Fitz Gate Ventures

Fitz Gate Ventures is an early-stage, network-driven venture capital firm formed in 2015. To date, Fitz Gate has minted two unicorns from its early-stage investments in Fund I and II.

Fitz Gate III has a focus on the New York and Texas ecosystems where Fitz Gate’s GPs (Jim Cohen and Mark Poag) have deep networks and teach venture capital investing at the Princeton University Graduate School and Rice University Jones School of Business.

Fitz Gate brings a unique strategic advantage to its portfolio companies by leveraging its proprietary “Friends of Fitz” network, comprised of hundreds of venture capitalists, startup founders, educators, senior executives, and subject matter experts. 

Fitz Gate’s results in Funds I and II are excellent, and Fitz Gate III already has a committed institutional anchor investor.

Jim and Mark are mentors to Techstars NYC, the Princeton Entrepreneurship Council, the Rice Alliance, the Rice Lilie Lab, and the northeast National Science Foundation I-Corps Hub program. They are also members of Princeton’s Keller Center eLab Advisory Committee, the Princeton Dean for Research’s Advisory Council, and members of the inaugural Investment Advisory Committee for the Rice University One Small Step grant program. Jim and Mark were each awarded the Clio Hall Award in 2022 from the Princeton Graduate School in recognition of their contributions to Princeton’s graduate students. 

Fitz Gate writes initial checks of $500K - $2M, reserving for follow-on rounds, and has a special focus on deep tech/hard tech. Fitz Gate will lead rounds, co-invest with other funds, or invest alone. 

Fitz Gate has the conviction to invest first. World-class firms invest after Fitz Gate, including Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia, Bessemer, Canaan, Eli Lilly, Temasek/Xora, Blackrock, Glaxo, Bezos Expeditions, Merck, Fidelity, MIT Engine Fund, Morgan Stanley, Blackstone, First Round, Zoom, KKR, Fusion Fund, Formula One, Koch Disruptive Technologies, Fidelity, Astra Zeneca, Porsche and others.