What happens when a venture firm decides not to chase billions, but instead keeps things lean, focused, and smart? You get AAF Management — a small, quiet force that’s landing big deals before the rest of the VC world even notices.
Omar Darwazah and Kyle Hendrick launched AAF back in 2017 with a simple idea: stay small, stay agile. Instead of raising massive funds like many other firms, they raised just $25 million for their first fund. That choice wasn’t by accident — it was intentional.
Now, nearly eight years later, they’ve stuck to that philosophy through four funds and $250 million under management. Most recently, they closed their fourth fund, a $55 million early-stage hybrid fund called the Axis Fund. It’s not just about writing checks — it’s how they write them.
A New Kind of Venture Model
Here’s what makes AAF different: they don’t just back startups directly. They also invest in a network of emerging venture funds — think of it as investing in the investors.
They pour 80% of their capital into startups, and the other 20% goes to early-stage funds (usually under $50 million in size). This hybrid strategy has given them access to startups at their earliest stages — sometimes before they even raise their first dollar from traditional VCs.
According to Hendrick, this gives AAF access to a “rich dataset of private-market companies” long before they’re on anyone else’s radar.
So far, through its Axis Fund, AAF has backed 25 seed-stage funds and made direct investments in five early-growth startups.
Big Names, Small Doors
The companies AAF has touched — directly or through its fund investments — include some seriously headline-worthy names. Direct early bets include:
- Current
- Drata
- Flutterwave
- Jasper
- Hello Heart
And through their LP investments, they’ve gained exposure to startups like:
- Mercury
- Deel
- Retool
- Eleven Labs
- Decagon
- Motion
All in all, they estimate exposure to roughly 800 venture-backed companies launched between 2021 and 2025. That’s a lot of surface area for only $250 million in total managed capital.
Not Your Typical VC Help
Most VCs try to offer portfolio support, like help with hiring or product design. AAF skips most of that. Instead, they offer something many founders want more: connections to money.
With their network of 45 venture funds — where AAF sits as a limited partner — the firm plugs startups directly into ecosystems that already know how to scale early winners.
It’s a clean way to offer distribution without getting in the founder’s way.
Why Founders (and LPs) Love AAF’s Approach
AAF isn’t just about supporting founders. They’re also a bridge for institutional investors, particularly those based in the Middle East and Europe, looking for diversified exposure to venture without the hassle of dozens of direct relationships.
That includes major backers like:
- Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala
- Leading U.S., European, and MENA family offices
- A multi-billion-dollar U.S. VC firm
- A publicly traded company
The team behind AAF makes sense, too. Darwazah brings a background in private equity and finance in the Gulf region, while Hendrick offers the operator’s lens — previously a founder and connected to ventures in the UAE and the U.S.
The Results Speak for Themselves
Across their four funds, AAF has:
- Made 138 direct investments
- Backed 39 unique emerging fund managers
- Pulled off 20 portfolio exits totaling nearly $2 billion in value
Some standouts? Exits include companies acquired by TransUnion, GoodRx, Affirm, and other publicly traded firms.
According to independent sources like Cambridge Associates and Carta, some of AAF’s previous fund vintages have ranked in the top decile in terms of net TVPI (a fancy way of saying top-tier returns).
So What’s the Secret?
There’s no big gimmick. AAF simply chooses focus over flash.
“We’ve seen that naturally large fund sizes can disrupt GP-LP alignment,” Darwazah explained. When firms balloon in size, management fees drive decisions rather than performance-based returns. “That’s not a game we want to play.”
And it shows. Instead of going big, they go early — sliding into deals through their LP networks, spotting future unicorns first, and staying nimble enough to move on them fast.
If you’re a startup looking for quiet strength in your cap table or a new manager hoping to launch your first fund, AAF might just be your kind of firm.
Because sometimes being small isn’t a weakness. It’s the edge.
