A Chat with Mikhail Taver, Founder and Managing Partner at Taver Capital

Tell us about Taver Capital

Taver Capital is an award-winning international venture fund that specialises in investing in industrial sector early-stage AI companies worldwide. We focus on businesses that have an experienced team, high-growth potential, and a target market of over $5 billion.

Taver Capital’s 2023 IRR places us in the top quartile of VC by performance. We also were included in Inc.’s Founder-Friendly Investor List and recognised as the Most Innovative AI-Focused Venture Fund of 2023 by Wealth & Finance International.

How did you come up with the idea for the company?

I always say that I’m a career investor, as I’ve never done anything in my entire life other than investing. Back in the early 2000s, I worked on various projects ranging from metal mines to chemical factories. I subsequently held executive positions and facilitated deals with renowned industrial groups. In total, in my career, I have conducted almost three hundred major deals totaling $24 billion in value.

After over a decade as a PE investor, I made the switch to venture capital and found a world that truly captivated me.

Since I’ve always preferred a hands-on approach, I aimed to focus on a compact yet high-growth potential sector, and, with a partner, launched a fund to invest in AI. I believed it was a niche market with significant room for growth. Now, seven years later, I see the value of investing in a technology that was initially undervalued but has since skyrocketed in importance.

As for the fund’s name, I drew inspiration from Italian chefs who name their restaurants after themselves, symbolising personal responsibility for the food they serve. I apply the same principle to Taver Capital, taking personal responsibility for the money of our LPs and for the projects I invest in.

How has the company evolved over the last couple of years?

Back in 2016, at the time of its founding, Taver Capital was one of the few firms specialised in AI—hard to imagine now, right?

Since then, we’ve invested in 20 early-stage AI companies across 9 verticals and had 5 successful exits, including MSQRD (acquired by Facebook), ID R&D (acquired by Mitek), and Sayana (acquired by Headspace). Our portfolio includes a mining tech company Earth AI, the AI-powered regulatory intelligence platform Regology, industrial automation agritech platform Four Growers, builder of AI-based mobile photo technologies Prisma Labs, and others.

During the last years, we have all witnessed the exponential growth in hype surrounding AI. Since AI, as a whole, is not a small, undervalued segment anymore, I analysed different sectors, and taking into account my expertise in traditional industries like mining, as well as my extensive knowledge of heavy industries, I decided to shift to another yet niche vertical — the industrial sector, where the adoption of AI has tremendous potential to revamp companies and help them boost their profitability and effectiveness.

What can we hope to see from Taver Capital in the future?

We are currently raising our second fund, which will focus on industrial AI. We have a unique ability to understand what the industry needs, and promptly identify and support promising projects.

We will explore options for co-investing, attracting investment syndicates, and drawing LPs for additional participation in deals. I plan to create bespoke legal structures to enable investors to cherry-pick, allowing them to invest in the portfolio companies that pique their interest the most. This customisation will help tailor their exposure to specific projects and sectors according to their preferences. Investors will have the opportunity to co-invest alongside the fund or independently.

Additionally, I aim to expand our team from four to potentially seven members to increase our capacity and exposure.