AI Succeeds When Domain Truth Meets Technical Leverage.

Arctic Axis Venture (AAV) is an AI accelerator backing founders who combine deep domain expertise with technical clarity to build durable, high-impact AI solutions.

Our Core Belief

AI Success = Domain Expertise + Technical Enabler + Fast Iteration

Our Investment Theses

We believe AI only compounds when these three evolve together

— not in isolation.

    • Real operators who understand constraints, incentives, and failure modes

    • Lived knowledge of workflows, regulation, economics, and edge cases

    • Clear understanding of where value is actually created

    • Awareness of current model capabilities and limitations

    • Pragmatic use of AI as leverage, not magic

    • Strong instincts around data, evaluation, cost, latency, and reliability

    • Small teams shipping frequently

    • Proving demand early with real users

    • Compounding through iteration speed and distribution

What We Do

We provide early capital to help founders gather real-world evidence, validate product-market fit, and demonstrate market potential — not just build prototypes.

Pre-Seed Funding

We work with founders to identify, shape, and attract the right technical leadership — clarifying what roles are needed, when they are needed, and how to sequence technical hiring responsibly.

Fractional CXO AI Leadership

Portfolio

We’re currently backing a small number of founders privately. Public portfolio announcements will appear here when appropriate.

Contact

We welcome conversations with founders who are deeply embedded in their domain and deliberate about how they use AI. If our perspective resonates, feel free to reach out.

Address

180 North Stetson Avenue,

Chicago, IL, 60601