Universities have long been breeding grounds for bold ideas and big dreams. Walk around any campus, and you’re likely to meet a student or young founders convinced they’ve found a way to change the world. Some call it youthful optimism — others see the early sparks of real innovation.
A new venture capital firm, Critical Venture Partners, is putting serious money behind that belief. Founded by three recent University of Pennsylvania graduates, the firm is betting on young founders with ambitious plans to tackle global problems like climate change, healthcare gaps, and economic inequality.
“We see ourselves in the founders we back — young people driven by ideas and urgency,” said Sam Strickberger, one of the firm’s general partners. Together with his brother Max Strickberger and co-founder Seungkwon Son, the team has raised a $5 million debut fund aimed specifically at startups led by student entrepreneurs or recent graduates.
Critical Venture Partners plans to invest between $50,000 and $250,000 per startup, with a quarter of their fund set aside for follow-on investments in the most promising companies. Their investor lineup includes seasoned names like Aarti Chandna from Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund, Seth Goldman of Beyond Meat, and Bain Capital partner Andrew Kaplan — all believers in the next generation’s potential.
The firm isn’t stopping at funding. To spark fresh ideas, Critical Venture Partners has teamed up with Yope — the startup accelerator formerly known as Founder.org — to launch a $100,000 startup competition. The goal? To discover student-led companies that are ready to solve real-world problems with bold, scalable solutions.
Already, the team has made its first investments. Among them is General Galactic, a startup converting CO2 into usable methane, Mobius Industries, which focuses on recovering metals from waste, and Stratagen Bio, a company enhancing MRI scans with advanced data analytics.
For the founding trio, it’s not just about early-stage investments — it’s about creating space for young innovators to build impactful companies from the ground up. “Some of the most transformative companies have been founded by people in their twenties,” Strickberger added. “That’s the kind of energy and perspective we want to support.”
In many ways, Critical Venture Partners is tapping into an age-old truth in tech investing: sometimes, it takes fresh eyes and bold ideas to solve problems that have stumped the world for decades. Whether it’s ambition or idealism, these student entrepreneurs are ready to make their mark — and now, they’ve got the backing to do it.
