Maximilian Von Poelnitz

Frontier tech VC | 3x Founder | The Easy VC Brief

San Francisco Bay Area

About

A frontier tech and deep tech investor excited by innovations in ai infrastructure and vertical app development. With over 20 years of experience across North America and Asia, Max has built numerous start-ups, founded a venture capital firm, and set up the $150m cvc arm of Ajinomoto Group prior to becoming the 4th gp at Foothill.

Experience

  • General Partner at Foothill Ventures
    Jun 2026 - Present · 1 mo

  • Founder and Host at The Easy VC Brief
    Dec 2025 - Present · 7 mos

  • Head of CVC and Managing Director at Ajinomoto Group Ventures
    Oct 2023 - Jun 2026 · 2 yrs 9 mos

    I helped build the US CVC from Day 1. I now lead our North America Investments and Team. Ajinomoto CVC is the corporate venture capital arm of Ajinomoto, a $10B revenue technology leader in amino science. We invest in transformative companies that advance new ways to extend health span, develop new approaches that change the ways information is processed, and answer complex challenges in sustainability. Together with Ajinomoto’s community of scientists and engineers, we enable startup founders to build and scale solutions for the future. Contact me or message me for further info on our focus in semiconductor packaging, battery innovation, medical nutrition, and green food tech

  • Investor at Safire Technology Group, Inc.
    Jun 2024 - Jun 2026 · 2 yrs 1 mo

  • Investor at Formo
    Sep 2019 - Present · 6 yrs 10 mos