We’re thrilled to announce that Patrick Montague has joined GFR Fund full-time as a General Partner! Patrick brings over 15 years of experience in venture capital investing, startup operating, and global ecosystem building, making him an exceptional addition to our leadership team.
Patrick has been a part-time Venture Partner at GFR Fund for the past five years while advising next-generation investment platforms and emerging startup ecosystems globally.
Prior to this, Patrick was the Vice President and General Manager of Betaworks Ventures, where he co-invested with GFR in companies such as Streem (acquired by FrontDoor) and Facemoji (acquired by Google). During his time at Betaworks, Patrick founded the thematic ‘Betacamp’ residency to invest in frontier categories including AR, voice, and synthetic media. His other notable investments include Hugging Face (now valued at $4.5 billion), Giant Otter (acquired by Drift), and Shine (acquired by Headspace).
Patrick also brings significant experience as a startup operator, having held leadership roles at two early social media companies backed by Sequoia Capital. At TuneIn and Meebo, which was acquired by Google, he drove new product, market, and business development initiatives, including initiating mobile and international business lines. Earlier in his career, he was a software services growth equity investor at JMI Equity.
Patrick’s deep focus on emerging venture capital models and startup ecosystems has positioned him uniquely across global hubs such as the Bay Area, New York, London, Dubai, and Scandinavia. His diverse background and strategic insights are invaluable assets as GFR Fund continues to grow and evolve. In his new role, Patrick will focus on East Coast US and European investments, as well as portfolio support, fundraising, and network engagement across those regions.
“We've known Patrick for almost a decade by now, first as a co-investor at Betaworks, and then as an Advisor/Venture Partner at GFR since 2019,” said Teppei Tsutsui, General Partner at GFR Fund. “All these years, we've been trying to convince him to join GFR full-time, and we're super excited that he finally made the decision! We strongly believe his experiences, skillset, and network complement what Yasushi and I have, especially as we continue to expand our investment beyond gaming to more generic consumer tech, and also geographically from the US to Europe and other parts of the world.”
“Having worked closely with Patrick for over eight years, starting at Betaworks where we saw two of our deals (Streem and Facemoji) exit, I’ve always admired Patrick’s ability to identify and support transformative ventures,” said Yasushi Komori, General Partner at GFR Fund. “Patrick’s addition to GFR Fund comes at the perfect time as we continue building momentum together. While GFR Fund is based in San Francisco, we’ve long recognized the need for stronger connections on the East Coast and in Europe. Patrick’s natural ties to the US and European venture ecosystem and deep networks in these regions fill a crucial gap, complementing the strengths of our team. We’re excited to take this next step in expanding our reach and impact.”
Patrick grew up in Washington, DC, and holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BA in international relations from Johns Hopkins University. Please join us in welcoming Patrick to the GP team as we look forward to the exciting opportunities ahead!
If you're an investor or LP looking for partnership opportunities, reach out to us at hello@gfrfund.com. For startups, please pitch to us by filling out this form. We'd love to hear from you!
