Marlon Nichols

Marlon earned his Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems from Northeastern University and an MBA from the SC Johnson College of Business at Cornell University, where he is also adjunct faculty in entrepreneurship and venture capital.

Marlon Nichols is the co-founder and managing general partner at MaC Venture Capital, a seed-stage firm backing category-defining companies at the intersection of technology, culture, and global behavior. At MaC, he focuses on identifying early signals—such as changes in consumer behavior, infrastructure constraints, and technological inflection points—that create durable opportunities, and partnering with founders positioned to build through them.

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Under his leadership, MaC has grown into one of North America’s largest seed-stage venture firms, surpassing $600 million in assets under management. In October 2024, the firm announced the closing of its third fund ($150 million), further solidifying its role as a leading early-stage partner to founders building long-term platforms and systems.

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Prior to co-founding MaC, Nichols was an Investment Director at Intel Capital, where he invested across enterprise software, infrastructure, and emerging technologies. He began his investing career working at the intersection of culture and technology and has since built a track record spanning consumer, fintech, enterprise, and deep tech.

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His investments include companies such as MongoDB (NASDAQ: MDB),Thrive Market, Truebill, Purestream, Gimlet Media, Pipe, Wonderschool, Seed, Janta Power, Arine and Powerline, reflecting a consistent focus on founders building scalable businesses aligned with long-term structural shifts rather than short-term market cycles.

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Nichols is a board member of Kauffman Fellows and a frequent commentator on venture capital, technology, and market structure. He has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Bloomberg, TechCrunch, and NBC, and has been recognized on Insider’s Seed 100 list and the LA500 for his contributions to the venture ecosystem.

Marlon serves on the Board of Directors of the Kauffman Fellows Program. As a member of Class 18, Marlon served his fellowship at Intel Capital under the mentorship of Vice President and Managing Director, Lisa Lambert and Managing Director, Ken Elefant (Class 5). He was a mentor to Suzy Ryoo (Class 22) and John White (Class 25).