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Last year, Justin Ernest identified what he believed was a major inefficiency in the venture capital ecosystem. While family offices and smaller institutional investors were increasingly eager to gain exposure to the fastest-growing AI startups, many lacked direct access to the companies’ cap tables.

Drawing on more than five years of experience at Playground Global, where he focused on deep-tech investing and fundraising, Ernest believed he was well-positioned to bridge that gap. His relationships with both founders and investors provided a pathway to connect capital with highly sought-after late-stage opportunities.

Rather than launching a conventional venture capital fund — a process he says can take first-time managers between 12 and 18 months — Ernest chose a different route. Through his firm, Sabertooth Capital, he secures allocations in high-profile private companies. Then he offers access to those investments through special purpose vehicles (SPVs), single-asset funds, and nominee structures.

Under the nominee model, Sabertooth holds shares on behalf of participating investors rather than placing them into a traditional SPV structure.

According to Ernest, Sabertooth has deployed nearly $500 million across 10 companies during the past year. Its portfolio includes notable names such as Anthropic, Base Power, Databricks, PsiQuantum, and SpaceX. Each investment is generally treated as a standalone fund, with most deals structured through SPVs that allow investors to purchase ownership in the vehicle that holds the shares.

The firm’s investments range from approximately $10 million to $275 million per transaction, giving it access to meaningful ownership stakes. Ernest says Sabertooth only participates in official financing rounds that have received company approval.

While Sabertooth is not alone in providing family offices with opportunities to invest in high-profile late-stage startups, Ernest has attracted substantial capital in a relatively short period. In a market where smaller SPVs and allocation-driven investment vehicles can sometimes raise questions, his reputation has become a key differentiator.

“Justin is authentically an investor,” said Benjamin Wagner, chief investment officer for a family office that manages wealth on behalf of 50 individuals. “He has judgment, he has expertise, he’s very technical; that really distinguishes him from other organisations that tend to, in my opinion, just try to aggregate capital.”

Wagner recalled attempting to invest directly in PsiQuantum, the quantum computing company that was most recently valued at $7 billion. According to Wagner, the startup’s chief financial officer instead recommended investing through Sabertooth.

“So, the first time I met [Ernest], I knew he was legitimate,” Wagner said. “Justin’s access is definitely different from some of these fly-by-night organisations.”

That level of credibility is increasingly valuable. As private companies such as Anthropic take a stricter stance against unauthorised SPVs, investors often want reassurance that their capital is being managed through structures recognised and respected by the companies themselves.

Beyond his technical background, Ernest credits part of his success to communication skills he developed after overcoming a childhood speech impediment. He believes his broad network remains one of his greatest strengths when sourcing opportunities in highly competitive funding rounds.

“I’ve always found that my sort of superpower is being the nucleus of my network, and I like to use that and utilise that in a very strategic way,” he said.

That network also allows him to move quickly when raising capital for new opportunities.

“I have a captive set of LPs,” Ernest explained. “I can usually make four or five or six phone calls, and I know exactly what my LPs will commit.”

For now, Ernest says he intends to continue building Sabertooth around deal-specific investment vehicles that serve a dedicated group of limited partners. At the same time, he ultimately hopes to launch a traditional venture capital fund.

Raising a conventional fund remains challenging, but Ernest believes Sabertooth’s SPVs can provide the track record investors seek when evaluating emerging fund managers.

The strategy has already produced notable results. Sabertooth recorded a significant return on its investment in chipmaker Groq, which Nvidia licensed and later acquired in a transaction reportedly valued at $20 billion late last year.

Additional liquidity events may be on the horizon. SpaceX’s anticipated IPO and Anthropic’s expected public market debut later this year could generate even larger returns for Sabertooth’s investors.

Although SPVs do not always carry the same prestige as traditional venture funds, Ernest remains convinced that building credibility through successful transactions and long-term relationships with family offices is the right approach.

Rather than launching a new venture fund and competing immediately in an increasingly crowded market, he chose to focus on participating directly in some of the most important private-company financings of the AI era.

“I wanted to be in the action,” Ernest said. “I think this will end up being one of the best vintages of our lifetime.”