Stephen Hays is the founder of What If Ventures, a Dallas-based venture firm that primarily invests. See portfolio, sector focus and contact routes.
Stephen Hays is the founder of What If Ventures, a Dallas-based venture firm that primarily invests in seed-stage startups within mental health, addiction recovery, and disruptive healthcare, with a distinctive thesis centered on addressing stigmatized healthcare issues. His investment check sizes typically range from $100K to $25M, and he has deployed over $100 million across 86 startups via a syndicate of more than 4,100 investors. Notable portfolio companies include Alto Neuroscience (which exited via a $147.9 million IPO), Grow Therapy, Atai Life Sciences, and Firehawk Aerospace. Hays explicitly favors the seed stage because he believes he adds the most value to founders at that early point in their development.
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