Kareem Zaki
Kareem Zaki is a venture capitalist who is a general partner at Thrive Capital and a partner at Thrive HoldingsThrive HoldingsThrive Holdings is a holding and operating company founded in 2025. It acquires and operates established service businesses, combining internal engineering teams with industry specialists to develop AI tools for specific workflows.Open the full entry. He joined Thrive Capital in 2014, focusing on healthcare and financial services, and co-founded healthcare companies including Cedar and Cadence.
Contents12 sections
Key facts
Early Life and Education
His parents emigrated from Cairo to Cleveland, where his father retrained at the Cleveland Clinic.[1]
He earned a bachelor’s degree from Harvard UniversityHarvard UniversityHarvard University is a private research university in Massachusetts, established by the Massachusetts Bay Colony legislature in 1636 and named in 1639 for early benefactor John Harvard. Its principal campuses are in Cambridge and the Allston and Longwood neighborhoods of Boston. It includes Harvard College, graduate and professional schools, and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. Two governing boards share oversight. Alan M. Garber was president as of October 2026, and the endowment stood at $56.9 billion at the end of fiscal 2025.Open the full entry.[2]
Before 2014Blackstone
Before Thrive he spent three years in private equity at Blackstone.[3]
He has said he chose Blackstone over medical school after college, and helped Josh Kushner with Oscar Health on nights and weekends.[1]
2014Joining Thrive Capital
In 2014 he joined the venture capital firm Thrive Capital, focusing mainly on healthcare and financial services.[2]
2016–2018Cedar
Cedar, a patient billing and payments platform, was founded in 2016 with Florian Otto as chief executive; in June 2018 it raised a $36 million Series B round with Thrive Capital among its investors.[4]
2018Forbes 30 Under 30
In 2018 he was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in venture capital, having led Thrive’s investments in Morty and Robinhood and joined the boards of Cedar, Honor and Welkin.[2]
November 202120VC Podcast
In November 2021 he appeared on Harry Stebbings’s 20VC podcast to discuss Thrive’s investment decision-making and firm culture.[3]
October 2022Bloomberg Invest
In October 2022 he joined Josh Kushner at Bloomberg Invest as a general partner of Thrive Capital, discussing the venture capital outlook in an interview with Sarah McBride.[5]
May 2024Crete Professionals Alliance
In May 2024 the accounting platform Crete Professionals Alliance announced strategic capital in a round led by Thrive Capital and Bessemer Venture Partners. As a Thrive Capital partner he said, “Crete is the perfect strategic partner for regional firms working to grow in a rapidly evolving industry.”[6]
2024HLTH and Invest Like the Best
In 2024 he spoke at the HLTH conference as a general partner of Thrive Capital. He led Thrive’s investments in Headway, Honor, Pleo, Ramp, Rightway, Robinhood, Stripe, Trade Republic, Trialspark and Vetcove.[7]
In October 2024 he appeared on Patrick O’ShaughnessyPatrick O’ShaughnessyPatrick O’Shaughnessy is an investor and podcast host who has hosted the interview show Invest Like the Best since 2016, founded the early-stage investment firm Positive Sum in 2020 and serves as its CEO, and is also founder and CEO of the media company Colossus.Open the full entry’s Invest Like the BestInvest Like the BestInvest Like the Best is a business and investing interview podcast hosted by Patrick O’Shaughnessy. Launched in 2016, it features conversations with investors, founders and experts about their ideas, methods and stories; the show is now part of the Colossus podcast network.Open the full entry podcast, discussing generalist investing, concentration, healthcare and AI.[8]
October 2026Thrive Holdings to Acquire ADT
On October 29, 2026, Thrive Holdings announced an agreement to acquire ADTADTADT is a US security and smart-home services company providing alarm monitoring, connected equipment and interactive controls for residential and small-business customers.Open the full entry, pending completion.[9]
He commented on the deal as a Thrive Holdings partner.[10]
Company Building
He is a co-founder and board member of Cadence, Cedar, Nava and RightwayRx.[7]
Sources
- The New World (opens in a new window)
- Kareem Zaki (opens in a new window)
- 20VC: Thrive Capital's Kareem Zaki on The One Rule That Drives Investment Decision-Making and Focus at Thrive, Why Every Large Institution Will Enter Venture Capital Over the Next Decade and How To Create a Firm Culture That Attracts The Best Young Talent (opens in a new window)
- Cedar Raises $36M for Modern Patient Financial Management Platform (opens in a new window)
- Thrive Capital's Kushner and Zaki on the VC Outlook (opens in a new window)
- Crete Professionals Alliance Reimagines Accounting for the 21st Century (opens in a new window)
- Kareem Zaki (HLTH 2024 speaker profile) (opens in a new window)
- Small Ideas Attract Competition (Invest Like the Best, EP.392) (opens in a new window)
- Thrive Holdings x ADT (opens in a new window)
- ADT to be Acquired by Thrive Holdings in $15.3 Billion Transaction (opens in a new window)