1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator AI Investor Forum: Ihar Mahaniok, Geek Ventures (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: I want to understand how you find companies. You talked about five unicorns that you invested in as an angel investor, two of which we’ve had here in our Entrepreneur Journey series — People.ai and PandaDoc. I know those companies well. How did they come to you, or how did you find them?

Ihar Mahaniok: A lot of it is a mix of utilizing my network, being curious, and reaching out directly. PandaDoc was actually an outbound opportunity for me. I was researching startups online and came across a pitch competition where they were winners. I looked at their deck and found it interesting. It was a very early-stage company — just three people — but they already had initial revenue and a few clients.

I reached out to them, and they were eager to talk. They were about to move to the U.S. and had less access to investors. It was a great match because they clearly knew what they were doing — very sharp in business and product development. They could benefit from me stepping in as an angel with my connections. I had fewer connections then than I do now, but still enough to help. I ended up investing in their very first round.

With People.ai, it was more about a strong network. Another founder I knew, from a company called Petcube, introduced me. We had a good relationship even though I hadn’t invested in his company. He emailed me, saying, “Take a look at this company. A friend of mine is building it — you should talk to them.”

I spoke with the CEO of People.ai when it was a two- or three-person company. They didn’t yet have revenue, but it was one of the most convincing conversations I’ve ever had. In 30 minutes, he completely impressed me with his background and ability to sell. I was confident he could hire well, sell effectively, and build a strong product. I invested in their first round, and shortly after, they were accepted into Y Combinator. After that, they raised from Andreessen Horowitz and continued growing rapidly.

Sramana Mitra: When you talk about investing in AI, can you elaborate on your investment thesis in that space?

Ihar Mahaniok: The main thesis is about disruption, efficiency, and optimization. We invest in AI across many legacy sectors. Take healthcare, for example — it’s existed for thousands of years, and people will always need it. In the U.S., healthcare spending is in the trillions, and much of it goes toward inefficient manual work. Some of that work, like surgery, can’t be replaced, but a large portion is administrative — paperwork, faxes, spreadsheets, and outdated systems.

AI can make these processes far more efficient. For instance, AI can help write emails, schedule events, and take meeting notes faster. The goal is to identify where specific jobs can be optimized and where time savings can occur. Companies that offer AI solutions to save significant time can charge less than what clients currently spend, while delivering equal or greater value.

We look at legacy industries that are still pre-digital or use outdated tools like Excel or fax machines and see how AI can optimize them. That’s our vertical AI thesis.

The second major thesis is horizontal AI — building tools that help other companies build and deploy AI internally. For example, we recently invested in a company providing cybersecurity for AI systems. They create frameworks that let clients run AI agents safely, with proper permissions and auditability, preventing data loss or unauthorized access.

The third focus area is AI in the physical world — robotics. Robotics has existed for decades, but AI now enables smarter, more autonomous behavior. It’s less about mimicking human movement and more about perception and decision-making. For example, can a robot distinguish between a cup and a plate, or tell if something is clean or dirty? These kinds of intelligent interactions are now possible with AI, and that’s where we see major opportunities.

This segment is part 2 in the series : 1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator AI Investor Forum: Ihar Mahaniok, Geek Ventures
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