Maryanna Saenko: We Invest in Technologies That Push Human Potential Forward

Maryanna Saenko is the co-founder of Future Ventures, which focuses on disruptive technology such as commercial space exploration, deep learning, quantum computing, robotics, AI, blockchain, sustainable transportation, synthetic biology and clean meat.

Maryanna is a headline speaker at this year’s TransTech Conference Nov. 13-14.  BOOK your ticket today!

What is Future Ventures?

The whole focus of our $200 million fund is to invest in early stage technology companies that actually push human potential forward. And we do so with the mentality of trying to focus on things that do good in the world, that hopefully don’t have terrible second order effects and that specifically don’t prey on human frailty. We invest in early stage seed, Series A, the occasional Series B, and across a huge spectrum of technologies, everything from new therapeutic modalities to nuclear fusion for cleaner energy, to advanced computational projects, to companies like Neuralink and neural implants. We want to use technology as a force that allows people to enter an abundance mindset and not think, “How can I get my piece at the cost of someone else’s?”  For example, we invested in SpaceX, a rather late stage company, because they are building the Starlink constellation, which will provide an affordable and easily accessible Internet to basically all the far corners of the Earth. And you can’t even begin to put a price tag on the potential of an actually connected global population.

What interests you in the space of human potential?

It feels like so many people in that space are looking for the equivalent of a diet pill. And the one thing that reality continues to prove to me is that there is no shortcut, you have put in the work. We’re investing in technologies that actually help people live healthier, more connected, more empathetic, more emotional lives but don’t endeavor to do so by saying, “Just take this pill and tomorrow you’ll be a healthy and kind person.” One of our portfolio companies, Cambrian Life Sciences, is researching biomarkers of aging, developing proactive therapeutics, treatments or lifestyle changes to expand the number of healthy years that we get to live. That approach resonates with me because it doesn’t say, “Take this pill and live longer.” 

What ideas do you see emerging in the mental and emotional wellbeing landscape?

I’ve been looking at technologies that use AI as a diagnostic tool, either in voice or video, for early signs of depression. Video is particularly hard because everybody has slightly different facial effects and we don’t have a ton of data. But I think the whole space of affective computing, or trying to read emotional content, is fascinating and really important going forward, especially as our kids spend more time staring at screens. I am also interested in using technology to monitor things like social media posts. One pitch I’ve heard was about analyzing keystrokes as people post on social media to suggest whether or not they are likely to be sliding down the depression curve, which is pretty fascinating. I think this is really important, particularly for our geriatric communities.

What other trends are you expecting to see in the next few years?

I think we are about to witness the next revolution of food.  If we actually want to create a sustainable methodology for feeding an increasingly large global population with food sources that are healthy, non-toxic and not derogatory to your natural gut biome system, we need to bring science back into food. I’m not against the organic food movement, I just believe that we shouldn’t be slaughtering tons of animals to feed people good protein. I think we will all be eating some form of mushroom-derived protein in the next five to 10 years. And those will have fascinating flavors and nutritional profiles that are close to or better than meat. I actually see a large trend in cellular agriculture, in meat from stem cells, in mushroom-based proteins. This year those things have gone from interesting and slightly back-burner to front perspective, not just for consumers, but also for investors.