While AI peers chase billion-dollar megafunds, the Eventbrite founder’s venture firm has gone the other way. Kevin Hartz, the Eventbrite co-founder turned long-time seed investor, has closed a $450m fund at A*, his San Francisco venture firm, according to Bloomberg . The vehicle pointedly avoids the multi-billion-dollar AI megafund template that has dominated venture fundraising for the past 18 months. A*’s previous vehicle, Fund II, closed at $315m in June 2024 and was oversubscribed. Fund I closed at $300m in 2021. The new $450m mark represents a controlled step up, in keeping with what Hartz has previously described as a deliberately constrained portfolio of high-conviction bets rather than a sprawl of small cheques. The framing on this round is what Bloomberg, citing Hartz, calls a less-is-more strategy: a smaller fund relative to the AI-stage giants, a higher proportion deployed per company, and a discipline against following hot rounds at any price.…