Ashton Kutcher leaving Sound Ventures to launch new VC firm with Morgan Beller

Ashton Kutcher is stepping down from Sound Ventures, the venture capital firm he co-founded 11 years ago, to launch a new early-stage venture fund alongside former NFX general partner Morgan Beller. The move, first reported by the Wall Street Journal and confirmed by TechCrunch on Wednesday, marks a significant transition for one of celebrity tech investing's most prominent figures.

While the new firm's name remains undisclosed, the partnership pairs Kutcher's high-profile brand with Beller's deep venture and cryptocurrency background. The transition comes at a time of massive capital reallocation in the technology sector, particularly as venture funds pivot their investment strategies to capture emerging layers of the artificial intelligence stack.

Transition from Sound Ventures

Kutcher co-founded Sound Ventures in 2015 alongside talent manager Guy Oseary. Over more than a decade, the firm established itself as a major player in both consumer technology and enterprise software.

According to TechCrunch's report on the split, Kutcher's exit does not indicate internal distress or underperformance at Sound Ventures.

Instead, venture partners typically depart stable firms to pursue distinct investment theses or structural autonomy. Sound Ventures will continue operations under its remaining leadership.

The firm has built a reputation for managing substantial capital pools and maintaining a highly visible presence in Silicon Valley.

Partnering with Morgan Beller

To build the new fund, Kutcher is teaming up with Morgan Beller, an experienced venture capitalist with a notable track record in both traditional tech and decentralized finance.

Beller recently served as a general partner at the seed-stage venture firm NFX.

Prior to her time at NFX, Beller spent nearly three years as a partner at Andreessen Horowitz. She is also widely recognized for her role at Meta, where she co-led the development of the Libra cryptocurrency project.

Her background in early-stage seed investing and complex technical projects complements Kutcher's experience in scaling consumer-facing brands.

Shift in investment focus

The split highlights a strategic divergence in how the co-founders view the future of technology investments.

Sound Ventures built a reputation on concentrated, high-conviction bets in category-defining artificial intelligence labs. The firm was an early backer of major AI developers, including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Fei-Fei Li's World Labs.

In contrast, TechCrunch's confirmation of the plans indicates that Kutcher's new fund with Beller appears designed to target early-stage startups.

Rather than funding the highly capitalized foundation model developers, the new entity is expected to focus on the application and infrastructure layers built underneath those primary AI models.

Portfolio legacy and next steps

Beyond its high-profile AI investments, Sound Ventures managed a diverse portfolio that included major fintech and enterprise startups.

The firm's early bets included successful companies such as corporate card provider Brex and payroll platform Gusto.

As Kutcher transitions to the new fund, the division of existing portfolio responsibilities between Kutcher and Oseary remains unclear.

According to TechCrunch's analysis of the transition, neither Kutcher nor Beller has publicly commented on the fund's target size, initial closing date, or official branding.

The venture industry will be watching how the new firm positions itself against established seed-stage investors in the coming months.