Abby Meyers
Partner
Bain Capital Ventures
Growth-stage software and AI apps investor at Bain Capital Ventures.
Bio
Professional summary
Aaref Hilaly is a Partner at Bain Capital Ventures in the Bay Area. His investment focus centers on small teams building AI-native software and applications. His official profile describes his founder background, including co-founding CenterRun and Clearwell, and says he later spent seven years as a partner at Sequoia before joining BCV in 2020. He emphasizes close post-investment work with founders, including recruiting, organization design, strategy, and helping companies think ahead. His profile frames generative AI as a major platform shift and highlights interest in new AI-native applications as models, interfaces, and user behaviors evolve.
Investment focus
Stage, sector, and overall fit
Stage
Early-stageSeed
Sector
AI InfrastructureAI AppsGenerative AISoftwareCustomer support AIDeveloper toolsHealthcare AILegal AI
Thesis
AI applicationsAI infrastructureSmall teams using AI to solve previously unaddressed software problemsGenerative AI-native software categories
Notable companies
Selected portfolio companies the partner has backed
CenterRunClearwellDecagon
How to approach
Framing and angles for outreach
Pitch framing
Lead with a crisp AI-native software wedge, founder insight, and why the team can out-execute in product design and go-to-market.
Personalization hooks
- 1Reference his founder-to-investor path and empathy for the loneliness and difficulty of the CEO role.
- 2Position the company as a small, high-conviction team applying AI to a problem software could not previously solve well.
- 3Highlight a clear narrative, as his profile says BCV is drawn to companies with a compelling story.
Recent signals
What the partner has said or done recently
Official profile emphasizes generative AI as a once-in-a-generation opportunity and discusses AI-native application categories.
Profile describes active involvement with Decagon, including recruiting, org design, and strategy.
Background
Career, education, and skills
Career history
- Bain Capital VenturesPartner2020 – Present
- Sequoia CapitalPartner2013 – 2020
- Clearwell SystemsCEO & Co-founder2004 – 2011
- CenterRunCEO & Co-founder2001 – 2004
Skills
AI/ML investingEarly-stage company buildingRecruitingOrg designStrategy
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