Sipping cold drinks in the Florida heat, this TechCrunch reporter observed from the paddock as founders and investors mingled, seeking deals. Conversations barely paused, with occasional glances at the track where drivers pursued the chequered flag.
The F1 weekend is a three-day event, with the race as the finale. Between these are kickoffs, soirées, cocktail parties, dinners, and nightclub takeovers — where business and pleasure blur. Historically, events like this have been where business deals are made, but the F1 paddock’s popularity has surged among the startup and venture crowd in recent years.
“It’s a hot place for everyone with access trying to strike a deal,” one founder remarked, recalling being introduced to the paddock by a venture firm two years ago.
This year, founder Chandler Malone noted he only attended side events, missing the actual race. Venture firms were hosting numerous events, more than usual.
“You name the fund, and someone was there hosting clients,” investor Marell Evans remarked to TechCrunch. “Lots of folks skipped Milken for F1 Miami.”
F1 teams, once sponsored by oil, tobacco, banks, and alcohol companies, now partner with new tech giants. This season’s F1 liveries, plastered with AI, cloud computing, and enterprise company logos, signal where the money is.
Over the past five years, Oracle became Red Bull Racing’s title sponsor, Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 partnered with Microsoft, CoreWeave teamed with Aston Martin Aramco, Anthropic collaborated with Williams Racing, Palantir and IBM linked with Ferrari, AWS provided data analytics to F1, and ElevenLabs and Revolut partnered with Audi.
VC and PE firms also own stakes in F1 teams, like Dorilton Capital’s acquisition of Williams Racing in 2020 and a 200 million euro investment in Alpine by Otro Capital, RedBird Capital Partners, and Maximum Effort Investments.
Hannan Happi, founder of climate startup Exowatt, credits the Netflix F1 show “Drive to Survive” as a catalyst for growing interest. But the tech industry’s involvement is recent, “really the last three or four years,” with large tech companies entering the sport, including crypto and AI brands. “Where the sponsors go, the executives follow,” he stated.
TechCrunch encountered Lightspeed Ventures CMO Josh Machiz, explaining that founders and execs from numerous startups were in the paddock to strike enterprise deals. Though they met Machiz in the IBM Paddock, Lightspeed has a program with Aston Martin to introduce its founders to enterprise clients. In this setup, CIOs and CISOs converse with CEOs in intimate spaces, as Aston Martin seeks the latest tech and the founders behind it.
Technology has always been central to F1, driving advancements in consumer tech and car safety. As teams look ahead, startups like Anthropic might become future sponsors.
Machiz calls Lightspeed the first firm to formalize this partnership style, bringing 10 portfolio companies. It produced results: a blockchain company struck a deal, and an AI infrastructure startup closed two deals; two from Aston introductions, the third by chance.
“The Aston Martin tech team opened doors to our founders,” Machiz continued.
Machiz, previously at Redpoint, joined Lightspeed recently. One of his initial objectives was to challenge “traditional founder retreat” notions, where startups and investors gather in remote spots, often bored.
“The consistent ask from founders was, ‘help me meet more buyers,’” Machiz reflected, recalling past retreats. “Another weekend in Sonoma wasn’t addressing that, and while [it was] nice to network and meet tech luminaries or VIP speakers, they’d have rather been building or meeting customers.”
Instead, Lightspeed led its portfolio to F1. It represents “one of the densest concentrations of enterprise buyers anywhere.”
“The opportunity was obvious,” Machiz stated. “We wanted to create a framework, not just show up.”
Farooq Malik, founder of Lightspeed company Rain, said he closed a deal, connected with another prospective client, and met another founder with an interesting product for Rain’s ERP. “This model allowed more interactive and organic interactions,” Malik noted.
Investors are also involved. Evans shared that backers want real-world experiences, and with F1 being the fastest-growing company, it’s an appealing choice.
Evans noted that top earners enjoy seeing their business world intersect with the tech used by car teams. “We’ve observed various brands using AI for drivers and enhancing car technology,” he said.
Investor Immpana Srri attended Miami to seek deals, noting the past five years have made it a gathering spot for tech people.
“Sponsors followed, investors followed, and founders followed. Now it’s just where people are,” Srri commented.
The race is actually quick, she mentioned, and it’s the pre-race and post-race events that matter during the weekend. Srri flew solo