Aaron Hirschhorn

Aaron Hirschhorn was a serial entrepreneur, angel investor, and venture capital professional based in Los Angeles and later Miami. He graduated from Swarthmore College with a degree in Neuroscience in 1999 and earned his MBA from UCLA's Anderson School of Management in 2005. He began his career in strategy consulting and venture capital, holding positions at Monitor Group (2005-2009), Upfront Ventures, and Monitor Ventures (2010-2011), where he served as a Principal. These experiences gave him deep exposure to early-stage technology companies and the startup ecosystem.

In March 2012, Hirschhorn co-founded DogVacay with his wife, Karine Nissim Hirschhorn. Often described as "Airbnb for dogs," DogVacay became a leading consumer marketplace for dog sitting and dog walking, raising approximately $47 million from marquee investors including Benchmark Capital and Andreessen Horowitz, with Bill Gurley serving on its board. The company merged with Rover (Rover.com) in April 2017 to create what became a billion-dollar pet services company. Hirschhorn held a seat on Rover's board following the merger.

After experiencing the transformative benefits of regenerative medicine through a stem cell treatment for a debilitating back injury, Hirschhorn founded Gallant in mid-2018, a company focused on stem cell banking and therapeutics for pets. He pitched Gallant on ABC's Shark Tank in November 2019 (Season 11, Episode 8), securing a $500,000 investment for 5% equity from Lori Greiner and Anne Wojcicki (co-founder and CEO of 23andMe). Tragically, Hirschhorn died on March 28, 2021, at age 42, in a boating accident near Miami Beach, Florida. Gallant continues to operate in his legacy, completing a $15 million Series A funding round in January 2024.

Hirschhorn invested as an angel investor primarily at the seed stage, drawing on over 20 years of experience operating, advising, and investing in technology companies. His investment thesis centered on marketplace and consumer technology businesses, with a particular passion for the pet-tech and biotech sectors. He gravitated toward companies with strong founder-market fit and disruptive potential in service-oriented and health-focused industries. As a Venture Partner at Bold Capital, he also had exposure to broader deep-tech and frontier investment opportunities. Hirschhorn was known for an honest, collaborative partnership style and for being actively involved with his portfolio companies, often serving on boards and providing hands-on operational guidance.