John Hartnett

John Hartnett is the Founder and CEO of SVG Ventures | THRIVE, an innovation and investment platform that works with Fortune 500 corporations and global technology startups to advance the future of food and agriculture. The firm describes itself as the leading agrifood investor and accelerator globally, with a portfolio of 235+ companies and more than 50 investments over the past decade. Hartnett brings roughly 25 years of leadership experience scaling companies from startup to multi-billion-dollar IPO across the technology, airline, and agrifood sectors.

Before founding SVG Ventures, Hartnett spent nine years at Palm, Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM) as Executive Vice President of Global Markets, where he helped grow the worldwide smartphone business to over $3.5 billion in revenue and led the integration of the 2003 Palm–Handspring merger. Earlier, he served as Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing & Operations at MetaCreations (NASDAQ: MCRE) — where he integrated the Metatools and Fractal acquisitions — and held senior management roles at Claris (an Apple subsidiary), AT&T/Teradata, and Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). He has served on public and private boards, including Ireland's national airline Aer Lingus (FTSE: AERL).

An active ecosystem builder and Irish-American, Hartnett founded the Irish Technology Leadership Group (ITLG) in 2007 to connect Silicon Valley with Ireland, and he created the Forbes AgTech Summit as a joint venture with Forbes media — one of the leading global agrifood gatherings. He has also served on the US Secretary of State's Northern Ireland Economic Working Committee (2009) and chaired the Technology Advisory Council appointed by Northern Ireland's First Minister and deputy First Minister, and he works with the USDA and US Secretary of Agriculture on agricultural innovation and policy initiatives.

Hartnett is a graduate of the Marketing Institute of Ireland, holds a post-graduate diploma in accounting and finance, and has completed executive management programs at both Stanford and Harvard universities.

• Invests across the agrifood tech value chain — precision agriculture, alternative proteins, indoor/vertical farming, supply chain and logistics, farm management, sustainability, and food safety — plus adjacent Climate, FinTech, Life Sciences and Nutrition sectors.
• Focuses on Seed to Series A+ startups, with the platform's accelerator (THRIVE) serving as a pipeline into direct investments and follow-on capital.
• Stated thesis in his own words: "Backing bold founders and AI-enabled, game-changing innovations that improve planetary and population health."
• On a specific deal: "Brilliant Harvest represents exactly the kind of bold innovation we seek out at SVG Ventures" — signaling a preference for technically differentiated, high-potential agtech ventures.
• Combines capital with a corporate-partnership and accelerator model, giving portfolio companies access to Fortune 500 corporates, growers (bridging Silicon Valley know-how with Salinas Valley application), and global government/policy networks.