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Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Kabir Shahani described Amp It Up Ventures as a hands-on effort to build software companies alongside founders—not a conventional venture fund, incubator, or private-equity buyer. The GeekWire profile published December 19, 2024, traced that approach to lessons from his earlier companies, including Amperity. The headline’s “ex-Amperity CEO” framing reflects that 2024 moment; GeekWire reported on June 11, 2026, that Shahani and co-founder Derek Slager became Amperity co-CEOs.
What is Amp It Up Ventures?
In the 2024 interview, Shahani described Amp It Up Ventures as a close partnership with founders, built around applying specific playbooks and helping companies get funded. He resisted assigning it a neat category: “We don’t know what the hell we are. And we’re figuring that out.”
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He distinguished the work from three familiar models, in his own characterization:
- Incubator: He said Amp It Up was not designed to make a large number of bets.
- Venture-capital firm: He said it was not deploying a pooled fund.
- Private equity: He said it was not buying an existing business.
- Amp It Up’s approach: He described partnering closely with founders, using playbooks, and helping companies secure funding.
These are Shahani’s descriptions of the venture’s approach, not a legal classification of its structure.
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What startups has Shahani helped build?
The 2024 GeekWire profile named Adora and Avante as companies Shahani co-founded with other entrepreneurs. An episode listing for Shift AI described discussion of the companies and identified digital advertising and healthcare as broad areas. Those sources do not establish detailed product features or independently verify either company’s performance, so the names and broad sectors are the extent of what can be stated here.
Why did Shahani leave Amperity?
Shahani stepped down as Amperity CEO and board member in 2022. In the 2024 profile, he called the decision difficult and reflected that he could have taken more time before starting a second company. He also described the personal motivation behind his next chapter: “I want to create, and I want to create in a way that makes the most sense for where I am in my life and for my family,” he said.
What experience shaped his company-building approach?
Appature and Amperity
Shahani’s entrepreneurial history includes two companies he co-founded with Derek Slager. Appature, a health-marketing startup, sold to IMS Health in 2013, according to GeekWire. They co-founded Amperity in 2016. The company helps organizations connect fragmented customer information—such as email, purchase history, mobile-app use, website traffic, and physical-store visits—to improve targeted marketing.
GeekWire reported that Amperity reached a $1 billion valuation after raising $100 million in July 2021. That is a historical Amperity milestone, not a valuation, funding figure, or performance result for Amp It Up Ventures, Adora, or Avante.
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Customer-driven development
Shahani’s stated lesson from building companies is to start with real customer problems and work with customers to solve them, rather than develop a product in isolation. “Customer-driven development is everything,” he said in GeekWire’s edited-for-context highlights. He connected close customer relationships with product quality, speed, durable solutions, delivery, service, and community.
His view of AI
Shahani characterized AI as “Paradigm and enablement.” That is his perspective on the technology’s role, rather than an independently established forecast.
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What is known about Amp It Up Ventures’ results?
The cited coverage names ventures and describes Shahani’s approach, but does not provide a publisher-attributed statistic for Amp It Up Ventures’ portfolio outcomes, investment returns, or company performance. Amperity’s reported 2021 valuation should not be used as a proxy for results at the newer venture.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Shahani’s role at Amperity now
The 2024 profile described Shahani after his departure from Amperity’s CEO role. That is no longer a complete account of his position: GeekWire reported June 11, 2026, that Shahani and Slager became Amperity co-CEOs. The same report described Shahani as a co-founder of Adora.
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Sources
- GeekWire’s December 19, 2024 profile by Kurt Schlosser
- GeekWire’s June 11, 2026 report on Amperity’s co-CEOs
- Shift AI episode listing on Apple Podcasts
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