Firat Ileri is a Cypriot-born, MIT-trained engineer turned venture capital investor at Hummingbird VC who deliberately seeks out weird founders and outsiders with non-linear backgrounds, having built a track record by backing people who were made fun of at school, obsessive gamers, or those with unconventional journeys rather than polished CVs. As a 24-year-old associate, he went far beyond typical VC behavior by personally introducing co-founders, investing his own savings, hiring employees, and pulling all-nighters with teams like Gram Games, which became a multi-fund returner after its sale to Zynga. Firat Ileri is a Cypriot-born, MIT-trained engineer turned venture capital investor at Hummingbird VC who deliberately seeks out weird founders and outsiders with non-linear backgrounds, having built a track record by backing people who were made fun of at school, obsessive gamers, or those with unconventional journeys rather than polished CVs. As a 24-year-old associate, he went far beyond typical VC behavior by personally introducing co-founders, investing his own savings, hiring employees, and pulling all-nighters with teams like Gram Games, which became a multi-fund returner after its sale to Zynga.