What business did JD Vance start?

Republican vice president nominee JD Vance worked at a number of capital businesses between 2016 and 2022 and even started one of his own.

Vance has soared into the public spotlight since being selected as vice president if Donald Trump gains power in the upcoming US election in November.

It has been a bit of a rollercoaster for Vance so far - he's been mocked with couch memes, which Associated Press (AP) had to officially fact-check because of its surge in popularity, and Kamala Harris' campaign has got in on the action too.

Comments he made in 2021 have also recently resurfaced, in which he called Democrats a "bunch of childless cat ladies with miserable lives." He also tweeted: "The cat ladies, man. They must be stopped."

Chelsea Handler has since hit out at Vance's comments.

But before he became a politician in 2022, Vance worked in business.

JD Vance worked in venture capital between 2016 and 2022 before becoming a politician / Alex Wong, Getty Images

His career in venture capital started in 2016 when he worked for global investment firm Mithril, a company founded by billionaire investor and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel.

While he worked at Mithril, he released a memoir called Hillbilly Elegy which proved to be popular among people wanting to understand more about Trumpism.

Vance was only at Mithril for a short while but formed a lasting connection with Thiel. The two first met in 2011 and Vance credited Thiel, with him wanting to move into entrepreneurship.

In Spring 2017, Vance left Mithril to join Revolution, an investment firm started by Steve Case, a co-founder of AOL.

During his time here, Vance also invested in AppHarvest, a food production startup developing indoor farms in Appalachia, and was on the company's board until his Senate run.

He then co-founded his own venture firm with Colin Greenspan called Narya which is based in Ohio.

Narya describes itself as "an early-stage venture capital firm focused on using technology and science to solve for the future" and that it "addresses America's most acute problems".

Vance reportedly helped the company raise its first fund which totalled $120 million; it got significant backing from Thiel too.

The PayPal cofounder introduced Vance and Trump in 2021 and Thiel also gave Vance $15 million for his 2022 campaign in Ohio.

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