AV’s Deep Tech Portfolio Investments Alongside Other Well-Known VCs
Our investing teams work with established VCs to access promising deep tech opportunities
A key tenet of Alumni Ventures’ investment strategy is working alongside other established VC partners. We’ve co-invested with VCs specializing in a wide variety of sectors, stages, and regions.
We follow other lead investors into rounds strictly as a co-investor. We don’t negotiate terms or take Board seats, allowing us to focus on identifying promising opportunities. This strategy also helps us build diverse portfolios while investing alongside VCs with deep experience in a given domain.
Alumni Ventures and other established VCs have deployed significant capital into the deep tech space. According to PitchBook, in the AI and machine learning areas alone, “mega-exits in the sector have tripled from eight to 26 year-over-year through the third quarter of 2021, with deal value quintupling to $153.3 billion.” By 2025, deep tech investments are projected to triple, surpassing $200 billion.
We’ve assembled the following list of notable co-investors from our Deep Tech investments to demonstrate the types of firms we will aim to work with when sourcing opportunities for our Deep Tech Fund.¹ This includes Andreessen Horowitz and Tiger Global, who both have multiple partners on this year’s Midas List.
Deep Tech Fund 3 Closing Soon
Alumni Ventures’ Deep Tech Fund offers a portfolio of ~20-30 diverse companies tackling the toughest and potentially most lucrative tech challenges. Recent events have underscored the critical importance of science and rational thought for the well-being of society and the planet. To learn more, click below to review fund materials or book a call with a Senior Partner.
Nothing Ventured: Lead Investors vs. Co-Investors
In the second episode of our series “Nothing Ventured,” Alumni Ventures Chief Community Officer Luke Antal explains the differences between lead investors and co-investors when it comes to their respective roles in venture capital deals.
See video policy below.
Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) is a stage-agnostic venture capital investor with $35 billion in assets under management (AUM) across multiple funds. The firm focuses on forward-thinking tech companies across a wide variety of industries. a16z’s notable tech exits include Airbnb ($100 billion peak valuation), Facebook ($104 billion peak valuation), GitHub (acquired by Microsoft for $7.5 billion in stock), and Okta ($1.5 billion peak valuation). AV has invested alongside Andreessen Horowitz 28 times to date.
Among our deep tech co-investments with a16z:
Rigetti is a full-stack quantum computing company. It is focused on designing and manufacturing superconducting quantum integrated circuits, developing software for quantum computing, and integrating their systems into a cloud infrastructure. AV co-invested with a16z in two of Rigetti’s financing rounds: a $50 million Series B in 2017 led by Vy Capital and a $79 million Series C in 2020 led by Bessemer Venture Partners. Rigetti IPO’d in early 2022 at a $1.5 billion valuation.1
SkySafe’s security system protects airspace from drone attacks or surveillance. Using advanced radio tech, reverse engineering, and deep threat analysis, SkySafe detects and controls malicious and reckless drones and provides tools to safely operate authorized drones. AV invested in the company’s $30 million Series B in 2021 led by Kingfisher Investment Advisors alongside a16z.
C5 Capital focuses on investing in cybersecurity and closely aligned sectors such as data analytics, cloud-computing infrastructure, and spacetech. C5’s strength as an investor comes from its understanding of technologies that compose the secure data ecosystem, including cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, and applied data analytics. AV has deployed capital alongside C5 Capital three times to date.
Among our deep tech co-investments with C5 Capital:
Axiom Space is making life and work in space a reality, catalyzing innovations for life on Earth, and enabling the exploration of deep space. They provide crew missions to the International Space Station while building the commercial space station of tomorrow. AV invested alongside C5 in Axiom’s $130 million Series B in 2021.
x-energy develops commercial nuclear reactors, giving users access to zero-emission energy that is safe, reliable, secure, and affordable. Their high-temperature, gas-cooled nuclear reactors are smaller, simpler, and meltdown-proof when compared to conventional nuclear designs. AV first invested in the company’s $110 million Series B led by C5 Capital in 2021.
Gaingels is a leading LGBTQIA+/Allies investment syndicate — and one of the largest and most active private investors in North America dedicated to supporting diversity in leadership at all levels within the VC ecosystem. Its portfolio companies span numerous critical deep tech domains including AI, Big Data, biotechnology, internet infrastructure, and others. Gaingel’s notable exits include the bioprinting startup Volumetric (acquired by 3D Systems in a $400 million deal) and psychedelics startup ATAI (IPO’d in 2021 at $3.19 billion). AV has co-invested with Gaingels in 47 ventures to date.
Among our deep tech co-investments with Gaingels:
Radian Aerospace is developing space systems to carry passengers to low Earth orbit and back. Their products and capabilities give commercial and government customers easy access to orbital space planes. AV invested alongside Gaingels in Radian’s $27.5 million Seed round led by Fine Structure Ventures in 2022.
Red Dot Capital Partners is a venture capital fund focused on expansion and growth-stage tech companies. Red Dot invests in Israeli-related high-tech companies with market-tested technologies and a robust customer base. The firm sources investment candidates demonstrating strong revenue growth and interest in scaling their operations internationally — particularly in Asia.
Among our deep tech co-investments with Red Dot:
Quantum Machines (QM) has developed hardware and software platforms that increase the productivity of quantum computers. QM’s products streamline control and communication with quantum computers — intuitively simplifying complex algorithms while optimizing performance. AV invested in Quantum Machine’s $50 million Series B led by Red Dot Capital Partners in 2021.
Taiwania Capital Management Corporation is a venture capital firm founded in Taiwan in 2017. They are Taiwan’s national investment arm and are backed by resources and support from Taiwan’s government. The firm’s goal is to boost Taiwan’s economic growth by partnering with cutting-edge startups in sectors including information and communication technology, biotech, material, energy, and agriculture. AV has co-invested with Taiwania Capital in three opportunities.
Among our deep tech co-investments with Taiwania:
Appaegis has developed a secure, agentless, zero-trust solution that connects authorized users and devices to enterprise applications. Their cloud-native solution fits into any organization’s existing framework and integrates with existing workflows and security infrastructure to block cyberattacks. AV participated in the startup’s $7.7 million Seed round led by Taiwania Capital in 2021.
Tiger Global is an investment firm focused on public and private companies in the global Internet, software, consumer, and financial technology industries. Since 2003, their private equity business has invested in hundreds of companies across more than 30 countries, with investments ranging from Series A to pre-IPO. To date, AV has participated in 17 deals with Tiger Global spanning the industries of quantum computing, cybersecurity, climate teach, and blockchain.
Among our deep tech co-investments with Tiger Global:
Groq is an AI semiconductor designer and manufacturer increasing developer velocity within machine learning. Groq’s compiler-led design approach enables its customers to easily and quickly deploy scalable, high-performance-per-watt systems. AV deployed capital in Groq’s $300 Series C round co-led by Tiger Global and D1 Capital.
Lacework provides cloud security with automation and scale so that security and DevOps teams can safely keep data and applications in the cloud. In 2021, AV invested in Lacework’s $1.3 billion Series D, bringing the company to an $8.3 billion valuation — the largest financing round in security history. The round was led by existing investors Sutter Hill Ventures, Altimeter Capital, D1 Capital Partners, and Tiger Global Management. AV previously invested in Lacework’s $24 million Series B in 2018 and a $525 million growth round earlier in 2021.1
Y Combinator is a technology startup accelerator founded in 2005. The accelerator has launched over 3,000 companies, with notable alumni including Stripe, Airbnb, DoorDash, Coinbase, Instacart, Dropbox, Twitch, and Reddit. Y Combinator has been described by publications such as Forbes as one of the most successful startup accelerators in Silicon Valley, with the combined valuation of top YC companies $300 billion+ (2021). AV has deployed capital alongside Y Combinator across 42 investments.
Among our deep tech co-investments with Y Combinator:
Zendar has developed a high-resolution radar sensor that will help automakers create safer conventional cars, SUVs, and trucks, while also ensuring autonomous vehicles safely navigate roads and highways. AV deployed capital in Zendar’s $12 million Series B led by Khosla Ventures alongside Y Combinator.
Deep Tech Fund 3 Closing Soon
Alumni Ventures’ Deep Tech Fund offers a portfolio of ~20-30 diverse companies tackling the toughest and potentially most lucrative tech challenges. Recent events have underscored the critical importance of science and rational thought for the well-being of society and the planet. To learn more, click below to review fund materials or book a call with a Senior Partner.
1For illustration purposes only. These investments are not intended to suggest any level of investment returns; not necessarily indicative of investments invested by any one fund or investor. Many returns in investments result in the loss of capital invested. These investments are not available to future fund investors except potentially in certain follow-on investment options. To see the performance of each exited investment for all Alumni Ventures funds over the last twelve months and our historical performance since 2014, click here.