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Atas VC Research Investment Thesis Atas VC is a Santa Monica, California-based early-stage venture capital firm founded by Andrew Chan, a scientist-turned-venture-capitalist who built his career at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory before spending six years in institutional venture capital at Riot Ventures, Builders VC, and Veridian Technologies. The firm's core thesis is "investing in the future of Traditional industries" — backing companies solving problems for mainstream Americans rather than focusing exclusively on the tech-centric Silicon Valley ecosystem. Atas VC articulates its mission through four investment pillars: Evolution of Energy — Storage systems, grid intelligence, and materials innovation that modernize America's energy infrastructure Future of Manufacturing — Software-driven industrial tooling, AI-native platforms, materials innovation, and robotic automation for industrial environments Agricultural Infrastructure — Climate-resilient food security through predictive AI, labor automation, and connected farm technology American Necessities — Historically overlooked core American industries that mainstream venture capital has neglected The firm is explicitly positioned against the "1% in Silicon Valley" and prioritizes technology solutions with real-world impact on the 99% of Americans dependent on traditional infrastructure industries. Their stated principles: invest in "Real technology," back "founders Solving real problems," build "For real people." Stage Focus Atas VC is an early-stage investor, focusing primarily on pre-seed and seed-stage companies. All known portfolio investments have been made at the pre-seed or early-seed stage, indicating the firm serves as a first or early institutional check. The firm's Reg D SEC filing for Atas VC Fund I, L.P. was filed April 18, 2025, indicating a fund in active early deployment. Check Size Check size is not publicly disclosed. Given the fund's early-stage focus, solo GP structure, and pre-seed entry points in its portfolio, check sizes are estimated to fall in the range of $100K–$750K per investment, typical for an emerging manager fund investing at pre-seed and early-seed. Lead Tendency Atas VC appears to participate as an early institutional investor, sometimes co-investing alongside other seed-stage funds. Joules AI lists Atas VC alongside Builders VC and Rocky Yard Ventures as backers, suggesting active co-investor positioning at the pre-seed stage. Given the solo GP structure and small fund size, Atas may take board or observer seats rather than serving as a formal lead in every round. Recent Activity Atas VC Fund I, L.P. registered its Reg D exemption in April 2025, indicating active fundraising and early portfolio deployment. The firm has made at least three known investments across its four thesis pillars: Joules AI — Backed pre-seed round for AI-powered grid-edge optimization Ursa Mining — Backed pre-seed round for autonomous mining equipment Airbase Intelligence — Backed early-stage round for wireless spectrum intelligence software All three investments align directly with Atas's stated thesis pillars (Energy, Manufacturing/Industrial, and American Necessities respectively). Portfolio Highlights Joules AI (joulesai.com) represents Atas's energy thesis: the company applies autonomous AI agents and reinforcement learning to distributed energy resources (DERs) at the grid edge — data centers, airports, and large campuses. Joules AI targets the $33 billion grid-edge market driven by FERC Order 2222 and IRA battery incentives, claiming 10–30% cost savings and 10–20% carbon emission reductions versus traditional time-of-use controllers. Co-investors include Builders VC and Rocky Yard Ventures. Ursa Mining (ursamining.com) addresses manufacturing and extraction automation: the company builds next-generation autonomous mining machines designed to tackle industry pain points including a 50% workforce shortage, 4–12 year mine development timelines, and $500M–$1B capital requirements for new mining operations. Ursa builds purpose-built autonomous systems with comprehensive material tracking and validated safety testing. Airbase Intelligence (airbase.us) targets wireless spectrum infrastructure — serving government, military, and commercial operators. The company provides software for spectrum licensing, coordination, and intelligence, addressing spectrum scarcity, underutilization, and RF asset vulnerability. This aligns with Atas's "American Necessities" pillar and reflects Andrew Chan's prior experience at Veridian Technologies in deep tech. Team Andrew Chan — Founder & Managing Partner A Caltech graduate (BS Geophysics & English Literature, graduated early), Andrew is a former NCAA Division I Fencing Foil Squad Captain and National Merit Scholar. He started his career as a scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Nanyang Technological University before transitioning to venture capital. His six years in institutional VC spanned: Riot Ventures (Investor) — Early-stage hard tech and deep tech Builders VC (Senior Associate) — Industrial and physical-world innovation fund Veridian Technologies (Principal) — Deep technology investment Prior investment track record includes: Zinite (3D transistor architecture), Collide (RAG models for oil & gas), GPTZero (AI detection), Auriga Space (hypersonic testing and launch), and Noteworthy AI (power utility infrastructure). Contact: [email protected] , LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/chandr3w. Note: The Atas VC website indicates 3 team members total, but only Andrew Chan's full profile is publicly accessible. Additional team members may have joined since launch. Decision Process Atas VC operates as a solo GP fund with Andrew Chan as the sole named decision-maker. The firm emphasizes accessibility, stating that "all human-generated inbound receives responses" — signaling a founder-friendly sourcing approach. Given the solo GP structure, decisions are likely rapid once conviction is established. The firm does not appear to require a warm introduction. Founder Preferences Atas VC backs founders building "real technology" solving "real problems" for "real people." The firm favors technical founders with domain expertise in traditionally non-VC-funded industries — engineers, scientists, and operators who understand industrial constraints firsthand. Andrew's background at NASA and across hard tech VCs suggests a strong affinity for science-driven founders tackling physical-world challenges. Geographic Focus Atas VC is headquartered in Santa Monica, California (2801 Ocean Park Blvd #2049, Santa Monica, CA 90405). The firm's thesis is US-centric by design, emphasizing "American" industries and solutions for mainstream Americans, though no explicit geographic investment restrictions are published.