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Defined VC

Location on request · Invests in US; North America; Global · Website

Check size

$500K-$5M

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SeedSeries AB2B SaaSAI & Machine LearningDeveloper ToolsHealthcare & BiotechRoboticsHardware & DevicesDeveloper Tools & InfrastructureRobotics & AutomationBiotech & Life SciencesEnterprise Software

Thesis

Data equals human potential. Humans and machines converging will unlock profound innovations across every industry. We support founders solving technical and impactful problems to build a tomorrow where humans thrive through AI and frontier technology.

Likely not a fit for

No consumer-only plays, incremental innovations, or non-technical founding teams. Avoiding businesses not addressing frontier problems.

How they invest

Lead or follow
Usually leads
Warm intro
Not required
Involvement
Takes a board seat
Fund status
Actively deploying
Decision process
Partnership vote

Partners & team

2 contacts on file

MT

Mark Trevitt

Partner · Primary contact

DR

David Roberts

Partner

Portfolio

ZyphraDeveloper Tools Infra

Zyphra is an open source/open science superintelligence company based in San Francisco, California, dedicated to building human-aligned AI that empowers individuals and organizations. Their core research focuses on next-generation architectures for long-context reasoning and multimodal world models, culminating in the development of Maia, a multimodal general agent that integrates knowledge discovery, communication, and work into a single platform.

FoundationConsumer Apps Social

Foundation is a pioneering company focused on developing advanced humanoid robots designed to automate critical functions in manufacturing, logistics, and defense. Their mission is to create technologies that enable self-sustaining life on Earth and beyond, with ambitious plans for human expansion to other planets.

MythicRobotics Automation

Mythic is a pioneering AI processor company specializing in analog compute-in-memory technology, which delivers significant improvements in energy efficiency and performance for edge AI applications. Their Analog Matrix Processors enable high-performance computing for various sectors, including automotive, robotics, and defense, while drastically reducing power consumption and costs.

QuandriEnterprise Software

Quandri is an innovative platform that leverages AI to automate repetitive tasks in the insurance sector, specifically focusing on renewal intelligence for personal lines. Founded by brothers Jackson and Jamieson Fregeau in 2021, the company aims to enhance agent productivity and improve retention rates for insurance agencies by unlocking insights from renewal policy data.

Arcanna AISecurity Cyber

Arcanna AI is an AI-driven decision intelligence platform designed to enhance cybersecurity operations by automating routine tasks and improving decision-making processes. By integrating with various security tools, Arcanna AI aims to reduce alert fatigue and optimize Security Operations Center (SOC) efficiency through advanced AI technologies.

KosliBiotech Life Sciences

Kosli is a dedicated software delivery governance platform that automates change tracking, approvals, and audit readiness, enabling organizations to accelerate their software delivery while maintaining compliance. With features like AI-powered insights for compliance and security, Kosli helps teams manage software changes from CI pipelines to runtime environments effectively.

VayuhInsurance

Vayuh is an innovative company that combines atmospheric physics with modern AI to provide insurance-ready risk intelligence focused on extreme weather events. Their hybrid models deliver operational forecasts and risk alerts, enabling insurers to make informed decisions about catastrophic risks such as severe storms and hurricanes.

DatalogzDeveloper Tools Infra

Datalogz is a Business Intelligence Ops platform designed to address the challenges of BI and analytics sprawl. By integrating with leading BI tools, it helps organizations optimize their reporting processes, reduce costs, and enhance data governance, ultimately improving decision-making and data reliability.

Potato AIBiotech Life Sciences

Potato AI is a scientific co-pilot that empowers life science researchers to design, execute, and interpret experiments with the assistance of an AI co-scientist named Tater. By leveraging advanced AI technologies, Potato aims to accelerate scientific execution and foster collaboration among scientists, enabling them to explore hundreds of research directions in parallel.

VelouEcommerce Marketplaces

Velou is a product data infrastructure company that transforms static catalogs into agent-ready product data, enhancing ads, search, and personalization for autonomous shopping agents. Their solutions are particularly tailored for luxury retailers, enabling them to deliver specialized online experiences that reflect the bespoke nature of in-person shopping.

NexeraRobotics Automation

Nexera Robotics has developed NeuraGrasp, a proprietary technology that combines soft grasping and AI to revolutionize robotic capabilities in diverse applications. Their unique platform integrates advanced software and hardware, enabling robots to grasp a wide variety of objects with precision and care, addressing a long-standing challenge in robotics.

TemboEnterprise Software

Tembo is a platform that allows users to delegate work to various coding agents, such as Claude Code, Cursor, and Codex. It automates tasks like feature shipping and code reviews, integrating seamlessly with tools like Slack and Linear to enhance productivity.

Recent activity

Defined VC in the news

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Valkyrie Ventures
Research briefRead more
Defined VC Research Investment Thesis Defined VC is a thesis-driven, product-first venture capital firm specializing in artificial intelligence and frontier technology investments. Founded with the mission to "shape the AI Frontier," the firm believes that data equals human potential and that the convergence of humans and machines will unlock profound innovations across every industry. The firm has been investing in AI and frontier technology since 2015 and positions itself as a first believer in founders building at the frontier of AI's possibilities. Investment Philosophy Defined operates with a "thesis-first" approach, meaning they have deeply researched views on emerging technologies and problem spaces. They are product-first in their analysis, focusing on companies solving technical and impactful problems that will fundamentally reshape industries. The firm takes a full-stack approach, investing across the compute layer to application layer. Stage Focus Defined invests as early as possible, with a demonstrated track record of early-stage investments. Based on their portfolio companies and public disclosures, they focus on: Seed and Series A investments Occasional pre-seed for exceptional technical founders Strategic follow-on investments in portfolio companies Sector Focus Defined's investment thesis organizes around several core themes: Agent Economy - Multimodal agent systems, agentic AI for various domains (insurance, commerce, cybersecurity, legal discovery) Scalable Infrastructure - DevOps compliance, data management, AI infrastructure for finance Next-gen Compute - Power-efficient AI processors, advanced computing hardware Engineered Science - AI for drug discovery (foundation models for small molecule), extreme weather modeling, autonomous AI scientists Physical AI - Robotics + AI, autonomous vehicles, physics-based models for labor automation Geographic Focus No explicit geographic restriction. Portfolio includes companies from North America (US, Canada) and international locations. The firm appears to be open to investing globally. Check Size & Investment Range Based on portfolio company data and operational structure: Estimated check size: $500K - $5M for seed investments Follow-on reserves for existing portfolio companies Team & Decision Process Founding Partner: Mark Trevitt - Former engineer, operator, and product leader (ex-analytics startup acquired by S&P). Kauffman Fellow with two-time CVCA Deal of the Year wins. Has backed companies worth over $20B in enterprise value since 2014. Key Partners: Sean Brownlee (Venture Partner) - 25+ years operational and venture experience, board member, CFA. Built multiple globally successful businesses (IPOs and acquisitions) David Roberts (Venture Partner) - President of Y Tara Capital, active investor in technology ventures, $3B+ AUM from prior fund management Johnny Dewan (Vice President) - $1B+ financing and transaction experience as technology banker supporting high-growth companies Gautam Chintapenta (Investor) - Product marketing background in biotech, climate-tech, and cloud infrastructure The firm operates with Mark Trevitt as the lead decision-maker with strong support from venture partners and operational team members. Recent Activity Based on portfolio research and company websites, recent notable investments include: Zyphra (Multimodal agent systems for enterprise) - 2025-2026 Foundation.bot (Physics action models for labor shortage) - 2025-2026 Mythic AI (Power-efficient AI processors) - Active Quandri (AI agents for insurance intelligence) - 2025-2026 Variational AI (Foundation models for drug discovery) - Recent Arcanna AI (Cybersecurity with human + AI partnership) - Recent Portfolio Highlights Notable Exits: D-Wave Systems (Quantum computing, NYSE: QBTS) - IPO Bit Stew (ML data ingestion for industrial IoT, acquired by GE for $153M) Dark Vision Technologies (Industrial acoustic imaging, acquired by GE) Energy company (Smart grid/home energy management, acquired by Generac) Infineon acquisition (Data center power density startup) Active Portfolio: 25+ portfolio companies across AI infrastructure, agentic AI, robotics, biotech applications, climate tech, and emerging compute platforms. Founder Preferences Defined seeks founders who are: Building at the frontier of AI and emerging technologies Solving technical and impactful problems with radically new approaches Willing to "re-architect" how problems are solved Often technical founders, engineers, or academics Entrepreneurs with proven ability to innovate and execute Decision Timeline & Involvement Full-stack approach with active operational support Board seat typical for lead investments Cultivation of network and expertise sharing Connection-making across the "Defined Frontier Network" Fund Status Firm is actively deploying capital with consistent recent investments across multiple thesis areas. The portfolio activity and depth suggests an established fund in active deployment mode. Anti-Thesis Based on portfolio composition, Defined avoids: Consumer-focused applications (non-technical) Non-AI/non-frontier technology businesses Incremental innovations vs. step-change innovations Companies not solving systemic problems

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