FoundersX Ventures

FoundersX Ventures Research Firm Overview FoundersX Ventures is a Silicon Valley-based, AI-first venture capital firm founded in 2016 by Managing Partner Helen Liang, PhD. The firm is headquartered in Menlo Park, CA, with East Coast offices in Harvard Square (Cambridge, MA) and New York City. Since inception, FoundersX has made 100+ early-stage investments, producing 9 unicorns, 10 acquisitions, and 30+ companies valued at $100M+. The firm describes itself as "AI-First venture capital firm since Day 1 in 2016." Investment Thesis FoundersX specializes in AI transformation and the development of digital infrastructure across multiple industries. Their thesis centers on three pillars: (1) GenAI Infrastructure — foundational compute, AI chips, quantum computing, and autonomous robotics that lower the cost of AI compute and remove scalability bottlenecks; (2) Deep Domains — AI-driven intelligence transforming fintech, healthcare, and enterprise software using cross-modality data; and (3) GenAI Agents — autonomous AI systems that reason, plan, and execute tasks in real-world consumer, enterprise, healthcare, finance, entertainment, and commerce applications. Their competitive advantage is positioned as deep research capability in AI infrastructure plus a strong Stanford-rooted network of global founders and top-tier Silicon Valley co-investors. They explicitly frame their approach around "winning the power law" through (a) deep-dive research, (b) contrarian conviction, and (c) being a high-value-add partner with top-talent access, long-term capital, and a strategic enterprise network. Stage Focus FoundersX leads seed-stage deals and co-leads Series A rounds. They are primarily an early-stage firm, though they maintain exposure to growth-stage deals via portfolio follow-ons (e.g., SpaceX from 2020, World Labs' $1B round, Turion Space's $75M+ Series B in April 2026). Check Size Based on reported round sizes and Tracxn data citing an average seed round size of approximately $6M, typical check size appears to range from $500K to $3M at seed, with larger commitments for co-led Series A deals. Exact check size is not publicly disclosed and should be confirmed with the firm directly. Lead Tendency Leads at seed; co-leads at Series A. The firm positions itself as a lead investor in early rounds, per its own public materials. Recent Activity (2025–2026) FoundersX had a transformative 2025, with portfolio companies raising over $360M in up-rounds, driven by the acceleration of agentic AI. Notable 2025–2026 activity includes: World Labs — Raised $1B (Feb 2026) to advance spatial intelligence; recognized on Forbes 2026 AI 50. Turion Space — Closed $75M+ Series B (Apr 2026) to build data infrastructure for the space economy. SpaceX — April 2026 news of IPO filing and xAI merger signals; FoundersX has held SpaceX exposure since 2020. Kapital — Raised $100M Series C at a $1.3B valuation (unicorn); LatAm SMB fintech; earned WEF Technology Pioneer status in 2024 and 2025; featured on CNBC's 2024 Disruptor 50. Jeeves — Global corporate card / cross-border payments platform; $2.1B valuation at Series C; secured $100M credit line and launched stablecoin solutions in 2025. Kontigo — Stablecoin neobank for LatAm diaspora; raised $20M seed (2025), hit $30M ARR and 1M+ users within a year. Alinea Invest — Gen Z investing platform; raised $10M+ Series A; 1.6M registered users. Bitstack — France-based Bitcoin-native neobank; $15M+ Series A. Omniscope — Launched osLongevity (aging decoding). Fund status: actively deploying ; portfolio activity indicates healthy momentum and continued new-investment capacity heading into 2026. Portfolio Highlights Tech Infrastructure: SpaceX, Universal Quantum, Turion Space, FS2, Deepsim, Charge Robotics. Deep Domains: Jeeves, Salt Security, Kapital, Cognito TX, Glyphic Bio, Kernal Bio. GenAI Agents: 1910 Genetics, Lunajoy, Omniscope, Arintra, Solve Intelligence, Jericho Security. Other named portfolio: World Labs, Kontigo, Alinea Invest, Bitstack, Trustible, IO Media. Unicorns include SpaceX, Kapital, Jeeves, Salt Security, World Labs, and others. Salt Security is a well-known cybersecurity leader in API security. Team Helen Liang, PhD — Founder & Managing Partner. Stanford-rooted. Featured on WSJ Venture Capital Pro and Business Insider, invited speaker at TechCrunch, guest lecturer at Stanford, and a Nvidia VC alliance participant. Board director across multiple portfolio companies. Leo Cui, PhD, CFA — General Partner. AI/ML and infrastructure focus. Sizi Chen — General Partner. Tom Kosnik — Venture Partner (Stanford affiliation). Andi White — Investment team; active at TechWeek SF. FoundersX also runs a Venture Fellowship program extending the team with venture fellows who have deep domain expertise in machine learning, AI chips, quantum computing, and neuroscience. Decision Process Partnership model with a core investment team; runs an AGM (Annual General Meeting) for LPs and a Fellowship program for domain-expert network extension. Founder Preferences FoundersX targets "top 1% founders" — daring, technically strong entrepreneurs, often Stanford-connected or with Silicon Valley pedigree, building AI-native or AI-transformational businesses. They favor founders with deep technical conviction who can execute quickly against large, defensible markets. Geographic Focus Primarily US (Silicon Valley, NYC, Cambridge) with an explicit global lens: portfolio includes Latin American fintech (Kapital, Kontigo), European crypto-fintech (Bitstack, France), and cross-border operators (Jeeves operates in 30+ countries). Notable Exits and Outcomes 10 acquisitions to date, 9 unicorns, and 30+ companies valued above $100M. Salt Security (API security), SpaceX (continued private growth), and World Labs (Fei-Fei Li's spatial intelligence company) are among the highest-profile names in the portfolio.