Refactor

What Refactor does

Refactor Capital is a Burlingame, California-based solo-GP venture capital firm founded in 2015 by Zal Bilimoria, one of Andreessen Horowitz's earliest spinouts. The firm invests $1-2M checks at the pre-seed and seed stages exclusively into U.S. hard-technology startups spanning aerospace, AI infrastructure, applied biotech, critical materials, earth systems, energy, fertility, and health. It currently manages approximately $300 million in assets under management across five funds, with the fifth fund closed at $50 million in June 2026 with 100% capital committed by existing limited partners.

The firm's portfolio comprises over 100 companies and has produced six unicorns including Solugen, Astranis, Biorender, PathAI, Coinbase, and Clover Health. Refactor has no associates, partners, or investment committee — Bilimoria is the sole employee and the sole decision-maker on all investments, sourced through his personal network and reputation in the hard-tech founder community. Recent deals demonstrate thematic breadth into frontier areas such as biological computing (TBC), laser-based isotope separation for nuclear energy (Hexium), large physics foundation models (Causal Labs), and seaweed-derived industrial chemicals (Macro Oceans).

The firm earns revenue from limited partners via management fees on committed capital across its five funds and carried interest on successful portfolio exits; specific revenue, fund performance metrics, LP identities, and carry realization history are not publicly disclosed. Operating costs are minimal given the single-employee structure, and founder-support programs such as a portfolio-wide Lyra Health mental-health benefit (introduced in 2020) are funded personally by Bilimoria out of the management company.

Name

Refactor

Legal name

Refactor Capital

Website

https://refactor.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Refactor Capital is a Burlingame, CA-based solo-GP venture capital firm investing $1-2M checks at the pre-seed and seed stages into U.S. hard-technology startups across biotech, robotics, energy, aerospace, critical materials, and AI infrastructure, managing approximately $300M AUM across five funds.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Seed-stage venture capital

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Other Investment Pools and Funds (5259)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282), Security Brokers, Dealers & Flotation Companies (6211)

akta.pro primary industry

Large-Cap / Sponsor Finance Direct Lending (FSANADAJ)

Keywords

• Seed stage venture capital
• Hard tech investing
• Venture capital funds
• Startup seed funding
• Pre-seed venture investing

Headquarters

HQ city

Burlingame

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Others

Revenue model

1. Fund management (management fees + carry): As a venture capital firm, Refactor earns revenue from limited partners in the form of management fees on committed capital across its funds and carried interest (carry) on the profits of successful portfolio exits. The firm currently manages approximately $300M in assets under management spread across 5 funds, with the most recent fund (Fund 5) sized at $50M. This is a long-duration, fund-based revenue model tied to multi-year investment and realization cycles.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Refactor Capital is a solo-GP seed-stage venture capital firm that invests $1–2M checks into pre-seed and seed hard-tech startups across the United States, focused on biotech, robotics, energy, aerospace, critical materials, and AI infrastructure ("atoms, not bits"). The firm manages approximately $300M in assets under management across five funds, with the latest (Refactor Capital 5) sized at $50M and closed in June 2026.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Refactor Capital 5 (Fund 5) $50M seed-stage venture fund that deploys $1–2M checks into pre-seed and seed hard-tech startups in the United States across biotech, robotics, energy, aerospace, critical materials, and AI infrastructure. It is offered to qualified limited partners and is the fifth vehicle in Refactor Capital's fund series.

Quantifiable outcome

• $300M AUM deployed across 5 funds
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Fifty Years: Solo-GP venture firm (Evan Loomis) focused on seed-stage investments in hard-tech and science-driven startups. Closely comparable operating model and vertical focus to Refactor's solo-GP, hard-tech-only approach.
• Engine Ventures: Seed and early-stage venture firm investing in tech-enablement of robotics, transportation, energy, and life sciences. Closely overlaps Refactor's hard-tech verticals and seed-stage orientation.
• Prime Movers Lab: Seed-stage venture fund investing in breakthrough hard-tech startups across energy, transportation, infrastructure, and human augmentation. Directly comparable mandate and check size to Refactor's hard-tech seed focus.
• Schematic Ventures: Specialist seed and pre-seed investor focused on infrastructure, industrial tech, climate, and engineering-heavy startups. Comparable vertical specialization and early-stage check sizing to Refactor.
• Material Impact: Early-stage venture firm building, investing in, and scaling companies that transform physical industries through material innovation. Overlaps Refactor's focus on advanced materials and hard-tech commercialization.
• Cantos Ventures: Seed-stage investor focused on frontier science and engineering companies building in physical-world categories. Comparable seed-only mandate and hard-tech orientation to Refactor.

Broad incumbents

• Lux Capital: Established venture firm investing in science and technology ventures across hard-tech verticals including AI, energy, biotech, and aerospace. Same vertical focus as Refactor but materially larger fund sizes and multi-partner team.
• DCVC (Deep Capital): Deep-tech venture firm investing in computational and engineering-driven startups across life sciences, energy, and advanced materials. Competes with Refactor on hard-tech seed deals but operates at a larger AUM and broader stage range.
• Khosla Ventures: Large venture firm with deep-tech investing across AI, robotics, energy, biotech, and aerospace. Overlaps Refactor's hard-tech verticals and increasingly competes at seed stage, but with materially greater fund size and broader stage mandate.
• Breakthrough Energy Ventures: Multi-billion-dollar climate-tech investment fund backed by Bill Gates and consortium of LPs, investing in hard-tech energy and industrial decarbonization. Competes with Refactor in energy and critical-materials seed deals but at far greater scale.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/refactor
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/refactor-capital
• Facebookfacebook.com/refactorcapital

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments125 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Refactor