Laude Ventures

What Laude Ventures does

Laude Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2024 by Andy Konwinski, Pete Sonsini, and Andrew Krioukov with the explicit thesis of backing "deeply technical entrepreneurs with research roots." The firm positions itself as the "proud first follower" of visionary computer scientists, partnering at the lab-to-launch moment to transform research breakthroughs into paradigm-creating companies. Its investment focus spans AI infrastructure (Tensormesh, Inferact/vLLM, LMArena, Mithril), open-source-to-commercial plays, agent tooling (Arcade.dev, Narada), vertical AI applications (Voio for radiology), and developer/data platforms (Tabsdata, Prompt AI, Eventual, SigIQ, Normal, Disarray, Clairvoyant).

The firm's core product is Laude Ventures Fund I, a $150M early-stage vehicle. Its "technology stack" is not a software platform but rather a proprietary founder-evaluation framework anchored to deep academic ties (UC Berkeley, Chicago, CMU, UCSF) and an LP base of 51 leading computer scientists—including a Turing Award winner, Dave Patterson, Jeff Dean, Ion Stoica, Ali Ghodsi, and Aravind Srinivas—who provide technical diligence, hiring help, and ecosystem access to portfolio companies. The GPs also co-teach the "Research to Startups" PhD seminar at UC Berkeley, providing a privileged upstream deal-flow funnel. The firm operates with a small core team of three named partners plus undisclosed support staff, and the website (laude.vc) is the primary inbound founder-conversion touchpoint, anchored by a [email protected] inbox.

The revenue model is standard for a venture capital firm: recurring management fees on committed capital under management plus carried interest on successful portfolio exits. Capital is sourced from institutional LPs, iconic technical founders, and the 51-scientist LP network. The firm does not publicly disclose fund terms, management fees, check sizes, or portfolio ownership; founder-facing engagement is quote-based through direct outreach. Day-to-day operations are conducted from the San Francisco Bay Area, with no formal secondary offices disclosed.

Name

Laude Ventures

Legal name

Laude Ventures

Website

https://laude.vc

Company type

Private

Founded year

2025

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Laude Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm backing deeply technical founders with research roots. Founded by Konwinski, Sonsini, and Krioukov, its $150M Fund I is backed by 51 leading computer scientists as LPs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (52394)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Early-Stage Venture Capital (Series A/B) (FSANAAAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Sector-Focused Venture Capital (Vertical Specialists) (FSANAAAD)

Keywords

• Early-stage venture capital
• Technical founder investing
• Seed-stage funding
• Deep tech investments
• Research-to-startup backing

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco (Bay Area)

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Fund management fees and carried interest: Laude Ventures Fund I is a $150M early-stage venture capital fund. As a standard VC, Laude earns recurring management fees on committed capital under management and participates in fund returns via carried interest on successful portfolio exits. Capital is sourced from institutional LPs, technical founders, and a network of 50+ computer scientists.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Laude Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests seed capital in deeply technical founders with research roots, typically computer scientists and PhD researchers turning breakthroughs into companies. Through its $150M Fund I, the firm provides first-check capital, board-level support, and access to a network of 51+ leading computer scientists who act as LPs, technical diligence resources, and hiring pipelines for portfolio companies.

Product overview

Laude Ventures is a single, unified early-stage venture capital firm rather than a software platform with discrete modules. Its core offering is Laude Ventures Fund I, a $150M early-stage fund created and run by GPs (Andy Konwinski, Pete Sonsini, and Andrew Krioukov) who have founded, built, and invested in iconic $B+ software companies. The firm invests in deeply technical founders at the moment of discovery and helps them transform breakthroughs into paradigm-creating companies, with a portfolio that includes Inferact, Tensormesh, Voio, Mithril, Arcade.dev, LMArena, Tabsdata, Prompt AI, SigIQ, Normal, Disarray, Perplexity, Clairvoyant, Eventual, and Narada.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Laude Apps: A branding/design element used on the Laude website header, listed alongside the Laude logo.

Products and services

• Laude Ventures Fund I Laude Ventures Fund I is a $150M early-stage venture capital fund that backs deeply technical founders with research roots. It provides first-check seed capital, board-level support, and access to a network of 51+ leading computer scientists who act as LPs, technical diligence resources, and hiring pipelines to help turn research breakthroughs into breakout companies.

Quantifiable outcome

• More than 50 leading computer scientists as LPs in Fund I
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 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 indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Andreessen Horowitz (a16z): a16z is a large multi-stage venture capital firm with a deep AI infrastructure and applied AI practice that frequently co-invests alongside Laude. It competes for the same technical-founder deal flow and writes lead checks in early AI rounds at a far larger fund scale.
• NEA (New Enterprise Associates): NEA is the prior employer of Laude co-founder Pete Sonsini, who led its software investing for nearly two decades. NEA is a large, multi-stage firm that invests across AI, software, and enterprise, and is a direct co-investor alongside Laude in rounds like LMArena.
• Lightspeed Venture Partners: Lightspeed is an established multi-stage venture firm with strong AI and infrastructure exposure. It co-invested with Laude in LMArena and competes for the same technical-founder and AI infrastructure deals.
• Kleiner Perkins: Kleiner Perkins is a heritage deep-tech venture firm with strong AI, enterprise, and infrastructure theses. It has co-invested with Laude and competes for technical-founder deals in the same AI infrastructure space.
• Felicis Ventures: Felicis is an early-stage venture firm with a strong technical-founder and AI infrastructure thesis. It led LMArena's $150M Series A and frequently co-invests with Laude in technical seed rounds.
• The House Fund: The House Fund is a Berkeley-affiliated early-stage venture firm that co-led Voio's $8.6M seed with Laude. It competes for the same Berkeley research-driven founder pipeline and overlaps with Laude on AI and deep-tech seed deals.
• Lux Capital: Lux Capital is a research-driven deep-tech venture firm that invests in founders emerging from top scientific labs, making it one of the closest thematic peers to Laude's 'lab-to-launch' thesis.
• Conviction Partners: Conviction is a thesis-driven early-stage venture firm backing technical founders, founded by Sarah Guo. It competes for the same AI infrastructure and agent-focused deals as Laude and shares a similar operator-led, research-rooted sourcing approach.

Broad incumbents

• Greylock Partners: Greylock is an established early-stage venture firm with a long history of backing technical founders across enterprise and AI. It is a broader incumbent that overlaps with Laude on technical-founder and AI infrastructure deals but operates at a larger fund scale.
• Founders Fund: Founders Fund is a high-profile deep-tech and AI venture firm. It is a broader incumbent that occasionally competes with Laude for technical, contrarian AI bets, though its investment style and stage focus differ.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/laude-ventures

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments7 records

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

Frequently asked questions about Laude Ventures