Rothenberg Ventures
Rothenberg Ventures is a Palo Alto-based early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2012 that invests in frontier technology startups across artificial intelligence, spatial computing, bio-convergence, and climate and energy sectors.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2012
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Rothenberg Ventures does
Rothenberg Ventures is a privately held venture capital firm founded in 2012 and headquartered at 530 Lytton Avenue, Palo Alto, California. The firm invests in early-stage startups building frontier technologies across four stated focus areas: artificial intelligence, spatial computing, bio-convergence, and climate and energy. Its disclosed portfolio includes NeuraLink Systems (AI infrastructure hardware for large-scale model training), Aether Biomachines (synthetic biology for sustainable manufacturing), and VoltaGrid (solid-state battery technology).
The firm's business model follows standard venture capital economics, generating revenue through two streams: recurring management fees charged on committed capital from limited partners, and transaction-based carried interest earned on successful portfolio company exits. Rothenberg Ventures employs a sales-led go-to-market approach, sourcing deals through direct outreach to founders and leveraging an internal network of industry leaders. Its target customer segment is described as visionary founders building transformative technologies at the earliest stages of company development.
Rothenberg Ventures positions itself as an active collaborator rather than a passive capital provider, offering portfolio companies strategic guidance alongside financial investment. The team is small (1-10 employees), led by founder and General Partner Mike Rothenberg, with Dave Haase as CFO and Hannah Han as Controller. Geographic operations are limited to North America. Notable operational concerns include the presence of off-topic, future-dated content on the firm website, suggesting possible website compromise or weak content governance, which warrants further diligence.
Rothenberg Ventures firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Rothenberg Ventures
- Legal name
- Rotherberg Ventures
- Website
- https://rothenbergventures.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2012
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Rothenberg Ventures is a Palo Alto-based early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2012 that invests in frontier technology startups across artificial intelligence, spatial computing, bio-convergence, and climate and energy sectors.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Rothenberg Ventures industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Venture Capital
- NAICS
- All Other Financial Investment Activities (52399)
- SIC
- Investment Advice (6282)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Sector-Focused Venture Capital (Vertical Specialists) (FSANAAAD)
Keywords
Where Rothenberg Ventures is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Rothenberg Ventures business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Management Fees: Standard VC management fees charged on committed capital from limited partners.
- Carried Interest: Performance-based carried interest from successful portfolio company exits, representing a portion of profits above the return of invested capital.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels2 records
Rothenberg Ventures product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Rothenberg Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests equity capital in frontier technology startups across artificial intelligence, quantum computing, spatial computing, bio-convergence, and climate & energy. Beyond capital, the firm provides strategic guidance and access to a network of industry leaders, acting as an active collaborator with founders from the earliest stages of company development.
Product overview
Rotherberg Ventures is a venture capital firm, not a product company. It does not offer a unified product platform or individual software products/modules. Its offering consists of investment services — providing capital, strategic guidance, and access to a network of industry leaders to early-stage founders building transformative technologies in artificial intelligence, spatial computing, bio-convergence, and climate & energy sectors. The company supports portfolio companies including NeuraLink Systems (AI Infrastructure hardware), Aether Biomachines (Synthetic Biology), and VoltaGrid (Energy Storage), but these are investees, not products or services offered by Rotherberg Ventures itself.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Early-Stage Venture Capital Investment
- Founder Strategic Guidance and Network Access
Companies that use Rothenberg Ventures
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments1 record
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Rothenberg Ventures technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Rothenberg Ventures partnerships and signals
Strategic signalRecent moves4 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Rothenberg Ventures competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Lux Capital: Sector-focused venture firm investing in frontier science and tech (AI, biotech, energy, space). Directly comparable to Rothenberg Ventures on thesis and stage, though materially larger and more established.
- Founders Fund: Deep-tech and frontier-technology venture firm backing transformative companies across AI, biotech, aerospace, and energy. Comparable on category breadth and willingness to invest in contrarian frontier bets.
- Khosla Ventures: Sector-agnostic but heavy frontier-tech investor covering AI, bio, energy, and spatial computing. Closely comparable portfolio overlap to Rothenberg's stated focus areas.
- DCVC (Data Collective): Deep-tech VC focused on AI, computational biology, climate, and advanced materials. Same frontier-tech thesis with a similarly small specialist team profile.
- Obvious Ventures: Early-stage VC investing in world-positive frontier technologies across bio, energy, and AI. Comparable on stage and category overlap, particularly the bio-convergence and climate/energy bets.
- Playground Global: Deep-tech venture firm backing early-stage companies in AI, advanced computing, and biotech. Directly comparable on early-stage frontier tech orientation and lean team profile.
Emerging players
- Boost VC: Pre-seed/seed accelerator focused on frontier tech including crypto, AI, and space. Comparable on the earliest-stage, founder-first frontier-tech thesis, but with a more programmatic accelerator model.
- SOSV: Multi-stage frontier-tech VC and accelerator (Hax, IndieBio, dlab) covering AI, bio, climate, and hardware. Overlaps on multiple of Rothenberg's stated focus areas at the earliest stages.
Broad incumbents
- Andreessen Horowitz (a16z): Mega-fund with dedicated bio/health, AI, and climate practices covering the same frontier verticals. Not a direct head-to-head at pre-seed/seed, but sets the competitive context for deal flow and founder expectations.
Others
- Y Combinator: Pre-seed accelerator that funnels a large share of frontier-tech startups (AI, bio, energy) toward seed investors. Not a direct competitor for GPs, but a primary upstream origination channel comparable to Rothenberg's direct-outreach GTM.
Market position
Strengths3 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights4 records
Customer concentration
Rothenberg Ventures social profiles
Digital presenceRothenberg Ventures financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Rothenberg Ventures leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Rothenberg Ventures funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Rothenberg Ventures M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments109 records
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Rothenberg Ventures
What does Rothenberg Ventures do?
Rothenberg Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests equity capital in frontier technology startups across artificial intelligence, quantum computing, spatial computing, bio-convergence, and climate & energy. Beyond capital, the firm provides strategic guidance and access to a network of industry leaders, acting as an active collaborator with founders from the earliest stages of company development.
Is Rothenberg Ventures a public or private company?
Rothenberg Ventures is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Rothenberg Ventures founded?
Rothenberg Ventures was founded in 2012. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Rothenberg Ventures based?
Rothenberg Ventures is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does Rothenberg Ventures make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Management Fees are the primary driver. The others are carried Interest.
Who are Rothenberg Ventures's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Lux Capital, Founders Fund, Khosla Ventures, DCVC (Data Collective), Obvious Ventures and Playground Global. Emerging players are Boost VC and SOSV. Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) is listed as a broad incumbent. Y Combinator is listed as an others.
Does Rothenberg Ventures have an API?
No public API is recorded for Rothenberg Ventures.
What industry is Rothenberg Ventures in?
Rothenberg Ventures's product category is Venture Capital. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSANAAAD, Sector-Focused Venture Capital (Vertical Specialists). Its NAICS code is 52399 and its SIC code is 6282.