Banyan Ventures
Venture capitalActively deployingNew York · Pre-Seed–Series A · 1 people tracked
Investment thesis
Banyan Ventures is a solo-GP firm focused on backing early-stage AI companies, especially in AI infrastructure. Its founder draws on experience as an early sales/revenue hire in the experiment tracking and model management markets and as an advisor to numerous AI infrastructure startups. By serving as a senior advisor to AI founders from day zero, the firm aims to gain early access to exceptional investment opportunities in the fast-moving AI landscape and to support portfolio companies as they scale from seed through later rounds.
Source: firm website, verified Aug 7, 2026.
Team · 1 people
from the firm's website
What they invest in
from 15 of 27 portfolio companiesAI & Machine Learning ×11Deep Tech ×6Semiconductors ×6Data & Infrastructure ×4Enterprise Software ×4Hardware ×4Biotech ×2Cloud Computing ×2
HQs:United States×7Italy×1
Who they back
founder profiles across 8 portfolio companiesFounding team size:solo founder×32 founders×33 founders×2
Where their founders worked beforefrom 11 founders with career history
McKinsey & Company ×2
Investments · 27 tracked
founders shown can be your intro pathPartnerSam Awrabi· solo GP
PartnerSam Awrabi· solo GP
PartnerSam Awrabi· solo GP
PartnerSam Awrabi· solo GP
PartnerSam Awrabi· solo GP
Akash Systems develops thermal management technology called Diamond Cooling, which integrates diamond with semiconductors to dissipate heat and improve efficiency in AI servers.
Deep TechHardwareSemiconductors
Alex Carter(Founder & CEO)Felix Ejeckam(Co-founder & CEO)inTy Mitchell(Co-Founder & Board Director)inPamit Surana(Chief Commercial Officer)inDaniel Francis(Chief Technology Officer)in
PartnerSam Awrabi· solo GP
Co-investorsFounders FundKhosla VenturesAngel Collective Opportunity FundARC Angel FundBackstage CapitalCade Ventures+10 more
PartnerSam Awrabi· solo GP
AnalogAI develops neuromorphic semiconductor chips based on analog in-memory computing (AIMC), using variable-resistance synapse components to perform the vector and matrix operations needed for AI.
AI & Machine LearningDeep TechSemiconductors
PartnerSam Awrabi· solo GP
Co-investorsSazzePrimer Sazze Partners
Aravolta provides branch circuit monitoring for data centers, tracking power consumption at sub-second accuracy to enable colocation operators to automate tenant billing, detect power overages, and generate usage-based invoices.
Data & InfrastructureEnterprise SoftwareIoTSan Francisco, US
Margarita Groisman(Founder)inJack Sutton(Founder)in
PartnerSam Awrabi· solo GP
Co-investorsCrucible CapitalY Combinator
The company builds "Biological Adapters" that integrate living neurons with AI foundation models to improve performance and reduce training cost, and it operates an algorithm discovery platform based on principles from biological neural systems.
AI & Machine LearningBiotechDeep Tech
PartnerSam Awrabi· solo GP
Co-investorsPrimary Venture PartnersWonder VenturesE1 VenturesRefactor Capital
Falcomm is a fabless semiconductor company that designs RF power amplifiers, including its Dual-Drive power amplifier technology, aimed at higher output power, wider bandwidth, and lower heat for mmWave applications.
Deep TechHardwareSemiconductorsAtlanta, US
Edgar Garay(Founder & CEO)Isabella Tobon(Director)Justin Hovey(Executive Officer)
BoardDom Ventimiglia(Director)Dan Madden(Director)in
PartnerSam Awrabi· solo GP
Co-investorsCambium CapitalDraper CygnusInvariantes FundZEASQUADRA VENTURES
Finalis operates a platform connecting institutional investors to pre-vetted private market deal opportunities sourced from a network of M&A bankers and placement agents.
B2B MarketplacesEnterprise SoftwareFintechSaaSUnited States, US
Federico Baradelloin
PartnerSam Awrabi· solo GP
Co-investorsAltari VenturesChaac VenturesMSIVUlu VenturesTribe Capital
PartnerSam Awrabi· solo GP
PartnerSam Awrabi· solo GP
IrisMed is an AI-powered software platform that automates insurance verification and patient cost estimation for optical practices, integrating with existing practice management systems.
AI & Machine LearningBiotechHealthtechInsurTechSaaSAurora, US
PartnerSam Awrabi· solo GP
Co-investorsNOEMIS VenturesTechstarsAntler
San Francisco, US
Cooper Lindsey(Executive Officer, Director)
BoardMark Heynen(Director)
PartnerSam Awrabi· solo GP
Langbase is a serverless platform for building, deploying, and scaling AI agents, offering a single API to access 600+ LLMs along with agentic memory (RAG with vector store and file storage), tools, and multi-step workflows.
AI & Machine LearningData & InfrastructureDeveloper Tools
PartnerSam Awrabi· solo GP
Co-investorsFirestreak VenturesMento vc
Lexroom is a legal technology company that combines AI and legal expertise to modernize legal services.
AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareLegalTech
Martina Domenicali(CRO)Paolo Fois(CEO)Andrea Lonza(CTO)
PartnerSam Awrabi· solo GP
Co-investorsVerve VenturesAcurio VenturesEntourage VenturesLeft Lane CapitalBase10 Partners
PartnerSam Awrabi· solo GP
PartnerSam Awrabi· solo GP
Multimodal builds an AI platform for financial services institutions that automates document-heavy workflows such as quarterly fund reporting, LP letter drafting, and credit underwriting analysis (normalizing metrics like DSCR, LTV, and leverage ratios).
AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareFintech
Ankur Patel(Founder)in
PartnerSam Awrabi· solo GP
Co-investorsKickstart InnovationSemperVirens Venture CapitalNVIDIA
Radiant builds compute infrastructure and services designed to operate as a utility, providing the foundational platform for AI and intelligence applications at scale.
AI & Machine LearningCloud ComputingData & Infrastructure
Mahdi Yahya(President)Vishal Padiyar(Executive Chairman)
PartnerSam Awrabi· solo GP
Co-investorsEpisode1Insiders VenturesInvariantes FundMDSV CAPITALSparq Capital (SFO)Flucas Ventures
Parasail provides AI inference compute on a flexible fleet that scales with usage, letting companies commit to output (tokens) rather than long-term hardware purchases.
AI & Machine LearningCloud ComputingData & InfrastructureDeep Tech
Mike Henry(Co-founder)inTim Harris(Co-founder)in
PartnerSam Awrabi· solo GP
Co-investorsBasis Set VenturesIneffable VenturesKindred VenturesThreshold VenturesTouring CapitalFlume Ventures+1 more
Positron builds purpose-built hardware and inference accelerator silicon for running Transformer-based generative AI models, offering inference appliances that map HuggingFace Transformers models onto the hardware and expose an OpenAI API-compliant endpoint.
AI & Machine LearningHardwareSemiconductorsLovelock, US
Thomas Sohmers(Executive Officer, Director)inBarrett Woodside(Founder)Edward Kmett(Founder)inMitesh Agrawal(Executive Officer, Director)
BoardRobert Reid(Director)
PartnerSam Awrabi· solo GP
Co-investorsAsimov VenturesCaucasus VenturesIneffable VenturesInvariantes FundNZVCOakseed Ventures+9 more
Tensordyne develops AI-focused math, chips, hardware, and software aimed at data center inference systems, targeting lower energy use and cost for running advanced AI.
AI & Machine LearningHardwareSemiconductorsSunnyvale, US
RK Anand(Co-founder and Chief Product Officer)inGilles Backhus(Co-Founder, VP of AI & Product)inMarc Bolitho(CEO)in
PartnerSam Awrabi· solo GP
Co-investorsBMW i VenturesBosch VenturesDns CapitalGreatPoint VenturesMayfield Fund
SpiNNcloud Systems builds neuromorphic, brain-inspired computing hardware based on its SpiNNaker2 Arm-based AI processors, aimed at running AI workloads at supercomputer scale with higher energy efficiency than GPUs.
AI & Machine LearningDeep TechSemiconductors
PartnerSam Awrabi· solo GP
Co-investorsAtlanticSilicon CatalystSpinLab
PartnerSam Awrabi· solo GP
Portfolio news
latest coverage across their companiesParasail · x.com · Aug 7, 2026
Positron AI · siliconvalleyinvestclub.com · Jul 10, 2026
Lexroom · eu-startups.com · May 19, 2026
Recogni · datacenterdynamics.com · Mar 11, 2026
Aravolta · castleplacement.com · Jan 8, 2026
Spinncloud · ebrains.eu · Jul 25, 2025
Frequently asked questions
- How many investments has Banyan Ventures made?
- Banyan Ventures has 27 tracked investments, including 1 dated in the last 24 months.
- What stage does Banyan Ventures invest at?
- Banyan Ventures invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A stages.
- What sectors does Banyan Ventures focus on?
- Banyan Ventures focuses on AI & Machine Learning, Data & Infrastructure, Enterprise Software.
- Where is Banyan Ventures located?
- Banyan Ventures is headquartered in New York, US.
- Does Banyan Ventures lead rounds?
- Banyan Ventures typically participates in rounds rather than leading them.
- Who does Banyan Ventures co-invest with?
- Banyan Ventures most often shares deals with Invariantes Fund, Ineffable Ventures, DCVC (Data Collective), among 52 tracked co-investors.
Images
Co-investors · 8
Mayfield is a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage consumer and marketplace companies, backing founders from inception through IPO.
Entourage is an early-stage venture capital firm and venture studio that backs founders from inception onward, and also builds, funds, and launches its own companies.
Oakseed Ventures focuses on seeding transformative technical founders in enterprise AI and cybersecurity sectors.
GV (Google Ventures) is a venture capital firm that has invested in artificial intelligence and machine learning since its early days, building a global portfolio of more than 100 AI companies across infrastructure, life sciences, and applications.
Everywhere Ventures is an early-stage venture firm, backed by a community of founders and operators as LPs, that writes early checks (including pre-seed) into startups across many sectors and geographies.
Kraken is a cryptocurrency exchange operating since 2011, offering crypto trading along with related services such as margin trading, staking, derivatives, and (in the US) equities brokerage through Kraken Securities LLC.
Celesta Capital is a venture capital firm that invests in deep tech companies at the forefront of science and engineering.
Data Tech is a venture fund that backs founders building companies powered by data and network effects.
Firms observed investing alongside Banyan Ventures, from public investor directories. Shared companies are the overlap with Banyan Ventures's recorded portfolio.
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