Fundraising Fox
Pasadena · Pre-Seed–Seed · 10 people tracked
Also known as Idealab Studio
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Investment thesis
Founded in 1996, Idealab operates as a startup studio that incubates and participates in company creation across a wide range of sectors, including consumer internet and mobile, cleantech, education, automation and robotics, blockchain, enterprise software, and networking. The firm builds and backs new ventures from the idea stage, having launched more than 150 companies over its history.
Source: firm website, verified Sep 27, 2026.
Team · 10 people
from the firm's website & curated
Founder mafia
The Idealab mafia →16 people who came through Idealab went on to found or lead other companies.
What they invest in
from 39 of 153 portfolio companiesSaaS ×14Enterprise Software ×13Consumer ×11AI & Machine Learning ×10Fintech ×6Media & Entertainment ×5Cloud Computing ×4Cybersecurity ×3
HQs:United States×26Australia×1Japan×1
Who they back
founder profiles across 21 portfolio companiesFounding team size:solo founder×82 founders×83 founders×34+ founders×2
Where their founders studiedfrom 22 founders with education data
UCLA ×4Massachusetts Institute of Technology ×3Caltech ×2University of Michigan ×2University of Southern California ×2
What their founders studiedfrom 22 founders with field-of-study data
Computer Science ×13Finance & Accounting ×3Business & Management ×2Engineering ×2
Where their founders worked beforefrom 23 founders with career history
Airbnb ×2GoDaddy ×2Goldman Sachs ×2StubHub ×2
Accelerator rootsportfolio companies that came through a program
1 founders hold a PhD · 4 hold an MBA (of 24 with degree data)
Investments · 153 tracked
founders shown can be your intro pathBy year:2023 · 22021 · 12016 · 22015 · 12014 · 22012 · 12011 · 12010 · 12008 · 12005 · 12000 · 114 dated
Coinbase is a cryptocurrency exchange platform that offers trading, custody, and financial services for cryptocurrencies, stocks, derivatives, and prediction markets to consumers, institutions, and developers.
Crypto & Web3FintechSan Francisco, US
Brian Armstrong(CEO)inFred Ehrsam(Board Of Directors)inEmilie Choi(President & COO)inAlesia Haas(Chief Financial Officer)inPaul Grewal(Chief Legal Officer & Secretary)inLawrence (L.J.) Brock(Chief People Officer)
Co-investors1confirmationA.Capital Venturesa16z cryptoAcrew CapitalAdventure FundAndreessen Horowitz+99 more
Energy Vault designs and integrates energy storage products and management software for grid-scale and utility customers, spanning battery, gravity-based, and hydrogen storage systems.
CleantechClimate TechEnergyHardware
Robert Allen Piconi(Chairman of the Board, Co-Founder & CEO)inCraig R. Horne(Chief Technology Officer)inNitin Dahiya(Chief Financial Officer)inLaurence Alexander(Chief of Staff & Chief Marketing Officer)inMarco Terruzzin(Chief Revenue Officer)inAkshay Ladwa(Chief Development and Operations Officer)in
Co-investorsCRESCENT COVE CAPITALNeotribe VenturesPrime Movers LabSoftBank Vision FundAramco VenturesCemex Ventures+1 more
Twilio provides a cloud-based communications platform that enables businesses to integrate voice, messaging, and video into applications using APIs.
Cloud ComputingDeveloper ToolsEnterprise SoftwareSan Francisco, US
Jeff Lawson(Founder)inEvan Cooke(Founder)John Wolthuis(Founder)inLee Kirkpatrick(Chief Financial Officer)inRoy Ng(Executive Officer)inKaryn Smith(Executive Officer)in
Co-investors500 GlobalBessemer Venture PartnersCraft VenturesDraper AssociatesFounders Circle CapitalFounders Fund+20 more
Abundance Labs develops and operates marketplaces for alternative currencies.
ConsumerMarketplacesSan Francisco, US
Kjerstin Erickson(CEO)inKerstin Erickson(Executive Officer, Director)Daniel Page(Executive Officer)
Co-investorsY CombinatorAbstract VenturesAgrolimen VenturesBEENEXTFoundation CapitalFriale+9 more
Answers.com is a community-driven Q&A platform where users seek and share knowledge on a wide range of topics.
ConsumerMedia & EntertainmentSector Agnostic
Co-investorsKortschak Investments L.P.Redpoint VenturesKhosla VenturesKleiner PerkinsSouth Park CommonsSV Angel
Advanced ManufacturingCarlsbad, US
Steve Fambro(Co-Chief Executive Officer, Secretary)inChris Anthony(Co-Chief Executive Officer, Interim Chief Financial Officer)in
Authy provides a two-factor authentication (2FA) app that protects user accounts from unauthorized access by requiring device-based identity verification.
CybersecurityDeveloper ToolsEnterprise SoftwareSan Francisco, US
Daniel Palacio(CEO)inGleb Chuvpilo(Founder)inDavid Cuadrado(Tech Lead)in
Co-investorsAndreessen HorowitzCorazon CapitalDCVC (Data Collective)Streamlined VenturesTuesday CapitalY Combinator+7 more
Branch is a workforce payments platform that accelerates wage payments to employees and provides financial services.
Enterprise SoftwareFintechFuture of WorkHR TechMinneapolis, US
Atif Siddiqi(Founder)in
BoardVicki Lin(Director)Andy Jenks(Director)TOM MCGOVERN(Director)BRETT BREWER(Director)JAMES ARMSTRONG(Director)
Co-investorsAct One VenturesBonfire VenturesCrosscut VenturesGeneral AtlanticGreat North VenturesMatchstick Ventures+10 more
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Candy Club curates and sells quality candy sourced from American and international confectioneries, offering products in various formats like gift sets, party favors, and seasonal collections for direct-to-consumer purchase.
ConsumerDirect to ConsumerE-commerce
Keith Cohn
Co-investors500 Global
CarbonCapture develops CO₂ direct air capture technology aimed at removing carbon from the atmosphere to address climate change.
CleantechClimate TechDeep TechHardwarePasadena, US
Bill Gross(Co-founder & Chairman)inAdrian Corless(Chief Executive Officer)inLindsy Sanders(Director)Tom McGovern(Director)
BoardBrandon Simmons(Director)Carly Anderson(Director)
Co-investorsAlumni VenturesArmada Investment AGBay Bridge Ventures ClimateLightbankNeotribe VenturesPrime Movers Lab
CarsDirect is an automotive website that publishes car news, model previews, and buying information for prospective vehicle buyers in the U.S. market.
ConsumerMedia & Entertainment
Co-investorsClearstone Venture Partners
ChangeTip built a payment application designed to work inside social networks.
Crypto & Web3Fintech
Co-investors500 GlobalBlockchain Capitalboldstart venturesTransmedia Capital
Clayboard provides tools for educators to build interactive, group-based learning activities.
AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareFuture of WorkSaaSNew York City, US
Jorge Fuentes(Founder)inNilay Modi(Founder)in
Co-investorsSoma CapitalY CombinatorGradient VenturesKleiner Perkins
codeSpark is a learn-to-code app for children ages 3-10 that teaches coding concepts such as sequencing, loops, conditionals, and variables through word-free visual puzzles and game creation.
ConsumerEdTechGamingPasadena, US
Grant Hosford(Executive Officer, Director)Craig Chrisney(Executive Officer)
BoardBill Gross(Director)Marcia Goodstein(Executive Officer, Director)
Co-investorsFusionKapor CapitalUrban InnovationVentek
Elementary Robotics develops machine vision inspection systems for industrial quality control and defect detection.
Advanced ManufacturingAI & Machine LearningRobotics
Arye Barnehama(Founder)
Co-investorsOUP (Osage University Partners)Riot VenturesThundermark CapitalFathom CapitalFika VenturesRewired+4 more
Enplug provides digital signage software to display communications, promotions, and menu boards on screens in physical business locations such as retail stores and car dealerships.
Marketing TechMedia & EntertainmentSaaS
Nanxi Liu(Cofounder and CEO)Alex RossDavid ZhuJustyna Denuit-WojcikKevin KoNavdeep Reddyin
Co-investors500 GlobalAmino CapitalzPark Venture
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Factual was a Los Angeles-based data company that built and licensed a global database of business points-of-interest and geolocation information, used by apps like Apple Maps, Bing, and Yelp.
Co-investorsAndreessen HorowitzDCVC (Data Collective)Founder CollectiveIndex VenturesMiramar Venture PartnersSaints Capital+2 more
Fair Warranty provides insurance pricing and risk management solutions for the automotive sector.
Enterprise SoftwareInsurTechSaaSSilicon Valley, US
William Betteridge(Founder, CEO)Stephen Bates(Founder, Chief Risk Officer)inWill B(Founder)
Co-investorsAntlerBlue CollectiveCopper Sky CapitalRender CapitalTruStage VenturesBMW i Ventures+2 more
Firstlook uses machine learning to monitor continuous-flow systems (water, power, cooling) and predict equipment failures before they occur by learning normal operating signatures and detecting anomalies.
AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareIoT
Co-investorsHealth Wildcatters
GameMix is a browser-based platform for playing games instantly on smartphones, tablets, and computers without downloads or installs.
ConsumerGamingMedia & Entertainment
Co-investorsKarlin Ventures
Gem is an AI recruiting platform that helps talent acquisition teams find candidates and hire faster.
AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareHR TechSaaSSan Francisco, US
Steven Bartel(CEO)inSteve Bartel(Founder)inNick Bushak(Founder)inEmil Ibrishimov(CTO)Susan Phan(COO)inNic Cryns(VP of Sales)in
Co-investorsAccelICONIQY CombinatorGlasswing VenturesGreylock PartnersICONIQ Growth+12 more
Glide is a no-code platform that converts spreadsheets into AI-powered business applications for automating manual workflows.
AI & Machine LearningDeveloper ToolsEnterprise SoftwareSaaSSan Francisco, US
Mark Probst(Founder)inDavid Siegel(Founder)inJason Smith(Founder)inAntonio García Aprea(Co-founder)inAntonio Garcia Aprea(Founder)Harleigh Gabrielson(Head of Operations)
Co-investorsavraFirst Round CapitalY CombinatorAlt CapitalBenchmarkJASON SMITH+2 more
GMO Internet Group is a Japanese internet company offering services including domain registration, web hosting, cloud hosting, SSL certificates, and online FX trading.
Cloud ComputingFintechSaaS
Co-investorsGMO Internet
HelloTech provides in-home and online technical support for consumer computers, printers, networking, mobile devices, and other household electronics.
ConsumerSaaSLos Angeles, US
Richard Wolpert(Founder)Sascha Linn(Executive Officer, Director)Minah Oh(Executive Officer, Director)
BoardLen Jordan(Director)
Co-investorsAmplify.LABaroda VenturesCollaborative FundCrosscut VenturesExpansion Venture CapitalKarlin Ventures+6 more
ICE operates regulated futures exchanges and clearing services that enable derivative trading across multiple asset classes including energy, fixed income, currencies, and metals.
Data & InfrastructureEnergyEnterprise SoftwareFintech
Co-investorsVTF Capital
Internet Brands is a digital holding company that builds and operates a portfolio of branded websites and services across large vertical markets including auto, home, travel, and related consumer categories.
B2B MarketplacesConsumerMarketplaces
Co-investorsBattery VenturesHellman & FriedmanJMI EquityRedpoint VenturesSaints CapitalWarburg Pincus
Prevoty builds a cloud-based web application security platform that detects and prevents code injection attacks, SQL injections, cross-site scripting, and DDoS threats.
CybersecuritySector AgnosticSanta Monica, US
Kunal Anand(Co-founder)Julien Bellanger(Co-founder)
Co-investorsDouble M PartnersPLUS CapitalBaroda Ventures
Lumin.ai provides an AI tool that automatically follows up with sales leads via real-time text messaging and schedules appointments, integrating with a company's calendar and CRM.
AI & Machine LearningSaaSSales Tech
MightyText lets users send and receive SMS/MMS from a computer or tablet using their existing Android phone number, keeping messages in sync with the phone's inbox.
ConsumerHealthtechImpact & Social GoodSaaS
Maneesh Arora(Founder)inAmit Sangani
Co-investors500 Global
MyLife offers a consumer app for emotional well-being built around regular self check-ins.
Healthtech
Jamie PriceJulie Campistron
Co-investors500 GlobalAmplify.LAOwl Capital
NetZero appears to be an internet service provider offering promotional deals to customers, with the page primarily promoting a Norton 360 cybersecurity subscription offer rather than describing its own services.
Consumer
Co-investorsClearstone Venture PartnersDraper Associates
Overture runs game-based learning programs and AI creation challenges for students, offering guided tools to build games, movies, music, and applications.
AI & Machine LearningCreator EconomyEdTechGamingChicago, US
Aspen Buckingham(CEO & Co-Founder)inSteven Jiang(COO & Co-Founder)in
Co-investorsDraper AssociatesFenway Summer VenturesGV (Google Ventures)TechstarsUpfront VenturesKhosla Ventures
Papaya provides a platform to help Americans track and pay bills online, aiming to reduce financial anxiety and simplify bill payment management.
ConsumerFintechSaaSLos Angeles, US
Patrick Kann(Founder)inJason Meltzer(Founder)inHaakon Brekke(Founder)Julian Timings(Founder)Kush Sodhia(Founder)Renato Serra(Founder)
Co-investorsAcrew CapitalActivant CapitalBessemer Venture PartnersClocktower VenturesF-Prime CapitalFika+8 more
Sellbrite is a multi-channel ecommerce management tool that lets brands and retailers list products, sync inventory, and fulfill orders across major online marketplaces and their own web stores from a single interface.
E-commerceRetail TechSaaSPasadena, US
Michael Ugino(Executive Officer, Director)inBrian Nolan(Executive Officer, Director)in
BoardAllen Morgan(Director)Tom McGovern(Director)
Co-investorsKrillion Ventures
TeliportMe provides 3D virtual tour software with 360-degree photo capture apps (Android/iOS), a browser-based editor, and SDKs/APIs for real estate and property-management companies.
Media & EntertainmentPropTechSaaS
Co-investorsSand Hill Angels
A domain brokerage that helps companies acquire premium .COM domain names, providing pricing guidance, branding consultation, and escrow-based transaction handling.
Enterprise SoftwareMarketing TechHermosa Beach, US
Craig Chrisney(Executive Officer)Marcia Goodstein(Executive Officer)Scott Mueller(Executive Officer, Director)
BoardDavid Cremin(Director)inBill Gross(Director)Roy Bahat(Director)in
Co-investorsFrontier Venture CapitalGotham Gal VenturesBloomberg Beta
Coreforce provides a comprehensive technology suite for public safety organizations, spanning dispatch, records management, evidence, and field operations.
AI & Machine LearningCloud ComputingEnterprise SoftwareGovTechSaaS
Co-investorsBraemar Energy Ventures
Whitecoat provides a clinical education platform for health professions training programs, combining rotation management, competency tracking, curriculum mapping, onboarding, and an integrated LMS in a single tool.
AI & Machine LearningEdTechHealthtech
Co-investorsMarket Square Ventures
X1 develops eDiscovery, data discovery, and compliance software used by enterprise and legal/investigation teams.
CybersecurityEnterprise SoftwareLegalTechSaaSPasadena, US
Todmund Cole(Chief Executive Officer)Craig Chrisney(Executive Officer)Larry Gill(CEO)inRob Lekowski(Chief Revenue Officer)inAndrew Kang(Chief Financial Officer)inCharles Meier(Chief Product Officer)in
Co-investorsMantis CapitalPalisades Growth Capital
Xosphere offers the Xosphere IQ platform, which autonomously optimizes cloud compute, Kubernetes, and AI spending by migrating workloads to Spot capacity on AWS and GCP, scaling clusters, and attributing AI costs to business outcomes.
AI & Machine LearningCloud ComputingEnterprise Software
Co-investorseLab Ventures
Other
Tracked investments with no reachable website or further public details — typically companies that wound down, renamed, or were absorbed.
aiPodAirwave WirelessAnomalyAvenue KBaseFiveBlastoffCentracheeseCitySearchCJ AffiliateClearMeshClip BetterCommission JunctionCompeteConnexusCool EnergyCrashworksDeepCastDesktop FactoryDesktop TVDistributed World PowerDotTVDynaFundE-TicketeBusinesseCalleHatcheryEI SolutionseLeaseEnergy CacheEnergy InnovationsEntertainNetEsolar InceToysEvoiceEvolution RoboticsEvolution Robotics RetailExoboxFeatureCastFlexaFND MobileFoodmeFoundbiteFreeMusicFreePCFronteraGigwayGO InteractiveGo Poll GoHeliogenHelp Wanted NowHitpadHomesDirectIdealap Capital PartnersIdeaMarketiExchangeInfogateInsider PagesIntranetsKaleo SoftwareKinetic SocialKnowzzLUXrMeshTelMyHomeN54New MatterNewbury NetworksNewbury PaymentsOraxion DiagnosticsOverture ServicesPartSearch TechnologiesPayMyBillsPayThroughPeopleLinkPerfect MarketPhotoKharmaPicasaProductSearchpsquaredRayTrackerReferSally Ride ScienceSAVRScanScout ElectromediaScoutablesShop ComShoppingSimbiSliceSmart GamesSnap TechnologiesStartup ExchangeStirling CyclesSygnalTagPopTenorThermataTintTop10Trinity MobileTriptrottingUberMediaVenCatalystWeddingChannelWorlDAQWorldHausWorlds Inc.XBeamsZabbiZelerateZowdow
Exits · 6
3 IPOs · 3 acquisitionsCoinbaseNasdaq: COINEnergy VaultNYSE: NRGVTwilioNYSE: TWLOAuthyacq. by TwilioChangetipacq. by AirbnbFactualacq. by Foursquare
Portfolio news
latest coverage across their companies
Carbon Capture · newmarketpitch.com · Aug 31, 2026
Coinbase · Coinbase Blog · Aug 13, 2026
Gem · Gem (company blog) · Aug 4, 2026
Twilio · twilio.com · Dec 13, 2025
Frequently asked questions
- How many investments has Idealab made?
- Idealab has 153 tracked investments, 6 of which have exited.
- What stage does Idealab invest at?
- Idealab invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed stages.
- What sectors does Idealab focus on?
- Idealab focuses on AI & Machine Learning, Cleantech, Consumer, Crypto & Web3, Deep Tech, E-commerce, Energy, Fintech, Mobility & Transportation, Robotics, Sector Agnostic.
- Where is Idealab located?
- Idealab is headquartered in Pasadena, US.
- Who does Idealab co-invest with?
- Idealab most often shares deals with 500 Global, Clearstone Venture Partners, Saints Capital, among 114 tracked co-investors.
- What size deals does Idealab back?
- Across 5 deals with disclosed amounts, Idealab has joined rounds of $300K – $35M (median $10M).
Media · Podcasts & interviews
featuring the teamEpisode 2259: Idealab founder Bill Gross on what's he's learned over the last 20 years
Keen On · Bill Gross
Idealab and Heliogen Founder Bill Gross | Full Interview | Code 2022
Recode · Bill Gross
Idealab’s Bill Gross: Converting radical ideas into ground breaking companies | SOSV Climate Tech
SOSV · Bill Gross
Investors (Bill Gross Idealab) Lesson 20
Idealab · Bill Gross
Culture (Bill Gross Idealab) Lesson 18
Idealab · Bill Gross
Protect Your Intellectual Property (Bill Gross Idealab) Lesson 12
Idealab · Bill Gross
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